Spirituality

A break occurred during the birth of Modernism, in the late 19th century, from religious imagery, as artists sought to convey less the strict subject of faith and more the rhetoric of the transcendent. Artists began to recognize art as religious or spiritual in itself and promoted 'individual revelation, universal brotherhood and spiritual ecstasy'[1].

This break from canonic religious subject matter gave artists the freedom to choose their own subject or, alternatively, non-subject. Post WWII the split that had occurred between religious form and subject matter had open the windows for artists to produced religious or spiritual works irrespective of their faith. This was the beginning of a huge leap that gave the possibility of a universal understanding or tolerance of what is essential or sacred to all 'beings' - spirituality and faith.

Houshiary and Pip Horn's Breathe II, 2004-2005

In my opinion a beautiful example of this amalgamation of artistic revelation and religious or spiritual essence is Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horn's Breathe II, a site specific work installed in Battery Park New York from May 2004 to April 2005. The works essence is drawn from the artists Sufi beliefs - the inner, mystical dimensions of Islamic belief, yet its aesthetic qualities seems to adhere to the principles of minimalism - a product or language of western art. Breathe II can also be seen to reference both Constant Brancusi Endless Column 1937 -1938 and the high prismatic tomb towers and minarets of Islamic Architecture[1].

Constant Brancusi, Endless Column, 1937 -1938

The minaret of Mas’ud III at Ghazni, Afghanistan, c1100

This binding of Eastern belief and Western practice gives to the work the possibility of transcending dogmatic classification, it becomes a geometric study into essence and being.

Houshiary and Horm have not only simplified the structure into a sinuous and flowing sculptural form, but have also stripped bared and recreated something that is essential to all of us in a way that is spiritually enthralling yet untainted by religious stigma or classification - the breathe, a most universal aspect of living.

"I set to capture my breathe, to find essence of my own existence, transcending name, nationality, cultures" [2]

- Houshiary draws formal vocabularies from diverse and specific origins, then lets them flow into common forms. [3]

[1] Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today - Art and Spirituality. (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008)

[2] Shirazeh Houshiary, Text - Fereshteh Daftari, http://www.shirazehhoushiary.com/

[3] Shirazeh Houshiary, Text - Fereshteh Daftari, http://www.shirazehhoushiary.com/

[4] Shirazeh Houshiary, Text - Fereshteh Daftari, http://www.shirazehhoushiary.com/

Images;

• Houshiary and Pip Horn's Breathe II, 2004-2005, NY - http://i1.exhibit-e.com/lehmannmaupin/e6501a9b.jpg
• Constant Brancusi, Endless Column, 1937 -1938 - http://www.lausterradu.com/index.php?cat=1&sec=6&prj=22
• The minaret of Mas’ud III at Ghazni, Afghanistan, c1100 - http://www.historywiz.com/galleries/minaretofmasudIII.htm

Art and Globalism/Spirituality - Do-Ho Suh

Do-Ho Suh




Floor, 1997-2000

Floor is an installation where the audience is invited to walk across a thick glass floor where more than 180,000 small PVC plastic figures strain and reach to support a thick layer of glass. The figures, just over 2 inches high and cast from six-different molds, were differentiated by reductive characteristics of gender and race, their legs bowed with the effort of supporting the glass plates raised above their heads. ‘Floor’ refers to globalism by commenting on class and population.

art and globalism- Wenda Gu

united nations: babble of the millennium
san francisco museum of modern art, 1999
a site-specific installation. an entirely human hair made tower of nonsensical pseudo-chinese, english, hindi, arabic and synthesized english-chinese.


united nations-holland monument: v.o.c.-w.i.c.*
the kroller-muller museum, the netherlands, 1994
a site-specific installation for heart of darkness.
dutch hair curtain walls, hair rooms, hair carpets mixed with pages of dutch colonial history books

This artist relates to the ideas associated with art and globalism. This artist builds spaces that resemble tea houses, temples and national monuments. She uses eastern and western languages. As an artist she is fusing together cultures and languages from all over the global community. Wenda Gu looks "head to a utopian moment when all humankind's deliberating differences will be erased". (Eleanor Heartney)

Spirituality- John Feodorov

Featured in a Art 21 episode of art and spirituality Feodorov questions Western culture's tendency to "castrate the powerful" as we fear that which we can't control. He explains his opinions on spirituality and contemporary society in an interview in the episode.

