Glenn Ligon brought up a concept of art in his interview that many people overlook: literature. I enjoyed how when he was asked, "What was your artistic talent?", he said, "I also had a deep interest in literature, which became a big part of what my work is about." I think a lot of people overlook literature as an art form when it really is. A lot of people do not understand what makes a certain piece "literature", but it truly has an extra dimension of meaning and substance to it. You could approach any piece of literature like you would approach a piece of art; it would just take longer to digest since you have to actually read the book.
When Ligon said, "At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous", it really stuck with me. He moves beyond the visual aspect of art and desires the viewer to connect with the language of the text. What he says about his paintings is another interesting concept: you have to learn how to read his work. A lot of people find it easy to simply dismiss paintings or photos as ridiculous because they do not fully understand them. By looking at multiple pieces by the artist and learning more about them, the viewer can learn how to read their work. Books have clearly been his inspiration, which I find great because books are amazing. I like how he has connected the literary world with his own painting world.
The image I chose is Ligon's an image of the first neon sign Ligon ever made. Ligon discusses it in an interview with NPR. He was inspired by Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, especially the saying "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Ligon saw this as a reflection on society, where everything is booming, yet everyone is poor. America is going backwards and forwards at the same time. That is why the word America is going forward, yet the letters are flipped around. I definitely agree with Ligon's opinion of America and find this image to be so expressive in one word.
I like what you have to say about literature as an artform, and I totally agree with you. Words strung together are beautiful, so there is no reason whay it cannot be considered a form of art.
ReplyDeleteI also commented on Ligon's appreciation for literature and the written word. I loved that he would just sit and read and underline any phrase that had significance to him. I think in this way he could pull out a lot of interesting statements that others reading might ignore. I think it's a huge part of why the words he picks have such a strong impact on his audience.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your explication and depiction of Ligon's neon American sign in that he saw society as both booming and poor at the same time. This idea outlines the paradoxical limits in society which is implicit in the fact that the neon sign says "America."
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated Ligon's appreciation for literature. So often, I feel like the captions of images are ignore. However, after looking at Chris Ware's art and reading the texts on his work, I can also see how the literature can get in the way.
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