Harn Museum of Art Tour
Date: 9/26/14 Time: 3:30-5:00 Location: Harn Museam of Art
Danceing Ganesh, a statue seen at the Harn Museum
Old Man's Cloth, a work of art seen at the Harn Museum
The good life tour of the Harn Museum of Art covered a variety of works from different artists, each work representing one or more characteristics of a good life.
The first piece of art that was covered on the tour was “Old Man’s Cloth”, a piece displayed in the contemporary collection. From a distance the artwork appeared to be a piece of fabric, like a carpet or a drape, but upon further inspection I noticed that it was not made of fabric at all. It was actually made from discarded labels and other items that one would normally consider to be trash. The items where arranged so that the piece of art resembled fabric, something I found to be very interesting and original. The tour guide told us that the artist of this piece didn’t have access to the art supplies that we would be able to buy at the store so he had to improvise and use what was available to him. This relates to a good life because in order to have a good life one must be willing to have an open mind regarding how they look at things. Having an open mind allowed the artist to take what would normally be considered trash and turn it into something beautiful.
The second piece we looked at on the tour, and my personal favorite, was the “Dancing Ganesh” statue. The statue depicted the Hindu god Ganesh dancing along with his mouse companion Kroncha. In the Hindi Pantheon Ganesh is the god of cleverness and ingenuity, many would pray to him if they had a great obstacle in life that they needed to overcome. This work of art relates to religions role in the good life and how religion can be a means of overcoming obstacles in life.
The third and fourth piece that where covered on the tour where two black and white photographs, “Tuscany 23” and “Graduation”. Both photographs appear to be taken outside of the United States and both depict a single person. Tuscany 23 shows a shopkeeper with a very organized store and graduation shows a woman standing on the side walk on a much disorganized street. One picture is orderly and the other is chaotic. Both of these pictures represent balance, something that is a necessity in a good life.
The fifth work of art that was part of the tour was a wood carving named “Dogon People” which was part of the African collection. This work of art depicted a women carved on a piece of wood. The piece itself represents that an aspect of a good life is companionship and how spending time with others is an aspect of a good life.
The sixth and final piece of art that was covered during the tour was “scene on Snake Key”. This was an oil painting that depicted a hunter with his dog near the shore of the ocean on snake key. This picture relates to topic covered under sustaining a good life, that in order to appreciate the beauty of nature we have to do our part to make sure that it is maintained and taken care of.
I really enjoyed the tour because it exposed me to art from different cultures and it really changed the way I think about art and its relation to a good life.