S2 Week 6 - Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger's old poster-like artworks are some of the most instantly recognizable works in contemporary art today. She has used her background in graphic design and advertising to formulate her works and communicate in the most effective way possible. Using bold colors like black, white and red, her works are impossible to not notice.

Kruger has relatively recently become focused on installations, but these still pay homage to hr original poster style that made her famous. For example, 'Between Being Born and Dying' is an installation in which the viewer becomes a part of the poster, it's almost like being shrunk down and placed in the pages of a magazine, with bold text sprawling across every square inch of the gallery walls. The room loses it's sense of shape, and the viewer is truly lost amongst the words. Just when you thought Kruger's work couldn't be more penetratingly bold, she steps it up to a whole new level. Kruger has also taking these concepts and applied to them to video (and audio) installations.

Kruger uses staples of the graphic design and advertising industries to create the effect her work has. Contrast, simple and effective color schemes, powerful yet simplistic imagery and strong and balanced typography are all evident in her work and she uses these tools in the same way the advertising industry uses them to communicate with viewers. She uses a mass media style within an art context which is a great way to communicate artistic ideas and concepts with the masses who would otherwise not take the time to delve into the ideas behind many other contemporary artists work. Her simplistic forms should never take away from her work as an artist, as one can argue that art is just another form of communication, and Kruger's ability to communicate has reached the level of "art form".

Over the years, Kruger has explored taking her signature graphic style and applying it through different mediums. She has used projectors (most notably in the circular room of Louis Vuitton's flagship store in Paris) to add another dimension to her works, and while remaining true to form, have reinvigorated and reinvented her iconic poster works from earlier in her career. While she has explored works moving away from her original style (for example, 'The Globe Shrinks for Those Who Own it', 2010) , her main concept remains - the exploring of ourselves, and confronting of ourselves with who we really are, how we interact and how we work and are affected as a social unit. While her latest, more experimental works are a refreshing take on her often explored concepts, her original, bold and unforgettable "poster" works will always remain the poster of her artistic career - and with their brutally honest execution resulting in some of the most powerful imagery of the 20th century - rightfully so.

S2 Week 5 - Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley's portrayals of urban blacks in almost "royal" like settings and portraits are very interesting and raise a number of talking points. His paintings seem to reference the portraits, commissioned or not, of people in power - those that transcend the norm to become much more than just a person, but a figure. The patterns he intertwines with his portraits - many from old French wallpaper - add to this "royal" feeling behind his works. Some of his works reference religious figures, and provide a sense of contrast as he rebuilds these religious scenes and personalities using inner city blacks, whose images seem to be the polar opposite of the originals.

I believe Wiley is trying to take the often overlooked and impoverished urban black male and place them in the realm of power that the modern elite have enjoyed. He is replacing the central figures in a wide range of contexts with his people - the blacks of the inner cities in America. This demographic has long been disadvantaged, and Wiley's paintings ask why these people can't be seen in the way he paints them. He is taking a demographic that is very rarely seen in this light, and throwing them into it - completely as they are - not trying to hide any aspect of the urban culture. Essentially, he replacing the pompous outfits of histories figures, mostly white, whose portraits live on centuries later, with the typical, disadvantages and often misunderstood inner city black male.

His works are not only technically excellent, but also extremely interesting and raise some very important topics with the simple, yet incredibly strong concept of replacement.

S2 Week 4 - Anish Kapoor

1.

'Cloudgate' was the first work I became familiar with by Kapoor. This concept of this massive sculpture in Chicago was inspired by the properties of liquid mercury, and it's ability to distort reflection. Reflection is the major component in this sculpture, not just for its sheer aesthetic concerns, but also to turn the sculpture into something that can be interacted with. The work also acts as some kind of entrance way into an altered dimension, where the sky, city, ground and viewer are all projected onto the same plane.

'Sky Mirror', outside the Rockefeller Center in New York City is another work of Kapoor's using reflections and mirrors. It is a larger scale version of his previous 'Sky Mirror' sculpture in Nottingham, England. Standing 3 storeys high and weighing over 35 tonnes, the huge concave mirror reflects the sky high above the sky scrapers of New York City down to the ground, a level usually dominated by the gray tones of the "concrete jungle". Once again, Kapoor's obsession with creating non-objects that seem to camouflage into their surroundings is at play here, as is his "gateway" or "portal" themes used in some of his other works.

