Allow me to begin by saying that I am not the biggest fan of modern art. I don't like having to stare at something for long minutes, wondering what it's supposed to be or what it's supposed to mean. I like to be able to look at something and grasp immediately at least what it's supposed to be.
That said, I did find the Museum of Modern Art interesting. Modern art, I have discovered, is much more fun when viewed with a friend. You can both stand there and stare at it, and share your theories on what it's supposed to mean. The more ridiculous, the better.
There were several things that I noticed on my trip to the museum. One of them was the number of works titled "Untitled." I'm not sure whether or not that is supposed to have some sort of deeper meaning, and really influence my understanding of the piece (or it would if I understood modern art at all), or if the artist was simply too lazy, too busy, or simply uninclined to give the piece a name. It strikes me as very odd, though. Why go to all the trouble to create something, and then not give it a name?
The only possible answer I can think of to my question is that the artist wanted to allow the painting to mean different things to different people, and didn't want a title influencing their perceptions. This would be great, if the paintings meant anything to me at all. Instead, those of us who don't understand modern art are left fumbling around in the dark, staring at what really looks like a bunch of squiggles on canvas and wondering, "What was going through the artist's head when he painted this?"
There were several paintings at the Modern that I really enjoyed, and understood pretty much as soon as I saw them. "Camouflaged Botticelli" was probably my favorite. I also really liked "The Ark." The only thing that these two paintings have in common, as far as I can tell, is that they're both fairly obvious. They may have a number of deeper, hidden meanings, but based on the title and the picture, you can easily grasp at least the basics of what was going on in the author's head when he painted them. I really appreciated that about both of them.
Hi Julia, Thanks for the good response to your museum visit. I agree about taking a friend, and I also identify with the stand and stare response. I think often modernist artists want us to stand and stare, and then perhaps even question what is art. Most of these artists are attempting to defy the previous conventions and assumptions about art. dw
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