Lowbrow Art, Tate Modern, Native American Bones, and George Eastman House Video Review

Rose, Mark Ryden, oil on panel, 2003

 The video The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art discussed lowbrow art. Lowbrow art was used to categorize all the rest of the art. It was a reaction to highbrow art. It consisted of naked girls, hot rods, popular culture, pin-up, space age, and rock-n-roll. Some of the first of the artists of lowbrow are Ed Roth, Robert Williams, and Von Dutch because it began with the car culture. Lowbrow artists didn’t have galleries that would show their art so it became a social scene. They would plan parties and show their work at the parties. The work was narrative there was something going on, ready to go on, or happening in the present. There was no artist statements or training. It was more open to women artists than any other movement. Since it began on the Pacific Coast it owed nothing to Europe and its art. To create lowbrow art you didn’t need permission; if you wanted to do it then you do it. People got more acquainted with the art through the covers of records and CDs. It is not considered lowbrow anymore, it is called Pop Surrealism and there is more than 1,000 artists.

In the video In the video Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach shows how the Tate modern displays their art and might be the reason why the have had over 4 million visitors. The museum influences the way we look at art. Tate does not show its art in chronological order as the MOMA does instead they break the art up into 4 sections. The one section is landscape, matter, environment, next is nude, action, body, then still life, object, real life, and last one is history, memory, society. The rooms within the sections are self-contained. The presentation of the art allows viewers to have no knowledge of art and it should be used as entertainment. Themes are suppose to be challenged with some of the work that is placed in them. Also, they are set up this way so the viewers will not get bored it is like channel surfing on the TV.

The video Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology is about the debate of archeologists digging up the Native Americans burial grounds. The government eventually passed a law in 1990 to return the bones to the tribes. In 1985, the Smithsonian had 18,000 Native American bones. It is a slow process but now they have to measure the skulls and determine which tribe the bones go to. Lakota Sioux reject the theories of evolution and migration and they believe they were created. Great Plains Omaha Indians want their bones to be analyzed for cultural and medical reasons before returning the bones to the tribe. Native Americans spread their history orally. In the early 20th century, Native American children were sent to boarding schools so they would lose their identities. Dr. Reinhardt has to restore pride with sharing his research with today’s Native Americans. Archeologists are not solely responsible for telling the past they need to share the job with many people.

The last video I watched was George Eastman House: Picture Perfect that discussed George Eastman and his home that is now a museum. George Eastman is the father of popular photography and inventor of motion picture film. In 1900, the Brownie camera made photography very accessible to everyone. Ansel Adams’ first camera was a second hand Brownie. In the museum there is a Cinematographe, which the Lumiere brothers created in 1894. It looked like a box but it took and played movies. Eastman and Edison created flexible, rolled 35mm film that changed movie industry. When they went to restore the house, Eastman had all lot of photos of it so they could replica it as close as possible. In 1996, the Eastman house created the first school in North America for restoring, preserving, and archiving motion pictures. The museum creates access to its collection by publication, exhibition, and online.

I believe the videos of Lowbrow Art, Tate Modern, and Eastman House do relate to the art exhibition. They all discussed the different ways that you could show art. Lowbrow art was shown at parties, Tate Modern uses themes, and the Eastman House has exhibit rooms but also exhibits the technology that was used to create the art. The Native American Archeology video had more to deal with a political issue. It reminded me of the debate over the Pantheon Sculptures.

I enjoyed the Lowbrow Art and the Eastman House videos. I enjoy that kind of art but didn’t know the name of it. I have been to the Eastman House several times. Tate Modern was a little dry after awhile. The Native American Archeology is another government issue that hopefully gets all the bones to the correct tribes. The Tate Modern video does help me keep in mind that you want the viewer to be excited and not lose interest. Also, the Lowbrow art video helps to imagine a space that doesn’t have to be white walls and sterile. It definitely could be a party space and you use the art to decorate.