"..during the renaissance they [Western culture] turned these frightening powerful angels into these cute chubby cherubs; born again Christianity has turned the frightening, judging Jesus into a best friend.."

(Art 21 and John Feodorov, "Forest at night". http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/feodorov/clip2.html [accessed 21st September 2009])

"I think religion is the explanation of spirituality, and i think the mistake is that it's not necessarily something that needs to be explained. t think it's just sort of this hamper that you kind of throw things into."

Art & Identity - Mike Parr and National Identity

During the last decade, Australian artist Mike Parr has developed a series of performance works that critique and challenge Australian national identity. One such performance, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi (Democratic Torture) was performed over 30 hours at Artspace Sydney, in May 2003. Before a wall displaying textual excerpts from newspaper articles reporting on the Iraq war, Parr sat on a chair and had his lips sewn shut, an Australian flag attached in the manner of a prosthesis from his left arm stump. Parr remained this way for twenty four hours before electrodes were connected to his body, allowing an Internet audience watching a streaming of the performance to administer electric shocks to the artist.

Speaking emphatically of a collective shame, work is a traumatic, almost desperate critique of the Australian involvement in the Iraq War, and examines the impact of language on the nation's psyche. The title incorporates the peculiarly Australian chant of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi Oi Oi". Usually used as an encouraging mantra at sporting events, and associated with national pride, the words take on an aggressive, barbaric tone within the work. In sewing shut his lips and stripping himself of language, Parr embarks on a protest action that has become synonymous with those who have no voice with which to counter oppression. Scheer notes that the work was "a response as much to the media's facile reportage of the politics surrounding the invasion"1 as to the dubious circumstances within which Australia entered the war. Parr's protest then also rallies against the sensationalist headlines, lettered on the wall behind him. Parr shows us the destructive potential of language in informing a national identity.

1. Edward Scheer, Australia's Post Olympic Apocalypse? PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 30.1 (2008) 42-56

Li Wei - Art and spirituality

Li Wei is a chinese Artist who's performances and photographs are entrenched in spiritual roots. 

much of his work is based in Hong Kong and Rural China and explores his connections to his homeland. his work also touches on the the fragility of life, reincarnation and references to others religions. 

Art and Globalisation - Alfredo Jaar

1
Alfredo Jaar is a Chilean artist who uses light, photography, text and large scale instillation and performance pieces to raise issues about a whole range of issues regrading cultural globalisation and it's effects on less dominant cultures and the way in which mass media and photomedia portrays this.
in an exhibition at Galerie Lelong in 2009 (reviewed by Nancy Princenthal) Jaar showed a series of works "The Sound of Silence" (2006), “Why” (2009) and "Searching for Africa in Life" (1996). Nancy Princenthal's review in "Art in America" magazine focuses on "the sound of silence" as the central to the exhibition and giving it its impact. this is clearly evident as she only makes a note of the other two works in contrast to the great detail in which she describes the sound of silence, as well as linking it back to a previous work.
Princenthal also comments on the spacial aspects of the work as an instillation and how Jaar has created it in a way that forces the audience into a certain space at a certain time. "This room presents its rear exterior wall to viewers first, a wall that is covered with a battery of ferociously bright white fluorescent tubes. On the other side of the structure is an entry guarded by a cross-shaped sign—one axis red, the other green, lit in alternation. Coming into the story in the middle is not encouraged." 2
the piece itself is a 14 by 15 by 30 metal box, florescent lighting at one end and an opening at the other which leads to the inside. inside the box is pitch black except for a projected video on the back wall. the video tells the story of Kevin Carter, a photojournalist from South Africa who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for a photo taken of a Sudanese girl crawling along the floor as a vulture over looked. the story tells of the circumstances under which the picture was taken, how he had waited a full 8 minutes for the vulture to spread its wings but eventually took the picture with wings unspread for fear it would fly away. other facts about the photo and it's uses are written up on the wall by the video. the video then tells of how after being criticised for not helping the child, just 3 months after the pultizer prize was awarded to carter, he committed suicide. there is a sudden blinding flash of light and an explosion like snapshot noise and then the picture carter took is revealed. here the video ends and starts a new.
the piece talks about the globalised media and it's effect on cultures. in terms of the two cultures present the western society is saturated with images of famine, war and all other atrocities to the point of desensitisation and where the audience of the photo media should be compelled to action they are only informed. in contrast to this the culture being observed has it's dignity taken away as not only is it presented to the global society as a victim but as Jaar says no definitive action is then taken on the point. the work somewhat tries to undermine this point as jaar forces the audience to think about photomedia and what the images represent not just what they show, this Jaar hopes will be more likely to spur people to action. it also symbolises the "haves" and the "have nots" as those in a western culture who can access the global media and services and those of the third world cultures who can't.


