Response to "On the Rights of Molotov Man"
An article by Joy Garnett and Susan Meiselas Above top: Meiselas, Above bottom: Garnett
- The article deals with the points of view of both Garnett and Meiselas
- Meiselas was the original photographer of what came to be know as The Molotov Man. She primarily works to document human-rights issues in Latin America. "What is happing is anything but a riot," she explains, which is what the painter Garnett transformed the photo into.
- Garnett was working on a series of paintings known as the Riot Series. She simply searched for riot-like images on the internet and came across the image of the Molotov Man. She thought it the most powerful of all of the images she had found and decided to use it as the image on the announcement card. She then started to receive notices that the image originally belonged to Susan Meiselas.
- The case between Meiselas and Garnett was blown out of proportion. Meiselas just wanted credit for the original source of the painting, and Garnett agreed to do so. In the end Meiselas didn't really charge Garnett
- MY TAKE- I believe both artists have a valid point. For if the original image is set out in the internet under the context for which Garnett was searching for, then somebody else may have thought it in the same way as she did. Meiselas, however, is the owner of the original photograph and therefore should receive full credit of the image in any way or time it is reproduced
Yinka Shonibare was born in London, England in 1962, but was raised in Nigeria. He studied at Byam Shaw School of Art and London Univeristy. He challanges the idea of cultural identity in his work. He works in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, photopraphy, and film. His work strongly reveal his love for art history, literature, and philosophy. I like the twist he puts on tradition and colonialism. He incorporates different fabrics and patterns, which brings in that questioning of cultural identity. It also brings forth something refreshing in what we are so used to looking at when it comes to the subject. My favorites of his are his recreations of Goya's "Sleep of Reason". His series of these include different cultures. The one I have included at the top is that of America.
