Juan Carlos Delgado

When I look at artwork, I tend to automatically separate works into two different categories: 1) artwork that engages the user, and gets me to contemplate what it might be about and 2) artwork that is more abstract and much more difficult to decipher. I think that Delgado's work falls in the latter category. I feel like if I read an artist statement or knew some background about the artwork, I might really enjoy it or find it beautiful. However, without having any context as to what this art is about (except for what Santi talked about in class,) I am mainly confused when I look at most of the artwork. I try to look for some sort of meaning, but feel that his artwork is a bit cryptic. I think that this has its advantages in that the unknown can make something more intriguing, but I also tend to prefer artwork that I can relate to a little bit more.

While I do know of works of art that I didn't really like until I read something along the lines of an interview of the artist, I tend to be drawn in more by work that has a more obvious meaning, while keeping a little bit of mystery at the same time. I like being able to get at least something out of the artwork when looking at it the first time, even if I don't fully understand its greatness until reading about it. I think this is partially due to the fact that I study graphic design. In areas such as advertising, it is often important to quickly convey a message to your audience or at least catch the viewer's attention. If you do not do so, the viewer is likely to turn the page of the magazine or turn his or her head away from the billboard, instead of gaining an interest for the product. As a viewer, I tend to apply this to fine art as well, even though I should be looking at fine art in an entirely different way as it has a different purpose. I expect there to be something for me to understand right away, even if it takes a while to decipher the meaning of the entire work of art. It does not help that most of his artwork is untitled!

One of my favorite of his works is the one with the broken glass from cars, since I was better able to contemplate the meaning of that one. There are many associations that one can have with broken glass and car crashes. However, I also had many questions. Why are there oars surrounding the broken glass? What connection do they have with the rest of the piece? Who are the people whose images appear on those oars (victims of car crashes perhaps?) Why is the glass so neatly placed in a square? I was able to obtain some meaning from this piece, but not able to understand it in its entirety with the information I was given on the website. I wish I knew more about it! I feel that in this case, and the case of many of his other works of art, learning the background of the artwork would enhance my experience as a viewer.

My favorite work of art that was featured has to be the 100 Cubes of White Light. While I don't know entirely what the artist was getting at in this one either, I somehow felt in awe when looking at the photographs of the installation. There is something very peaceful about the simple cubes of white light and the way they are just sitting there in ordinary places as opposed to a museum gallery. I found many of the photographs of this work quite beautiful. I felt drawn in by the cubes, which acted as a small piece of beauty in an otherwise ordinary place. While the meaning may not have been explicit, I was able to think about the purity of the color white, the simplicity of the boxes, and the meanings that we give to light, which made the piece a little more accessable to me, even without its background. I tried to put myself in the place of a regular pedestrian who just so happens to come across these small works of art in a place that I walk everyday.