I took a day trip down to D.C. a few weeks ago with my sisters and our respective spouses to check out the free museums along the Mall. Actually, that was merely my excuse for wanting to take them to D.C. My original intent was to go back to one of my most favorite restaurants in the world, Minh's. I could write a book about their amazingly delicious food.

Anyway, on our museum tour we took in the sights at the Abstract Art Museum. As we toured the multi-floor museum, I kept wondering..."Is that really Art?". Most of the pieces on display were fairly straightforward, in their own abstract indirect way. Other exhibits however...I just don't know. Is a video of a naked woman moaning and drinking chicken blood in the woods really art?

I really wish I still had the museum guide so I could include the name of the artist and the exhibit here. I can't seem to find any info about either. But, it seemed like more of a social experiment than anything else. The creators of that video are probably recording museum-goers reactions to it for their next exhibit. This was my reaction, which I am assuming is similar to most other peoples' reactions:

First, confusion. Why is the woman naked? Why is she naked in the woods? Why is she naked in the woods drinking chicken blood? Second, amusement. Along the lines of, "Hey guys! Look at this crazy video!" Then came anger. The video made me angry. I was in disbelief that it was an actual exhibit in an Art museum. After I walked away from the exhibit in mild disgust, my eyes caught a glimpse of the largest, emptiest painting I've ever seen. The canvas literally had one brush stroke on it. Again, I was struck with the question..."Is that Art?" I'll save you the boredom of the rest of the tour of the museum because it is all pretty much the same thing. Is it Art? Really?

That question has stuck with me and I've been mulling it over since we left D.C. I'd like to think I am a fairly cultured woman. I've been involved in some form of artistic expression since I was a toddler, and I've experimented with just about every artistic medium you can think of. It bothered me that I was so disgusted by the abstract pieces I saw that day. Well, namely the video. I "got" most of the other exhibits, if that is even possible. The more I thought about the video's content, the weirdness of it, and most of all the effect it had on me...the more I saw it as Art.

My various art teachers and mentors taught me that Art can assume any form. Whether it is realism, surrealism, cubism, or an abstraction - it is Art. The different forms artists use to express themselves all center around the same concept. Take something and create a representation of it on canvas, paper, a sidewalk, in a sculpture, woven into a tapestry, etc, etc. That "something" can be a physical object, like a pear, a tree, a person. It can also be something that is NOT a physical object, but an intangible concept, such as Beauty, Love, Discomfort, or Freedom. The artist's choice of materials used also conveys an idea. For example, people sculpt because the three dimensional form gives them a whole new dimension to express their idea. Weaving abstract art tapestries adds a textured tactile dimension that many modern artists crave. These richer materials impart meaning to the work of art as much as the design does. Of course, I knew this before I saw that crazy video or saw the almost empty canvas but what it actually meant didn't hit me until much later.

People have been creating abstract art since people have existed, but I suppose there are varying "levels" of abstraction. Depending on the level of abstraction, the artist has to find more creative ways of expressing that exact concept. For example, in humans' early history cavemen (and women) drew scenes of hunting and of their successful bounty. More modern painters, such as Jackson Pollock, expressed emotions and pure concepts. Pollock actually makes a great example because his work tended to center around the concept of order within chaos. The concept of victory or success in hunting has to be easier to express than the notion of orderly chaos. With more involved "subjects", the form of expression itself has to become flexible. Thus, the importance of abstract art.

That video, though...It still bothers me. Was the artist trying to express confusion? Or maybe just discomfort? Or maybe that women are all maenads of the Bacchae and just don't know it until they are dropped off naked in the woods with a chicken? Or was it just weird for the sake of being weird?