1. Alfredo Jaar, installation "The Sound of Silence" (2006), fluorescent lights, video projection and mixed mediums, 14 by 15 by 30 feet overall; at Lelong.

2 Nancy Princenthal, "Art in America" May issue, 2009, pg 146 (1)

Art and Spirituality – Anish Kapoor

“We understand the object as a metaphor, but I think we know very little about space as a metaphor” Anish Kapoor

“Inability to tolerate empty space limits the amount of space available.”W.R. Bion, Cogitations1

London Based artist, Anish Kapoor is well known for is mysterious sculptural forms which infuse physical and psychological space. His works explore his interest in unlike materials, meditative structures and subconscious metaphysical divisions: presence and absence, being and non-being, place and non-place. His works are seemingly omnipresent, with corporeal aesthetics, and are intentionally made accessible to a wide public. However a closer look at these intriguing works show that they challenge the conventional ideals about scale and matter. These sculptures also redefine recognised patterns of perception, as well as promote questions in epistemological, mythical and transcendental realm – which are some of the notions behind spirituality. In order to establish a feeling of weightlessness, Kapoor employ’s an ‘alchemical’ process. He uses a wide range of materials in his practice, which he skilfully transforms, to question the conventional limits of architecture and to deconstruct experimental spaces. He produces forms which open up and expand into invisible spaces, which consequently address the physical and the immeasurable, thus leading the viewer to speculate origins and inevitability. In January 2002, Kapoor began a project called Marsyas, which was part of the Unilever Series. It was an exhibition commissioned for the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. Marsyas was comprised of three steel rings which were joined together by a single span of PVC membrane. Two rings are placed vertically on either side of the space, and a third is suspended parallel with the bridge. The geometry created by these steel structures consequently determines the sculptures overall form; a shift form vertical to horizontal to vertical. On starting the project Kapoor realised that there was only one way of challenging the daunting height of the space, and that was paradoxically to utilise its length. In order to experience Marsyas it is necessary to walk its entire length, over it and through it. By doing this we discover the most unnerving thing is not just the size but its twisting asymmetrical form. The membrane gave the sculpture a fleshy quality, which has been described by Kapoor as being ‘rather like a flayed skin’[1]. The dark red suggests something ‘of the physical, of the earthly, of the bodily.’ Kapoor has stated, ‘I want to make body into sky.’[2] Marsyas immerses the viewer into a monochromatic field of colour, while confounding spatial perceptions. The entire sculpture cannot be viewed from any one position, instead we experience it as a series, from which we are expected to construct the whole. Clearly, there is some relationship between his sculpture and the notions of Hinduism and mysticism, and a certain belief that there exist some objects which seem to have made themselves. Critics have also found a relationship between Kapoor’s work and the Buddhist concept of the void, ‘a state of consciousness that exists outside of the material world,’[3] which suggests that the viewer might even be able to “touch” the void.

Bibliography:

• “Tate: Online.” Tate Modern (2009), http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/kapoor/default.htm (accessed September 14, 2009)
• “Works.” Anish Kapoor (2009), http://www.anishkapoor.com/ (accessed September 14, 2009).
• Crone, Rainer and Von Stosch, Alexandra. Anish Kapoor. London: Prestel Publishing, 2008.
• Livingstone, Macro. Anish Kapoor: Feeling into Form. France: Walker Art Gallery, 1983.
• Heartney, Eleanor. Art and Today. New York: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008.
• Serota, Nicholas. Anish Kapoor; Marsyas. London: Tate Publishing, 2003.
  
