Week 6: Anish Kapoor Sculpture

1.Research Kapoor's work in order to discuss whether it is conceptual art or not. Explain your answer, using a definition of conceptual art.

In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. ( LeWitt, s (1967). Paragraphs on Conceptual Art). I think his work is conceptual artwork as it seems that these works would have been designed on a drawing board before being constructed, due to their large scale. The interaction with the viewer who moves to create his own vision gives it a spiritual dimension. There are many underlying themes and ideas behind ‘Cloud Gate’ such as the seamlessness in the shape which creates the never ending illusion, the coming together in one entity, challenges perception by distorting and deforming the surrounding architecture and the fact that it isn’t an actual gate to anywhere it leaves that to your own imagination – as well as many more underlying ideas. The design itself wouldn’t throw these ideas at you, whilst initially looking at the structure. But through further analysis the viewer would understand ‘Cloud Gate’ as a conceptualist piece of artwork.

2. Research 3 quite different works by Kapoor from countries outside New Zealand to discuss the ideas behind the work. Include images of each work on your blog.

‘Turning the World Upside Down’

Located in Jerusalem, outside the Israel Museum, the curved form captures in its reflections, the earth and sky, but because of the shape, these are reversed: the top half reflects the ground (the visitors on the plaza), while the lower half reflects the skyline as it is seen around the perimeter of the museum campus. Visually, the reversed reflections of the two halves create a contrast of color and subject matter. The reversal of sky and earth also relates to the spiritual importance of Jerusalem in the Bible.

‘Sky Mirror’

Sky Mirror is located in the Kensington Gardens in London. This sculpture harmonizes with its surroundings and quite literally ‘brings the sky down to the ground’.

Its concave side, angled upward, is made of 23 tones of stainless steel, reflecting an upside-down portrait of the shifting sky around it. The sculpture is freestanding, with polished surfaces that are seamless and uninterrupted. This optical object will change through the day and night and is an example of what Kapoor describes as a "non-object," a sculpture that, despite its monumentality, suggests a window or void and often seems to vanish into its surroundings.

‘Tall tree and the eye’

Locaeted in the Courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2009, Kapoor has assembled 76 spheres which look as if they are floating upwards into the sky.

At just 15 meters high the sculpture alludes to be taller than the galleries buildings that surround it. The seamless shapes in the design are similar to the shape of ‘Cloud Gate’ and the meanings of endlessness and a never ending distortion. Though it is a very sizeable piece of artwork ‘Tall Tree and Eye’ comes across as weightless structure. By having many sphere shapes it also reminds us of people coming together, especially being in the courtyard of the gallery.

‘Some thing between shit and architecture’

This is one of Kapoors more recent works, completed in 2011, they show a very distinctive difference compared to some of his older works. He has used a machine which pushes out concrete leaving gravity to complete the forms.

All are repellent, primordial and fascinating. ‘The machine  carries on inexorably, but the material does its own thing, so the process is unpredictable. This leads to weird and interesting objects that are deeply primitive and go in many different directions – scatological, archaeological, sexual.’ Says Kapoor. It is very interesting that he has gone with a drastically different design technique as I started to get the feeling – swell as he is known for being – a perfectionist. I like the way he so willingly hand over control to an ungovernable machine.

3.Discuss the large scale 'site specific' work that has been installed on a private site in New Zealand.

‘The Farm’ is a sculpture named after the site it is located on. I think it is very interesting that on The Famr the designers can choose any area to work on. Kapoor has nestled the work in a cleft cut into a high ridgeline. With views of the harbour to the west and mountains to the east it is as if he wanted to channel the forces of water, air and rock; and to link the width of the harbour with the height of the hills.

4. Where is the Kapoor's work in New Zealand? What are its form and materials? What are the ideas behind the work?

Location: “The Farm,” located 1,000 acre private estate outdoor art gallery in Kaipara Bay, north of Auckland, New Zealand. “The Farm” is designed to withstand the high winds that blow inland from the Tasman Sea off the northwest coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Fabrics: The sculpture is fabricated in a custom deep red PVC-coated polyester fabric by Ferrari Textiles supported by two identical matching red structural steel ellipses that weigh 42,750kg each. The fabric alone weighs 7,200kg.

