On John Green’s podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed, there is an episode titled, “Works of Art by Agnes Martin and Hiroyuki Doi,” where John Green talks about the idea of innocence. He mentions how in art, innocence is often painted, however it’s not actually innocence itself, but rather a symbol of it. These symbols are often a baby or a nearly nude maiden, and yes, they may represent innocence but they themselves are not innocence. He then talked about a painting by Agnes Martin that was a grid made of different shades of blue that was supposed to show the innocence of a tree.
John Green said that “at least to [his] eyes, it really does look like innocence.” This got me thinking if it is possible to truly capture an emotion in a work of art. Sure a painting may feel or look innocent, but can it actually be innocent? Emotions are felt in the head and heart, but can they be assembled on a canvas to be felt by the eyes?
