“ART”

(Reaction Paper)

Yasmine Reza’s “Art” basically explores the complexities of one of the

world’s universal truths-the value of friendship. The plot of the story revolves
around three friends who are forced to come into terms with the daunting
changes that threaten to destroy their friendship. Serge, who in the act of
spontaneity and wild abandon to society’s recognized norms purchases an
expensive work of art worth two hundred thousand francs. His conservative
friend Marc was infuriated by Serge’s unthinkable recklessness and was agape
at the huge price a friend of his would spend over an artwork, which he thought,
was hardly worth the value. Yvan, in an attempt to reconcile the two, falls short of
committing himself to his own ideals led the quarrel to escalate even further and
fails. “Art” draws on the aged conflict between traditionalist and liberal views as a
means to portray the differences that may arise and at the same time tear down
the foundations that sustain the making and keeping of good friends. The
characters find themselves caught in a state of reflection of what they hold most
value and compel them to consider the differences that exist between. Thus, the
situation opens a window into a reality that allows them to take a closer look at
themselves and enables them to understand the value of the one thing they hold
most worth-their friendship.
The play in itself is an awakening. It imposes on the audience a necessity
to ask ourselves the status of our own personal relationships and enables us to
contemplate the things that we believe to be of most worth in our lives. The
characters for me represent the three common states of our being. Serge in his
blatant stripping of society’s enforced lines of conformity symbolize our own
innate desire to take the required risks in life for us to be able to progress a step
higher towards our worldly ambitions. Marc’s conservative views support the
nagging part inside us that wants to preserve our own conventions and conform
to society’s existing traditions. Yvan exemplifies our sometimes-waning
commitment to our professed ideals. He represents our own need to actually
become the person we claim ourselves to be. I liked the play mainly because it
exhorts a simplicity that is actually double-meaning. It plays with metaphors yet
gives out a meaningful sense that is clear and direct to the point. I like that it is
questioning in a sense that it forces the audience to think and thus making it
intellectually stimulating and not boring. Also, it gives out a simple message
about life’s intricate relationships and draws out a challenge to alter the state of
our personal affairs. I guess the reason why it draws out such a welcomed
response among the audience is because it probes a query that excites the latent
need for enlightenment that lies deep within our humanity.