Lying in Art
I tend to really dislike lying and any type of deception,
but in a way, a lot of art is about creating things that don’t otherwise exist,
and inducing people to believe certain imaginary things. I think the important
distinction is that ling outside of art is usually about a type of manipulation
of reality that can hurt others in some way, or where the person lying can hide
behind and not take responsibility for his or her actions. Lying in art is
about bringing to life things that wouldn’t exist before but for the sake of
joy, or causing thought, or controversy. In that sense, it is impersonal, while
actual lies usually have one person or more who will or could be negatively
affected by it. To me, it goes back to intention. On the project we’re creating
for class, the intention is to learn, so it is a white lie. In the “Two
Amerindians” it is great that they pretended to be Amerindians, because it
really gave the audience a flush of emotions as they looked at the cage, and
inside that, a gut reaction to realities that we don’t always allow ourselves
to be aware of…
