Reading Response #4

I found this article to be interesting in some parts because I never considered the connection between how we define color and race are so closely connected even though after reading the very beginning I found that to be almost obvious. I think that when Vilasenor says "color is not an internal, immutable aspect of an object. Rather it is a subjectively experienced, perceptual phenomenon,"(192) is something that is very true but not often thought about in this way that is more than just what is it. I like the comparison make between color and race and how they are both things that have different definitions attached to them that are construed depending on outside factors with influence but they both relate to the definition of abstraction which is something that has multiple definitions and ways of understanding itself. I also found it very interesting the article turned to talking about purity and how in video art color tones of white were the "pure" abstraction and how this idea of purity relates back to the arguments of race and color that historically and currently is happening in society. Out of the artists mentioned in the article i found the excerpt about Cory Arcangel to be very interesting because of what he was trying to get at with his work as well as I personally enjoy that approach to work more than others. Specifically how he uses color to make connections to reality that mean more than something visually, which I felt was perfectly expressed when I read "Colors operate metaphorically but skin color is index to a reality that is not so readily mutable."(198) He is getting at something so much more than just color itself which I think is important to do and more impactful as well. I think the questions posed by Vilasenor in the last paragraph are questions that many artists consider but i feel as though in isn't that we have completely moved away from a former era that expressed certain traits but have adapted to a more current way of expressing those issues and traits of current society in the most impactful and poignant way. I also think that, especially after reading this that the connection between race and color with the idea of abstraction in mind is something that is always going to be multi-sided and unclear among the masses. \

Similar to the question posed by Vilasenor, has our idea, as current artists, of medium and purity changed when trying to address a specific question with not just one answer that is acceptable?