Blog Post 4

This very powerful statement as Lippard suggests in the reading is one that can represent many different meanings. One of the meanings is designed to turn and face a mirror onto the society and confuse it with different interpretations of the present, past or future. This could mean turning things around, and by things, it could mean someone’s name, a song, or an act in order to confuse the audience on purpose. Irony and subversion are used in order to connect all times within a society together. One could be analyzing the past, present, or future and not know it as part of the act to place confusion on the audience. “Turnarounds” as they are called, are one of the most powerful forms of art that can evolve social criticism. One may not understand what is being portrayed as social criticism due to the fact that it is often portrayed through using a fool and having them symbolize the “revolution” that is taking place in a piece of art.

One of the artists that uses this form of Irony is Roxanne Swentzell. She uses the “turnaround” method in her art by using clowns to be her depictions of the cardinal directions. The clowns represent seriousness along with criticism of the people in the pueblo. The serious side of the artwork is that people who are lost will find their way home in choosing on of the clowns, by in fact choosing a cardinal direction in order to find their way home. This gives a sense of home and inspiration to the people that live in the pueblos including the artist of this piece. However, the turnaround side of the artwork is that the clowns are designed to make fun of the people in the pueblos and it is not until the onlooker notices the seriousness of the piece that the true meaning behind the artwork emerges.