Anish Kapoor Sculpture

 Anish Kapoor

Cloud Gate (2004), Millennium Park, Chicago

Celebrated for his gigantic, stainless steel Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor is changing the cultural environment with his public works.

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.

  

 

 

A definition of conceptual art is “a type of art in which the artist's idea, or concept, of a work of art and of the means of executing that ideas have primary importance while the artwork itself, which may or may not be produced, is regarded as secondary”.

Kapoor’s works are conceptual art because the way he made the work doesn’t look like anything particular. His work is an abstract form. In the hands of sculptor Anish Kapoor, forms become at once monumental and evanescent, present and absent, physical and ethereal. Whether using the materials of classical sculpture like stone and bronze or newly applied forms of aluminum, pigment, enamel, resin, polymer, and PVC, Kapoor's sculpture seems to disappear, dissolve, levitate, or extend beyond a space the viewer can perceive.

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.

 

anish kapoor
sky mirror, red 2007

Kapoor’s monumental works, whose stainless steel curved, mirrored surfaces reflect their park surroundings, providing a new perspective of the green setting within the bustling city. I believe the idea of his work is as the audience how we can view the world in a lot of different way. Constructed from polished stainless steel and with the combined title 'Turning the World Upside Down', Kapoor's wavy wall 'C-Curve', pointy witch's hat 'Non Object (Spire)' and two curved discs 'Sky Mirrors' distort and reflect back both the leafy landscape surrounds and their audience, the majority of the latter clicking away on camera phones on my visit, highlighting our now ubiquitous desire to record and share an event, almost in preference to actually experiencing it. The sky mirrors, both places in or near water, are the most dramatic. The larger one, on this overcast day reflecting the cloudy grey sky to look like the moon fallen to earth. While the smaller, placed in the round pond and tinted a blood red, could ne the angry planet Mars, the clouds reflected in it its swirling atmosphere.

 

'arcelormittal orbit' by anish kapoor

This work is almost 115m tall and the deep red trumpet shaped tower, will give the guests a view of the London landscape. It is almost 1,400 tons of steel are used to make this. According to Kapoor; 'there is a kind of medieval sense to it of reaching up to the sky, building the impossible. A procession, if you like. It’s a long winding spiral: a folly that aspires to go even above the clouds and has something mythic about it.'

   

'leviathan' by anish kapoor

Kapoor has been working on this sculpture for almost 20years. 'The sculpture is a total immersion in an unexplored physical and mental dimension. once you are inside,
in the giant 4-armed balloon, the involutes form reminds you of an organic outer space and inner self at the same time -- but when you travel outside of it (once you are back in the space of the grand palais), I hope the viewer has another encounter with the piece and with the luminosity thrown down by the glass roof.' (Kapoor interview with design boom). Kapoor is a perfectionist and had to overcome lots of ‘technical’ problems.

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

Kapoor was challenge the daunting height of the Turbine Hall was, paradoxically to use its length. 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.

 

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

“The Farm,” a 400ha (1,000 acre) private estate outdoor art gallery in Kaipara Bay, north of Auckland, New Zealand. 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. 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. Throughout his career, Kapoor has worked extensively with architects and engineers. Kapoor insists that this body of work is neither pure sculpture nor pure architecture. Maybe the main idea of his work can be making the world largest sculpture in the world.

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 personally interested in 'leviathan' because when I look inside the giant balloon it feels like I’m in my own world. The idea of this work is interesting large scale of the sculpture and also the different colours of inside and outside I guess the best part was since it’s so enormous many number of people can fit at once.  

 

References

http://fabricarchitecturemag.com/articles/0110_sk_sculpture.html

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/kapoor/default.htm

http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/kapoor/

http://www.yourdictionary.com/conceptual-art

http://www.timeout.com/london/art/event/56072/anish-kapoor

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/11673/anish-kapoor-at-kensington-gardens.html

 

 

 

Youtube has some excellent footage on Kapoor-take a look at Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy.

www.royalacademy.org.uk › 
http://www.robgarrettcfa.com/thefarm.htm
http://www.billslater.com/cloudgate/

Dismemberment of Jeanne d’Arc- 

Old Municipal Market Building Brighton

Pluralism and the Treat of Waitangi

Pluralism and the Treaty of Waitangi

In teaching week 5 you will discuss pluralism and the Treaty of Waitangi in your tutorials.
Use this discussion, the notes in your ALVC book and the internet to respond to the following
questions;

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

The term according to Caldwell (1999): "Pluralism in art refers to the nature of artforms and artists as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicities, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religions, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities. (Paragraph 1).