  

[1] “Tate: Online.” Tate Modern (2009), http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/kapoor/default.htm (accessed September 15, 2009)
[2] Nicholas Serota, Anish Kapoor; Marsyas. (London: Tate Publishing, 2003), 61
[3] Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. (New York: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008), 285

SPIRITUALISM~ANISH KAPOOR REVIEW

The abstract nature of Kapoors’ work is best described by an extract from the essay ‘The Plasmic Image’(1945) by American painter Barnett Newman, in which he likens the ‘true abstract artist’ as one whom is “Concerned not with his own feelings or with the mystery of his own personality but with the penetration into the world-mystery. His imagination is therefore attempting to dig into metaphysical secrets. To that extent his art is concerned with the sublime.” [1]

Due to the enormity of the sculptures spectators become immediately, and perhaps involuntarily, aware of their size, space, and even place in the universe. Many sculptures, such as the ones constructed of wax, draw the viewer into an entirely different state of viewing and ‘seeing’, these works that give the illusion of movement make the viewer a participant in the sculptures, there is a sense of anticipation that is induced, which creates an attraction and a completely different way of ‘seeing’ and understanding, as Kapoor explains as ‘mental sculpture.[2]’

Discribed as ‘auto-generated’[3], they are objects where the artist/ creator is an unseen force. The works create an aura of simply ‘being’ and existing- surfaces of polished steel that draw the viewer into the work itself becomes an almost spiritual and transcendent experience.
One feels an attraction to these works and yet is immediately baffled and forced to somehow explore the depths, meanings and implications of space, time and infinity within these works and within themselves. As Edmund Burke[4] describes, ‘infinity has a tendency to fill the mind with that sort of delightful horror which is the most genuine effect and truest test of the sublime.’
The feeling that resonates from the monumental works such as "Cloud Gate", to those such as "Past, present, future", all create a multitude of sensations within the beholder that captivates and simultaneously throws one into a spiral of intrigue, mystery and sense of wonderment.

To conclude, Anish Kapoor explains the truest meanings of his works as he sees them, “I think the real subject for me, if there is one, is the sublime…it’s this whole notion of somehow trying to shorten the distance of the sublime experience… If one is looking at a Friedrich painting of a figure looking at the sunset, then one is having one’s reverie in terms of their experience…Its my wish to make that distance shorter so that the reverie is direct. You’re not watching someone else do it; you’re compelled to do it yourself.”[5]

[1] Rainer Crone, Alexandra Von Stosch, Anish Kapoor, (London: Prestel Publishing Ltd, 2008), 27.

[2] Sandhini Poddar, “Anish Kapoor- the fiction of Auto-generation.” Art Asia Pacific, no.60 (sept-oct 2008):157.

[3] Sandhini Poddar, “Anish Kapoor- the fiction of Auto-generation.” Art Asia Pacific, no.60 (sept-oct 2008):15

[4] Rainer Crone, Alexandra Von Stosch, Anish Kapoor, (London: Prestel Publishing Ltd, 2008), 25.

[5] Rainer Crone, Alexandra Von Stosch, Anish Kapoor, (London: Prestel Publishing Ltd, 2008), 27-28.

://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/anish-kapoor/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/arts/design/30kapo.html

Art & Spirituality - Wolfgang Laib

Nowhere- Everywhere, 1998 (beeswax)

Wolfgang Laib's Pollen from Hazelnut (1998 - 2000)

Wolfgang Laib uses ephemeral materials such as pollen; along with beeswax, milk and rice, to create sculptures and installations that seem to convey a sense of universal spirituality and peace. Some of his most known works include those in which he collects pollen and spreads it out on the floor in squares that appear to float just above the ground, creating entire experiences that encompass that audience. His larger installations include entire walk-in spaces built from beeswax blocks.

Images from : www.speronewestwater.com and www.artnet.com

Art + Spirituality + Globalism - Christian Jankowski

http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/christian-jankowski/video/



Christian Jankowski is a contemporary German artist who explores themes of communication, the varied forms of spritiuality and the internal psyche.

