Tyler Rapp

Julie Hicks
LBST 1105-H72 (Visual Arts)
November 20, 2015
Bechtler Response
The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is such an interesting building and space
Everything about it is quite remarkable. Mario Botta, the architect that designed the building, did
an amazing job with it. The color of the building, for one, is so unique in a way that makes it
stand out from the array of buildings around it. The single pillar that appears to hold up the top of
the Bechtleralthough it does notis rather peculiar, as well, because of its oddity in the rest of
the design. Outside of the Bechtler resides The Firebird, which is the first art piece seen. This
work, created by Niki de Saint Phalle, is composed of thousands upon thousands of mirror
mosaics that distorts your image when you look into it.
Moving inside, the space in the interior was beautiful: open, negative space combined
with neat furniture and elegance completed the modernized look very well. Looking up, one
could see the geometrical mural that surveyed the wall above. This mural is only destined to be
in the Bechtler for a little over ten years due to a contract, but its presence is very unusual due its
history. This piece, instead of the more typical way of art by having an image and creating it,
does something cool in that it was made as it went along. Mathematics played a huge role in
making the piece one-of-a-kind. Overall, the Bechtler family, whom decided to live in Charlotte
permanently after the establishment of big business in Charlotte, did a spectacular jobin
conjunction with Bottain creating a great art museum.

Into the art, I loved the differentiating art that the museum held: so much color, meaning,
and technicalities went into the art. One of my favorite components of the art in the Bechtler was
the use of words. Thus, this led me to having a strong connection with one of Walasse Tings
untitled works. Unfortunately, a picture of this piece could not be found online and pictures
could not be taken at the museum. However, I still vividly remember the piece because of its

impact on me. The art was comprised of two distinct elements: the drawing of hanging
people and a poem that followed. The shapes of the peopleand their limp posture
made the hanging seem much more real and scary. In addition, the color and value was
that of black and whiteconnoting a sense of dismay and sorrow as if all of the life in
the picture had been eradicated. Emphasis was placed on the people hanging that created
an odd, saddening sense of unity among the picture. All of the negative space, however,
created a sense of disconnect among each individual in a way that strengthened the
depressing emotions.
Personally, I connected with the poem more so than the picture itselfalthough
the picture most definitely amplified the poem. Essentially, the poem discussed life and
death; but, the main focus appeared to be on the existence or not of God or a god. In my
life, I have struggled with believing in God or a religion for several years. I grew up
Southern Baptist, but my family stopped regularly going to church when I was in mid-tolate elementary school. Nonetheless, I, who was all about religion at the time, pressed my
family to go to church. So, as a result, we tried a couple more but never seemed to find
the right fit; therefore, we stopped going altogether when I was in ninth grade. From

there, I got more and more into science and matured a lot more mentally. This eventually,
in conjunction with growing up more secular in comparison to most of my peers, led me
to realize how I do not believe in religion. Science is my passionand always has been.
Also, the whole idea behind religion and the faith one must possess is too abstract for
my mind. Today, I identify as secular humanist/agnostic. I do not identify as atheist
because I believe I can never say there is definitely not a God (although I do find the
possibility to be almost impossible). The poem by Ting reminded me of all of these
emotions and feelings and hardships that come with not only the personal struggle with
religion, but the external as well.
Speaking of external leads me into my next point: society. Society as a whole is
religious, with Christianity and Islam being the two most dominant religions in the world
(followed by unaffiliatedatheist, agnostic, etc.now being the third largest). Then,
after those, lies thousands of religions with varying amounts of followers. In my harsh
opinion, religion is a social construct necessary for the appeasement of minds in regards
to death. This picture and poem by Ting highlighted this cultural phenomenon because of
the hanging of people (whether it was by murder or suicide) and their destiny. Are they
going to heaven? Hell? No where? The questions are endless and differ among almost
every human in the world with everyones differentiating interpretations on religion. I
find religion to be one of the most interesting social questions because of its vast
differences, yet unity, among us as a human race.

The next piece I connected with was that of Sam Francis in his Psychiatrists
Notes art. Like Tings piece, this one also had words incorporated into the art with
picturesan element I find so cool. Sam Francis lived a harsh life, with having illnesses,
deaths, and more invade his life from a young age. As a result, he resorted to art as a
helpful hobby; however, this also lead to more sensual, sexual art at times. In
Psychiatrists Notes, a lot is going on aesthetically even if it does not seem so. The color
of the red text at times places emphasis on those wordsas well as contrast with the
other textto draw the viewer in. The red words appearing on the bottom of each section
are descriptions of the type of patient each one is, which varies from kind to outright
horrible. There is also contrast on the left and right side of the piece: the left having
strictly wordswith more unity, lines, and a patternwhile the right side contains fewer
words and more graphicsof less pattern and lines, but added shape. The pictures

contain much emphasis and connote a sense of connection with the reader and patients.
To me, the artist was trying to convey that people viewed mental health patients as these
types of people and even saw them this way physically.
On a personal level, mental health is a vital component of my family and friends. I
know a couple of people who have been admitted into a psychiatric ward for elongated
periods. But, as this art portrays, the societal attitude towards mental health patients is not
appealing. Most people have bad vibes when they know someone struggles with
depression, anxiety, or practically anything psychological. I can distinctly recall visiting
someone close to me in a mental hospital beforeon the seventh floor, as it is well
knownand even see the patients feed into this stereotype of being lesser of a person
because of their position. Entering the hospital provoked a weird feeling I had never had
before. Visiting someone for physical illnesses is more appropriate, but for mental
reasons is completely different. Going in, you are faced with a new atmosphere and an
extended range of situationsmild people, strange people, rampant people, collected
people, sad people. I love how this piece was able to bring these feelings to surface in a
way that I could effectively reflect on.
Culturally and socially, as aforementioned, mental health disorders are not
commonly viewed as okay by the average person. Having a condition of some sort
typically has an effect on how someone views you, sad to say. I wish, as society continues
to grow, these issues are brought to light and seen more positively. Suicide, for example,
has such negative connotationsas it should to a degree given the death that follows

but can almost be taken the wrong way. Many times I have heard from those around me
or seen on television when people call those who have committed suicide as selfish or
weak because of what they did to those around them. Instead, society should fight
suicide and target why it occurs anyway, not hate on when it does (which is already too
often). Hopefully, as a population, we will grow and become more accepting and helpful
to those who need it in the mental health realm.
All in all, I enjoyed the Bechtler immensely. I felt as if I connected to these two
pieces I just discussed a lot more than some of the art in some of the previous exhibits.
Each and every art excursion has been great and I am sad to see it come to an end with
the Bechtler. Coming into college, I was most excited for this class. Living right outside
of Charlotte, it is sad to say I have hardly been to any of these museums prior to this
class. But now I can honestly say I have been to many and have thoroughly enjoyed it all.