Quote →“…exhibiting one’s work implies a sort of declaration even when one does not mean to make one” 

Comment → I found this quote to be intriguing, and the way it is worded got me thinking a lot about how people are perceived in society. The whole concept of how others view you vs. how you view yourself is fascinating and hard to wrap your head around. Then, in this quote, we see an addition to this concept that not only are you as an individual being constantly observed by others around you but now so is someone’s work. Exhibiting ourselves on a day-to-day basis just by existing is a type of declaration. For example, the clothes we wear, the places we go, our jobs, and all these small choices add up and make a declaration to others around us that we might not even consider as we are going about our lives. 

Question → With the exhibition of artwork like Pozzi talks about, it seems like an easier concept to understand that a declaration is being made for an art exhibition. I wonder if this makes it less important though? Even though something might be easier for the public audience to interpret and judge, should we still value that someone has put this out without full awareness of how much society can interpret and give some understanding? 

Quote → “Depersonalization art, they feel, better represents the one-dimensionality of men and women’s lives and, by including less of the egotistic concerns of an individual artist or the cultural elite, it offers a common denominator of access to mass culture”

Comment → Depersoanlizaion seems like an excellent way to make art reach the most people and stretch beyond boundaries, which I think can be true. However, when I think of music, cinema, and other types of art, it is deeply personal and specific, yet people still make their own interpretations and find ways to connect something to their own lives. I would think that there could be the same kind of quality within art as well. I understand that maybe some people who are not well versed in more sophisticated types of art could look at the work and not get as much out of it as someone who did understand the background and cultural references. Nevertheless, I would like to think there could still be an appreciation of beauty that comes from it. 

Question → : If music, film, etc., can be very personal and specific, could art be too? Why should an artist hold back on their personality shining through their work for fear that not enough people will get exactly the right image or explanation? It becomes so personal for every person who admires it because we all have different points of view, and no one person will feel the same. To me, it becomes a fantastic feeling that someone’s artwork can reach across boundaries just because of the human experience and all our collective backgrounds.