His work depicted above (a still from the video, linked), Telemistica, 1999 was exhibited in the 1999 Venice Bienale, in addtion to being televised in what would have to be real-time, given the call-in nature of the show. The video runs for approximately 5 minutes, in which we are exposed to The Opening scenes of Barbara Ferugljo's "L'Altra Modo di Esistere" (The Other Way to Exist), a tarot reading / fortune telling program on Italian television. Her first call is from Jankowski, having previously organised the call in advance. The artist introduces himself and asks if he will receive the support he needs to be able to complete his work for the Biennale in 2 weeks time. Ferugljo reads his cards and advises him that he will be eventually successful. While the work is not necessarily mocking the nature of clairvoyancy, the kitch commericalisation of the practice is questioned by the artist. The practice of the clairvoyant was once associated with shamanism and ancient Hindu prcactices; a private interaction between the clairvoyant and his /her client. Jankowski's Telemistica comments upon the exploitation of this once sprititual process achieved via globalisation and mass media.

The Holy Artwork, 2001 by Jankowski explores the exploitation of spirituality via the vehicle of mass media within a globalised culture. Spanning roughly 15 minutes of airtime, the work is filmed on a hand held video recorder by Jankowski in which televangilist Pastor Peter Spencer preaches the sacred nature of art. Jankowski moves up onto the stage during his sermon and collapses at Spencer's feet, all whilst still filming. The artist plays upon the behaviour of fundamental evangelical Christians who claim to be overtaken with the spirit of God. Heartney claims the work is "absurd" - working both against and in harmony with Christian spirituality.

Frustratingly, I couldn't find this video online, so I can't link it. (If anyone else has seen it, or knows how to access it, do tell me, I'm realy curious to see it).

Krehky at Carriage Works 15-26th Sep

KREHKY BY DESIGNBLOK PRAGUE
PRESENTED BY THE CZECH REPUBLIC
EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE OF CONTEMPORARY CZECH DESIGN

ABOUT THE KREHKY PROJECT
The Krehky project is an impressive and intricate exhibition of contemporary Czech glass and porcelain sculpture. Aiming to combine the essence of contemporary Czech design with heritage methods of Czech glass and ceramic sculpting, the glass and porcelain artworks demonstrate the heritage Czech tradition of glass and ceramics.

The exhibition enables visitors to gain a sense of the beauty of life together with an appreciation of the profound history and heritage of Czech design.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
A collection of works heavily inspired by the fantastical imagery of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' by C.S. Lewis was devised by curators of the exhibition Jana Zielinski and Jiri Macek. One has the feeling of entering through a wardrobe into a winter wonderland, feeling a sense of timeless nostalgia and imagination. An architectonical concept was created by Maxim Velcovsky a rising talent in European design. The ambassador for the Sydney exhibition is architect Jiri Pelcl.

‘Concerning the Spiritual in Art’ p266

Artist, Antony Gormley’s major theme in his works is to explore human being experience of freedom. His sculptures can be individual or collective bodies that have been contained or extended. They are meant to represent figural sculptures that include interaction with space, energy, memory and form. "This cannot always be seen but sensed." Gormley says. He likes his audience to make unexpected connections with individual revelation, universal brotherhood and spiritual ecstasy.p266

Art & Globalism

Antony Gormley

Gormley, Antony. Field, 1991 (American). Terracotta variable sizes, approx 35,000 elements, each 8-26 cm tall.

Salvatore Ala Gallery.

Heartney refers to Globalisation as a “multifaceted phenomenon” and mentions that one of the aspects of it is “proliferation”. [1] Taplin expresses that a feeling of proliferation is the most overpowering visual element that is exhibited in Gormley’s Field artwork, which is a mass of 35,000 terra-cotta figures, with their only facial identifier being two poked in eyes, all facing the entry to the space and only allowing visual intrusion. The coarsely formed, limbless figures resemble miniature men, who are standing to attention, perhaps waiting for direction. [2]

Taplin states that to create Field, Gormley employed “Third World labour” from Mexico who were a family of “brick makers”. These workers produced an awe-inspiring and significant artwork for another affluent culture, which in turn causes the viewer to feel conflict and irony. Gormley forces the viewer to become a commanding dictator, whose responsibility is to impose their culture onto the mass. [2] In relation to globalisation, Heartney describes the representation of the mass of numerous unidentifiable figures as a disintegration of the “individual”. [1]

Gormley’s artwork Field is a negative statement with regards to the effects of Globalisation, in particular to the facet of “classes and cultures”, how the ruling classes rein supreme, and long-established cultures are used for their cheap labour and their traditional ways destroyed. Taplin also mentions that the artwork is an aggressive critique of modern life, with its completely consuming and destructive existence. [2] Vidler observes that Field’s mass takes up the entire wall-to-wall space, which signifies an invasion, which is another negative aspect of Globalisation. [3]

Heartney also argues that technological advances play a significant role in the advent of Globalisation. Technology is assisting modern economies through the profiting from mass production of goods, which are manufactured inexpensively in developing countries. [1] Gormley’s Field is a grand example of mass production that is produced by a developing country, and yet ironically it is produced in a non-technological way.

