Kara Walker’s video
The most important piece of information gained from Walker’s video is that art is not like other professions because no diploma in the world declares that a person is an artist as is the case with professions such as medicine, teaching, or engineering. A person declares himself or herself an artist through the commitments made to the field of art. Besides, a person has to figure out how to be an artist, and this is the difference between art and other professions. The art world changes from time to time, and some of the changes are that the modern art world is bigger and has more distractions than the early art world. Also, modern artists face the pressure to conform to a particular grad school pedigree.
Kara Walker’s artwork connects to the African American experience because it highlights some of the problems faced by African Americans. As can be seen in the video, some of her artworks highlight slavery, which was one of the biggest practices in the ancient times. Of course, African Americans were the victims of slavery although the practice was abolished years later. Besides, most of her artworks reflect the African woman and her day-to-day experiences.
There is no doubt that artists face numerous challenges such as the lack of financial support to expand or develop their endeavors. A question to Kara Walker would be how she and other artists overcome the financial constraints faced in the art profession.
Faith Ringgold’s video
The most important piece of information gained from the video is that in the 1960s, the focus was on why black art is different from other arts such as those of the whites. This changed with the inception of the women’s movement in the 1970s, and the focus was now on why women’s art was different from men’s art. The difference between the two was evident in the subject matter and materials used in making the artworks. An example of women art in the 1970s was cloth making, which involved weaving and all kinds of needlework. Advancement in art in the 1970s included the combination of elements from black and European art.
Ringgold’s artwork connects to the African American experience as it highlights or reflects objects such as clubs that were used by African Americans during the era or period of slavery. Africans sewed clothes to make themselves warm, and this was the art or cloth making that attracted several black women artists. Ringgold’s artwork beautified most of the objects used by African Americans especially during the period of slavery, and as such her artwork connects perfectly to the African American experience. Her artwork also involved sewing through the painted canvas, with the skill of sewing having been derived from cloth making that was done largely by African American women.
In the video, Ringgold talks more about women artwork from the 1960s to the 1970s. Of course, there were men artworks before and during the period. As such, a possible question to Ringgold would be whether women artworks in the 1960s and 1970s were influenced by men artworks during the same period. As seen in society today, factors such as income motivate people to become artists. With this in mind, a question to Ringgold would be whether art had financial benefits and how artists would realize such benefits.