Bergs Nest

The two murals for this week topic are a completely different thing when actually going into the knight library and observing it. Not only does it represent beauty and a great piece of art work, but tries to bring up the notion of the past and everything that has happened. When looking at the image, it looks very scattered, and unorganized, yet it shows in-depth detail of mankind and the struggles that we have had to go through throughout the past. It is possible to take certain hints within the message of the painting and interpret it to see how mankind can improve in the future and take the negative aspects and try and learn from it.
Public art is an interesting type of art due to it not specifically targeting one crowd, but more broadly diversifying and trying to reach all types of crowds. When public art is presented, it is tough to please all. “Conflicts over public art at the local level often persuade community leaders, elected officials, funding agencies, and artists themselves that public art is simply “too hot to handle””(pg. 1). This could be due the art being too complex, or people are being uninformed about the type of art that is publicly open.
To get back to the murals, this public art is a representation of mankind together striving for success, which is what the university teaches us and tries to structure us around. A traditional form of public art includes” sculptures displayed in public spaces – outdoors or in public buildings”. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a sculpture, although it does have a similar message to what a sculpture would represent. These murals have more of a message then a hero that we look up to and praise for his mark on history.
To connect this to my personal experiences, I would find it very interesting to draw a mural about my past up until now and try and depict different struggles and successes that came out of it. I would try to copy these murals and represent my life from an outside perspective. Not specifically my life, but the life or a normal 22 year old college student who grew up in a great family, but had to figure out his place in the world go strive through those struggles. My mural would be very colorful and in-depth similar to the two murals that are in the knight library, however it would much more modern and probably show different sorts of struggles and scenarios. This was made in the 1930’s, which were a completely different time, and then we are in now. Public art we see is mostly historical and has a meaning for being posted in a public location. Also, to discuss issues of diversity; ethnicity, gender, age, cultural heritage, it would be religious based. I come from a Jewish family; therefore my mural would represent my religion and the struggles that have been targeting towards the Jewish people for centuries. An example of Jewish piece of public art would be the statue “Monument to six million Jewish Martyrs” which is a sculpture of dying mothers in the flames of the burning bush. The article states, “Although its theme is tragic and terrifying, the work conveys a sense of spiritual redemption”, which shows that depicting struggles from the past is a strong notion to the success and fight that we have had to get to where we are now.

I believe public art is a beautiful thing, especially if they part shown has a strong message that is relayed to everyone that views it. If public art can change a person’s perspective or alter their opinion of a certain topic, I believe it is doing its job. Its difficult to say something is good public art because it is all-relative, for something may connect to you, while it does not with another person. I think as we continue to grow in society, public art will continue growing and finding its place.

~ by jberger@uoregon.edu on December 6, 2014 .