'Svayambh' was a very unique work - consisting of a massive red wax block, which moved through the gallery (Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany) on a form of sloping rail. The work "svayambh" is a Sanskrit word that actually means "shaped by its own energy", and that's exactly what the work is. As the block slowly moved through the gallery, it was shaped by what is came in contact with - walls and doorways wore down the block into a self made sculpture of sorts. A very interesting and different work, it brings to mind ideas of memory and the motion of life, how experiences shape everything.


2. 'The Farm' is a private art park just outside of Auckland City established by wealthy business man and art collector Allan Gibbs. The park has been the site of some of the most epic sculptures in terms of size, and the artists who have envisioned and produced these amazing works are some of the most recognizable names in art today.


3. In 2009, Gibbs commissioned Kapoor to create a sculpture for his site, called 'The Farm' (named after The Farm itself). Kapoor's work is an incredibly massive steel and fabric sculpture that explores the concepts of space and time, and the engineering of the human body. A long, stretched and twisted "horn" of bright red material, the work stands boldly against the green backdrop of the farm. With the wind that blows in from the Tasman Sea, the sculpture itself seems to "breathe" at times, as the wind ripples through the flexible walls of the sculpture.

4. My personal favorite work by Kapoor has to be 'CloudGate'. Not only was it the first work of his I had heard of, but it holds extra value as it's an image that immediately springs to mind when I think of Chicago, one of my favorite cities in the world and a place I am looking forward to visiting. I love the way the work captivates it's viewers, and how it seems weightless despite it's massive size. It's very dreamlike, and while it demands so much attention, it does not grab it from the beautiful skyline of the city - rather, it amplifies it.

S2 Week 3 - 2010 Walters Prize

1. The Walters Prize is a prize awarded once every two years and is widely considered the pinnacle of achievement in visual arts in New Zealand. The prize includes a NZ$50,000 grant and an all expenses paid trip to New York City, to exhibit at the famed Saatchi & Saatchi world headquarters.

2. Dan Arps ('Explaining Things'), whose work mostly consisted of found objects. A merging of the art world and real world.

Fiona Connor ('Something Transparent'), an exhibition that portrays fragmentation of reality - duplication, confusion, etc.

Saskia Leek ('Yellow is the Putty of the World'), whose simplistic and abstract paintings offer a fresh, bright and unique palette which is very attractive to the eye.

Alex Monteith ('Passing Manoeuvre'), who created a two-channel film to explore the concept of movement and space, and their relationship, by using motorcycles.

3. The 2010 Walters Prize jury consists of Jon Bywater, Rhana Devenport, Leonhard Emmerling and Kate Montgomery.

4. Vicente Todolí is the judge for the 2010 Walters Prize. Todolí is a highly accomplished and respected figure in the art world. Hailing from Valencia in Spain, Todolí studied in Valencia before moving to the US on a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Yale. He has since held high positions at New York's Whitney Museum, Valencia's IVAM and Serralves Contemporary Art Museum (Portugal), as well as collaborating with numerous other well known galleries and museums.

Most recently, he was the manager of probably the most famous modern art gallery in the world - Tate Modern - in London.

5. I didn't feel the artists had very strong concepts behind their work, for the most part. Arp's works did invoke a feeling of walking through someones personal belongings, but I wasn't particularly moved by it at all, nor did I find much of the work very visually pleasing. Connor's work was interesting, but I feel the concept was slightly dull. The use of duplication in a 3d sense is definitely impressive, but the base concept is very simple and has been used many times over in a range of different mediums. Leek's works were simplistic, abstract and nice to look at, but there wasn't much going on at all behind the few layers of yellow paints. Monteith's work drew me in the most, as I was interested in the movement of the bikes through the traffic, and the unique 2 channel production of the film.

However, I walked away from the film out of sheer boredom after 10 minutes or so. I understand the concept of movement and space, and Auckland traffic mixed with motorbikes are a great example, but I think this concept could have been pushed much, much further. The use of extra cameras at angles that show the spacing and interaction between the bikes and their surroundings would have been interesting. Change in speeds and directions would have added intrigue to the film. Instead I walked away feeling like I had just been stuck in traffic myself. Maybe if the film was shorter and more to-the-point, it wouldn't have had such an effect.

Overall I didn't find any of the work particularly moving, but the most interesting concept combined with visual aesthetics and unique portrayal and production was Alex Monteith's 'Passing Manoeuvre'. This would be m nomination for the prize, though I was expecting so much more from all the artists involved, I think their are much more deserving artists out there and that these nominations were based more diversity than quality.

S2 Week 2 - Hussein Chalayan

1. I see the particular works of 'Burka' and 'Afterwords' as more art that fashion. Fashion is a form of design, and design is essentially applied art to improve or correct an issue. In short, design is art with some sense of function. Both of these works contain elements of design, but lack any real function. They learn harder towards art because of this.