Form: The ellipses are orientated one horizontal, the other vertical. Thirty-two longitudinal mono-filament cables provide displacement and deflection resistance to the wind loads while assisting with the fabric transition from horizontal ellipse, to a perfect circle at midspan, through to the vertical ellipse at the other end. The sculpture, which passes through a carefully cut hillside, provides a kaleidoscopic view of the beautiful Kaipara Harbor at the vertical ellipse end and the hand contoured rolling valleys and hills of “The Farm” from the horizontal ellipse.

Ideas: One of the main ideas that I find absolutely out standing is that ‘The Farm’ actually breathes with the wind gusts. The sculpture contracts and expands. I also like how it compliments its environment beautifully.

5. Comment on which work by Kapoor is your favourite, and explain why. Are you personally attracted more by the ideas or the aesthetics of the work?

I absolutely am in love with ‘Turning the World Upside Down’, located in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. I am visually attracted to the simple design of this structure. How it is so simple, yet so effective. I like the way Kapoor plays with nature leaving the structure itself very simple but the ever changing nature of the site makes his works interesting..

References:

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http://www.timeout.com/london/around-town/event/199758/anish-kapoor-turning-the-world-upside-down

© 2011 Time Out Group Ltd. All rights reserved. All material on this site is © Time Out

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TPuzYwPcBU4J:www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/autumn-2009/features/+between+shit+and+architecture&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=safari

week 5 - Pluralism and the Treat of Waitangi

1.     Define the term 'pluralism' using APA referencing.

‘A point of view has no absolute truth, only a relative, subjective value according to how you perceive things. There are many ways of looking at any issue.’ (Author unknown (N.D) Notes taken in Alvc class)

2. How would you describe New Zealand's current dominant culture?

I would say it is European settlers that are the build of the dominant culture however in New Zealand. However the Maori way of life and strong cultural aspects are often shown and in away exploited for tourism perposes around the world. The New Zealand culture such as bbq’s, chilled summer lifestlye, jandels and having a beer in the sun are also globally known and related to New Zealand.

2.     Before 1840, what was New Zealand's dominant culture?

As we discussed in class, before 1840, Maoris were the dominant culture and people of New Zealand, with a population near 100,000 compared to the European settlers with around 200 people. After 1840 and the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori lost much of their land and mana (prestige and authority), entering a period of cultural and numerical decline. However their population began to increase again from the late 19th century, and a cultural revival began in the 1960s, sometimes known as the Maori Renaissance.

3.     How does the Treaty of Waitangi relate to us all as artists and designers working in New Zealand?

I think it relates to us as often many people try to portray the Maori in a positive way, for a gain in wealth. For example, the game interview we watched in the lecture. I think as an artist, I myself, as well as other people need to really cherish the beautiful cultural aspects new Zealand has as they really are individual to our small country.

5. How can globalization be seen as having a negative effect on regional diversity in New Zealand in particular?

Many global countries are now coming to New Zealand for new and un used ideas. this could be because globally everywhere else has been used up. However I can see were some people are coming from, but I do not think it has a negative affect as it is gaining global recognition – and in the end isn’t that what we want?

6. Shane Cotton's paintings are said to examine the cultural landscape. Research Cotton's work 'Welcome'(2004) and 'Forked Tongue' (2011) to analyze what he is saying about colonialization and the Treaty of Waitangi. 

'Welcome' (2004) Shane Cotton 

Shane Cotton is one of New Zealand’s most recognized artists of Pakeha and Maori decent. Cotton’s works often are very symbolic and relate to New Zealand’s culture. In ‘Welcome’ (2004) two heads aswell as two birds, a Fantail and Whitehead are portrayed in a grid like sequence. This portrays the colonization of European people in Aoteroa ‘the land of the long white cloud’. The two messenger birds, along with the use of "upoko tuhituhi" or “marked heads” in his work, and the head of Jesus can be perceived as the relation between pakeha and Maori. The two heads from the different colonies above and below people along with the birds relate to the treaty of Waitangi as this was a document signed to insure safe trading between the two colonies. However there was mis communication and the Maor tribes at the time did not relies the quality of land. The symbol of jesus type head is representative of the European and western world, ontop of the Maori chiefs head. This can in away show that from the Trety signing the European/ Pakehas have come out ‘on top’.

