The Vanishing of Art
Museums that are filled with iconic works of art are also filled with visitors, frequently not so much going to see the art as to be seen with the art.
The interaction of the art and the viewer is, more often than not, filtered through a device, as museums become social venues and destinations for selfies. The artwork is concealed or obscured by other viewers. Their clothing, their postures, and their digital screens alter the vision for those around them in ways that, for me, can be as interesting as the works themselves.
The artwork looks at the viewer, the viewer looks at the art, in these images, and I look at both.
In these images, keeping the artwork as realistic as is aesthetically feasible, while stylistically altering the viewer emphasizes the dichotomy between the theoretical permanence of art as compared to the viewer as an ephemeral intrusion. When I look at the work of art and at the viewers, it is an impossible combination to predict. It is less and less likely to see art by itself, and I grow more certain that the artwork will be modified, enhanced, or concealed by the viewer, and at times, art is completely vanishing.
Adel GORGY