As many of you may know, my father is German, thus all of my fathers family and friends are overseas. A family friend of ours was an architect and artist, Heinz Radner. He passed away in 2004. I remember visiting him and his wife Margarite at their house in switzerland, my brother and i helped Heinz ( and their great big german shepard) build and paint a birdhouse in the garden. Their house was that of truely artistic sensability, everything was something, even the garbage bins were painted or mosaiced.
But Heinz, he was of couse an archictect by proffession, he designed and built hotels through switzerland and germany. But at heart his artistic side could not be ignored or hiden, not even in his profession, every single design that was subsequently constructed had his own signiture. A stain glass window. Each one unique in design. In fact the last stain glass window that he made is at his house with his wife, as far as i know i believe it is the french doors that lead out to the garden. I wish i had photos or something to show of his work, because this man, his work was truely amazing, and although his "real job" was that of an architect, i believe that the creativity and pull of a true artist always shines through regardless of whether one is accepted or known as a practicing artist... if i have the chance to get to germany, hopefully next year, i will be documenting Heinz's works...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Art & Globalism - Allan Sekula
Globalism and industrilisation are key factors in the society that we live in, so intertwined with the progression of society and technology, of corse many of these themes become related and lines blurred. For the artist that explore these area's, such as Allan Sekula, it seems it is a concern that never ends, as with his exhibition of the "fish story" project, he presented this work as an ongoing work in progress. The "fish story" refers to maritime industry and its causes and effects, both industraly and environmentaly. With over 100 photos and writen documentation, it seems that much as time is an issue that consumes artists, so too do the areas that relate to the world in which we live and the ever growing and changing environment that is so clearly inescapable to our sensability.
ps... very sorry but it would seem that all my technical devices are s**ting themselves thus not allowing me to post images...if i could fix it i would...honestly far too close to re-decorating with a hammer! sorry.
ps... very sorry but it would seem that all my technical devices are s**ting themselves thus not allowing me to post images...if i could fix it i would...honestly far too close to re-decorating with a hammer! sorry.
Art & Spirituality – Gordon Matta-Clark’s Descending Steps for Batan (1977)
The work of Gordon Matta-Clark appears perhaps more obviously suited to discussion in the context of Art & Architecture. Descending Steps for Batan is a performance/document carried out by Matta-Clark in 1977 in response to the suicide of his brother, Sebastian Matta, a painter who suffered from mental illness. For the duration of the exhibition, Matta-Clarke dug into the ground beneath the gallery floor, carving out a rudimentary flight of descending stairs. The dirt steps led downward but nowhere in particular, their final destination arbitrarily decided by the end of the exhibition period. Afterwards the hole was filled in. Descending Steps is one of my favourite of Matta-Clark’s works. Often it seems that much of what is described as spiritual in art exists on a grand, all encompassing scale. Matta-Clark’s simple work describes overwhelming loss and guilt, and I feel it is just as effective. To me, this hole in the floor speaks of transcendence.
Figure 1: Gordon Matta-Clark, Descending Steps for Batan (1977), Cibachrome 40 x 30 in.
Collaborative artists: Stelarc and Nina Sellars
This collaboration titled blender, was first on exhibit in 2005 at the melbourne meat market gallery. The work consists of a large 1.6 meter high blender with a dome industrial casing.
inside the plastic dome is the conntents of both artists liposuction surgery which they both undertook specifically for the work. every few minutes blender churns the contents of the dome mizzing both artists fat blood and leftovers together.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Art and the Audience- Olafur Eliasson
I thought it appropriate to talk about Olafur Eliasson for art and the audience, seeing as his works are coming to the MCA!
I particularly love the Weather Project.
The weather project was installed at the London's Tate Modern in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall.
Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar and water, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirror, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. The work reportedly attracted two million visitors, many of whom were repeat customers.
I suspect that seeing something like this would be life changing. Not only does Eliasson literally include the audiences image (through the mirror on the roof) but he almost makes the viewer transcend or rise above themself with this synthetic creation.
I cant wait to see his exhibition!
Mitsuru Koba- Art and its Audience
I stumbled across this artist,on a Scapbooking website!! He shaped and polished river stones collected from dried beds, in apparently site specific bundles. Recently he installed driftwood dinosaur skeletons on causeways around inlets in Japan, the layers of uncovered earth provide a readymade "white cube" and he really puts a haunt into it. I identify with this collection/hording, site specificity/ love of animals.
REVIEW Due DATE
I am happy to extend the due date till Friday morning - I will call by the Studio class at 10am SHARP.
Alternatively - if your review is complete - tomorrow it is!
A.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
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