My Residual Reality Experience

I found the Residual Reality exhibition to be fascinating. To be honest, growing up I was not very fond of my art classes. I personally felt like it was wrong for a teacher to grade a student’s art work because it is all based on opinion. Since then I have always looked at myself as non-creative or “bad at art”, when really there is no such thing. The wide arrangement of work in this exhibit helped me gain a better understanding of this. This was the first time I had ever been to a photography exhibit and I didn’t really know what to expect. With many of the photographs, I was confused and almost frustrated because I could not figure out what the artist was attempting to portray. However, as I looked around and experienced all of the diverse artwork in the room, I realized that sometimes art is not meant to be translated into words, and I think that is the beauty of it. With every picture and every piece of art work there are a million possible interpretations of what it is supposed to imply and none of them are wrong. Going into this exhibit I felt nervous and unsure, and I left with a sense of gratitude and amazement.
Min Kim Park’s work really stood out to me. Her uses of colors were extravagant. I really liked that her photos seemed as if they were coming out of the wall, as if they were 3D. I was intrigued with how she got her models to do certain things. As well as viewing her art, I really enjoyed hearing her speak at the Round Table Discussion. Something that really caught my attention was when she stated, “Use your body to perform.” As she said this I could clearly picture her photography and the way she made the human body look, particularly women. It’s like the human body can always be looked at as a performing piece of art. Another artist that stood out to me was Daniel Kaufman. I especially liked his work because I have done some similar things like that in the past. It is interesting how he takes images from all over and arranges them in a way that, to the viewer, seems as if it is a real room. It was especially interesting for me to see, experience, and research these artist’s works; yet I was fortunate enough to be able to hear their personal thoughts and opinions. All in all, the exhibit and the Round Table Discussion were a great experience and I definitely look forward to learning more about photography.