Emily Ostrer and James Dickinson: "I could do that + yeah but you didn't"

But first, what exactly is art? What is poetry? Who decides what means what and who sees what? I've come to the conclusion that modern art is like a crack in the sidewalk; to some it is just that; a crack in the sidewalk. To others, however, it could signify a dreary superstition. Every individual has his or her interpretation of a particular work of art. Artists over time have been able to redefine their understanding of art and have used that knowledge to produce works that may or may not be understood by many. However, I believe that certain influences play into an artist’s inspiration, style, and criticism. The nineteenth-century poet, Emily Dickinson, and the twenty-first-century photographer, James Ostrer, have been able to relate their life experiences to their productions and they share seemingly unconventional approaches to their art, which has gone to be revolutionary and has stimulated conversation among international critics.

Both Emily Dickinson and James Ostrer experienced personal events that played important roles in their development as artists. Everything we experience in our lives makes up who we are, and because art is a form of expression, whether through paintings, poems, or pictures, an artist is likely to depict his or her life experiences and views through their work. Emily Dickinson, commonly referred to as “the lonely poet of Amherst”(blogspot.com), used her poetry to communicate feelings of loss, pain, death, and loneliness. She grew up with distant parents, and as she grew older, her father discouraged her from a social life (hermitary.com). So, Dickinson developed issues with intimacy and became a recluse; she never got married and was often lonely. Also, she spent more time writing alone, and began to spend less time outside. This proved to bolster her passion for writing poetry. Dickinson also faced a lot of tragedies in her lifetime. For example, after her cousin, father, mother, and nephew passed away over time, she used this as an avenue to express her emotion and she began to express her misery over their deaths in many of her poems. For the rest of her life, Dickinson remained in The Homestead and continued to write poems and letters. I think that the events Dickinson went through in her life strongly affected her poetry and made her into the revolutionary that she is today. Similarly, photographer James Ostrer experienced a period in his life that would later affect his art. After his parents got divorced, his father would usually take him and his siblings out to get McDonald's, Burger King, etc. So, when Ostrer got older, he began to view various fast food restaurants as “place(s) of relaxation and fun” (theguardian.com) and often went for this type of food when he felt blue (theguardian.com). Because he was familiar with junk food, he decided to use it as a medium for his ongoing photos and produced human sculptures with no lack of sweets, crisps, and fast food. The sculptures and pictures helped him to dig deeper, and become familiar with his connection to these foods, and possibly rid him of his “candy crush” (theguardian.com). I think that similar to Dickinson, the events that James experienced growing up largely affected his productions. As illustrated in the elements of Emily Dickinson’s poems, and James Ostrer’s photos and sculptures, an artist’s life experiences definitely has some influence in the work they produce.

Many people view modern art and poetry pieces and think “Oh, well I could’ve done that.” However, the reality is that, creating art it is easier said than done. People interpret modern art in different ways because the meaning of a particular piece is subjective, and cannot be placed in a box or under a label. Emily Dickinson and James Ostrer both experienced harsh criticism due to the ambiguity of their works. Usually, people claim that it could take about three or four or even five turns of reading just to understand the thinking behind an Emily Dickinson poem partially. This is true as Emily Dickinson usually expressed her general ideas and emotions, but often masked others. Hence, her writing is less straightforward, and it requires more processing to comprehend her ideas. For example, because Emily Dickinson’s stanzas and sentences are usually short, people assume that it is easy to write as she does. However, Dickinson puts a lot more thought into her writing and structure. Looking carefully at her poems allows for deeper interpretation, and evokes greater emotion amongst the readers. James Ostrer also experienced criticism for his work. Because he was a junk food addict, he would receive disparaging comments about his work and ability. People often thought that his work was pretentious and had no real artistic significance. However, Ostrer wants his audience to know that he uses his photos to depict the attractiveness yet detriment of social issues in our society such as food production, addiction, etc. As simplistic as his works seemed to be, Ostrer had a meaningful analysis of each piece he created. Emily Dickinson and James Ostrer are similar because they were both able to accept criticism, and leave their art open to interpretation by a wider audience.

Dickinson and Ostrer are also similar in that both their works are perceived as unconventional and in some ways, groundbreaking. Since Emily Dickinson’s poems were discovered, she had been known to follow an alternative style of writing and punctuation. For example, Dickinson has been known not to have titles for her poems. Rather, her poems are identified by their first lines, a style perpetuated by Dickinson and emulated by other poets in the later eighteenth century and beyond. Also, Dickinson is popularly known to use dashes in her writing as opposed to traditional punctuation like periods, and commas. Nobody is certain about why she began to use these dashes, but Dickinson broke conventional writing styles and served as an inspiration to poets around the globe. Though her diverse style made her work more attractive to readers, her poems also faced some negativity from critics around the world who asserted that Dickinson’s style of dashes did nothing but create even more ambiguity in her writing. James Ostrer likewise began to use unconventional mediums in his sculptures and photographs. He made use of fast food, sweets, crisps, and deserts to create human sculptures, and later photographs. In his photo collection “Wotsit All About”(jamesostrer.com), he used these foods to create an avenue between his sugar addiction and his love for sculpting. Ostrer also inspired his audiences, who acclaimed him for his brilliant artistic execution. Numerous photographers and photo critics, however, have also accused Ostrer’s works of being pretentious and wasteful. Both Dickinson and Ostrer set an example for creators worldwide, and continue to be viewed as “revolutionary” as a result of their works, and rash stylistic choices regardless of some of the backlash they have received. This shows that both artists are similar in that they both defied convention and created art based on their will, which has influenced other forms of modern day art.

Whether it be poetry or photography or music, art is something that evokes emotion in a viewer, something that should be done by will, and something that should be open to subjective interpretation. As seen in examples illustrated by Dickinson and James Oster, both artists are similar in more ways than one, and both artists have left a lasting impact on their audiences around the world. And again, their works are more than meets the eye, no matter how simplistic they may seem. Like Craig Damrauer once said, "I could do that + yeah but you didn't." (goodreads.com)