Weekly Assignment Five

Art encapsulates so many different mediums. For this I have chosen to compare photographs to videos and paintings. Pictures in the Haggerty Museum seem to capture the faults in society. One collection in particular focused on trash and vandalism. Even though people see images like this on a daily basis no one is in shock until they see that same image framed in a museum. These pictures are slightly staged and meant to evoke emotion and a call of action in the viewers. Similarly the Modern Violence exhibit was supposed to raise shock and emotion. However, this form of art was less staged and more focused on how society is normalizing mass incarceration. The coloring book demonstrates how prevalent the criminal justice system has become in children’s lives. The artist took this opportunity to also manipulate the pages of the coloring book to represent other faulty aspects of today’s society. One page that stood out to me was a ‘find whats wrong’ image and the artist depicted that white people seen in a prison waiting room is abnormal. The video created by the same artist takes an inside look at being an inmate in a jail. The video was fast paced showing how quickly life can move and change, but it was also heavily influenced racial discrimination. All of these mediums create the same feelings and have similar messages, but each form resonates differently within the viewer.