Our community felting project as an alibi for a more important message…with photos by Gábor Mészáros.
10 square meters hand-felted for charity
The foyer of the cultural center of the city of Ócsa in Hungary is currently home to the peace felt. Recently 4 classes from the local grammar school, 11th and 12th grade, came to see me give them a talk when I already have a felt exhibition there, and that doesn’t mean the peace felt, but my works set up on the side.
However, I didn’t want to talk about my works, but created a plan to hand over something much more important…
I let the young people walk around first to familiarize themselves with the room, the felt art and the material. Stroking – without chocolate on their fingers – was allowed. They did so with interest:
Then they sat down and it was my turn. We talked briefly about the origins of felting and then I explained the peace felting project. And then we came to contemporary fine art. My hobby, so to speak, I’ve been studying it for a few years now, as my time allows, because I want to have a better understanding of it. I want to know what a “blue square on a blue background” is supposed to mean, why “ugliness” is advertised or why a banana is stuck to the wall at Sotheby’s…I now know a lot and understand far more than the average person who just likes to get upset.
The banana on the wall and acceptance...
…or what was my message?
I showed another one of my felt pictures and asked what it might mean. (You can’t see my picture here now)
– What do you see here? Hands up anyone who has an idea or would like to share their impressions, perhaps a feeling or an association about it. There is no right or wrong answer and I don’t even care whether you generally like it or not. I’m interested in what it evokes in others if it can’t be explained directly.
There were similar and also very different impressions.
This brings us to the essentials of contemporary art:
a) It triggers feelings and/or thoughts. You either like them or you don’t. Ideally, you get involved in the game (!!), ponder the meaning or try to categorize your feelings, or you find visually appealing details that you enjoy. In any case, you work on the experience internally without “bad intentions”. If you have someone to share your thoughts with, bingo, you’re even building your social life.
b) It triggers a lack of understanding and/or other negative feelings: Insecurity, hatred, anger, contempt, etc. You write a contemptuous comment (please don’t do that), nag with another viewer or at home during dinner.
My message to people is brief: If you don’t understand something, read up on it so you can form an opinion based on knowledge and/or understanding. This can of course be dismissive, but you should know why.
If you don’t like something and don’t want to understand it, just move on without trampling it into the ground and leave it to others.
And that brings us back to the Peace Felt. Which is also beautiful to look at.
Contemporary visual art is usually not there to be beautiful in the classical sense and therefore to hang above the sofa. The artist has much more in mind and very often reflects on the current important events of the world, of the age.
There are stories behind artists and works of art that need to be explored, and those who buy “ugly” art do not do so because they are immediately seduced by the sight of it, but because they feel deeply connected to the thought, the story, the opinion, the criticism, the outcry, etc. behind it, because they feel represented.
And the art market, with its prices and transactions, is again a somewhat different subject…
I look forward to your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Maybe a conversation will start…
2 thoughts on “Peace felt in action”
Merci Corinna.
Thank you for expressing the process and artistic philosophy with young people!
Sophie
Thank you, Sophie, I’m happy about your opinion.