Barbara Kruger

1. The above image is a typical example of Kruger’s earlier pieces where they were usually a B/W photograph overlaid with declarative captions in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique font. The below image is a photograph of ‘Between Being Born & Dying’ (2009) an installation of Kruger’s. It is very evident she has moved away from the 'poster' type pieces and is now working with a very large scale installation. Although aspects remain the same e.g. Font, boldness of text she has covered walls and pillars of the Lever House in text. Kruger says that she wanted the viewers to experience her working their own space and be engulfed by the work. She has explored a new angle and changed with the ever changing contemporary art world. 2. I think the audience can experience spatial/installation work in a very firsthand basis. Viewers are able to interact by walking in and around the space and discovering it as they go. They become part of it and are enveloped into the work. Whereas a poster work has the effect of taking it all in at once and is very much a lifeless inanimate object. Quick and easy to experience and then move on. 3. Particularly in her earlier poster work she used a lot of pronouns like "You", "I", "Your", "We" and "They" which grab the viewers attention as it addresses them personally or we as a group, the viewer is included. Also the black and white use and the bold red and strong font all contribute to grabbing the viewer’s attention. Similarly in more recent works she uses a limited palette and the same strong bold fonts.


4. Over the past thirty years Kruger has not so much 'developed' her work but rather maintained its relativity and adapted as the times have changed. The biggest change would have to be the move from 2d and video to installation.

Kehinde Wiley

Intertextuality can be seen in Kehinde Wiley's paintings. The obvious western art history backgrounds and patterns are seen with an urbanized take on some of the patterns. The very obvious 'out of place' (as it would seem in today’s society) African American is interesting because the intertextuality of the painting challenges our original knowledge of the two social backgrounds we see and acknowledge in these paintings. therefore we are forced to question ourselves as to why we automatically think of the picture as 'wrong', the answer is simply that we were born into the knowledge that old-world elitist white culture is dominant it art culture and the white male in today’s world is dominant.


Wiley looks at pluralism, an idea that recognizes a wider representation of art, rather than the original emphasis of a single cultural group. So although pluralism is a good way to look at different art cultures I find Wiley is poking fun at the concept. I think he is saying pluralism is all good and well but it simply doesn't exist in this western world view of not only the art world but all cultures and societies. Wiley supports pluralism and looks at cultures other than his own in his works. I believe this to be a very smart move because not only is he fighting for cultural art to be recognized, at the same time he is practicing what he preaches. By including western art history and incorporating it into his creations he fights for recognition of pluralism and defies the typical anti-western artist.

Anish Kapoor

1. Cloud Gate - Kapoors 'Cloud Gate' also commonly called 'The Bean' is a public sculpture which was built between 2004 - 2006 and is the centre piece of the AT&T centre in Millennium Park, Chicago. The sculpture was inspired around the properties of liquid mercury. Kapoor often speaks of removing both the signature of the artist from his works as well as any traces of their fabrication, or what he refers to as "traces of the hand". http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/arts/design/20kenn.html?_r=1. Evidence of this is the fact that when the artwork was revealed in July 2004, it wasn’t completely finished. The seams were not yet welded and were still fully visible, much to the artist’s dismay. For him removing the seams from 'Cloud Gate' was necessary in order to make the sculpture seem perfect and readymade. What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline… so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one’s reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around. –Anish Kapoor

http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/cloud_gate.html


C Curve - Kapoors ' C Curve is a concave mirror made in 2007 and is located in Brighton, England. His intentions were to distort reality and create the 'limitless'. When visitors look at it from one side it looks normal but when looked at from the other side the reflection appears upside down. This is caused by a concave mirror which reflects light to a focal point very close to the mirror. Thus the reflection appears inverted.


Svayambh - Was an instillation at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and Munich’s Haus der Kunst where a huge beet red sculpture flows from one gallery to another, almost like a train car sliding through on matching red tracks. http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/004804.php. The material is a mix of wax and paint which coats the gallery doorways adding the impression that a vehicle like sculpture has moved through. It is titled 'Svayambh' which means 'self generated'. A constant theme of Kapoors removing any 'Traces of the hand' as it were.


2. Allan Gibbs owns 'The Farm' which is a large (1000 acre farm) which holds some of the finest contemporary sculpture in the world. Kapoor’s first outdoor sculpture in fabric, “The Farm” (the sculpture is named after its site), is designed to withstand the high winds that blow inland from the Tasman Sea off the northwest coast of New Zealand’s North Island.


