Alfredo Jaar is an artist from Chile. He does socio-political work similar in some ways to Ai Weiwei.
My theory is that an artwork is made of ingredients: visual, conceptual as well as the title and artist statement. They combine to tell a story to the viewer. The entire and sole point of an artwork is to change the psychological state of the viewer. If not, why bother making it?
One description of Jaar's work is that he explores "public’s desensitization to images and the limitations of art to represent events such as genocides, epidemics, and famines."
I believe it is a good thing to include emotional ingredients. They are a powerful ingredient. But they can overwealm the work, like the beauty of glass art. There, the material dominates the piece, and it is hard for the other ingredients to be perceived. Jaar works the edge with his emotional ingredients. I believe he sometimes goes over the edge in beating the viewer over the head with emotional ingredients. Part of that is Jaar is somewhat a minimalist. Ai WeiWei is a bit more maximalist and keeps his ingredients in subtle proportion. Maybe it a difference in cultures.
You can judge for yourself; Alfredo Jaar is a guest of Converge 45 in Portland tonight.
He speaks at PSU Lincoln Hall Room 75. The tickets are free, but they have all been reserved in advance. Alfredo Jaar at PSU Lincoln Hall 1620 SW Park Room 75 6:30PM Free
