Travel Art Part 1 and 2

The United States Army, the third wheel in my marriage that we have been apart of going on seven years.  A part of my life that I love and have so much pride for.  Every few years this third wheel sends us to another post in a different state, as a perk I have come to love as so many hate.  

What you will always see driving down all the different one way streets at any post are the decorations of old helicopters, tanks, and cannons that are apart of history.  This is Fort Carson, our third duty station.  Everything is the same but different, the Army seems to like to keep it this way.   

As you drive on post, the one thing you will see everywhere, besides signs telling you what to do and not to do, are numbers on buildings.  Every building has a number that I have a hate love relationship with.  If I find my building but realize that the road I am on is a one way I have to go all the way around and figure out how to get there, all because not all buildings are in the order the way I would have put them.  

More on decorations, each division has a symbol/patch that are thrown on buildings and monuments of importance. I realize this simply means that the Army has pride and places their mark on things they are proud of, and to show what is home.  Weather home is showing off headquarters or showing  the people driving around the post that this division is the big dog on campus and this is their home.  

Doesn't matter what post I am on, something that I have respect for and stops me in my place to reflect on are the reason "decorations." This simply means that the stones that are placed in different locations, maybe a memorial site, maybe something that has documents of what has taken place around the world.  Sacrifice that has to be made, families staying stateside, soldiers leaving for war, soldiers that leave and never come back, it is all something that I am grateful for and happy to do my part.  No matter what post I am on, this is something that will always be different.


















Part two

     In the Bright Young Things gallery at GOCA 121, I walked past something very interesting.  My first thought was somewhere along the lines of, "this is art?" At times I think my three year old is a genius at painting beautiful portraits, with the different colors, some parts smooth, some clumped up.  She knows how to make a mess with glitter for sure, but I always remember she is three and I am her mom, everything she does is perfect.  So while looking through the art gallery and coming upon this "piece," I was a bit taken back.  Curtains hanging at a ruffle with four light bulbs hanging in front of the curtain.  Three black and white photos without frames hung evenly on the curtain. The pictures were of three women with blankets and veils over their heads, standing on tree trunks out in the forest.  Now being honest, I try to find what is art like about this random collection in front of me.  What I got out of this piece, was the fact that in the middle of no where, it does not matter who you are or what you look like, you are just there.  Just you and that place you decide to stand at.  The other thought that came to mind, was that standing in a crowd with many faces is just the same as standing alone with no face or name if you do not stand up for what you believe in.

     Remaining innocent is like remaining ignorant.  An approach to art is trying to relate to the aspects and to the experience (Berger 32) is what I feel I strived for.  In the beginning I did not like the taste of Art the artist came up with.  I did not get it, very random for my taste.  In the end I did come up with two different stories/statements that maybe the artist was trying to proclaim. I could have easily walked away or just thought my three year old had more talent, but just standing and trying to make since of what was in front of me I wasn't ignorant and acting innocent.  I do believe a statement is trying to be made and it is a statement that I needed to hear myself say out loud.  Maybe I saw the piece the way I needed to see it and not what it was intended to be seen as.  Either way figuring out what an artist or a piece is trying to tell you, should pull you in and get you thinking and not standing there judging and not liking what you see.

Berger, John.Ways of Seeing.London.Penguin Books, 1972. Print.