3. "The Farm' is located on Allan Gibbs private outdoor art collection in Kaipara. In 2009 Gibbs commissioned Kapoor to create a sculpture for his site. Kapoor came up with a custom deep red PVC-coated polyester fabric, two ellipses one horizontal and one vertical with longitudinal mono-filament cables between the two ellipses creating a perfect circle in the centre of the sculpture and distorting and twisting the fabric to create the unique shape of the sculpture. It is made to withstand the wind that blows in from the Tasman Sea but it also enhances the sculpture giving it a 'breath' of life if you will, it seems alive.


4. My favorite work by Kapoor is 'Svayambh'. This instillation/sculpture is so interesting as it creates itself in a sense and makes me feel uneasy as I watch it being 'squished' through the doorways of the gallery. I feel as if I should stop it because it feels like it is doing something which is physically impossible and either the walls are going to break or it will.

The Walters Prize 2010

1. The Walters Prize is New Zealand's most prestigious contemporary art prize. This biennial award recognizes an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to contemporary art in New Zealand in the two years prior. Named in honor of artist Gordon Walters, it was established by founding benefactors and principal donors Erika and Robin Congreve and Dame Jenny Gibbs to make contemporary art a more widely recognized and debated and prominent feature of New Zealand cultural life.


2. Alex Monteith - 'Passing Maneuver' consisted of a two-channel film exploring space and movement using motorcycles.



Dan Arps - 'Explaining Things' his art mainly consisted of objects and materials he had found. A merging of the real and art worlds.



Fiona Conner - 'Something Transparent' Fiona was trying to portray fragmentation and confusion along with repetition and monotonous feelings portrayed in mundane ways.



Saskia Leek - 'Yellow is the Putty of the World' her simplistic and pastel colored offer a fresh view into modern art and are quite aesthetically pleasing.



3. Jon Bywater, Rhana Devenport, Leonhard Emmerling and Kate Montgomery.



4. Vincente Todli has been the director of the Tate modern since 2003; The Tate modern is now the most prestigious and most visited.



5. I would definitely vote for Alex Monteith, It simply held my interest longer than any others. Could have been improved with a big feed of junk food. I would have definitely stayed for ages. I guess I liked the fact that she used a large scale video projection as I have always wanted to do the same. But again if I was to do that I would include some sort of food. Just the sheer scale of the video was interesting to me. When I think back if the same video was on a 14 inch or something like that I definitely wouldn’t be bothered watching it. But in saying that it was quite funny how the motorcycle driver was cheating the law. Because everybody hates it when riders do that. I guess everyone who drives can relate to her video.

Hussein Chalayan

1. Hussein Chalayan's work can be very hard to accept as they challenge cultural boundaries and events in history. People can take offence to such things; His 'Afterwards' creation was based on the horror of having to leave home in the time of war. He explored the idea of how we might want to hide our possessions. 'Burka' shows he has a political awareness that is absent otherwise in fashion. He creates pieces based on the traditional Islamic chador. Commenting on the treatment of Islamic woman. Personally I think these two particular pieces are art. Also the fact that under his website afterwards is listed under 'arts projects'. I think his creations are art for the simple fact that they evoke thoughts deeper than that of aesthetic qualities. This is how I define art "Thought provoking" and when I look at 'Burka' and 'afterwards' I am forced to think about the reasons behind the piece, not just the beautiful woman wearing the piece. The determining factor in calling fashion not clothing is the hype created by the media and the designers. (In my opinion).

2. When art is produced in order to sell products or an artist is commissioned by a commercial business the art becomes more like a brief with requirements the artist must meet. So no doubt this influences the artist because the art is created for that very business so of course the art is going to relate to the business. If there was no influence it would just be another piece created by Chayalan but endorsed by a company and therefore not really making any sense. I know artists are quite often criticized when it comes to money and art and commercial businesses but the way I see it is good for them, now they can buy more materials and as much crayfish as they want. Who cares what others say as long as you’re eating when you want and respect yourself as an artist. Moneys just a byproduct of art.

3. I can think of the industrial revolution and the scientific revolution. His work has been influenced by scientific conditions such as xenophobia and the social interactions of such people.

