Elizabeth Watkins - Relating to Lane

I've been frustrated this semester with Lane's book. After reading chapters one and two, I felt like I was only relating to the material 50% of the time. The language in the book was hard to follow, and the overall message had such heavy meaning that you really have to committ to the reading completely. However, beginning with the second essay assignment (reading interactively), I began to see that it is easy to understand what Lane is saying if you can find a way to relate to it. In other words, you need to try to find an example in your life or something you are familiar with to really understand Lane's thoughts. Upon reading further into the book, I can now say that understanding Lane is getting easier. I get more involved when I can really understand what he is saying. For example, on page 68 he makes reference to Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and the power of the masks that Picasso obsessed over. I can completely understand what Lane is talking about. Last semester in my art history class we studied this work in great detail in our discussion class. We studied the primitive feel and aggression of the masks and how Picasso incorportated such things into this work. Because I can picture Picasso's image in my mind, I can understand what Lane means when he says the masks try to "invest the viewer with its iconic power". Hopefully as I read Lane further making connections to my own experiences will become less forced and more routine for me. For now, I am trying hard to really understand Lane's message.