Are you a man, Macbeth?

The time is the 21st century. Values and ideals of "manhood" have changed to a degree since Shakespeare's times. When reading Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, in particular, frequently comments on Macbeth's manhood, or lack there of. In the lead up to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth is hesitant because he is faced with killing the King, who is also his friend, for the throne.

In Act 1, Scene 7, lines 49-51, Lady Macbeth says " When you durst do it, then you were a man;/And to be more than that you were, you would/Be so much more the man." Here Lady M is saying that once he commits the murder and "durst do it," he will become "more the man" than he was before. This ideal of having to kill someone to prove, especially to your wife, that you are a man is a value that society had in the 16th century. I also don't agree with the fact that Lady Macbeth sort of belittles Macbeth when he says he doesn't want to and can't kill Duncan. Mocking his inability to carry out a task (such as MURDER) is not helping his manhood. After Duncan is dead and Macbeth and his Lady are conversing, Macbeth says "I am afraid to think what I have done." (2.2.55) Macbeth's conscience is wavering at this point, which is a something that wouldn't happen to a "strong man."

In modern times, the values of manhood have been altered.  My views are different from those in the text because I personally don't think murdering someone constitutes a guy as a "man." Quite the opposite, I'd say. But by saying that would be the opposite, I'm not saying that he would be considered feminine. He would be seen as a figure that resorts to violence to solve problems, which is not a good way to deal with your problems. Obviously.

Society I think, as a whole, says that values such as being respectful, knowledgeable, and having the ability to get things done in a mature way represent a guy who has reached manhood. But "manhood" itself isn't a clearly defined concept and doesn't have a clearly defined time in a guy's life where it's like Boom, you are now considered a man.

I think values for manhood should be determine by men, as a whole, but they should also take into consideration what values women like. For me personally, a guy will not (and should not) have to kill someone to prove his manhood. All that will get you is life in jail. Just bring me some chocolate and I'll accept your manhood, in whatever state it may be.

On a side note, it's also really kind of weird, from today's stand point, that Lady Macbeth is like You're such a wimp, just kill the king already . . . Oh you're not going to do it? Well I will. Oh wait, he looks like my father, so I can't actually do it. But Lady Macbeth's entrancement with becoming more masculine is another topic for exploration which I'll save for another time.

#IBMakingArt

What can you not see?

The Contemporary Art Museum was a pretty interesting place. I typically shy away from art museums unless they have, like this one, modern pieces of art. Not that I have anything against the North Carolina Art Museum, which has older pieces as well as newer ones. I just can't stand and look at paintings and interpret the artists' work for more than 2 or 3 minutes before I get bored.

Currently, CAM is displaying the exhibit Limited Visibility: Contemporary Art from Latin America. Each of the exhibits has something you can't physically see, whether it isn't there or it is obstructed from our view. The overall feeling I got from this exhibit was amazement. It was intriguing to see, on one level, what physical work was being displayed. Then, you hear/read the artist's statement and realize what is missing or that the physical piece in front of you is lacking something. Such an exhibit is, to me, more interesting because there is an element of curiosity that leads you to examine the artwork on a deeper level.

Pablo Rasgado, "Unfolded Architecture," 2014, Sheet rock

This artwork by Pablo Rasgado in the Raleigh Contemporary Art Museum's exhibit Limited Visibility is a composition of white sheet rock, which was actually cut out of the wall downstairs. Rasgado completed this project at CAM this year.

Rasgado's idea behind this piece, according to Craven Allen Gallery, is to "displace the act of erasure from itself to its environment." The work is representational/abstract. Since it was physically cut out of a pre-existing CAM wall and then reassembled, it is representing the idea of something or someone being taken from one location or home and being transposed in a different location or home. Such an idea is one that could apply to anyone who has moved from one place and had to adapt to a new place. Rasgado could be commenting on our society, where many immigrants leave their home countries for various reasons and are forced to assimilate as one in a new culture.

Rasgado has arranged these pieces of cut sheet rock randomly to form a complete rectangle. Each piece is white, with no color added, which could symbolize unity and similarity. The individual pieces that have been cut out are not even around the edges, which could also represent how people and groups can have similarities and come together as one but specifically, each individual is unique and different. Sheet rock is an interesting medium, simply because it's sort of hard to work with on a small scale.

The meaning of this piece is that even if you take someone or something out of the original environment, commonalities can still unite that person or thing into one. Rasgado's style and medium of artwork is with sheet rock and such like materials. He cuts out pieces from one wall of a place and transposes it together. The theme of "displacing the act of erasure from itself to the environment" can be applied to many things in our society today, such as immigration and movement of wildlife. This idea is especially relevant in our world today because of the massive movements of cultures into new places where already existing cultures are dominant.

I think this piece of Rasgado's was chosen by the curators to be included in Limited Visibility because the viewer doesn't know where the sheet rock was initially taken from or why. There is an element of unknown in the piece that isn't revealed and left up to the viewer for interpretation. Overall, I really enjoy the composition and theme of Pablo Rasgado's "Unfolded Architecture." He doesn't use a conventional medium, which makes it more interesting to me. There is a general feel of similarity and unity in the piece but at the same time, each individual part of the sheet rock isn't uniform. They are generally different sizes and shapes but they are each the same color, texture, and medium.

Good job, Pablo. I really like it.