Barbara Kruger Response

     Barbara Krueger seems like a very interesting character, though she doesn’t really sound unique to me.  According to Terry Barrett, Kruger has a purpose to bring a change for pleasure and tolerance by making statements that are “negative about the culture we are in.” I feel like almost every artist does that in one form or another but possibly has a different aspects in mind that they are trying to influence. The fact that meanings of the same piece of artwork may shift depending on the viewer is also something that applies to all pieces of different styles. I would admit that I find her purpose to influence pleasure and tolerance a bit interesting and different, however, what is her motive for that?

     Overall her work is creative and I generally value other people’s talents, whatever they might be. It is interesting for me to hear other peoples’ opinions on different subjects, which is what I think Kruger’s work really is when she combines text with an image. Her work also reminds me of advertisements and propaganda as it is displayed on a lot of different media, as Terry Barrett mentions it being on matchbook covers, T-shirts, postcards, etc. This could be the reason why her work can seem very familiar as “media serves as the agent of mass repetition and reinforcement” as Kate Linker put it in her article “Love For Sale.”

     After writing my response I found this image by Barbara Kruger. It was done for a British departments store called Selfridge’s. I feel like it underlines my point about her work alluding to advertisements.