Interview Synthesis

It was very bizarre. Each of the people who I interviewed felt basically the same way about the topics of interest. They all described the 21st century human through a series of negative qualities. They see them as being dependent, lazy, ungrateful, technology based, short-sighted, and disrespectful. I believe my cousin summarized 21st century humans best as being "The Internet Generation." This title encompasses the 21st century human because we are technology based, speed obsessed and impatient. We feel lost and powerless if for a split second we don't have all the answers available at "lightening speed." My interviewees said hardly anything that would place this generation above a previous one.

Not only did the three agree on what the 21st century human is, but they also agreed on what a work of art that is displayed at school should look like. Upon asking questions about the topic, the first thing each of them said was it should be attractive. After further questioning, I discovered that even though they felt it should be visually attractive, it does not have to be emotionally attractive. This means that negative expression and themes within the piece are not off limits. My peer group brought up an interesting point, they all agreed that the art displayed at school should be intriguing and attention grabbing. It should provoke people to stop and take some time to look at it, the themes and messages should be subtle not blatant or obvious. They also said that it is crucial for it to be simple in appearance but complex in expression.

The main themes and ideas that I can take from these interviews is that one's taste of art is almost impossible to summarize or understand. During my interviews, I rapidly took notes on whatever I could, but upon looking back at my notes I realized that what was taken down was riddled with contradictions. One bullet point would talk about how the person appreciates technique and skill over expression and sincerity, but then in the one following they say appearance takes second class to expression and emotion. Trying to summarize what a person looks for in a work of art is the equivalent to trying describe what one looks for in the opposite sex, full of conflicting qualities and contradicting themes. The key to it, is finding balance.