Fashion, in my opinion, is hard to describe as the boundaries are constantly being pushed. However, it is essentially a new take on a garment of accessory (or new invention of these things altogether), which makes it different from the standard garment. This can be achieved through new colors, materials, cuts, etc.

2. We don't know for sure exactly how much influence the clients had on Chalayan's work, so I don't think we can know entirely how much of an impact this had on his work. The relationship between art and money is a delicate one. Many are quick to point to artists who collaborate with companies or make millions of dollars off their artworks as "sellouts". Many believe money takes away from the value of the art itself, the marketing pollutes the 'pure' and honest aura that artwork is supposed to emit. However, art draws many parallels to marketing. Art (in most cases) is the visual communication of an idea or concept - designed to influence your thinking or at least spark thought, while still remaining visually pleasing - as is any well run marketing campaign which uses billboards or installations.

Personally I think collaborating with companies is a great idea for artists - as long as they still have complete creative freedom to make art as they please - otherwise it becomes restricted in some way, and therefore more so design. A healthy collaboration can give a talented artist a base of personal income, as well as time and freedom to produce artwork how they see fit, and for a company they respect in the first place. It is a mutual bonus for all involved - the company gets an entirely unique form of marketing, the artist gets his freedom in the form of creative control and steady income, and the viewers get to visit and view the finished artwork.

When the collaboration is unhealthy, that's when restrictions come into play and the art is not pure anymore. This is when the line between art and commissioned design blurs.

3. 'Absent Presence' is a very clever and well produced piece of film that raises many questions surrounding ideas such as xenophobia, inequality and racial profiling. It was obviously highly influenced by the progress of science and it's impact on art, as can be seen in the use of the DNA testing and overall feel of the set and scenes. Tolerance, xenophobia and racial undertones are also highly visible, as this film is based on social interaction, the way we see others. At the end of the film, the 'washing' scene seems to be a symbolic washing away of prejudice and the freedom of an ideal that is very often portrayed in artworks - equality.

4. The use of others to physically construct the work should not take away from the quality or worth of the artwork in question, with some notable exceptions. Today, art is heavily influenced by design, and how design is manufactured and born has very little to do with how it is perceived when it is released for consumption. Apple has long been held in high prestige for it's products, and deservedly so - they are beautifully design and have a very unique and recognizable look to them, however, they are mass produced in places not often revered for quality and attention to detail. Taiwan and China come to mind.

The manufacturing process should only either a. not effect or b. add to the overall worth of the art/design/product, as long as quality is not compromised. This is manufacturing quality is evident high quality manufactured products such as high end Italian sports cars or certain designer clothes.

'Non-designed' painting, photography and some other mediums should always be produced by the artist themselves, as they are just as much a personal touch than a concept in itself.

The way I see it, if you can design or envision a beautiful piece design/artwork, that doesn't require a personal touch (ie. brushstroke) and you have someone readily available who can produce the work at a higher quality than you can, why not?

S2 Week 1 - Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'

1. Claymation is a form of animation, using clay (or a similar material) molded into figures and altered slightly each frame, which is then run back at full speed to create the illusion of free movement.

2. The 'Surrealistic Garden of Eden' refers to the clay utopia that Djurberg set up for her exhibition for the Venice Biennale. It seems that she constructed this fanstasy world based on something very innocent and beautiful (the Garden of Eden), and then turned it upside down as she does in her videos, by exposing or manipulating a seemingly innocent scene into something darker. This is summed up by the line "all that is natural goes awry".

3. Djurberg bluntly portrays scenes that would be considered taboo, in a very childish (though not unprofessional) manner, and when this mixture of 'what' versus 'how' come together, it can be a very uneasy and awkward experience. Her works often look innocent until the moment you realize what is happening. This constantly shifting feeling creates a sense of emotional confusion - while you want to turn away, you just can't. She capitalizes on our curious nature.

4. Djurberg's works obviously take some inspiration from children's stories and other common familiarities that come from our childhood. However, she then flips then into something that is about as far away from childhood innocence as one can portray with clay. Once again, she is mixing claymation - something that strikes up memories of children's TV shows and of pure innocence - with shocking storylines and concepts. Through the materials, something that is blatantly taboo has an aura of innocence, or naivety.

