A New Gorgon

Why were there so many toy guns when we were kids? At what point does a work of art become a form? When does an artist create a kind of phraseology that other artists build on, play with, and speak into? When we’re in the world of pretend, is there an ethic for consumption? Why do authors or artists choose to portray the horrific? And how do they choose to portray it? What is realism? Is it the way the artist plays on the very real yet hidden contexts that we are walking through life perceiving with? Works referenced and considered: Roland Barthes’ “Mythologies; The Odyssey; Artemisia Gentileschi – "Judith Beheading Holofernes"; Francisco Goya – "The Third of May 1808"; Édouard Manet – "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian"; Yue Minjun – "Execution"; Shakespeare’s Macbeth