Obey: Andre the Giant Feed the People

1. What is your emotional response upon entering the exhibit? Please explain.
Well before entering the Obey exhibit, I didn't really know what to expect, and upon entering, I stared at all the faces and was confused because I didn't really know what I was supposed to be getting out of it, I felt like I was missing the message supposed to be being conveyed. I continued to feel this confusion and vague frustration throughout the exhibit, especially when images of peace were mixed with images of war and I felt partially like maybe it was sarcasm and trying to make a point, but the other side of me was saying NO, it's either peace or war, pick one! Going through the exhibit, I also felt a bit of anger because I felt like I was being screamed at "Do this, so this! Obey, obey!" and I didn't want to be told what to do... by art. I was scared too (fear) by all the strong images and how it seemed that EVERYONE (music artists and government leaders etc. portrayed in the paintings) was involved in this strange movement and I felt like if I didn't follow, I would be... punished?

2. What is your emotional response upon leaving the exhibit? Please explain.
Upon leaving the exhibit, I felt reflective, thinking about how our society is influenced by art and other forms of propaganda, and about war and peace... I was overwhelmed with all the art and talent and effort put into it, and all the things presented in different forms than I'm used to seeing, such as the giant money bill that said "Under a Lesser God". However, I still felt frustration because I didn't fully understand the exhibit.

3. Does emotion interact with reason, sense, perception and language for you in this exhibit? If so, how?
Totally! Since I thought (reasoned) that since this art looks serious and like it was created for a purpose, I became really frustrated that its purpose and message was not apparent to me. What my senses perceived (well, just my eyes, since we were not allowed to touch) influenced what emotion I felt when looking at the painting; when there were threatening (violent) symbols and such bold colors as red and black with a serious image in the painting, I felt threatened and frightened and sometimes angry, whereas with the green money paintings I just felt more amused and intrigued. Language was a huge impact on my emotions in this exhibit; for one thing, the word "OBEY" written on almost everything and connected with every person and image made me feel overwhelmed and wanting to rebel against this mind-control that was being thrown at us with every painting we looked at. On the other hand, the word "HOPE" on Obama's painting made me feel slightly happy and proud, even if I don't agree with everything that that suggests...

4. Is this an American culture exhibit? How might someone from a non-Western country respond to this exhibit? Why?
I don't think so, because there were many universal symbols and concepts like war and peace presented that were not specific to America, and leaders from other countries were also featured in some paintings. There were many many pictures of Japanese people, and I think there was a picture of Stalin, as well as other people from foreign countries. Someone from a non-Western country could be kind of offended if they thought that their leader/past leader (e.g. Stalin) was being made made fun of or made into a villain by being associated with all this "propaganda" or anti-propaganda, depending on how you look at it. With all the Asian-looking people portrayed holding guns and weapons etc., people from Asian countries might feel either proud and patriotic if they think of it as protecting their country, or they could feel offended and angry because of that portrayal of their country, or because they really had fought in war and weren't proud of that fact.

5. Can one appreciate theatre, music and art using only the rational mind or must Emotion play a role? Explain.
Well, seeing as the point of much art (including music and theatre as art forms) are pretty much created with the purpose of evoking emotion in viewers, I think it is very difficult to view art without feeling some sort of emotion, however minor and subconscious it may be. Part of being human is having emotions, and the reason why people appreciate art so much is because they view it as "beautiful" and "sublime" because of the emotions within us. However, I think it is possible to appreciate certain aspects and details of art with a rational mind, such as thinking about the color schemes and brush patterns and other artistic techniques employed in a piece of art, or the chords and timing used in a song, or the exact facial expression worn by an actor, and appreciating the specific use of these elements to creatively convey a message or present an expression of thought to an audience. But generally, when we see a painting or watch a play or listen to a song, we like it because it's "realistic looking" or "has a good beat" or "was entertaining or funny"; most of us are not critics and go mainly on our emotions to judge things' worth.


"this exhibit made me reflect on the existential properties of midgets in relation to zooplankton and the paradigm they submissivly impose on the universe."
-a quote from a friend who also visited the exhibit :)