ART AND GARBAGE | الفن و الزبالة
BY Andrew Moran, BR‘19
ORIGINAL
TRANSLATION
Every two months, Hassan used to visit the Museum of Modern Art near his university. Admission to the museum was free, and art students created most of the art that was in it. Though Hassan did not study art, he loved to see the many types of art that the museum collected. Every time Hassan visited the museum, he found new things and gained a new perspective on art and sometimes on life.
The day that I, the author, want to focus on is the last day that Hassan visited the museum. It was a cold day in January, and Hassan arrived at the museum after finishing his studies. He immediately felt comfortable in the warmth of the lobby. He said hello to Farouk, the guard that was behind the front desk. Hassan knew the museum like the back of his hand, but he took a map because he loved to hold something in his hand while walking in the museum. He started his visit by reading information about the new exhibits and a short biography on the artists. Hassan was excited to see the exhibit on water where the artist used glass and feathers to give form to his paintings. He had begun walking to the room with the exhibit when he saw a plastic bottle on the ground. The bottle angered Hassan since there was no
reason for it; some lazy person had just carelessly left it there. Hassan began to pick up the trash when he heard a loud voice say, “STOP! STOP! What are you doing? Are you an insane criminal?!” Hassan froze in place and searched for the origin of the voice. He saw in front of him a young man with a beard and large blue glasses. Hassan asked, “What happened?” The man replied, “You tried to destroy my art!” Hassan was confused and said, “No, I only wanted to throw this garbage in the trash.” The man said, “This bottle is not trash! This is my art!” Hassan said, “Are you sure? I think you are confused, because this is trash.” The man responded, “No, you don’t understand art. This is a symbol for globalization and the battle between capitalism and communism. This exhibit is made up of all the complexity of love and sadness. I am a part of the exhibit and you are a part of the exhibit. We are the bottle and the bottle is us.” Hassan asserted, “No, I am sure that this garbage is garbage. Art is the beautiful things around us with colors and shapes. I can buy a new plastic bottle in any store.” The man replied, “You do not understand modern art. All the things that you see here in this museum are garbage. This bottle is the future. I live in the future. You consider this bottle to be trash because you fear development and real art. Because I am generous and I care about you I am going to give you this bottle as a gift. You should study this bottle until you understand it and until that time you will not return to this museum.”
Hassan took the bottle and left the museum. When he arrived at home he said to himself, “It is possible that he is right and the future of art is garbage. If this is the future, then there is no reason to visit the museum. I have plenty of art here at home.”