4. It is only important when artists are physically capable and have the means to create their own art work and only then when it is practical. For example to get an assistant to paint one work, but it is nesscasary for an artist to hire technicians when it comes to mass produced work or specialized materials

Nathalie Djurberg

1. Claymation is a term coined in reference to any film in which the context is majorly plasticine or a similar substance.

2. I believe what is meant by the term is that we all have a pre conceived idea of what the Garden of Eden should look like and our 'natural' thinking of this is challenged so much so that it seems surreal when in fact the idea of our Garden of Eden has no more truth than that of Nathalie's.

3. The complexity of emotions are caused because of the innocence of the materials used and the actions that the characters perform. Automatically Claymation is referenced in our mind to children and we think of children viewing these. So when we so strongly, before we have even viewed it expect it to be viewed by a child we ourselves are put into the mindset of a child. Therefore when we see something completely opposite we are shocked and appalled even as we were not prepared mentally.

4. Well basically the way in which she used children's materials to create her work creating a sense of innocence a we link claymation directly to children, moreover, children are directly linked to innocence.

5. I think this has come about because people like to shock and disturb the viewer. This has always been relevant to artists but turning the innocent into something disturbing is just a newly explored way in which artists can achieve this. One artist explored it and a lot have followed.

6. Djurberg's
work is interesting because of the pure grotesque quality of the clay she uses.
It is reminiscent
of thick
blood. I think the 'shock' value of her work is simply more shocking than that
of other artists
imploring
similar tactics.

7. Djurberg's work was really interesting I
found it humorous but at the same time pretty disgusting.

Memorial Project Nha Trang

The 'Memorial Project Nha Trang By Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba Is a 13 minute video instillation set in an underwater Vietnam sea. It depicts actual fishermen of the country dragging rickshaws along the ocean floor. This somewhat mundane task is made interesting by the music, which the artist himself has composed and the physical struggles and dangers of the fisherman and there every day job. You can feel the struggle of these men and as you watch there faces remain calm untill there lungs cannot hold any longer and the kick towards the surface. There is an eerie feeling as all you can hear is the music and bubbles. The viewer is put into a sub-marine if you will, observing these strange creatures with there antique contraptions and there bizarre strenuous task.

I find relations from this video instillation and the way in which some countries have been affected badly by Modernist values. Vietnam in its self is facing the very difficult burden of the past in the face of modernization. As now in western countries huge boats are contracted to trawl the ocean floor and it is effective bringing thousands of fish with every trawl. But these men and the people of the Vietnamese have to struggle Physically and emotionally every day in order to live. These ideas of Nguyen-Hatsushiba not only apply to the fisherman of Vietnam but to the vast majority of all families and adults in which ever profession they choose. Notably a lot of european clothes made for big commercial companies are made by under paid Vietnamese women and children whom are made to work in very poor conditions.

Although the negatives of Modernism are very harshly affecting the every day lives of Vietnamese people there are some positives. Firstly Vietnams environment or at least, ocean floor has remained natural and undisturbed by western ocean trawlers which literary destroy everything in their paths. As i view this video Nguen-Hatsubishas ideas and concepts of this video are somewhat lost n me as the men seem content and almost at one with their countries environment. Although a struggle for air takes over their otherwise calm, cool and peaceful expressions I cannot help but feel jealousy almost as these men are able to use there bodies and be with nature as many of the western population strive for a life similar to that. Living off the land. Naive as it sounds.

Landscape and the Sublime

1. The enlightenment was an intellectual movement during the 18th century, in its simplest sense it was the creation not necessarily of a new framework of ideas but rather a framework or set of values amongst men. These values were base on themselves(human nature), society and nature its self. These new values challenged the traditional concepts and values which in the past were predominantly based around Christianity.

2. Sublime is derived from the latin word Sublimis which literally translates to; looking up from under the lintel, high, lofty, elevated, exalted. it is the quality of vast greatness or magnitude in many senses of the word, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. In particular it tends to be referred to as a greatness in which nothing else can be compared.

3. The concept of the sublime came out in the enlightenment period as the artists of the time had a new set of values. One being the new found recognition of the beauty in nature. Seeing the beauty British writers, taking the 'GrandTour' in the 17th and 18th centuries, first used the sublime to describe objects of nature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy)

4. Richard Misrach's photography is typically of landscapes or seascapes and usually includes people or man made objects. He studies the landscape and man’s complex relationship to it. The people or objects in his photographs are tiny compared to the vast sea or landscapes.