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

I would describe New Zealand’s current dominant culture is people is seeing it from ice cream, kiwi, jandals, green/clean, nice view of places and All Blacks. From the other countries they are coming to visit New Zealand to see Ruby World Cup. We might know as a country side where people do farming but as the world develop New Zealand also developed. Now day’s different countries travelers come to visit the New Zealand. Our souvenir getting spread out to other far countries now.

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

Before 1840 Maori people were was New Zealand that time. There was trading and beliefs was going on. Maori people were interested in hunting and they had their own art which was carving and weaving. The youngest have to respect for elderly people and they had tattoo on their face which was moko.

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

As in artist we have carful when we do some kind of art about the culture and its same as ‘The Treaty of Waitangi’. Of course nobody wants to make mistake on their art about other people’s or other countries culture. Therefore artist have to do more accurate research before they start any art works.

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

Globalization is the tendency of businesses, technologies or philosophies that spread throughout the world or the process of making it happen. If the artist has no idea of what country they are trying to show and tell than sometimes it can harm the other culture in bad way. Because of the incorrect information the artist has made.

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.
Shane Cotton’s artwork is about New Zealand of The Treaty of Waitangi. It is something of this ambivalence about the land and the cultural landscape of New Zealand which is also at the heart of Shane Cotton’s art. In paintings such as “Forked Tongue”, which features a cliff face, a fantail, some Maori designs and a tracery of red lines these symbols or metaphors become starting points for an elaboration on the links between the physical, historical and spiritual landscapes.

 

'Welcome' (2004) Shane Cotton 

http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/catalogues/work/52293/shane-cotton-welcome.aspx

 

  

        

 

'Forked Tongue'(2011) Shane Cotton

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=159749742246964393&postID=3562222163249481008

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'.

In Albert art work ‘sorry’ commemorates the apology on 13 February 2008 by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, to indigenous Australians who have suffered as a result of ‘past mistreatment’ by the Government of Australia. Aboriginal people have been offered many broken promises. Here, Albert and his army of kitsch faces, has taken this word on face value until real change is observed. He introduces us to a forest of faces, each sharing elements of history with those stolen from their people, land and culture. Each represents a false identity, manufactured black faces made to fit white society.

Definition of kitsch-

The concept is associated with deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. Kitsch also refers to the types of art that are aesthetically deficient (whether or not being sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative) and that make creative gestures which merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae.

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

I think Albert and Cotton expressed the idea of pluralism showing their cultural background into their work. The both artist aren’t ashamed of their own culture way they came from. Like this artist we should be pride of our own culture where we came from.

                                       Tony Albert | Australia b.1981 | Girramay people | Sorry 2008 |
                                               Found kitsch objects applied  to vinyl letters | 99 objects :   
                                               200 x 510 x 10cm (installed) | The James C Sourris Collection.
                                               Purchased 2008 with funds from James C Sourris through the 
                                               Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
                             

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

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

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pluralism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralism

AUT University. (2011). Academic Literacies in Visual Communications 2: Resource Book. New Zealand, Auckland: Lyceum Press

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_New_Zealand

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/shane-cotton-paintings-examine-cultural-landscape-126412

http://21cblog.com/tony-albert-sorry-2008/

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

Kehinde Wiley and inter- textuality

 

3. Kehinde Wiley Count Potocki, 2008 oil on canvas, 274.3 x 274.3cm

4. Kehinde Wiley Support Army and Look after People, 2007 oil on canvas, 258.4 x 227.3cm

Kahinde Wiley is a Gay American based painter born in Los Angeles, who has an international reputation. Wiley lives and practices between Beijing and Brooklyn.


