Lauren's Art Discourse

The American Way, Norman Rockwell, 1944, Oil on Canvas, Source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/the-american-way-1944

The American Way by Norman Rockwell is a reflection of the ideal American value of helping others, especially those who can’t help themselves. It features a young girl being fed by an American soldier. The young girl’s simple dress and bare feet show that she is likely lower class. The two figures’ surroundings consist of a cracked wall behind them, the box on which the girl sits, and the object on which the soldier is seated. This, along with the presence of the soldier shows that they are in a place that has likely been affected by the war (WWII). The girl’s parents are also not present which could indicate that they were killed in the war. This would have left the young girl helpless since she does not appear old enough to be able to take care of herself. So, the good soldier steps in to help, thus reflecting ideal American values. The soldier’s gun is also by his side showing that he is ready to fight if he needs to. The presence of the gun also reflects the duality of the soldier. He uses that gun to do his job, which involves killing people, but he has put the gun aside to help the young girl showing that there is more to the soldier than just someone who kills people. Not only does the soldier risk his life each day to fight for his country, but he is also willing to go out of his way to help those who cannot help themselves, such as the little girl in the painting. This unselfish will to help others is the true “American way”.

     The biggest thing that I learned from the game was how interconnected art and politics were in America. Through the various art history courses that I have taken, I have learned a lot about the relationship between politics and art in Europe throughout history, but I had not learned as much about America. I first learned about the American Artist’s Congress and the Artist’s Union through this game. It was interesting to see that artists formed groups that were so involved in political matters on top of being involved in issues that impacted only artists. It was also interesting to see that several of the artists in the congress didn’t create works that were overtly political or that seemed to have any political message whatsoever given how concerned the group as a whole was with political issues.

     Something that I think was done well with the game were the character sheets. My character sheet gave me several pages worth of background information, which provided me with a very good starting point for researching my character. Something that I think could have been better is if we had been provided with a character list. I think that it would have been helpful if we were able to look into our fellow congress members a little bit before meeting with them. For example, my character sheet says that prior to our first meeting as a congress, I should talk with some of my friends in the congress to get them on board with supporting my continued leadership. I think a character list would have been helpful in this scenario as I would have been able to look at the characters and see who I thought would be easier to convince and who might be harder to convince.

Source: https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/111400

“The Return of Private Davis from the Argonne” by Curry depicts the funeral of a WWI soldier. In the foreground of the painting is a casket covered with an American flag that is surrounded by many people. The flag covering the casket shows that the funeral is for a soldier. This is also shown through the inclusion of the uniformed soldiers that take up most of the crowd of people on the left side of the painting. The style of the uniforms that the soldiers are wearing show that they fought in World War I. This can also be deduced from the title as the Argonne refers to the Argonne Forest in France which was used as a battleground in WWI. All but one of the  people shown in the painting are within the circle of people around the casket. The only person who is not within the circle is a lone man who kneels beside the casket. Based on his closeness to the casket, he is likely a relative of the deceased soldier, potentially the soldier’s father based on the age he appears to be. Most of the people have their heads bowed towards the casket, showing that this is a somber event. The only people whose heads are not bowed are the soldiers who stand at attention and in formation and the figure directly behind the casket. The figure directly behind the casket appears to be a preacher or minister as he holds a book, which is likely the Bible, and his other hand is raised as if he is in the middle of a sermon or speech. Other than the figure who is likely a preacher, the painting potentially contains religious connotations through the light rays in the sky as light is a major element of Christianity and the way it is portrayed in this work is reminiscent of a heavenly light shining down on the people, which would represent the presence of God. Also, the figures depicted are not individualized as most of their faces contain little to no detail. This shows that the painting is likely more about the event than about the specific people who were involved in it.

          The first session of the conference was about art that embodies the politics of care and love, and also how these politics can be embraced in everyday life. Another topic that was discussed was how these politics, when used as advocacy tools, can be powerful and can be used to bring about justice for groups such as indigenous communities, black lives, and local communities.

         The presentation from this session that I found to be the most interesting and compelling was the talk by Sylvia McAdam. McAdam is a direct descendant of the Treaty peoples from the Nēhīyaw (Cree) Nation in Canada, so her talk focused mainly on the injustices faced by the First Nations peoples. The main injustice that she discussed was the clear-cutting and development of tribal and family lands without consent of the tribe or family to which the land belongs. One thing that stood out to me that she mentioned about this is that the type of clear-cutting that is taking place is actually condemned by the UN, so it was surprising to me that more isn’t being done to solve the issue. Another thing that she mentioned that really stood out to me was that Canada exceeds the Amazon in terms of deforestation. This was surprising for me because when someone mentions deforestation, the first place that would come to my mind is the Amazon. One of the reasons that this issue stuck out to me so much is the inaction of the government/ government agencies. Not only is the style of clear-cutting condemned by the UN, as I mentioned earlier, but also the lands are supposed to be protected by Treaty 6 as they are not only Native hunting grounds but are also burial grounds. Despite this, it sounded like there was little being done by the government to try to resolve the issue.

          The second session of the conference focused on the use of art in more revolutionary practices. It focused on the use of art in speaking out against exclusionary politics around subjects such as land, gender, and race. What I found interesting about this session was that, on top of the speakers from the video screenings, we not only heard from artists, but also from people in the field of political science. Thus, we were able to hear about the same topics from multiple perspectives.

         The presentation, from this session, that I found to be the most interesting was the talk by Aimi Chinen. Her work interested me the most because it related to things that I am also interested in. A lot of her work focused on looking back on her heritage and where she came from by not only investigating landscapes from around where she grew up, but also by looking into her memories. Family and heritage are things that I find to be important and I enjoy, and am interested in. looking into my own heritage, so the concept of looking back on your heritage that was in her works really resonated with me.

Image Source: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/our-good-earth-58156

Our Good Earth (1942) – John Steuart Curry

The painting, Our Good Earth by John Steuart Curry reflects the importance of farming in America. The main focus in the painting is the farmer with his children standing in a wheat field that dominates the foreground. Looking back, we can see that the wheat field fills the entirety of the land within the space of the painting. Along the horizon there is a farm that is just barely visible. The minuscule size of the farm compared to the other elements of the work show just how large and expansive the wheat field in which the farmer is standing is. As the one farm in the background is the only man-made structure that can be seen in the image, it is likely that the entire field is all one farm. That one single farm would be that large shows how important farming was in America because of the amount of space that was dedicated solely to farming. Another feature that showcases the importance of farming is the size of the farmer. The figure of the farmer dominates close to half of the image. The prominence that the farmer is given reflects the importance of the role of the farmer in American society  at the time.