Have you ever been to the Philadelphia Museum of Art?
The architecture itself is stunning. The view from the front of the steps into downtown Philly is breathtaking, especially at night (I’m fascinated by city skylines at night). Wonderful masterpieces are contained therein. But, of course, what most people think of when they go the Philadelphia Museum of Art is…”the Rocky steps.”
For those of you who haven’t made the connection, the steps in front of the Philly Museum of Art was the filming sight for the climactic Rocky scene where Stallone runs up the steps with “Eye of the Tiger” playing triumphantly in the background. Countless visitors duplicate this every year. It’s one of those things that, if you haven’t done, you’ve just missed out. I did it last summer. It was a blast. You feel as though you’ve experienced a bit of Americana.
Today, the Rocky statue was taken back to the museum to be displayed. There has been a significant amount of controversy about this. Today, a professor from a local university was quoted as saying that the Rocky statue isn’t art. The debate is just that: is the statue art, or is it pop culture?
My question is, why can’t it be both?
Visual art is something that transports you into a different realm of consciousness, a realm that you couldn’t have acheived otherwise. Anyone who has been truly transported by a painting or sculpture can understand what I’m saying. The thing is that, the piece that transports you may leave me grounded. Likewise, what moves me beyond myself may leave you scratching your head. All art forms are relative. I know that drives social-science types crazy, but it just is. It means different things to different people. That’s part of what makes it art, be it visual, performance, written, musical…what a performance or a poem or a painting says to me, it may not say to you. It’s an individualized experience…as individual as a fingerprint. God made it that way.
Artists tend to reflect what is going on around them. They see the layers to a society that others don’t. They’re deep thinkers…it’s in their nature. Artists are the first to realize the dangers of societal trends, years, even decades before anyone else does. They see layers to our civilization, our culture, and reflect it in their work. Art must have culture to survive. Likewise, culture must have art to survive. It’s a symbiotic relationship. To attempt to separate the two like this…I just don’t get it.
Pop culture is still culture. In fact, it’s usually a more accurate deptiction of our culture than is academia and high society. The Rocky statue is a cultural icon. It is American heritage. It takes us back to where-ever, or whatever, we were experiencing when we saw the film. Incidentally, the film was a piece of art also. One work of art reflecting another, and reflecting culture simultaneously…sounds deep to me, perhaps even profound in its own little way. The Rocky statue is certainly art. And it is being moved back to where it belongs…the museum. Let people appreciate it there. Perhaps those who wouldn’t be inclined to enter the museum will appreciate this artwork in it’s plaza, and appreciate it. They will experience something they may not otherwise have experienced.
And, as with any encounter with art, they will be better, if even in a minute way, for it.