Being at home for the past year and counting the days has sucked. Like, really sucked. But I can tell you I have never been so motivated to go out and cross off all the things that I have since added to my Bucket List, starting with experiencing immersive art exhibits. I actually have Instagram’s annoying algorithm to thank for this idea, because having tuned into my love for art, Instagram started recommending me visits to NYC’s Artechouse and GoghNYC. Both of these exhibits exemplify the rejuvenated appeal of stepping inside a painting and experiencing the life-size 3D version of the kind of paintings one may find in a museum, post-pandemic. I, for one, am extremely excited and am currently enlisting (fully vaccinated) friends and family members to accompany me to art exhibits that I feel may be intriguing to even the most uninterested in art. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if these types of exhibits reduce the appreciation for original pieces they draw inspiration from.
I’m no gatekeeper of art. I may have a few doubts regarding the postmodernist notion of what it means to be an “artist” per se, and I struggle to agree with the claim that anyone can be an artist (myself included). But at the end of the day, I agree that art is a form of expression afforded to those creative and bold enough to not only represent their thoughts or feelings through different mediums, but also share it with the world. If the changing world invites “art” to encompass that which can be created through technology and digital tools, though I question a $69 million value of one digital artist’s collage, why should I have a problem with immersive art exhibits?
Usually, when I don’t know how to feel about something that matters to me, I do a little research to see where the majority consensus is and why. This “why” is important in figuring out whether voicing my opinion is one worth sharing, a lesson that many celebrities can take before thinking it’s acceptable to voice every opinion they have just because they have a platform to do so. It’s also a lesson many Instagram users would benefit from before reposting every seemingly relevant infographic on their profile, but I digress. As it turns out, there are quite a few reasonable qualms artists have with the prevalence of immersive art exhibits, namely the diminishing of the role of the viewer by displaying a gargantuan visual/sensory experience. We frequently make the mistake of thinking that art, or literature, music, and food, for that matter, must be interpreted in the way that the creator intended it. This is false. Viewership accounts for the interpreter’s role in forming a relationship with an artist’s work. Knowing thus, it makes sense to question the depth of the relationship that can be formed with an installation which reduces the audience’s agency in viewership.
The best hope that curators can have for those that attend GoghNYC and similar exhibits is that they’re then inspired to go see the real painting in the end (a well known example in GoghNYC is the Starry Night). Exhibits such as Artechouse, which employ unique themes and original installations created for the purpose of being viewed as installations and not paintings, don’t necessitate the same wonder at non-digital inspirations, but the audience’s agency in viewership is hoped to be retained by the interactive nature of the experience, especially within the audience itself. Either way, as the world changes our exposure to art and its many forms, the fact that we are still hoping for a unifying experience despite individual relationships with different artworks speaks to the transcendent quality of true artistic appreciation.
It’s been a confusing year due to the proliferation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and adjusting to what is becoming a new normal, which now includes increased agenda driven media, an inundation of opinions on every kind on every available subject on the Internet, and the commercialization of societal interactions through social media is going to take some getting used to. It’s important to find the joys resulting from the dramatization and polarity caused by the media, such as taking your friends to “ooh” and “ah” at what may ultimately boil down to a beautifully staged light show. Not to mention, it’s also a great way to get off your screens and experience something with your friends outside the comforts of your bedroom. And following a year of social deprivation, what could be better?
The Doodling Duck is an Opinion culture column written and created by Pooja Rajadurai to discuss art as it relates to pop culture, trends, and students.
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