Week 6: Barbara Kruger

1.Research Kruger's work to find an example from the 1970s or 1980s to compare with a more recent work. How has Kruger's work changed with the developments in contemporary visual arts? Describe a recent work that moves away from the 'poster' type work of her early career.

- Krugers work firstly began as mostly focusing on black and white works. Her earlier work consisted of her own photography which gave it her own personal style. Over time she still kept her style

of her work and started including more colour. She was very interested in the graphic design style ever since she was young. Her work is very suitable for posters as the style is very out there and shows a point. H

er style of work is basically the roots for this style of work and works from other artists today also resemble the same pop art style.

2. How does the audience experience a more spatial, installation art work compared with a poster?

- Krugers work 'Twelve' consists of large projector screen consisting of people talking across the room with text going along the bottom of the screen. The size of the work makes the audience feel very powerless as these large projections tower over them talking across the room. This work is much different to her normal style of still posters because this work consists of moving images and sound. The shear size of the work is good because it is displayed all around the audience to they pay more attention to it then a small poster stuck on the wall.

3. What elements does Kruger use in her work to create a strong impact?

- Kruger uses many different elements in her work to get her point across. I think it is the way she uses bold text usually white place over a dark image so the contrast of the two colours makes the text more strong and vivid. Kruger's use of colour is also used very limitlessly. Her use of colour in her work is usually used as text so this makes it automatically stand out from the rest of the work. I think this is good because the point she is trying to show to her audience is usually written in the actual text not the images.

4. Comment on the development of her work over the last 30 years.

- Krugers work has changed over the last 30 years. She has began to pull away from her traditional work of pop art and posters and began to take advantage of technology and incorporated video and audio into her work. Personally I think her style has changed dramatically as she was very well known for her still poster work and now that she is changing her style it is becoming much different than previous works. This idea of change can also work well because it opens it up for her to try different things using different media other than posters.

References:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/05/04/f-barbara-kruger-contact-photography-festival.html

Week 5: Kehinde Wiley

Last weeks ALVC class focused on the Post Modern them "INTERTEXTUALITY", re-read Extract 1 The death of the author on page 44 of your ALVC books and respond to the oil paintings of Kehinde Wiley. How do we make sense of his Kehinde's work? Identify intertextuality in Kehinde's work?

- I think that Wiley's work shows features you would find in Renaissance artworks. These features are the lavish gold frames and the patterns and design Wiley uses in his work. Wiley took photos of black African Americans in Harlem and used them in his works. The characters being depicted in his work almost look like they are trying to be portrayed as being some what linked to royalty and wealth. His works are always full on and consist of many colours and patterns and it all comes together as one work giving it that feel of old style painting.

Kehinde's work relates to this weeks Post Modern theme "PLURALISM" re-read page 50 and discuss how the work relates to this theme?

- Pluralism is visible in Wiley's work through the use of different ethnicities and cultures shown in his work. Classes of people are also shown by making the characters in his works look wealthy and lavish. By using a black man in a Renaissance style work leaves the audience thinking because during the Renaissance we would never see any coloured people which results in racism. I think its good how Wiley has put the past behind him and included these people, it also gives his work a very unique look to it and has worked well for him.

Week 4: Anish Kapoor

1.Research Kapoor's work in order to discuss the ideas behind 3 quite different works from countries outside New Zealand.

'Cloud Gate', is located in Millenium Park, Chicago. It was built 2004-2006 and is made out of stainless steel. The sculpture is also nicknamed "The Bean" because of itsbean-like shape. The idea behind the design of work was based around liquid mercury hence the stainless steel construction which closely looks like mercury. The curve of the work makes the skyline it reflects appear twisted and manipulated. It is made from 168 stainless steel plates welded together. Many issues arouse after a design competition about the construction of the work and also maintenance issues.

'Turning The World Upside Down, Jerusalem', is located in the Ida Crown Plaza in the Israel Museum Campus. The large egg timer shaped work reflects its sur

roundings and stands 5 meters high and 5 meters across. Ground level is reflected to the top of the work and the skyline is reflected to the bottom of the work, this gives the work its name. The reflection of the sky and earth a

lso relates to spritual importance in Jerusalem.

'Shooting the Corner',

Is located at MAK, Vienna. The work was m

ade by shooting 11kg balls of wax from a air pressured

cannon onto the wall. Kapoor worked with engineers to design and build the cannon which was to fire a massive 20tons of was throughout the duration of the exhibition.

'Svayambh' is an installment at Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes. The work is a big red sculpture which flows from one side of the gallery to another. The work is a mix of paint, wax and vaseline. The lines on the work are used to show a car like vehicle has gone through the doors.

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

- The work is called 'The Farm', named after its location, is located on a 1000 acre site. The work is designed to withstand the wind of the Tasman Sea so the work has become permanent.

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

- The work is located in the Kaipara Bay, North of Auckland. The work is made out of custom pvc fabric made by Ferrari Textiles. The fabric weighs 7200kg and the work as a whole weighs over 80tons. The work is made to flow with the curves of the landscape and gives the viewer an amazing view of the Kaipara bay when looked into.

4. Comment on which work by Kapoor is your favourite, and why.

- The work I like the most is ' Shooting the Corner'. I like this work because I like the idea of randomness in the work in the way in which the wax is fired and its end result is always unknown. I also like the way the work looks as to some it looks like some bloody horror scene with blood splatters.