This weeks ALVC class focuses on the Postmodern theme "INTERTEXTUALITY", re-read Extract 1 The death of the author on page 39 of your ALVC books and respond to the oil paintings of Kehinde Wiley. 

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 refers to far more than the ‘influences’ of writers on each other. The ideology of individualism is a post-Renaissance legacy which reached its peak in Romanticism but which still dominates popular discourse. (Sturrock 1986, 87) (Goldschmidt 1943, 88).

Intertextuality is comparing or relating writing or artwork that we already know or familiar, so we could understand them better and easily.

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.

Wiley’s work is mainly about black and brown men found in the different countries. His paintings are mainly took it from the streets of Harlem of young men dressed everyday life style. He was focused on the portrayal of physicality and masculinity from the men. Wiley has expressed his own art style the time period around Islamic architecture, urban hip hop and Renaissance. In his painting he used hip hop style.

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

Pluralism in art refers to the nature of artforms and artists as diverse. The Cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicities, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religions, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities. (Paragraph 1).

Wiley’s work the idea of pluralism is shown as the idea of not only European white men are high class, civilized and wealthy. The main idea is everyone is equal.

 

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

In Wiley’s work he was asked why the white men are more powerful than the black men and showing black men as a gangster and people who always get into trouble. In early renaissance most of the painting in that time was white men and women are rich and high class from this Wiley makes work about the black people.

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

In Wiley’s painting look really colourful and it goes well together. He was referenced on the early Renaissance painting how the black men and white men are opposite poor and rich.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APA_style

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem09.html

- AUT University. (2011). Academic Literacies in Visual Communications 2: Resource Book. New Zealand, Auckland: Lyceum Press

Hussein Chalayan

Chalayan is an artist and designer, working in film, dress and installation art. Research Chalayan’s work, and then consider these questions in some thoughtful reflective writing.

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?

I think the work ‘Burka’ is art because the way the work is present was naked people some are wearing black cloth over their head you can only see their eyes. For the ‘Afterwords’ it seems like more art to me. The dresses on that woman looks interesting but I don’t think anybody would want to wear that kind of clothes to the public and from my view it looks heavy and uncomfortable as well. There difference between fashion and art I think art should be more creative and it doesn’t have to mean anything it can be random. For the fashion it has to be interesting and comfortable so people want to buy it. But it can’t be too weird than people do often judge others by their looks and how they wears.

Hussein Chalayan, Burka, 1996

                                                                 Hussein Chalayan, Afterwords, 2000

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?

The Level Tunnel(2006)

 

Repose (2006)

 
 

Chalayan has developed an experience of the senses, working with a number of different materials as well as plying with scent, touch and sound. The viewing is blindfolded and led into the installation, where they are confronted with sound created by a flute made from a vodka bottle. His work does not change the meaning of art. The works are creative for the ‘The Level Tunnel’ audience can work though the work and experience the art more.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/read.php?CATEGORY_PK=&TOPIC_PK=2858

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?

Chalayan has reflected the idea of postmodern because of the film ‘Absent Presence’. It’s the idea of different generation developed and using DNA. He showed his work in performance/play.

Hussein Chalayan, still from Absent Presence, 2005 (motion picture)

 

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 it’s important that every artist have they own personal techniques and thoughts. For the viewers it will be much easier to remember which work is from which artist and more audience looking at the new textures and ideas will be more interesting as a viewer. The art work will have different personal meaning and I think the artist will put a lot of effort to get higher standard compare to other artists to get more attraction from the audience.

 

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/hussein-chalayan

Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

 Post-Modernism

This week's ALVC tutorial covers Post-Modernism. Use the ALVC texts and definitions from the internet to define the term and answer the following questions;

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

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

l  Postmodernism is used in critical theory to refer to a point of departure for works of literature, journalism, architecture and religion in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries.

l  It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as, male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial

l  Three important traits in postmodernism is social constructivism, no grand narrative, relativism.

l  .different postmodern thinkers may have different opinions, and people from different fields may have somewhat different definitions of “postmodernism”.

l  Postmodernism is of course composed but two parts “post” and “modern”. Post is Latin for after and modernism refers to the modern period.

l  It is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problems of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative.

l  Associated with relativism

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

The postmodern 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” pretensions, becoming aware of his/her cultural self in history, and accelerating the process of self- consciousness.

