Never Be Bored
4 August 2019
The Eye of the Beholder
Art Curious podcast by Jennifer Dasal. The Victoria and Albert Museum LGBTQ tours, Isms: Understanding Art by Stephen Little, Immersions (Piss Christ) by Andres Serrano, 1987.
The fact that new episodes of Art Curious only come out about twice a month is my current excuse for why I don't go workout that often. This podcast is so interesting that it actually makes going to the gym not totally terrible! And I can't think of a better endorsement than that.
Art Curious is an art history podcast by Jennifer Dasal, a contemporary arts curator. I'm a big fan of her Shock Art series, which more specifically focuses on works of art that were considered controversial at the time of their creation. Years—or hundreds of years—later, we just aren't familiar anymore with the social cues that would have told us, for example, that we are looking at a painting of a prostitute, that the model's dress should be considered scandalous, or that certain stylistic choices are meant to remind us of someone in particular.
I think knowing more about the history of a piece helps you appreciate it more. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there has to be any deeper meaning behind art for it to be worthwhile; I think art for art's sake is important. But I've learned a lot listening to Art Curious, so if you're the kind of person who, like me, always buys the audio guide at museums, definitely give this podcast a try. Transcripts are available online (yay for accessibility!) for all episodes.
During the summer of 2018, I wanted to visit the Victoria and Albert museum, one of my favorite art museums in the world, and I wanted to eat fish and chips. So I flew from Chicago for just about a twenty-four hour stay in London to do exactly that—nothing less and not a lot more (at the time, I was interning for an airline, and I'm back there now full time, so this may happen again). Anyway, I was lucky enough to be at the V&A on a last Saturday of the month, when the LGBTQ tours run. Through the course of the tour, we learned about artists from many different eras—from contemporary to Renaissance to ancient Greece—as we saw their artwork in the museum. Although we don't know how these artists might have identified today, it was amazing to hear the stories of people who certainly existed outside of the heteronormative standards we often imagine the past to conform to. If you're interested in learning about art history through a new lens, try going on a tour, or check out the Instagram of one of the tour guides, Dan Vo, who posts about items in the V&A's collection related to LGBTQ history.
Art Curious and the V&A LGBTQ tours both focus on particular artworks that fit their themes. But if you're looking to get an idea of the broad strokes of art history, consider Isms: Understanding Art by Stephen Little. It's a great intro to the subject—for a wide range of important -isms from classicism to dadaism, Little neatly summarizes the art movement and gives examples of key artists and artworks.
I took a photography class last spring; one day my professor showed an untitled, uncaptioned photograph to the class and asked for a show of hands to show who liked it and who didn't. I found the composition a bit boring, and didn't particularly care for the colors or the strange texture on the photo's subject, and voted accordingly. And then she told us the wild story of Immersions (Piss Christ) by Andres Serrano, 1987, and asked us to vote again. This time I was firmly in the "like it" camp (several people switched sides)—I thought it was hilarious.