No matter how the artwork is viewed in relation to globalisation, whether in a positive or negative light, Field is an overpowering artwork that the viewer is compelled to relate to. The sheer number of people being represented in clay, all still and quiet, has powerful capabilities that they perhaps have not come to realise.

Bibliography

[1] Heartney, Eleanor. Art and Today. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008.

[2] Taplin, Robert. “Antony Gormley at Salvatore Ala (Review of Exhibitions).” Art in America 79, no.11 (1991): 147.

[3] Vidler, Anthony. Antony Gormley: Blind Light. London: Southbank Centre, 2007.

Website: http://www.antonygormley.com (accessed September 7, 2009).

Art & Spirituality

Anish Kapoor

You just can’t escape Anish Kapoor. Lately I have felt as though he has been following me, even in Art and Today. Nearly every major gallery has one of his works on display…I’m sure of it!

I have to admit that his works are amazing and dizzying to view. I say this as I did not have an appreciation for his works before I saw the real thing. Even if you are not a spiritual person (like myself), you get an inescapable energy that radiates from the works. Between the size of the works and the visual mind games that the works catapult at you, you get a sublime comfort that you cannot achieve with photos of the sculptures. You really have to stand in front of one and relax.

 Ishi's Light 2003, Fibreglass, resin and lacquer
object: 3150 x 2500 x 2240 mm

Turning the World Inside Out II, 1995

http://www.anishkapoor.com/

Art and Spirituality- Bill Viola

As we all know religion and art have been thoroughly entwined throughout history. Although in 21st C there is not such a great focus on religion, but on the concept of spirituality.
Contemporary art allows the individual to find revelation and transcendence, therefore displacing the experience of spirituality from religion to the realm of individual feeling.The American artist Bill Viola, born in 1951 is a pioneer in the medium of video art and installation and is regarded as one of contemporary times most dynamic artists. Viola’s art addresses universal human experiences which have baffled and confounded man. He raises questions of perception, the mind, reality, meaning, purpose, the soul, death and transcendence 1... All of these ideas amount to one important factor of humanity, which is spirituality. Viola incorporates nature and religion to literally encapsulate spirituality and try to depict it to the modern world through a relevant context. The spectacular technology he uses not only substitute for real experience in the perceptive capacities of the individual, but which promise him or her transcendence over that reality. 2 Viola in a way has almost modernised the idea of spirituality as he uses the typical video form of entertainment to allow the audience to experience the numinous. It’s quite ironic that we now find transcendence through television screen.

Many of his works have roots in Eastern and Western art as well as spiritual traditions, including Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism. Using the inner language of subjective thoughts and collective memories, his videos communicate to a wide audience, allowing viewers to experience the work directly, and in their own personal way. 3

An exhibition of viola’s work is currently on display at the national gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The work known as “Ocean without a shore” takes its title from the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi (1165–1240). The work explores the threshold between life and death, or as the artist has stated, ‘the presence of the dead in our lives’. 4 The installation is a representation of how human beings are constantly undergoing various states of transformation and renewal relating back to the idea of how humans have developed and changed their sense of spirituality throughout the times. In the installation, three video screens become surfaces for the manifestation of images of the dead attempting to re-enter our world. 5 A physical threshold is created by a ‘sheet’ of cascading water which the individual steps through. The effect looks digitised and synthetic though it is not. The whole sequence has been slowed to create an eerie yet resonating image.

Ocean without a shore was originally installed in a 15th century chapel for the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 and directly incorporated the church’s internal architecture by using three existing stone alters as recesses for video screens. For the installation at NGV, the chapel is evoked conceptually through the creation of an intimate space built within an exhibition gallery.

