Museum of Fine Art: Riverdale Edition

   This first piece of art is truly a masterpiece. My first impression upon viewing this collage was that the artist, whoever they may be, is a true visionary and is truly aware of how powerful nostalgia can be.

By placing the seemingly used KN95 mask in the trash, the artist, that brilliant mind, conveys their frustration about mask-wearing. However, one of the mask’s straps occupies a liminal space of being both inside and outside  the trash bag, signifying that the mask’s place in the trash is not the only place it belongs. 

Of course, that’s just the beginning. The other objects in the trash can—a silver wrapper, a candy wrapper, a paper towel, and a plastic container lid—take on new meaning once juxtaposed with the mask. The silver wrapper’s shininess represents past societal norms to which  people are desperately trying to return. This shiny wrapper, representing a refulgent glory of years past, being placed in the trash reflects the depths to which society has sunk. The candy wrapper represents the overconsumption of indulgences that many people participated in over quarantine, and the blind support of capitalism throughout history. The paper towel is reminiscent of the sad scramble for objects of sanitation that many partook in back in March of 2020. Of course, the plastic container—an obvious stand-in for plastic face shields—represents the separation between people, and it being discarded reflects how people are beginning to reconnect. Overall this piece serves as a devastating commentary of the detrimental effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Now, this image evokes a feeling of hopelessness, rather than one of nostalgia. The primary focus of this image is the snow: dirty, melting, and clearly not fresh. The snow, once natural and pristine, becomes corrupted once it interacts with the manmade world, symbolized by hard, straight lines of the sidewalk. Instead, it recedes, representing the ever-growing threat of global warming, and the ongoing neglect of mother nature. The partially melted ice over the curb represents the irreparable effects the Industrial Revolution had on nature, since part of the snow has melted and can never return to its former splendor. 

This final image, currently on loan from MOMA, is one of my favorites, as it encapsulates the nuances of the human experience. The tissue, an object used once and then thrown away, represents the duality of man through its simultaneous usefulness and uselessness. The discarded pencil grip, an object used to comfort writers, represents the pain of being valued only for what you can do for others. Indeed, the piece seems to ask, are we all losing our grip on life? Finally, the two scraps of paper reflect how we feel isolated even when we’re with other people. Look carefully: they are next to each other, yet separate enough that they will never be mistaken for the same scrap. Taken together, these three items are a powerful indictment of capitalism and American consumerism.