Krzysztof Wodiczko

I'd like to blog about numerous artists that we discussed in class. I'm happy to have my resources expanded and to learn about many new artists. I decided to choose one of the last artists that we looked at in class to discuss - Krzysztof Wodiczko. His work is really amazing and the examples that the documentary showed really related to some of my personal knowledge.

When Wodiczko showed the women in Tijuana I thought of a friend who went down there, ignorant to the world of sex tourism and trafficking. I knew it was horrible when he went, but after learning about trafficking, as mentioned in a previous post, I realize that it's probably much worse than I thought over there. His work shed light on some of the atrocities. I hope that his work reaches people like the guys I have come in contact with that support dysfunctional sex tourism, and inadvertently support trafficking, without thinking of the women involved.

Living in Japan, I visited the building that is still standing after the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Going to Hiroshima was an intense experience. We visited that building, went to the museum and saw the exhibit of the cranes... one origami crane for each child that died. The museum showed how people were walking down the street melting. It looked like a fictitious horror movie. When people were talking about their experiences I thought of one of my first students in Japan, who is now a facebook friend, Itchitaro Suzuki. He was one of my oldest students and a retired teacher. One day we were doing a lesson on past tense and one of the prompts had students tell the group about kindergarten. He burst into tears. I didn't understand what was going on. Finally, he said that's when the bombs came. He survived the bombings in Tokyo. I had no idea Tokyo was bombed during WWII, but actually Kyoto was the only place that was not bombed. We set off two atomic bombs, but dropped regular bombs over the rest of the country.

I think that Wodiczko's work moved all of us in class that night and must have reached so many people with each of his shows. He lets people explain why these aspects of our societies should not exist. It's really amazing.