'Forked Tongue'(2011) Shane Cotton

In 'Forked Tongue' (2011) this artwork looks as if it has a sort of code like graphic style to it. The use of the letters within could portray the idea that the Maori chiefs at the time of signing the Treaty of Waitangi were depicting the treaty in a different way to which the Eroppean settlers had written it.  The bird can symbolize the message that was being carried through the different languages the treaty was signed in. the red lines can be depicted as a long line of controversy over the signing of the treaty and the relationship between native Maori’s and European settlers.

7. Tony Albert's installation 'Sorry' (2008) reflect the effects of colonization on the aboriginal people of Australia. Research the work and comment on what Albert is communicating through his work, and what he is referring to. Describe the materials that Albert uses on this installation and say what he hopes his work can achieve. Define the term 'kitsch'.

The work Sorry is a tribute to the indigenous Australians. It was made when Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, on 13 February 2008 apologised for their mis treatment from the European settlers, by the Australian Government. Kitsch art can be defined as ‘Kitsch is most commonly used to describe art that's considered overly sentimental, pretentious, or banal. It's used to dismiss such art as being in bad taste, of poor quality, or simply for having too much mass appeal. Kitsch is also used to describe art featuring cultural objects that date from the 1950-70s, or mundane, everyday subjects that are retro in style.’ (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009.)

The artwork ‘Sorry’ is a compiliation of all the plates and portraits that Albert has collected over the years to show respect to the unfairly treated aboriginal people. He has compiled it to remind people that the prime minister did apologize but has yet to take action for the things he has promised. Kitsch art that is included are of aboriginal peoples faces that for example, have been imprinted in steel plates as this was a popular style at the time.

"My work is always about appropriation, that's why it exists," Albert says. "The Sorry work is about my personal collection which, in a way, was always a comfort to me. There were images of Aboriginal people around me and my collecting these objects was my way of marking my respect."

– Tony Albert, Interview with theaustralian.com in 2009.

8. Explain how the work of both artists relates to pluralism.

Both artists works relate to and challenge peoples ideas aout their countries native cultures and heritage. They reate to pluralism as you can perceive the artists works in many different ways and there is not correct answer to them. The works challenge the western way of life which is instilled in us from a very young age, and make us think and have more respect for our native cultures.

 Reference list:

"Auckland and around". Rough Guide to New Zealand, Fifth Edition. Retrieved 16 February 2010.

http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/indigenous_australian_art/tony_albert

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6afMy0rlqq8

week 3: Hussein Chalayan

1. Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996), are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer. What are your personal responses to these works? Are Afterwords and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?

Not all clothing is fashion, so what makes fashion fashion?

Initially when looking at these two very interesting and challenging pieces I think they are a mix between fashion wear and an art form. Fashion wear can be defined as ‘a term usually used in a positive sense, as a synonym for glamour, beauty and style it is also applies to a prevailing mode of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mode of expression that may or may not apply to all.’ (Author unknown  (2011) Celebrity Fashion and Runway Styles.) However one of the main points of postmodernism it cannot be defined as it is constantly challenging modernist thinking.

These two interesting works both challenge these ideologies. Burka (1996) challenges the Muslim culture and the beliefs they are taught through many highly symbolic parts of the culture. For example the Qu ran’. Muslim woman are not allowed to show their bodies and have to protect their identities. However Chalayan has challenged this as in each of the models, the viewer cannot see their identities. This challenging nature of his works makes me eventually lean towards the ‘art’ category for his works.

2. Chalayan has strong links to industry. Pieces like The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose (2006) are made in collaboration with, and paid for by, commercial business; in these cases, a vodka company and a crystal manufacturer. How does this impact on the nature of Chalayan’s work? Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?

By being paid to do something for a company or corporation in accordance with a brief does some how change ones work category. It can be seen as ‘advertising’ not just ‘art’. As a viewer you may see it just as advertising and dismiss it, or you can perceive the works in a more creative manner. Advertisements often use very creative techniques to sell and represent an object or product. Advertisements are simply another form or media used to show artwork in our society today.

