Sensational

I thought that this story was interesting when reading it. The title definitely gets you interested when the words "Nipple Jesus" are in bold letters on the top, two words that are not commonly used together. I guess this could also play into the way the article plays out. Thinking about putting two things together that usually are not associated.

When Dave, the author, first meets the creater of the "Nipple Jesus," he is surprised to see that it is an educated woman named Mary. Many might think that someone who creates such work would have to be a man with some sort of odd perverted fascination and is putting it towards something that many value as very pure and obviously holy. Looking past the stereotypical perception of what an artist must be like because of what their work conveys is something that a viewer must get over. I think that this is an interesting topic. What if we did know what an artist looked like, talked like, or believed in? Would that change our opinions of their work?

I was very interested in the Sensations exhibit. I had heard of some of the artist before and found their work to be intriguing. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst is something that I had seen in an art article before along with the cow suspended in fluid. This appears to be something that you would see in a science museum or aquarium of some sort but I think if you saw it in person it would be incredibly powerful. How often do you look eye to eye with a shark? Hopefully never. Although some of the works are controversial, like Myra by Marcus Harvey, they are interesting to look at and definitely initiate discussion.

Questions:
1. Why is it titled Sensation?

2. Does knowing the artist change one's interpretation of the artwork?

3. Do artist avoid being "well-known" in order to stop that?