Meta Art

Meta Art

I had an idea for an art project that I’ve been wanting to try out for a few months now, and today, I finally got around to doing it. The general idea was to create some painting, or piece, and then attach a description to it, as you might see in a gallery, or in a museum. My idea was a bit more meta.

Before I describe much more, let’s look at the results:

You probably can’t read the description, here it is:

P. Munio Zubizarreta
нигилизм, 2003
wax on canvas

Working through a crippling depression, Zubizarreta created this series to show the hollowness of existence. Having suffered several personal tragedies within the span of the last four years of his life, Zubizarreta was near his breaking point, and had lost all hope. Out of touch with his remaining friends and relatives, Zubizarreta had become a recluse, his only escapes were his art and the heroin that would eventually kill him.

No, my name is not P. Munio Zubizarreta, and as far as I know, P. Munio Zubizarreta doesn’t even exist. The story is fictional. I thought it might be interesting to super-impose meaning onto art that may not really mean anything on its own. When you see a painting with a caption, and a little blurb about it, the blurb can change your perception of the work. That’s what I wanted to do here, to change people’s perceptions of the work, by adding a little story. Thus, meta art, the art is the reaction that people have to the combination of the images and the story that has been created.

I also thought that it would be kind of fun to have a description that contrasted strongly with the piece. The title, according to Google Translate, means nihilism in Russian. The story is depressing, whereas the images are bright and colorful.