In these collaborations between the artist and company to produce a advertisement, Chalayan is simply showing his creative talent to another group of people in society and may not have the immediate response from the consumer to his works, but instead it sells another product. However, he would still be getting some recognition from his works and is getting a pay cheque. I think it has just been switched around. Instead of an artist or designer making something and not knowing who will buy it, he has been approached to produce something that they are after but do not have the skill or talent or the creative specialty to take it further. Art can be described as ‘The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power’ (google.com date unknown). Where as advertising is described as ‘The activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services’ (google.com date unknown).

Both clearly have different meanings however it is difficult to give a black or white answer to this question, as it can always be debated further in accordance to different people beliefs and thoughts.

3. Chalayan’s film Absent Presence screened at the 2005 Venice Biennale. It features the process of caring for worn clothes, and retrieving and analysing the traces of the wearer, in the form of DNA. This work has been influenced by many different art movements; can you think of some, and in what ways they might have inspired Chalayan’s approach?

There are many movements that Chalayan could have been influenced by. However, I think he is definitely embracing the postmodernism ideology as he is going through a very in-depth process using very scientific ideas. Many many artist have always used ‘found’ objects in their works from Andy Warhol’s use of the recycled Campbell soup tin to Dick Frizzel’s use of the iconic New Zealand ‘Mr. 4 Square’ man to Roy Lichtenstein’s comic book paintings.

4. Many of Chalayan’s pieces are physically designed and constructed by someone else; for example, sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works from Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) and Before Minus Now (2000) fashion ranges. In fashion design this is standard practice, but in art it remains unexpected. Work by artists such as Jackson Pollock hold their value in the fact that he personally made the painting. Contrastingly, Andy Warhol’s pop art was largely produced in a New York collective called The Factory, and many of his silk-screened works were produced by assistants. Contemporarily, Damien Hirst doesn’t personally build his vitrines or preserve the sharks himself. So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?

I think the idea for the artwork is most definitely the core idea of the art. For example architecture – the architect designs a building but its is nearly impossible to build a huge freestanding structure alone. This is a very huge topic to discuss, as nowadays there are hundreds of different art forms. As long as the artist has invented the idea, then personally I think it is ok to have other hands help to execute these visions. However in smaller scaled art such as the original paintings on the wall, artists should defiantly do these themselves as they are smaller and often all originals. Therefore making them very intimate and able to hold a higher value, as they are not mass-produced.

Reference list:

(Author unknown  (2011) Celebrity Fashion and Runway Styles.)

http://purerunwayfashion.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-is-fashion.html

http://www.google.co.nz/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=define+art&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=JBlTTvakFsbVgQfokd1L

Images referenced:

http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/files/imagecache/display/images/8847_Dick_Frizzell_Four_Four_Time.jpg

http://www.warholprints.com/images/artwork/full/FS-II.52.jpg

week 4: Kehinde Wiley and inter-textuality

1. Find a clear definition of Intertextuality and quote it accurately on your blog using the APA referencing system. Use your own words to explain the definition more thoroughly.

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts.

In my definition, it is the reuse of another person’s style or idea. However it is transformed or edited into another persons style or vision. For example these t-shrt designs I have found. They all show references to other designs or ideas.

2. Research Wiley's work and write a paragraph that analyzes how we might make sense of his work. Identify intertextuality in Wiley's work.

When initially looking at his works you see a very feminim design style. However on closer analysation I can see a reference to the ‘gangster rapper’ culyture in the black community. The feminim qualities shown in his works definitely reflect a gay personality as they challenge stereotypical ideas. Wiley has combined two very different styles of painting, the gangster rapper, and feminism qualities however the paintings still work very well as a whole. Intertextuality is shown as he has combined two very different design styles in a way which not very many people would think of. Wiley’s works challenge the viewers ideas and may offend some people, however this is a main quality of post modern design.

3. Wiley's work relates to next weeks postmodern theme "PLURALISM". Read page 46 and discuss how the work relates to this theme.

‘A point of view has no absolute truth, only a relative, subjective value according to how you perceive things. There are many ways of looking at any issue.’

Every single viewer of his paintings would have a different reaction. Some may find it highly offensive and others may be able to relate to it. In conclusion everyone is different and would have a different reaction. This is what the idea of post modernism is – challenging people’s thoughts and making them think in a different way.

