Thursday, April 18, 2013

Reiner 4

Aesthetic Experience through Pudding
Alex Reiner
Entry 4 - 2/17/13


Today in my art history class we looked at the relatively new field of video art, popularized by the digital age.  One of the videos we looked at was of two women feeding each other pudding.  As the video progressed the feeding became more forced and pudding ended up all over the two women's faces and hands as they tried to resist the other feeding them.   In this sense the art is both visual art, as it is done in the video medium, but also dramatic because the two women are acting in the film.  This type of aesthetic experience is a perfect example of how the experience does not have to be a pleasant one.  My immediate reaction was of curiosity, which quickly turned to almost a disgust.  The subject matter itself- two women feeding each other pudding was neutral, having no meaning.  As the interaction began to be more forced, lending to obvious interpretation by the viewer, I began to be more revolted by what I was seeing.  The pudding, all of their faces and hands, along with the expressions on the women's faces resulted in a powerful aesthetic experience that made me want to turn away from the art.

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