Week 7 -Art Media Essay- The Art of Place
For the past few weeks, our class has been working around the concept of place. From our activities surrounding this idea, I have seen its importance to both society and people. Namely, the idea of place grants us a way to express ourselves by allowing us to create an identity for ourselves.
The concept of identity created through place can be seen from a variety of people. Such cases can be the works by artists Carmen Smith and Wijnanda Deroo. Carmen Smith is a visual artist whose works were based on her experiences in her home of South Florida. Often, her works are influenced by capturing memories of her life in South Florida and expressing how such memories of the place become apart of her own identity. One of Smith’s works was Pool Day (No Running), depicting a bunch of people hanging out at a motel pool. This work shows engagement with her life in Florida showing a scenario she most likely has seen before. Similarly, there’s Wijnanda Deroo, a photographer whose pictures display the sense of identity created by place. However, these pictures are completely devoid of any people with Deroo often taking pictures of public buildings, homes, factories, or hotels. One of her works, The Russian Tea Room, 150 West 57th Street, 2009, is a picture of the inside of a restaurant in New York. While empty, the viewer can get a sense of identity from this photo. From looking at this photo we can interpret what kind of see here be it really fancy people due to the well-kept furniture or people who work here have been for a long time based on the art deco design of the restaurant. The concept of identity created by place has also been seen in the psychology by fellow psychologists: Harold M. Proshansky, Abbe K. Fabian, and Robert Kaminoff with their idea of place identity. The general idea of place identity stems from the belief that one’s self-identity is formed with environments. Place identity values environment as certain places can provide people a sense of belonging, help them construct meaning, sort attachments, and mediate change. Outside of granting identity, the idea of what is considered “[lace” has changed.
With the rise of technology, new definitions of what can be considered “place” has risen in recent years. One of the most notable examples is the new virtual worlds that exist online like MMORPGs or social media. Unlike the previously stated examples, the “places” within the virtual world are completely devoid of any physical contact between people, and given the current crisis that is occurring, it is the most preferred. However, there exists people who were born before such technology became common such as Millenials or gen-z. To accommodate such people, many sites have made it more accessible to each generation’s preferences. For instance, a millennial's sense of place may be more fast pace compared to the slower pace of those of baby boomers, who were born before the internet becomes a thing, From this, it can be seen that the concept of “place” can take on a variety of forms.
As of the 21st century, the concept of place is very fluid as it takes on a variety of forms to suit and individual to create a sense of identity. With the current pandemic that we are in, I feel that the use of virtual worlds may expand more with people in the coming years. While currently, I’m going with struggles of isolation as it had taken a major toll on my physical and mental health. Regardless, I’ve had made attempts to adapt to this soley virtual communication via sites like Zoom or Discord. Even if unlikely, I do wish my next years of college be physical not online.