4. Comment on how Wiley's work raises questions around social/cultural hierarchies , colonisation, globalisation, stereotypes and the politics which govern a western worldview. 

Wiley’s work has been very controversial. He is touching on very sensitive subjects such a homosexuality, racism and insult to black people. I feel he is trying to break down these social/cultural hierarchies as he is portraying the black people in very important paintings. The way they have been asked to pose also alludes to the way people in the renaissance were asked to pose. His works take aspects of life from different times, different places and different people that were not really seen in the times of the renaissance, against the way things are done in this western world.

5. Add some reflective comments of your own, which may add more information that you have read during your research.

I really admire the way he has combined different qualities that are not very ‘glamorous’ and are new to the western world. Such as, homosexuality and black people of power. He has chosen these newer qualities but portrayed them in a very old-fashioned portrait type of style.

http://www.cretique.com/archives/4012

http://www.deitch.com/artists/sub.php?artistId=11

intertextuality. (n.d.). Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Retrieved August 29, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intertextuality

definition of pluralism – taken from notes in class. 

week 2: Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

* If modernism is at an end, we are now facing a new period. The name given to this new period is post-modernism. *

1. Define Post-Modernism using 8-10 bullet points that include short quotes.

- Postmodernism is a philosophical movement away from the viewpoint of modernism.

- It is against the idea of one grand narrative.

- The progress of these two movements grew from the Enlightenment

- Post modernism rejects the ideas of 'subjectivity' and 'objectivity'.

- The term post modernism is used in a confusing variety of ways. For some it means anti-modern; for others it means the revision of the modernist premises.

- Constructive postmodernism does not reject modernism, but seeks to revise the premises and traditional concepts. Like deconstructive postmodernism, it attempts to erase all boundaries, to undermine legitimacy, and to dislodge the logic of the modernist state. Constructive postmodernism claims to offer a new unity of scientific, ethical, aesthetic, and religious intuitions. It rejects not science as such, but only that scientific approach in which only the data of the modern natural sciences are allowed to contribute to the construction of our worldview.

- Postmodernism was a movement in architecture that rejected the modernist, avant garde, passion for the new.

- In a Post-Modern world nothing has essential meaning anymore.

- Going "where no man has gone before"

2. Use a quote by Witcombe (2000) to define the Post-Modern artist.

“The post-modern artist is ‘reflexive’ in that he/she is self-aware and consciously involved in a process of thinking about him/herself and society in a deconstructive manner, ‘demasking’ pretentions, becoming aware of his/her cultural self in history, and accelerating the process of self-consciousness”, Witcombe (2000).

3. Use the grid on pages 42 and 43 to summarize the list of the features of Post-

Modernity.

To summarize, I believe that the main features of post-modernism are that there are no limits or boundaries to what a designer can do. It is about challenging and reinventing past things to improve them, or challenge the ideas around them.

4. Use this summary to answer the next two questions.

5. Research Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994) in order to say what features of the work are Post-Modern.

This urn can be described as being post-modern as it shows intertextuality. A lot of more recent works often display this characteristic as designers, such as Ai Weiwei are using strong symbolism. This urn covered in the globally known Coca-Cola logo may have been used to display China’s global corporations and what is often associated with – global mass production.  

6. Research British artist Banksy's street art, and analyze the following two works by the artist to discuss how each work can be defined at Post-Modern.(Use your list from point 6.)

‘it attempts to erase all boundaries, to undermine legitimacy, and to dislodge the logic of the modernist state.’ Banksy’s street art is very controversial. I think it is post-modern art as it challenges people’s thoughts and beliefs. He pushes the boundaries as often is work is infact illegally produced. The ideas and thoughts behind his work challenge the viewer. In ‘Los Angeles (2008), Banksy’ the ideas behind our globally reproduced world are very evident. It shows were we have come from (cavemen) to where we are is a world today (global corperations).

I think both artists are highly post modern as they both show aspects of challenging peoples ideas, thoughts and beliefs.

Reference List

Keep, C, McLaughlin, T and Parmar, R (1993-2000)  Defining Postmodernism.

http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0242.html

Witcombe,C (2000) Modernism & Postmodernism. http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/modpostmod.html