A Poem By Repetition Ginsberg

Art is expression through creativity that allows us to deliver a message that may be more significant than just words on a page. Art connects with people on a more emotional and spiritual level, and it is this that can help to drive home the artist’s message in his or her works. Natalie Czech’s “A Poem by Repetition by Allen Ginsberg” combines two powerful pieces of art, poetry and photography to create one cohesive piece of art. The art is inspired by writings documented in Ginsberg’s personal journal; not originally being a poet, Ginsberg later had his journal turned into a poem. Czech later discovered the poems and altered the ending to a broader form of self-appreciation, changing the last line of the poem from “anybody,” to “anything.”

All the works in the gallery were exploring different ideas that are important, but often overlooked in today’s culture. The idea of loving yourself, seemingly obvious, but often when an individual does truly love himself or herself, it is confused for cockiness, egotism, and narcissism. Czech’s work counters this cultural norm with her manipulation of Ginsberg’s poem, creating an important reminder to love oneself.

Another work, by David Horvitz called “Mood Disorders”, explores the idea of different types of mental illnesses as defined by different Internet sources. Mental illness is constantly being overlooked, and Horvitz demonstrate was able to demonstrate how vast mental illness is. In a very physical sense his work took up a whole wall, just like many types of mental illnesses, they consume the mind. The Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition had a lot to offer educationally, and offered a lot of creative ideas. As a student it’s very easy to try and capture the most famous scenic image that we know for example, the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, or images from Central Park. These artists featured in the Museum of Modern Art are exploring ideas that are much more personal to them. Personal ideas, feelings, and issues are coming up as a topic of discussion in photography, which hopefully can expand outward, beyond photography so that we don’t overlook and dismiss our own feelings and the feelings of the people around