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

l  Hyper-reality

l  Social and cultural

l  This work is ironic

l  Attention to play of surfaces

l  Art as process, performance, production.

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.

Ai Weiwei (born 18 May 1957) is a Chinese artist and political activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism. Ai Weiwei’s work is shows ironic he printed ‘coca cola’ logo on to the pot. His works seems he is trying to show his own culture on to his work. E.g. bikes, the colour of red.

 

'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994), Ai Weiwei

 

Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynast Urn.

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.)

Banksy is a pseudonymous England based graffiti artist, political activist, film, director and painter. The work below shows that his holding flowers it seems like his going to throw it. Different colours flowers stand out from the man.



'Flower Riot', Banksy



Los Angeles (2008), Banksy

This work has ape/human look and left hand his holding bone and other hand its holding plate of fast-food (hamburger, drink, chips) I think the artist is trying to show human use to kill animals but now days the world developed and there is more things to eat.

http://theworldsbestever.com/2008/02/new_banksy_pieces_surface_in_l.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/03/11/how-china-conquered-the-art-world.html

Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'

Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'.

Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg's intricately constructed claymation films are both terrifyingly
disturbing and artlessly sweet.

The new works created for the Venice Biennale explore a surrealistic Garden of Eden in which all that is natural goes awry.

She exposes the innate fear of what is not understood and confronts viewers with the complexity of emotions.

Nathalie Djurberg was awarded the silver lion for a promising young artist at the Venice
Art Biennale 09.

(http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg)

Research Djurberg's work in order to answer the following questions;

1. What do you understand by the word 'claymation'?

Claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is “deformable” made of a malleable substance, usually plasticene clay.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/claymation

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_claymation

2. What is meant by the term 'surrealistic Garden of Eden'? and 'all that is natural goes awry'?

Garden of Eden is a beautiful land created by God. Djurberg described her art work as Surrealistic Garden of Eden, which gives me an idea that her Surrealistic Garden of Eden is not a beautiful garden or a place for creatures. Her art is showing us her point of view of Hell. 'All that is natural goes awry' to gives us an idea of hell, because all that is nature grows upwards towards heave, but when it goes awry, it will grow towards other directions like downwards, which is towards the hell.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg-experiment-at-venice-art-biennale-09.html

 

3. What are the 'complexity of emotions' that Djurberg confronts us with?

Djurberg’s Art Video gives us ideas of superstition and witcheries. Good people are sent to heaven and bad people are sent to hell. Witches will probably get sent to hell. Djurberg’s hell shows us naked women who seems really evil and cruel. In her art video we don’t see any devils, which we would normally see in hell’s pictures. Her ideas in this art are that hell is a place where bad, cruel, and evil people get sent and these people will harm each other in the hell. So unlike any other hell, Djurberg’s hell is a hell where people harm each other not by devil.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WojgB4PL4M&feature=related

4. How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children's stories, and innocence in some of her work?

Normally children’s stories are like fairy tales and something happening nice but in Djurberg’s work he is changed to bad concept. I think when viewer sees this film everybody will think it’s horrible. Djurberg has changed the children who is innocent to evil.

 

5. There is a current fascination by some designers with turning the innocent and sweet into something disturbing. Why do you think this has come about?

The reason they changed something that is nice to something that is disturbing to get more audience to make the film more attractive. Normally people often see something happy and nice things going on but this time something opposite to the happy life.

6. In your opinion, why do you think Djurberg's work is so interesting that it was chosen for the Venice Biennale?

I think Djurberg’s work is interesting that you will not often see these kinds of art in anywhere. She made the dream into reality it is still cruel and very much disturbing but this art is attractive in some way. So this is why it is chosen for the Venice Biennale.

7. Add some of your own personal comments on her work.

I think her work was interesting and I will not see this kind of art in other places. This art makes me think why Djurberg have to make this kind of work. Honestly this is really disturbing but how this art is created is really attractive.

'Experiment' (2009) Venice Biennale