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