Missing the point…
March 30th, 2007 by AndyI wish I was good at remembering names so I could give credit where it’s due, but anyways… Being the incredible and supportive friend that I am, I was checking out a friend’s art piece on display today (pretty good commentary on control, image, and the bar scene - not the focus here but something I’ll surely return to) and witnessed some pretty interesting human behaviour. One of the other artists had printed an image of typical African poverty (little kids with distended stomachs, amputees covered in flies, etc) on a 3′x4′ pane of glass, which she displayed (and discreetly filmed) in the middle of a Guelph shopping mall. The vast majority of people who viewed this display of human misery paid it no mind and continued on with their business. Those few who responded did so with comments such as “my, what a pretty painting”, “absolutely gorgeous”, “thats a beautiful image”, and so on. Not one comment referred to the content of the image. Later, as part of the exhibition, the artist dropped and shattered the glass in the middle of the mall. Many passers-by rushed over and began asking the artist if she was okay, if she needed any help, if she was hurt. Someone who probably viewed the entire scene from a completely different perspective offered her 25 cents to walk away from the mess.
What does this mean? Are people simply so overwhelmed by African poverty that they choose to turn the other way, but are willing to respond to smaller concerns? Or do people simply just not care about that which they cannot see? Are we experiencing societal burnout? Desensitization? Apathy? Some, all or none of those? Am I looking too deep, or not deeply enough? I don’t really know, but people sure are good at missing the point.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:30 am
First off, this is really interesting art piece, whoever did it sounds like an intense lady.
I think that the general publics reaction to this work is a combination of factors, many of which you mention. I find people choose to ignore what they find overwhelming, in either a conscious or sub-conscious manner (sometimes both) in a natural effort to protect their emotional being. Through my experiences I think that people often believe third world issues, such a poverty in Africa, are out of their control and too disturbing therefore they should not put forth any emotional energy into it because the cause is considered “futile” or out of their reach. While the girl breaking the glass is a tangible situation for someone living in our society to grasp and in fact it would be considered the social norm to react with a helping hand.
However, I think apathy and desensitization also plays a huge role. Many people I find, just don’t give a fuck. And naturally with the amount of violence we are exposed to in media outlets, everyone is far more desensitized these days.
With all the media coverage on Africa over the past several years, we could very well be experiencing a societal burnout on the issues.
All I know, is it’s all super depressing.
But sometimes I wonder, what the point of being informed is and if that really makes you any less ignorant than others. If knowing about these things or caring in your heart really makes you any different that those people who are good at “missing the point”.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Truth is beauty, and such.
April 4th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Truth is beauty, indeed. Some pretty gruesome or difficult images can be pretty at the same time. It is a little weird that the content wasn’t spoken about at all, given that it was an art exhibition and stuff. Even if it was just something as dismissive as “that’s dumb” or “what’s the point of this image?” But whatevs.
Being informed, by definition, does indeed make you less ignorant. And it’s important… but only if you choose to act on your knowledge. At the very least this could mean that you tell others about what you’ve learned. That’s something. Or it could mean that you give a little cash to a charity (however small it is, IF you find the right charity a little money can go a long way). At worst, you’re simply going through the motions to alleviate “western guilt” - but even that is better than purposeful ignorance.
(She was offered a quarter to walk away? I don’t quite understand that bit.)
April 4th, 2007 at 2:00 am
I don’t think anyone understands why that dude offered her a quarter, other than that dude himself. I’d love to hear any ideas.