http://museumofglass.org/blogs/docents/2008/04/discussion-sherry-markovitz-poetic/ The MOG Docent and Volunteer Blog & Newsletter Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:57:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 http://museumofglass.org/blogs/docents/2008/04/discussion-sherry-markovitz-poetic/#comment-12916 Milly Frances Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:30:25 +0000 http://museumofglass.org/blogs/docents/2008/04/discussion-sherry-markovitz-poetic/#comment-12916 I can see poetry and politics in both works. The doll-like 'Shine on Me' contrasts a vulnerable stance with sophisticated decoration and an implied knowingness - the tension unsettles and raises political questions about femininity, gender roles and class. 'White Men in Suits' may be more obviously political in tone, as the inclusion of US currency immediately signifies, but is it without poetry? Isn't there something lyrical about the futility of climbing to the top of a corporate ladder that goes nowhere, knowing that your reign at the top is insecure and destined to end in a fall? The suits maybe more easily located as a political signifier, but there's a sensitivity in the execution of the piece that renders each character vaguely pitiful. Someone once said to me that 'context is all', and it's ruined me! I find reference points everywhere, and am convinced that nothing exists in poetic isolation. I'm also not sure how valid dualisms are in the first place - they always seem to set up a mutual exclusivity that I find limiting. I'm sorry not to be able to get to the exhibition, it looks fascinating. A tour to the UK, perhaps?! I can see poetry and politics in both works. The doll-like ‘Shine on Me’ contrasts a vulnerable stance with sophisticated decoration and an implied knowingness - the tension unsettles and raises political questions about femininity, gender roles and class.
‘White Men in Suits’ may be more obviously political in tone, as the inclusion of US currency immediately signifies, but is it without poetry? Isn’t there something lyrical about the futility of climbing to the top of a corporate ladder that goes nowhere, knowing that your reign at the top is insecure and destined to end in a fall? The suits maybe more easily located as a political signifier, but there’s a sensitivity in the execution of the piece that renders each character vaguely pitiful.
Someone once said to me that ‘context is all’, and it’s ruined me! I find reference points everywhere, and am convinced that nothing exists in poetic isolation. I’m also not sure how valid dualisms are in the first place - they always seem to set up a mutual exclusivity that I find limiting.
I’m sorry not to be able to get to the exhibition, it looks fascinating. A tour to the UK, perhaps?!

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