Yelling at Kara Walker.

An article reacting to the reaction of many to Kara Walker's "A Subtlety'...
http://www.indypendent.org/2014/06/30/why-i-yelled-kara-walker-exhibit

I completely understand the frustration, but as an artist who wants the viewer to inform the work using their own experience, I see this type of thing as, unfortunately, something that is bound to happen. In my artwork, I try to push the viewer into their own interpretation of the symbols, objects and title in a way that creates a meaningful piece, but also helps reveal something about the viewer.

In the case of the Kara Walker sculpture, people seem to be revealing a bit of their own ignorance, their own immaturity and their own disrespect of art...but that's what art opens itself to when presenting a serious subject in a rather "spectacular" fashion. The size and spectacle of the piece itself opens the work to a wider audience (you wouldn't have half the attendance if this work was 10 feet tall in a fancy gallery) and that wider audience opens the door to those less interested in the message or meaning.

Fortunately, the piece is popular and getting a large audience...unfortunately, popularity does not necessarily translate into a successfully understood piece. But, as an artist that wants a piece of the viewer in the meaning, maybe the immature and inappropriate reactions actually helped all these people to show their true colors...or maybe not everyone looks at art and wants to feel guilt...maybe they go see art to escape from the everyday problems and not to think about them more...but doesn't that say something as well, whether or not it's the intended reaction?

I think the writer of the article has a very good point...I just am a bit sad they didn't see that these less-than-desired reactions could actually be an interesting aspect of the piece and add to the overall meaning. The fact someone made a racially charged piece and people are reacting to it as a joke may say more about us than if tourists all solemnly (and artificially) respected the work.

It's not fun to see people mocking (or ignorantly ignoring) the point of a piece...I don't think, however, that the piece would be more "successful" or that society would improve if viewers were required to be artificially reverent.

In the end, I expect (or hope) that this reaction was all part of the artist's plan...use a difficult subject to reveal people's aversion to appropriately deal with a difficult subject...and, if so, it worked fantastically. People laugh, take photos, and generally ignore the overwhelmingly tragic history behind a piece...and now someone's called out those reactions to their face...maybe, possibly, one or two of those originally laughing and snapping selfies stopped after reading the plaque or hearing the writer's outburst...maybe not...either way, the reactions created a real discussion rather than a PC, high-fiving, koombaya moment...and I'd rather have real discussion.