Art Event Two

For my second art event, I attended Fereshteh's lecture on her work. My two favorite pieces shown here were Saddam's Birthday and Dance Dance Revolutionary. I liked these two works in general because they seemed very light-hearted while carrying with them two very serious subject matters. Both projects seemed to involve passers-by on an entertaining as well as intellectually stimulating level, and I liked that. Saddam's Birthday seemed to be a statement on the effects of terrorism on American public opinion and attitudes towards the Middle East and politics in general. The fact that it was supposedly Saddam's "66th" birthday was the initial indication that we were looking for some sort of ironic statement on the demonization of the Middle East. I was amused (in an ironic sort of way) that there were these tourist-type people taking photos of themselves in front of strongly American institutions while wearing masks made to resemble America's supposed arch nemesis. The best part was when they got a talking to from the authorities; that just proved the point that American authorities are vindictive and self-righteous in the worst way. We have no sense of humor when it comes to international relations, especially with Middle Eastern countries. For that matter, we don't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to the realistic depiction of anyone who doesn't share America's ideals; they must all be demonized, apparently. As for the Dance Dance Revolutionary project, I liked all of it because I play DDR religiously, and I thought it was a wonderful idea to involve the audience so directly with the subject matter.