5. Augustus Earle, Viviano Codazz, Max Podstolski

6. Misrach's photography gives me a god like feeling or upper being, looking down on people as small an insignificant compared to the vast magnitude of nature. The people seem very vulnerable and powerless to the forces of nature. The pieces impart a dark frame of mind upon me. I think of the world and mankinds correlation as foolish and ignorant. Evidence of this ignorance is broadcast to the world every day on the News. This news showing the force of nature so easily overpowering cities and towns and taking the lives of people, just as easily as we humans take from nature everyday, so too nature just as easily takes from us.

Although Misarch's pieces are very aesthetically pleasing, bright, beautiful and tranquil. I can not shake the feeling of depression as I look down on (from what seems the eyes of god) unworthy and ungrateful humans. The feeling of depression is drawn from my own guilt as I know I too am guilty of the above crimes against nature.

7.

Damien Hirst

The work of Damien Hirst relates to the artist and the economic system of the renaissance period. Originally part of the YBA (young British artists) he led the movement of conceptual art in Britain in the early 90s.

The artists commonly used shock tactics and had fresh new ideas . Hirst particularly pushed away from the traditional art of Britain in the 90s and his exhibition, 'the physical impossibility of death in the eyes of someone living' was exemplary and similar to the acts to the Renaissance artist of the time. Comparably pushing away and thinking for themselves as to what art is? In the same way the role of the painter and the sculpture of the Renaissance period, (traditionally thought of in the lower social role of the crafts person) wanted their profession to be recognised as a member of the liberal arts, Damien Hirst and the YBA wanted their art to be recognized as a true artists movement in Britain at the time.


His work 'For The Love of God' a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead. Costing £14 million to produce, it is an interesting look into modern mercantilism. The idea of mercantilism was for a nation to increase imports and collect precious metals in order to best serve wealth and power in their given country. I find that Hirst's persona is somewhat arrogant and flamboyant, a prime example of his flamboyancy is his skull, the most costliest piece of art in history, it relates to the idea of precious metals being collected for ones nation. Relating to the saying 'no man is an island' which clearly doesn't apply to Hirst. I believe Hirst makes the statement that man is his own nation in particular the rich. Collecting and spending and growing as we all constantly are as individuals, some more so than others. As his critics have commented on; "work of art? He is not an artist. It's all commercial value to him. Is this just another way for rich people to deal with their time and excess of money. If Paris Hilton or Ali G say they did it, instead of Hirst, would you call that art? or just another publicity stunt?"
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5721243092885760241&postID=8586704498988537630


I believe that Hirst makes clever observations on society with His Art, 'For the Love of God' in particular commenting on the social status of individuals in today's society.

Auckland Triennial 2010

1. The theme of the 4Th Auckland Triennial is based on the impulse of risk and adventure in art today.







2. A 'Curator' is a content specialist for a gallery's collection. The curator will often take care of the collections, make the decisions regarding what objects to collect or put up for an exhibition. Also conduct research based on the collection, and share that research with the public and/or scholarly community through exhibitions and publications.







3. Australia, New Zealand, U.S.A.







4. Biennial of Sydney.







5. Nick Austin, Richard Bell, Sharon Hayes, Alex Monteith.

6. Mother's Tankstation, Life Again. Light Again. Leaf Again. Love Again, Garret Phelan.

This exhibition by garret Phelan is drawn from an obscure 19h century text on bird watching. In this exhibition he combines his passion for sound, drawing and bird watching to create the possibility of a mutated bird species into Ireland's environment. The pictographic drawings have both a humorous intent, as well as a serious darker side. Imagine a world where birds are forced to 'evolve' because of humans destructive negligence towards the ecological environment. Although this seems unlikely, it does have an affect on the way we look at nature today.

http://www.garretphelan.com/

7. Personally Phelan also creates an 'absence' of the sound and sight of birds in nature to enter my mind, I find it hard to picture native birds of New Zealand being forced to evolve and mutate in order to adapt to a change in the ecological environment caused by fellow negligent 'Kiwis'. In creating this 'absence' Phelen forces us to look at the potentially horrible effect that human negligence towards nature can largely or rather will largely have on the greater population of birds in all countries of the world. maybe not to the extreme point of mutation but the thought is drilled into our minds and conscience. The automated (evidently false) love of nature installed in all New Zealander's from birth is challenged, as we are forced to look at our blatant carelessness towards the thing we as 'kiwis' all hold precious in our selves, our countries image.