The art exhibit I chose to look at is the play and/or project by Paul Chan titled “Waiting for Godot in New Orleans.”At first look, I was slightly confused by what exactly this project was doing.Was it a play, was it a movie?I was not sure.Then I watched the intro video and read the website, and came to realize that this is more than art that they were trying to accomplish.For one thing, New Orleans is the perfectly ironic setting for such a project, and I think that there is much more than meets the eye.The play itself is simply 2 homeless men waiting for a man who never comes.They are waiting for him because they were told he would be there.New Orleans itself is in the same situation.Although, in this modern day, possibly not as much as earlier, but nevertheless, New Orleans is a city that was promised something and they never received anything.This work does a good job to really show what this city has been through.All this is quite blatant however.I think the biggest concept with this work is the fact that someone remembered the city.Paul Chan remembered this city, and did everything in his power to make others remember too.Not to mention the free food, free play, and the Shadow Fund set up.This work was aimed at everyone that had given up on New Orleans.I think what they did in New Orleans is unique.What the city needs most of all is money, and support of the rest of the country.They need help rebuilding, and preparing for futures unknown.What I really found interesting in this though is that behind all the waiting and the anger and everything else that New Orleans has gone through, is that Paul Chan comes into this city with an art project and finds almost no opposition.This city takes him in and embraces the work he does for them.The government, and generally the rest of the country has sort of forgotten the situation in New Orleans.Even so, New Orleans could have said no to Chan, they could have simply asked for help.Instead they could have just waited.Basically, what struck my so strongly about this work, is that on the top, it is just a free play in New Orleans.Underneath however, it’s a plea for help, and it shines a light on the fact that New Orleans really is waiting for something they were told they were going to get.
I think that you raise a few good points here, though I would suggest that you offer more in-depth descriptions of the work. For example, how is it ironic that Chan chooses to create this play in New Orleans? Also, it would have been helpful to describe the Shadow Fund and its importance.
For the next two Field Reports, make sure to tie what you experience in the "field" to something we screened in class, as this is the main task at hand. In this case, it would have been good to discuss Chan's "BINPO" to offer a frame of reference to discuss "Godot".
1 comment:
Tyler,
I think that you raise a few good points here,
though I would suggest that you offer more in-depth descriptions of the work. For example, how is it ironic that Chan chooses to create this play in New Orleans?
Also, it would have been helpful to describe the Shadow Fund and its importance.
For the next two Field Reports, make sure to tie what you experience in the "field" to something we screened in class, as this is the main task at hand.
In this case, it would have been good to discuss Chan's "BINPO" to offer a frame of reference to discuss "Godot".
R. Nugent
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