Brain Food #402
Art is not meant to be beautiful
Daily Brain Food.
Thoughts of the day
Poet Cezar A. Cruz said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
Wolfgang Tillmans is known for his raw yet candid photography of counterculture, human relationships, nightlife, and everything in-between.
His work floats between the mundane of the everyday - that which we tend to ignore - and what really lies behind closed doors - that which we choose to ignore.
In a world of filters, his are non-existent:
“I have always looked at the nuances of everyday things because I feel that is a political responsibility, too - to look in an open, unprejudiced, fearless way at the world around you.”
Looking at his photos, a thought comes to mind. It is not exactly, “That could be us”, but more like “That could have been us.” Art is not always meant to be beautiful, but it is meant to challenge. By placing in front of us something between the familiar and the unfamiliar, his work reflects the strange balance between what we are reluctant to accept and what we forget to acknowledge.
But also, to remind us that life is just about the in-between moments.
Birthday Party, 2008
Freischwimmer 190, 2011