Blog 5

The artpiece I am choosing to discuss for this blog is David Wojnarowicz’s “Untitled.” I found the visual style of this piece to be the most interesting and appealing to me, which is why I chose it. Something about this art that immediately stood out to me was the repetition of the phrase “this kid.” I counted the number of appearances of this phrase to be around 20. The piece is obviously about a gay child and the persecution he will face as one, and Wojnarwicz seems to depict it as a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. On one hand, if the kid does not speak up and submits to the harassment, then he will either commit suicide or hope to be murdered. If he does speak up, however, then he will be subjected to the opposition people who do not want him to exist and brutal experiences such as shock therapy. This is quite a harrowing piece when it’s put this way. In a way, it’s very easy to relate this to modern-day LGBT movements, especially considering the recent wave of anti-transgender bills being proposed all over the country. While shock therapy and outright discrimination against gay people are illegal, it’s clear that the struggle for equality among LGBT groups still has a long way to go. All in all, this artpiece is important because it serves as a time capsule for gay rights throughout history.