Summaries at Kaphar and Southan (3)

“Can art amend history?” by Titus Kaphar is about answering the question of why do the wealthy population get to walk, while the others get to ride. Kaphar talks about the history of painting and how he is trying to amend our public structures and national monuments so our future can look a little different than it has before. With the past, he is not saying erasing it, but is saying discuss the people who walk, discuss the people who are not in focus. Because we can use the past to then amend our future. Kaphar speaks about a specific painting by Frans Hals and how it speaks to the compositional hierarchy. There is a reason why the artist put the wealthy people in the front and the others in the background, to prove who is of the highest in the composition. Art is used as a visual language and thereis a meaning behind every stroke that is made. Shifting your focus on the background to see the impact on those who were diverse and stood out among the crowd can change our focus in the future to come.

“Is Art a Waste of Time?” by Rhys Southan discusses Effective Altruism and compares saving lives to making art. Rhys enters this crowd of people to work on his dark comedy, in hopes of standing among a crowd of hardcore EA’s that believe art does not impact the world we live in today, in any way. While there are artists creating the same old pieces, there are children dying every second. Not only do EA’s believe it is important to give back, it is even more important to give large quantities of money because essentially, that is the only way to make a worthwhile contribution. It is about the competition between individuals, and if you can accomplish even more than the person beside you accomplishes. Additionally, the EA’s find art incredibly selfish. Creating art is for yourself, not for the world. It is in no way unique or making a positive impact on society. While Rhys is taking all of this in, his view on life shifts a bit and it goes to show how easily people can influence your beliefs. Although his focus shifted, he continues his love for art, not giving up on writing quite yet.

One Comment

  1. elishaemerson

    Hannah,
    You have chosen a great TED talk, and it seems like you have noticed some important points. I missed reading what YOU SAY. How are you going to connect these two texts?

    3/3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *