Good Art Isn't Safe - Take 2

My Toastmasters mentor said my speech didn't quite make sense yet. Here's the final draft:


Project #2 Get to the Point
Good Art Isn’t Safe

I. Introduction
a. Good art isn’t safe. Good art changes things. Good art can leave a lasting impact.
b. You’ve seen safe art – décor in hotel rooms, music in elevators. It matches the furniture. It doesn’t make you uncomfortable. It doesn’t need a second glance.
c. My goal is to highlight several forms of good art and describe its effects.

II. Literature
a. First time I was affected by good art was Senior year of High School - “The Stranger” by Albert Camus
b. A book about a character dealing with his place in the world
c. I was a lonely kid who thought the world was irrelevant – discovered I’m not alone being lonely and that I am a part of the world. This introduced me to existentialism – have been wondering if I’m an existentialist ever since!

III. Sculpture
a. One of the most famous sculptural icons is Auguste Rodin’s “thinker.”
b. You’ve seen him in commercials, cartoons, imitated by friends. Saw a store that had a foam “Thinker” on a stick, very safe.
c. Saw the work at the NC Museum of Art in context. The thinker is part of a much larger piece, a huge black door call the “Gates of Hell”
d. The character is thinking about his eternity – certainly not a safe question!

IV. Painting
a. Abstract painting can be safe if you don’t understand it – Picasso – “interesting”
b. Saw “Guernica” in Spain, about the Spanish Civil War
c. Unlike what you see in books, this was 25’ x 11’, fills the room, black, sprawling forms, a lightbulb, a flower on the ground, a broken sword
d. I’m a Republican, generally in support of just war, but the piece made me realize the atrocity of war in a more personal way than ever before.

V. Architecture
a. We are surrounded by architecture – we live in it, work in it, drive by it. Form follows function. It has to be safe, by code.
b. First year in college – Glass House by Philip Johnson
c. A shoebox of glass and steel
d. The definition of perfect proportions. Perfect placement of minimal elements – furniture, kitchen counter
e. Coincidence of indoor and outdoor – experience of nature blending with experience of being indoors
f. I found out what architecture could be and have fought with that in my profession.

VI. Music
a. Music is very familiar – especially for me – I grew up around it, I like it.
b. We had free tickets to the symphony recently on a Friday night
i. We were tired from work, had a hard week, considered staying home
ii. Classical music can be boring, especially when it’s unfamiliar
c. The piece was “Resurrection” by Gustav Mahler
i. The opening chords filled the hall, broke through my shell
ii. Wide range of emotions and experiences through the piece
iii. Still wondering about the meaning of the piece and how it could have been so powerful.

VII. Conclusion
a. Good art isn’t safe. It can affect you for years to come. It can affect whole cultures, across generations. Think twice before you visit a museum or put in that CD. You might get changed.