W5 The Art of The AIDS Crisis Discussion

For this week’s Art Interpretation, please consider images discussed by Rock Hushka in “Undetectable:  The Presence of HIV in Contemporary American Art” or the performance pieces highlighted in either the reading (Links to an external site.) or the lecture about performance art.  For Hushka, especially consider either the pieces labeled as (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.), which are included in the .pdf; or be sure to see the supplement to Hushka, which includes many of the other images mentioned by Hushka during the essay but which appear elsewhere in the original source book.  

You need not limit yourself to the images on the weekly art page, if you took the time to google other images associated with those episodes.  You may react to one of the prompts below; or, you may react to a post one of your classmates has already written.

Alternatively, you may select one of the performance arts pieces you encounter in the readings, these pages, or the Art Story–or that you google on your own.  But if you already wrote on performance art in a previous Block, find something new to write about here.  

PROMPTS (if feasible, please consider downloading the pieces under discussion into your response)

1.  Pick any two pieces depicting the AIDS crisis or any two examples of performance art.  Explain the ways in which each piece conveys a form of political or social activism,  a call to action, or expresses a point of view.

2. Pick any two pieces from this week’s art and explain how it embodies themes related to “divided culture.”  Pretend you’re answering a final exam question that has asked you to summarize major themes from this course.

3. Pick any two pieces from this week’s art and explain why the issue may be relevant beyond the divided culture of the United States, and may tackle an issue the world should care about. 

4.  Make any comments you wish about this week’s art, so long as you are commenting on two pieces.