Week 7 — Art Idea Essay — The Art of Place
Place is defined as a particular position or point in space. Every person’s idea of place is different. The environment a person places themselves in determines who they will become. Place is made up of people, who influence the culture, identity, values, and opportunities. No matter what “place” one may go, each is different in their own way. This can be seen in cities or towns. Every city has its own identity and various opportunities. While place plays a major role in the effect of culture, identity, values, and opportunity, it is the people who make up the place that give it its character.
James McNabb is an artist that creates sculptures of buildings made out of recycled wood. One of his pieces called “Sphere” is a sculpture that is in the shape of a sphere. There are high rise buildings, and skyscrapers carved into it. The sphere is covered all over in buildings and there is not a single place where there isn’t a building. This can be seen as a representation of the planet currently or what will become of the planet. Eventually this could become the place that we live in. It is a good reminder that humans may be doing too much to ruin the balance on Earth, and we have to take care of it. Another artist Yang YongLiang produces paintings that are incredibly eye catching. In his works depictions of cities can be seen. One painting in his series “Heavenly City’’ depicts a city and right in the middle is what appears to be remnants of an explosion. This can be seen as a symbol, or a prediction of what may occur if the world continues to produce large metropolitan cities. While the work is beautiful and incredibly detailed it is a reminder to not destroy the Earth. An anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu, conducted a study that addressed the significance of domestic spatial patterns. It was conducted to find a correlation between spatial patterns and social relations in house. They found that space is integrated and not segregated which shows that people help to make place.
Another alternative of Place can be virtual. It can be useful for school, work, and life. With the pandemic happening many have learned to adapt using various virtual forms. Many Gen-Z know how to use the Internet and Millennials have learned how to use it. Since these younger generations grew up with technology, the Internet is prevalent in their lives and has become a part of them. The ongoing pandemic has forced many to grow accustomed to learning virtually through various video conferencing sites, and working from home. For Digital Nomad Millennials our experience of place virtually can be easy and enjoyable. While both Digital Nomad Millenials and office-working Baby Boomers may find it fun, it may be more difficult for Baby Boomers, who did not grow up with technology. To them they may find face-to-face contact more enjoyable. Online virtual world may not be something that they enjoy as some Millennials also prefer in person contact.
Every artist depicts their own vision of place differently. Both James McNabb and Yang YongLiang did it in a way to address potential issues if the world decides that place will become full of infrastructure. I feel that the 21st century will have many great advancements, but I don’t think that it will be like how it has been depicted in movies during the 20th century with flying cars. In 2024, there will sadly be a lot of pollution and global warming that will be harming everyone’s home, hopefully this is something that everyone will work together to prevent. It will be great to have different places to go to, such as National Parks, but with the ongoing environmental issues that place may no longer exist in the future. Hopefully everything will go back to normal, because currently place for me is my house. While that is nice, a change of environment will be amazing, and being able to visit other places I love will be even better.
