Last Saturday I spent part of my day at the Johnson Museum. Although this was not my first time, it always seems as if I discover something new whenever I go. Although I’m not that great of an art “interpreter” per say, it’s always enjoyable looking at the different art forms, genres, and mediums. This time around I encountered a piece that caught my attention, particularly because it was a video. Semiotics of the Kitchen by Martha Rosler was first released in 1975. The video is six minutes long and portrays a woman in the kitchen presenting several kitchen utensils, each of which stands for a letter in the alphabet. At first I was very confused and even a bit scared, considering the video is played in a dark room with only a bench in the center of the room to watch the video from. The woman in the video demonstrates how to use different utensils in the kitchen which may seem odd in itself, but what makes it even more bizarre is that her motions are aggressive and, for the most part, she doesn’t seem to use the tools correctly at all. Like I said, I was really confused at first (remember I’m not that great at interpreting art) but once I read the description of the piece it made a little more sense to me. Artist Rosler, a well-known feminist, commented on this piece that “when the woman speaks, she names her own oppression”. I’m no expert, but I think she might have been trying to explain how women are undermined and subjicated through media, commercialization, and the “technologies” of the kitchen during this time and even today. Here’s a link to the video online in case you’re interested in checking it out. Perhaps you can add more to the conversation and interpretation than I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5vZaE8Ysc

Once we left the museum, we walked over to Rose to create some of our own art. When you’re so busy with school, papers, exams, etc. it’s easy to forget about your creative potential! I decided to draw an avocado. . . I named this piece “Avocado on the Horizon”. I had a lot of fun coloring it in with pastels and definitely wouldn’t mind more art sessions throughout my semester!