John McPadden

PH 101
Dr. Paglierani
31 October, 2013
In life, objects often carry purposes, either to specific people or for certain tasks. Tools
are used to help accomplish tasks and likewise are very useful. Aesthetics however, are objects
that exist solely for entertainment purposes; meaning that aside from pleasing the senses, they
lack a purpose. Art is an example of an aesthetically pleasing medium along with music, poetry
and a host of other visual, audio and kinesthetic vehicles that flood our sensory river banks.
Aesthetics are relevant because they have the ability to take someone away from their current
mindset or stresses and put them in a new area. Art does have great power as it not only can
transform the person who experiences it, but also can transport him. By this I mean that in
experiencing art, ones mind will drift and soon they will be far away from what usually clogs up
their mind even if only for a second. In the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibit She Who
tells a Story is based on Iraqi women photographers and their worldviews expressed through
photographs. This exhibit is an example of how aesthetic objects express existential possibilities
and how artists can freely express themselves and their environments through aesthetics.
Artists such as Shadi Ghadirian, Rula Halawani and Gomar Dashti had their works being
displayed at the exhibit and all did incredible jobs of depicting the duality of life in war-torn
areas such as Iraq. In some of Shadi Ghadirians pictures she juxtaposes war equipment (hand
grenades, missiles, and bloody boots) with the home (fruit basket, bed, and high-heels). In this
vivid example, the artist really reached me and I went from simply viewing the art to really
understanding it. In these areas that war is constantly ripping apart life at the seams, citizens and
women have their own conflict to deal with. As their husbands go out and fight terrorists to

protect their house and family, they are met with the homebound chores of life along with having
to take care of the family on their own. Since resources are not abundant, they must make do
with what they have. Another take on the art is that with the turmoil outside, there is war going
on inside. Women are often subjected to being treated as lesser citizens and feel the brunt of this
with family decisions. In the example of the fruit basket with a hand grenade in it, my thoughts
are that the mother wishes to make the house look pretty while also providing sustenance, but the
father feels that only through military-grade protection can any growth or hope of life be
sustained.
Aesthetic objects express existential possibilities means that art (in this case) exists with
the purpose of solidifying a possibility. The depiction of life infused with war, as seen in Gohar
Dashtis photos, shows that this type of life is possible and it exists. The couple goes through life
with the background not only a war-torn wasteland, but also a lifestyle. The woman hangs her
sheets on barbwire as the man drinks his cup of coffee in the background. They have a picnic
with a tank looming in the background yards away, its massive cannon aimed at the couple.
Without these photographs, the realization that these realities exist would be very hard, if not
impossible, to imagine. Aesthetic experiences allow the mind to explore previously hidden caves
of life where possibilities of the abstract and unknown exist. It organizes chaos into a couple
simply eating a meal, while also educating the viewer that the subjects of the photo have grown
so accustomed to the war they simply ignore it. Aesthetics allow the mind to escape for a
moment which gives the mind enough time to understand the art on its journey back to the
present reality.