An Extension of Art and Life : Art Works and Art Observers

“I don’t really exist apart from the objects I see--what a strange thought. I am neither independent observer nor object in someone else’s eyes...There is ultimately no such thing as an observer or an object, only a foggy ground between the two” (Elkins 1996, 45). James Elkins considered the relationship between the looker and the looked-upon in his book The Object Stares Back.  Applying his ideas to our observations, we find the same nebulous, “in-between” relationship between the art observers and the artworks exhibited.

             
Museum visitors engaged with the art in ways other than visually.  Striking sounds permeated throughout the entire exhibit, overlapping and creating an interesting soundscape. In this way, the presence and absence of sound engaged the art observers. Some of us felt that the soundscape in the space made us feel as if we were ‘in’ the artwork – not just as spectators. The curator could have chosen to use head phones, so that the sounds didn’t permeate throughout the exhibit- but she didn’t. Instead, she successfully executed Baldessari's videos in a way that was congruent to his work.

Another example involves John Baldessari’s video installation that played a love scene in which couples with no acting training performed the same script. Because of the bad acting and tone of the scene, we found it to be somewhat funny. Then a woman stood next to us and she could not stop laughing. She said, “he has a great sense of humor don’t you think?” referring to Baldessari, and some members of our group started laughing because of the reaction the woman was having to the video. Our feelings about the video went from thinking the video was funny to thinking it was hilarious because the woman, by way of her reaction, changed the way we felt about the video and the exhibit. Together we became part of the art, the visible and invisible boundaries that separated us from the art collapsed, and the art collapsed the normal boundaries between strangers in public places.

             
In addition to the visual pieces that comprise the majority of art in the Baldessari exhibit, it is interesting to investigate the ways that Baldessari encourages other ways of engaging with his work. In addition to his inclusion of sound, video and use of space, another theme throughout his art is to critique the conformist ways that people are taught to consume art. One example of this is a video Baldessari shot of himself, where he slowly moves into different positions as he repeatedly makes the statement “I am making art. I am making art.” As one engaged through visual means with some of the art hung on the exhibit walls, the sound of his voice saying “I am making art” allowed the visitor to consume art on more than one sensory level, while also being reminded that he or she is looking at art. In this particularly instance, the art work itself was critiquing the concept of art. Not only can art observers become part of the art, but artworks can take on the position of a spectator as well.