The humanist spirituality that underpins his work is especially pronounced in Ocean without a shore both in its exploration of the afterlife, and the fact that it was originally installed in a religious context. The contrast of the two installation spaces indicates how an abrupt and exhibitions meaning is perceived when displayed in two different contexts.

1. Chris Townsend “The Art of Bill Viola” Chpt 1 (Call me Old-Fashioned, but… Meaning, Singularity and Transcendence in the work of Bill Viola) Thames & Hudson ltc, London 2004 p 25

2. Chris Townsend “The Art of Bill Viola” Chpt 1 (Call me Old-Fashioned, but… Meaning, Singularity and Transcendence in the work of Bill Viola) Thames & Hudson ltc, London 2004 p 12

3. Bill Viola, “Artists Biography” 2006 http://www.billviola.com/biograph.htm (Accessed 2.09.09)
Bill Viola “Ocean Without a Shore” 2009 http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/billviola/index.html (Accessed 5.09.09)

4. Bill Viola “Ocean Without a Shore” 2009 http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/billviola/index.html (Accessed 5.09.09)


5. Bill Viola “Ocean Without a Shore” 2009 http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/billviola/index.html (Accessed 5.09.09)


Bibliography:
Books:
Townsend, Chris “The Art of Bill Viola” Chpt 1 (Call me Old-Fashioned, but… Meaning, Singularity and Transcendence in the work of Bill Viola) Thames & Hudson ltc, London 2004 p 25

Townsend, Chris “The Art of Bill Viola” Chpt 1 (Call me Old-Fashioned, but… Meaning, Singularity and Transcendence in the work of Bill Viola) Thames & Hudson ltc, London 2004 p 12

Websites:
Viola, Bill “Artists Biography” 2006 http://www.billviola.com/biograph.htm (Accessed 2.09.09)
Viola, Bill “Ocean Without a Shore” 2009 http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/billviola/index.html (Accessed 5.09.09)

Viola, Bill “Ocean Without a Shore” 2009 http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/billviola/index.html (Accessed 5.09.09)

Images:

All three images: Bill Viola "Ocean Without a Shore" 2009 High definition video and sound installation, size varies (accessed 20.09.09)

The White Rabbit Gallery

Although Alex just made a post about the gallery, having just visited it yesterday I felt obliged to write about it as I really enjoyed it!

The director and owner of the collection Judith Neilson obviously has an amazing eye for contemporary Chinese art and has the biggest collection in the world. I got to go on a tour & talk of the collection which was very insightful.

A lot of the works were very confronting and have strong political and social messages. 

I think that many of these works can be related to both themes Globalism and Spirituality. One installation (Where Have All the Children Gone?) consisted of young girls dresses hanging from the roof representing girls who were murdered during Mao's reign. The piece had a very spiritual feel to it. It was poignant and beautiful. Many other works had the same spiritual essence. The political history of China has affected the people immensely and made for a lot of powerful art.

Globalism often dictates the way a lot of contemporary Chinese art is made as many of the artists try to direct their work at the Western market (e.g. some of Ai Wei Wei's works have been said to do this). Judith apparently tries not to buy art like this. The piece "Apple in Love" speaks about the desire to be American and live 'the American Dream' showing an M&M struggling to water ski behind a speedboat. The influence of American culture through Globalism.

I can't download the pictures unfortunately but here is the web address-

http://www.whiterabbitcollection.org/modules/collection/gallery.php?id_galleries=34

Art and spirituality - James Turrell

Turrell’s work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing,” Informed by his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusions, Turrell’s work allows us to see ourselves “seeing.” Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell’s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience.Working with cosmological phenomena that have interested man since the dawn of civilization.His fascination with the phenomena of light is ultimately connected to a very personal, inward search for mankind’s place in the universe. Turrell’s art prompts greater self-awareness through a similar discipline of silent contemplation, patience, and meditation. His ethereal installations enlist the common properties of light to communicate feelings of transcendence and the Divine.

I found Turrell's work really fascinating that through the use of light he is able to create many spiritual meanings. It draws upon many questions that one has in regard to spirituality and the universe. This artist relates to many of the ideas discussed by Heartney as spirituality has replaced religion in modern art and this combination of art and spirituality have provided the investigation of life, morality , consciousness and spirit.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/turrell/index.html



"The Light Inside"
1999
Electric lights, wires, metal and paint, site-specific permanent installation at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas