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?