References:

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/11236/anish-kapoor-turning-the-world-upside-down-jerusalem.html

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

http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/6532

http://ambush.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/svayambh-anish-kapoor/

Week 3: The Walters Prize 2010

1. What is the background to the Walters Prize?

- The Walters Price is the most prestigious contemporary art price in New Zealand. This award recognizes artists who have made a large contribution to contemporary art in New Zealand over the past two years. The award is named after the artist Gordon Walters and was started by Erika and Robin Congreve and also Dame Jenny Gibbs who wanted to make contemporary art more recognized in New Zealand.

2. List the 4 selected artists for 2010 and briefly describe their work.

- Fiona Connor: Had a more architectural approach to her work consisting her work with transparent and white objects giving an open feel to the work.

- Saskia Leek: Uses pastel colours to give a sort of animated look to her work.

- Alex Monteith: His work is more based around photography with a image of a motorcycle riding along a large area of sand.

- Dan Arps: His work is very sculptural and uses different materials to create his work.

3. Who are the jury members for 2010?

- Jon Bywater - Programme leader, Auckland University

- Rhana Devenport - Director, New Plymouth

- Leonhard Emmerling - Visual Arts advisor, Germany, AUT University

- Kate Montgomery - Director, Christchurch

4. Who is the judge for 2010 and what is his position in the art world?

- Vicente Todoli, who is was a former-director of London's Tate Modern which is now the most visited art museum of the modern world.

5. Who would you nominate for this years Walter's Prize, and why? Substantiate
you answer by outlining the strengths of the artists work. How does this relate
to your interests in art? What aspect of their work is successful in your opinion,
in terms of ideas, materials and/or installation of the work?

- The artist I would nominate for the 2010 Walters price would be Alex Monteith. The reason I choose this artist because I like the style of work he does. I like the way his work is so simple but provides the viewer with a strong point the artist is trying to connect to its viewer. The aspects of his work which is successful is the ideas behind his work. He can use such a ordinary subject such as a motorcycle and provide a strong point about such as the illegal lane changes on motorways. I liked that work most because it was almost something you would have to think about to understand what the artist is trying to show to its audience.

References:

- http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/july/the-walters-prize-2010#The%20Jurors

Week 2: Hussein Chalayan

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

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

- I believe that these works can both be considered art and fashion. I believe that because they can both be worn and both are different to your usual clothing. I think that the work "Burka" is very extreme because when you think of Burka, religion automatically comes to mind and the artist has shown two naked women wearing Burkas. The reason people wear Burkas for religion is to hide their skin and the artist has done the complete opposite in showing a naked women. This could also be very insulting to some people of that religion. On the other hand, the second work to me seems more as fashion because in the way in which the dress is presented on a model looking like woman but is also shot in a gallery like environment with white walls and windows. To me the difference between Art and Fashion is that art is usually something which is put up on a wall or shown somewhere and Fashion is clothing which is designed to be worn to show off the designers work.

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 work does not impact Chalayan much, it is just a different style of work in which her audiences are not used to. Just because her work is being used to sell a product does not mean her work is not art it just is used for another company not for herself. If art is used to sell products then it still means its art, art can be anything and at the end of the day it is always designed by someone.

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?

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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 beleive that it is important to personally make a piece of work because that is what it gives it a unique feel. Sometimes artists just design something and then get someone else to make it for them. This works sometimes but if and artist just designs a painting layout and the makes someone else paint it then it is going to look different to their other works because every artist has their own style of doing things and that is what makes artists different from each other.

References:

http://art100.wikispaces.com/Hussein+Chalayan

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

Week 1: Nathalie Djurberg

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

- Claymation is the movement of clay models by making them sing, dance, move around etc. The movement is made from stop motion photography catching each individual frame and turing all the frames into one movement which gives the animation.

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

- The garden of Eden is a Garden filled with these weirdly proportioned and coloured flowers which tower over the visitors. I think Nathalie's version of the garden which is known as being lavish and beautiful is anything but that. Her version of the garden resembles a gloomy and unhappy environment.

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

- Her work work is shown to the audience as being uncomfortable and fearful. A lot of her work consists of erotic and harsh scenes which leaves the audience shocked. The sound track which goes with her work by Hans Berg is very airy and reinforces the mood of her work.

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

- Her work consists of very innocent looking characters but then they turn into very violent and inappropriate characters. A lot of her films consist of erotic and violent scenes. The story line is very child like but the actions which take place are far from it.

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?

- Because it is a very effective and strong way to emphasize a point to viewers because they are stuck with this very disturbing scene which gets stuck in their head and remember it as something which stood out to them. Their opinions can be both positive and negative so it is a very hard technique to perfect but Djurberg has succeeded in turing it into art.

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

- Because her work is very different and unique which audiences have become to love which is why she is so popular. Its not for everyone but the ideas behind her work is what has made her so famous, she turned something as simple as making clay models, into a film full of violence and sex.

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

- I am very intrigued by Djurberg's work because it is very different which is why she stands out for me. I like the way how she presents her work in an opposite to what we would think of something and turn it into something completely extreme and disturbing.

References:

- http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/nathalie-djurberg

- http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/04/there-are-very-very-few.php

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathalie_Djurberg

- http://www.sammlung-goetz.de/upload/exh/i_000066/4_big.jpg