Sir Alfred Munning’s ‘Does the Subject Matter?’ is the piece that I was given to examine last week. The piece is a reflection of Munning’s opinion on the state of modern art, with grotesque figures examining strange sculptures and paintings by Picasso (an artist that Munning hated). In this piece Munning satirises fans of modern art, possibly commenting on those that pretend to appreciate modern art only in an attempt to appear intellectual, in order to raise their cultural capital, whilst not actually understanding or even enjoying the art. However, as I stated in last week’s blog, when preparing my response to this piece, I chose not to look at the artist or his intention, in order to give an honest response to what I thought the piece was saying. I felt that the piece was a comment on the notion that ‘Life Imitates Art’, and that people were just as beautiful and artistic as the pieces that were displayed in galleries. My script follows thus

‘The Audience will line up outside The Collection, and will be kept waiting for five minutes. The photographer will come out, and take pictures of the Audience with a Polaroid camera. The Audience will then be brought in, and made to line up outside the education room. The photographer will again take pictures of the audience, and after the Photographer enters the Education room, the Audience will be kept waiting for another five minutes. When they finally enter the Education room, the walls will be covered in the photographs. The Audience are encouraged to look at the photographs. The Audience become the Art.’ (Mortimer, 2015)

Whilst I fully stand by my initial response to the painting, I find it humorous that Munning’s himself probably would have dismissed my performance as nonsensical modern art, and that his piece inspired the type of art that he himself hated.

See you next week! Image taken from: http://www.felixr.com/print-on-demand/explore/detail/65630/sir-alfred-munnings-does-the-subject-matter