Category: Blog 5

The art piece, “Untitled,” by David Wojnarowicz implies its own messages that can be relevant to the world. The rhetorical properties of the art piece such as the picture of the boy smiling the middle of it implies the innocence that kids of his age have, yet the older that the kids get, the more exposed they are to how the world really is and the things that people do within it. The text was written on the left and right side of him, and as it progressively moves on, it starts to become more alarming and somewhat critical of the things that people do which created a build up or an anticipation of the text itself. The text resonates with today’s social or political concerns because there are numerous people who face treatment that is not necessarily right for those people and several kids end up growing up and witnessing or possibly experiencing it. The art piece itself was about a boy who was unaware of the things that would be done towards him after he found out that he was into the same sex. It can be connected to today’s world because there are people within the world that have to deal with being discriminated against for having a certain sexuality or with even being a certain race. There are kids who end up realizing how the world really is to certain people after they end up growing up. Some people get treatment for their race or sexuality which is an issue within the world. The conclusions that I can take away from this text to build an argument about the impact that art might make on political or social concerns is that the less people talk about the idea of treatment towards certain people then the issue could occur for numerous generations down the road. Art can be a way of expressing certain social and political concerns such as how kids may get treatment for liking the same sex or being a certain race and it can relate to people within society and it can cause more focus on that particular thing. The art implies that kids may get certain treatment for liking the same sex or for being a certain race when they grow up so it shows that people should discuss about it so that there can be positive energy.

I decided to focus on the Adrian Piper “Decide Who You Are, Anita Hill” artwork. It stuck out to me the most out of all the rest. The initial artwork shows a bunch of words above a picture of a young Anita Hill. The rhetorical properties relate to its meaning because the words on the picture say things such as “Don’t push it”, “Nothing’s going on”, “You’ll get over it”. Upon further research, I read that these were words said to people during the #metoo movement. Which was a time when victims of sexual assault and harassment came forward with their experiences. These words were said to them that just invalidated them. These words of invalidation were in red and I think that was meant to emphasize how often these victims don’t have much of a support system and are told that they’re overreacting and to just move on. This text resonates with social and political concerns of the present because these days, people speak out about their experiences. I feel like this artwork is just a reminder of the past and how people who actually spoke out were treated back then. Even today, some people’s experiences are still being invalidated. The conclusion that I can draw from this text is that art is usually a reminder of the past. It also can be used as a conversation starter, especially for important topics. One impact it has on political and social concerns is that it can inspire people to speak out about problems like this.

David Wojnarowicz’s “Unititled” utilized multiple rhetorical properties within his text to deliver a message to the readers that society went against him just because he was homosexual. In the text, he mentions that his sexuality caused him to lose his “home, civil rights, jobs, and all conceivable freedoms.” He utilized a photo of him as a kid with the text to appeal to the reader’s emotions by showing how an innocent kid will eventually have to face all these sufferings and injustice due to his sexuality. The use of repetition in his text such as “One day” and “this kid” helped the readers understand how much suffering he will have to face when he becomes an adult. One issue David Wojnarowicz’s text resonates within modern society is racism; people are treated differently based on the color of their skin. For example, Asian Americans, especially women and elders are being attacked for no reason. Some individuals made Asian Americans the scapegoat of the pandemic and used that as an excuse to brutally attack innocent civilians. Although the two topics are different, both subjects could be related to inequality since David Wojnarowicz and Asian Americans are blamed for something they don’t have control over. Art has a major impact on social and political concerns because it is an effective way to send messages. Throughout history, art was used to bring a change socially and politically. For instance,  we can use posters to expose the issues in society, we can use propaganda to convince people of certain ideas, and we can even use art to protest against something.

The art I chose was Adrian Piper’s “Decide Who You Are, Anita Hill” because it could be interpreted rhetorically in many different ways. There are numerous statements made in red words that connect to several social and political movements. The first two I thought of were the Black Lives Matter movement and the #MeToo movement which I felt truly embodies what this artwork is trying to say. The words “surely you’re exaggerating just a little” “you’re being irrational” or “the problem? you’re being paranoid” sound as if this person is gaslighting another. To top it off, the color red to me means power, and the person saying these things is in a higher power position in comparison to the person receiving these words. The two movements I mentioned have to do with power dynamics in certain social situations, whether it is a man and a woman, a white person and a black person, or a rich person and a poor person. The fact that Piper also used an image of a black little girl perfectly resembles what women and black people go through growing up into adults. Art can most definitely make an impact on social and political concerns going on in our country. Art starts a conversation and it allows people to opinionate on the situations presented. Just like Piper’s art piece, it can give different interpretations and have someone else think deeply about the issues portrayed in the art and potentially take action against them. As this art piece touches on the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movement, other pieces of art that support different movements can also create conversations and shed light on other important issues.