One of the pieces that caught my attention immediately was Eric Fishl’s painting A Visit to – A Visit from the Island. This work of art was probably the strongest political piece in the room. The painting shows a diptych of two beaches. On the left hand side we see what looks like a beach in a fancy resort. In the front we see a nude white woman laying down on a surf board sunbathing, to the left of her is a white man scuba diving and directly behind is two other people standing in the water. Their body language expresses a relaxed and care free notion on this hot sunny day. On the right hand side, on a stormy beach we see dark skinned people, in the middle of a crisis desperately needing and calling for help. The scene looks like it could possibly be refugees fleeing. The message immediately hits you because the white people are completely oblivious to the reality of these tropical beaches and the struggle and pain that people of color are going through. To them, this is just a “paradise vacation” and an attempt to run away from their jobs, families and their “so called reality”. It made me realize how unaware people are when it doesn’t concern them or how people never think of what used to be here before them and the things people have gone through in order for places to be possible.  For me, the most powerful connection between the two figures dressed in white. Both look like they are caught in their own trauma. The figure on the left is the only one covered, her posture makes her feel lost, uneasy and worried as she chews on her nails. The figure on the right is in emotional pain while not knowing whether to keep trying or running to the shore. These details are what allowed me to enter the painting and the story.

Another work that was really interesting was “Real Violence”  the Virtual Reality piece by Jordan Wolfson. Even though I was only able to get through maybe 7 seconds of it, it completely messed with my mind. I think the scariest part of VR is that you get so involved with what’s going on inside the goggles, your mind gets so carried away that you forget your body is still in the “real world” and it’s scary knowing that you could wander off into a dangerous place without even being aware of it, or see things that you won’t be able to forget after. I took my goggles off before being fully immersed in what I was seeing because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to take the goggles off. Overall it was a unique experience, one I would probably never do again.