5. I believe the fascination with turning the innocent or seemingly sweet into something morbid or disturbing is simply based on the increased level of access to all kinds of information we have today. Art, and people in general, have always been obsessed with contrasts. With advances in technology and the "shrinking" of the world, more people have access to more information - be it through the internet or news coverage, etc. Events or situations happening on the one side of the world are reported in real time across to the other side of the world. In general, I think our access to things that make us say "what!?" has just given us more ideas to contrast with others. While artists 300 years ago may have been contrasting shapes, or seasons or emotions, we today can hear of an event that strikes up a new level of contrast (ie. a school shooting), and it can in turn inspire our artwork. The increasingly disturbing level of some crimes or ideas that we hear about on a day-to-day basis will only push this 'innocent versus disturbing' envelope further.

6. I think it was a gutsy move to include Djurberg's work in the Venice Biennale due to the nature of her videos, but a correct one. I believe art should consist of at least one of these two things - to look appealing to the eye, and secondly, to make you think. Her work may not be very appealing to the eye, but it definitely makes us think. The highest level of viewer participation is when emotions come into play, and she accomplishes this at a high level. This allows her work to be successful, and above all - interesting.

7. My opinion on Djurberg's works has evolved as I have taken the time to think about the concepts behind them. At first, they seemed crude and just there for the shock factor, but I figured if that was the case, there would have been no emotion involved. I believe the materials and medium she used to convey her concepts were the make or break factor, and claymation was the perfectly contrasted medium. Almost everything else would have probably failed and rendered her artworks as nothing more than crude "shock jock" style concepts. Djurberg managed to turn images of what would make most people shake their head and turn away, into something that plays on our curiosity and invites us to watch despite the graphic nature of the content, by confusing our emotions.

Week 9 - Banksy

Banksy has been a controversial figure in British art for over a decade. Believed to have been born in in 1974 and originally trained as a butcher, his real identity is unknown. This adds to the mystique of his graffiti work, left around the cities of Britain and major cities in the rest of the world, filled with strong political, cultural and social messages. Anti-capitalism, Anti-war and Anti-totalitarianism have long been his status quo.

His work is seen as vandalism by some, but powerful and very much valid art by others. He works under secrecy, leaving his mark on almost any space he finds suitable, whether it be an old building, a footpath or in extreme cases, the Gaza Strip barrier wall. With the use of stencils, Banksy quickly puts up controversial images usually under the cover of night, containing very thought provoking messages that transcend regular "graffiti" art and blurs the thin line between art and vandalism.

However, Banksy's transcendent work obviously has it's place in the public forum. He raises genuine and interesting questions, instead using visual communication (over verbal) for it's power to influence and inform the masses.

An example of one of Banksy's most famous political works is "One Nation Under CCTV" (left). With the highest rate of security cameras and privacy questions often raised by the government and public alike, Britain is treading the border between security and prying eyes.

Taking the famed phrase from the US Pledge of Allegiance, Banksy modified the phrase to portray an image of modern day Britain, with a 3 storey high "ONE NATION UNDER CCTV", with a small boy on a ladder seemingly painting the letters as a police officer stands by. Ironically, the work was successfully completed right under a CCTV camera in a restricted area.

Another example of Banksy's controversial politically based works was his series of stencils on the Gaza Strip barrier wall. Allegedly threatened by Israeli border patrol soldiers during the making of these works, Banksy painted lighthearted images along the wall's side that opened up very un-lighthearted debates.

One of the images portrayed the other side of the wall as a paradise, a tropical island (right). Other's included images relating to escapisism - a tall ladder painted all the way up over the top of the wall. A girl flying away with helium balloons. A "cut line" for a entryway through the wall. Banksy's work is reason for debate, as he see's it, the wall turns Palestine into the "world's largest open-air prison".

With Banksy's art most often left to the public, the sale of his artworks becomes a difficult situation to gauge. There have been reports of people removing artworks from walls to sell and make money from his work. A family once sold their house when they realized the potential worth of the mural Banksy had painted on the side of it. The home was even listed as a "Banksy mural, with house attached".

While Banksy may not make money from these sales, he does make money from commissioned pieces and the sale of some of his works created with more traditonal mediums. Many of his works have sold for tens of thousands of pounds to some of the richest and most powerful people in the world with "Space Girl and Bird" setting the record at £288,000. Customers include everyone from A-List celebrities to hedge fund managers - sometimes the same kinds of people he targets with his messages.

While this may seem hypocritical, Banksy himself has little bearing on who buys his works as they are sold by auction. He makes no money from the use of his works on apparel or in books, and his exhibitions are always free. The financial gain, while massive, seems to be of little influence to Banksy himself. As he famously put it after a batch of his work sold for a combined total of over £400,000 in 2007 - "I can't believe you morons actually buy this shit".

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/who+is+banksy/460192
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/6351467.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6343197.stm