During today’s lesson, when Queer Van Kult dropped by, I asked a question regarding any misconceptions or misunderstandings that people may have about their work. Before diving into their answer, I want to provide a little bit to background on why I asked this question to begin with. The answer is simple, I wanted to get to know the public perception of their art. After reading that they were a LGBTQ group operating in primarily conservative Staten Island, it was easy to see how they may have faced backlash and harsh criticism by those around them. In accordance with that logic, the cofounders were able to tell me that Queer Van Kult did indeed face criticism in the form of people claiming that they were a devll worshipping group because of their logo as well as the fact that they performed rituals with pig’s blood. Naturally, this response did surprise me to hear. I was expecting an answer that included some sort of harsh criticism, but certainly not baseless accusations such as pig’s blood being used by the group in their work.
In terms of my understanding, answering this question and hearing the response, it gave me insight and strengthened my understanding of how certain people perceive the Queer Van Kult group. As Professor Pentangelo mentioned in class, many individuals are not able to differentiate the art from the artist. What I mean by this is that the group does explore certain “taboo” topics and ideas in their work but in that same token, they are not literally devil worshippers who would go to the extent of using pigs blood in their art. Many people do not see the artistic vision that this group has or may not certainly agree with it, especially in a primarily conservative area such as Staten Island. However, my hope is that people learn to accept that we are all unique individuals with our own beliefs and that is what gives art such as Queer Van Kult meaning and purpose.
Overall, I learned a lot through this experience and talking to the cofounders of Queer Van Kult. It exposed me to new art forms and was a beneficial learning experience.
