Malena Bergmann Reaction

 

             I had a few reactions to Malena Bergmann's art, but I had more reactions to what she said. To start off, there are a few things I prefer about art. I’m not a fan of when people explain their art. In general, I don’t like any explanation of art by the artist at all. Also, I’m not a fan of generalizations about artists and their techniques because I believe it’s impossible, and maybe counterproductive, to compare creative processes, in terms of creativity for creativity’s sake.

            I enjoyed the concepts behind the conceptual piece. Although I disagree with a 2 diminutional canvas being a hindrance, I like the concept of exploring actual physical movement in an art piece. Both physical movement and audience interaction seem to be themes within Bergmann’s work. “Brief vibrations,” “vibrating motors,” and “motor-driven EKG” seem to be constant, illustrating a need for another layer of design, something unique in itself.

            The static pieces incorporate the same basic principles: skeletons, everyday objects, and some sort of powder. Although changing in theoretical work, most of her work on her website doesn’t seem to reflect subject change but rather medium change. Subtle color always is emphasized by background blacks, tans, and whites. I do like the static pieces, but there seems to be a very limited scope of static artwork on her website.

            Apart from theatre, I’ve never really though about performance art as a personal route I would take, especially to the level Melena Bergmann has. I like the level of specificity she operates at but with how specific she is there really isn’t a lot of guessing about the results. I believe she said without practice or a dry run there is a lot of variables (which I understand) but between the script, set, and her experience with the materials she uses I’ve seen scenes from play that are performed with less preparation. All of which are to her credit, the detailing of her work is evident throughout all her pieces and performances.

            At some point during last friday’s class, Bergmann mentioned how the older she got, the more she made art for herself. Something I totally agree with, I do the same thing. However there is some point where either your art is either made for all humans, yourself included, or you don’t use film and pictures to show your work.

            I did see the value in talking about creative processes, but Bergmann also seemed to generalize artists as a whole. Not by saying they are all the same, but referring to artists as a group of “we.” At it’s very core art is an individual thing. I think you can talk about your personal art style and process but once artists view themselves as singular group individuality disappears.

            In the same line of thinking, art education was brought up in our discussion and I think an important distinction was not made. There is a difference between technique and creativity. The best example being those like Mozart and Picasso who studied others for 5 to 10 years before doing their own thing. It’s important to realize that things like art classes don’t exist to limit creativity but to give one the tools to expand on one’s individual creativity.

            One last thing I think I need to mention is that I said I don’t like explanation of art and I don't want that to sound pretentious or shallow. That was something I went into class with and contributed to my reaction. I don’t mind knowing the background behind a work of art; if anything that contributes to the art. But I personally don’t like explanation of art itself. I didn’t write about Bergmann’s pieces in the faculty gallery, mostly because I saw them, made some interpretations, found it interesting but I also found something I connected with more. I feel like the explanation of art almost forces people to try and connect with the art, which can be good in some cases, I just don’t want that.

            I considered using my pass on this reflection because I had some problems with some of the things we discussed last Friday but I don’t see the point in avoiding honesty, whether through lying or passing through the assignment. I understand she has a very busy job and making art comes as a personal hobby even though she works in the field. Unless people become professional artists, they don’t spend a lot of time and energy making art, and Bergmann makes more than the average person for sure. I don’t want anything to come off as harsh or inconsiderate because it’s always good to expand one’s horizons through others. However everything I wrote is honest reactions to her art and what we discussed.