Context is all.

If the Sistine Chapel frescoes had been detached from their ceiling in the 19th century and hung on the walls of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (or the Met, for short), would we appreciate them as much? Would we struggle to imagine the real power of Michelangelo's paintings in their original location? The sad truth is that in the British Museum, the Parthenon sculptures are not experienced at their best. When Thomas Bruce removed the Parthenon marbles from Athenian grounds, they not only got detached from much architectural, religious, and historical context, they were also incorporated into a metropolitan museum that celebrated the nationalism and imperial success not of Greece, but of the British Empire.

This digital piece was created to visually articulate how context is exceedingly significant in terms of effective expression. Context shapes the meaning in all communication. By taking classical Greek imagery and placing it in a contemporary, urban context, it establishes an entirely different meaning.

I feel that too many of the arguments posed in the campaigns for returning the Greek sculptures back to Athens are focused much more on national pride than they are about art. The beauty of the Parthenon marbles will never be fully appreciated or experienced between the walls of a museum miles away from the Acropolis. Context definitely has a great impact on the admiration of works of art, especially if they are so inextricably tied to their original site. The Parthenon marbles belong in Athens because they are Athenian.

Elena Flores

Urban Warrior

Digital Print

04/25/2016