NOTES - 5 other controversial art in Malaysia that pissed people off

original: http://cilisos.my/5-other-controversial-art-in-malaysia-that-pissed-people-off/

Why art can be so offensive

Actually, the question should be “What is art?” Art can be most simply described as a representation of reality, thought, or emotion put into a physical form such as paint, words, movement, or sculpture.
So because it’s a representation of thought, it also goes to say that no one agrees with you all of the time; and so there may be those who’ll like a certain painting, some who’ll hate it, and some who’ll be offended by it. Because, after all, most of us can’t tell a Monet from a Magritte, but what we CAN do is to stand around it and offer an opinion.
But of course, there are also artists who aim to offend or at the very least get a reaction out of their audience. Like with Charlie Hebdo for example, the magazine brought across their commentary on society via cartoons that were offensive on purpose. Even in a local – less extreme – context, Insert# artist Izat Arif (the Fa Qof t-shirt one) has stated that he was “proud” that his piece was removed, adding:

“The removal of artwork is also an expression of opinion which I respect because freedom of expression works both ways.” – Izat Arif, via The Malaysian Insider

How we see art is a reflection of ourselves

With art being so subjective, we really can’t say if there’s a right or wrong answer to someone’s interpretation of it. However, it’s in how the person interprets it that’s interesting. There’s a local research paper that attributes our tendency to take things literally to a lack of critical thinking. Another is through how a Rorschach test works, by analyzing how a person puts meaning into a random pattern that has no meaning.