My first real-life situation is based on the Muhimu article “The true story behind Kevin Carter's photograph, 'The Vulture'”, that discusses the context in which the controversial photograph of a vulture waiting for the death of a vulnerable child was taken, and what lead to the photographer’s suicide. Opening our eyes to the way in which the media transforms and perceives the arts. The article questions Carter’s harsh photograph, his ethics against humanitarian needs, and the ways the audience interprets the image.
The real-life situation links to the arts, specifically to culture and perspective, as the interpretation of the photograph helps us understand the way in which different audiences from diverse backgrounds perceive the truth and justify the author’s intentions. It allows us to recognize the construction behind reality and Descartes's approach on whether we should trust our senses.
This leads me to ask the knowledge question “How does our interpretation of art affect the way we perceived the truth about the world? This is crucial to answer and reflect upon because we often base our knowledge of art on the conscious and pragmatic truth test where we are relying on our own perspective to interpret the issues portrayed in art, believing everything we see. This is problematic as it can fabricate reality. In the article, the truth revealed that the child was not dying, he was defecating and in his right hand, he had a bracelet corresponding to a UN food station that identified him as T3 ( third to receive help). Carter's intention was misguided, his initial purpose was to raise awareness of the living conditions of African children, however, it was interpreted as taking advantage of the most vulnerable. This misinterpretation cost him his life and he ended up committing suicide 3 months after the photograph was released. We shouldn’t draw conclusions based on interpretations as art is not the sole truth.
This is a crucial knowledge question because it relates to whether we should base our whole interpretation of reality on our senses. It connects to Beau's lotto point of view where we should not perceive a scenario as the truth without knowing and justifying it to the context. Not to mention, our culture and perspective of the world can alter our interpretation of the arts, depending on our religion, economic status, political beliefs, morals, and values we might view art in a different light. We cannot have an automatic response for interpretation as everyone thinks and acts differently. For instance, historians have diverse opinions of who started WW2 or how people were believing their senses and perceived misleading information from propaganda.
This question might be denied by the population because we as humans use our senses for survival, we construct reality upon them and thus we rely on them for answers. Since they protect us from dangers, we might be tricked into believing every signal they send to our brain as the only truth. Art is very subjective and humans are curious, we don’t like to be left without an answer, hence, we interpret scenarios based on our senses or influences(culture, morals, values, etc) which are not accurate.
Tok journal by Paola. G
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