Alisha - Cafe/ Conversations

After waking up too early, getting on an old style school bus driving for an hour and walking cautiously around a contemporary gallery all I really wanted was a coffee. After going through
the Power Plant as well as Art Metro pole we stopped at a small cafe just up the street. It was one of the most perfect places I have ever been to. All windows, which allowed for the perfect amount of sunlight and warmth. The atmosphere was peaceful and it was filled with beautiful people.

Over lunch, we discussed the previous exhibits. I had enjoyed a particular piece in the Power Plant. It was one which encompassed, smells, sounds, videos as well as temperature. I felt that this was such an interesting way to represent an environment. I really felt that the exhibit captured the way it feel to be placed in a new environment. The sounds, the smells, the images along with the precariously placed venetian blinds, created a sensory overload. The artist managed to encompass all the aspects of a particular place, while still leaving out key components. In order to fully realise a location i feel that it is necessary to understand and be part of the culture which accompanies said location. By presenting all of the sensory information but none of the social aspects the artist showed us how flat and incomprehensible a place can truly be when one is excluded from the community. If I were to go to a foreign country, with no knowledge of the people around me, I would feel lost. Though all of the empirical information would be there, I would not be able to comprehend much of it. For example, though certain smells would be presnt I would not understand their signifigance, why they were there, where they were from. I think that the artist was trying to show how important the knowledge of community can be, and how without it, a place will lose much of it's meaning.

As we discussed the exhibits, I came to realise that, I was the only person who had liked this piece. The, guide, the prof, my friends, everybody else was unimpressed. Of course, instead of standing up for my opinions, my inferiority complex began to get the better of me! My opinions, could not possibly stand up to my friends, my prof or the guide. I don't know, maybe I just wasn't en cultured enough, to understand and appreciate what I was supposed to? I don't know.

After sitting for a while I just decided it was better to put it out there, when do I ever get tot talk about art? I just layed it down, I loved the exhibit. I want to try and incorporate things like smell and sound into my own works. I think that this exhibit really spoke to me, I don't know why. I thought that, it accurately represented the way I feel a lot of the time. When there is so many new things going on, and so much information to process, I feel lost, like I don't fully understand anything. I get little bits and pieces of everything, but I can't fully understand any one aspect.

Though this piece was not very well received by anybody else, it really spoke to me. Maybe I have got it all wrong. Maybe it didn't accurately communicate what the artist wanted it to. But that's not important. What's important is what I realised in it. It was pretty inspiring and I think that I will try to incorporate aspects of it into my future projects, not only in this class, but outside of class as well.