Research Project March 12th
Prepare a presentation on your blog of your top 10 Artworks made since 2000 which relate specifically to ideas about and questions of the human body, it's material facts.
10 - least important
1 - most important
10.
George Sherwood - Engineer turned Artist (Massachusetts, U.S.A)
'Steel Life I & II'
2009
2 Solid heads covered with reflective mirror like material
8 ft in height, 6 ft in width & 6" deep
Located at the Currier Museum of Art, NH, U.S.A
Constructed of small pieces of thin, stainless steel sheets that hang from hooks, it showcases the marraige of construction & art. They shimmer like tiny pools of water. The Artist introduces these moving parts to engage the viewer & capture the imagination.
Heres a link to the Artwork which shows the movement (click on the image of the work) :
http://www.georgesherwood.com/
www.encorebuzz.com
9.
Penny Hardy ( U.K )
'Angels in Harlem'
2011
Aluminium wire & epoxy resin
300cm x 200cm x 750cm
Delamore House Summer Exhibition 2011, Devon, U.K
Penny Hardy's contemporary dance sculptures on stilts are designed to gently sway in any breeze creating a sense of constant movement & dynamics, this provides them with life & they remain true to the use of simple raw materials. These bronze dance figures express organic forms as tensile elements & are inspired by the forms of contemporary dancers. The dancers exposed movement is conveyed & by leaving out a lot of mass within the sculpture & exposing wires outside of the main form, a version of movement is created.
www.pennyhardysculpture.com
8.
Raffi Tokatlian (Lebanon)
'When Imagination runs wild'
2009
Bronze casting
35cm x 36cm x 80cm
A smaller figure rises out of a head while the main head supported by 4 struts descending from the chin and back of the skull looks straight ahead, the figure emanating from the top of the main head looks off to the side and into the distance. It is a haunting work of Art, embodying the idea that the imagination is not easily ruled or channelled. It is hallucinogenic, the main head has given birth to the small figure.. like some sort of a womb brain. This is a surrealistic Sculpture, the Artist describes his style as 'Surrealmythoclassical'.
http://sculptures.raffitokatlian.com
7.
Kent Karlson (Sweden)
'Absolute Knowledge/The Essence of Freedom II'
2008
170cm in height
Plaster, Plastic, Aluminium, bat, steel & mirror
His work is imprinted by destruction, death drive & corruption. Dreams, memories, politics & religion inform the work of this Artist. His own interests in objects & symbols carry some kind of messages over time.. this makes the viewer wonder why & how it works. There is a sad tone in his work, it is catastrophically frightening yet so beautiful.
Artists Quote:
''I wish to produce visual poetry''
Sculpture Magazine July/August 2010 Issue Vol 29 No 6
www.kentkarlsson.net
6.
Monica Bonvicini (Germany)
'No head man'
2006
Performance at the 27th Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil
This Artist explores the impossibility of defining gender, about the social, cultural, economical & political architecture of identities, she criticises any stereotypes in it. Monica Bonvicini deconstructs gender & power relationships in all kinds of contexts with direct situational confrontations forcing the viewer to think for themselves. She asks for a reaction & a discussion in her work.
Flash Art 253 March – April 07
5.
Alwar Balasubramaniam ( India)
'In, but out'
2005
Fibreglass cast from the artists body & acrylic
32" x 78" x 8 "
(2 full body casts placed opposite one another)
Within the 2 casts there is a view of the Artists back disappearing into the wall & the other a full frontal view. Light & shadow create optical effect of a presence in the negative cast bringing the viewer between the 2 casts. Alwar Balasubramaniam has a harmonious balance of a quirky sense of humour & a critical point of view. He plays on the visible & the invisible, Illusion & certainty, he challenges notions of the real & unreal. His work is universal & represents a quest to understanding to nature of human existence.
According to Balasubramaniam there are 3 aspects to human life:
Artists Quote:
''
- The known (easily discerned by the senses)
- The unknown (understandable)
- The unknowable (beyond human comprehension)
''
His quest is to enable viewers to become aware of their perceptions & to realise there is a whole world that exists beyond the seen.
Artists Quote:
''Art lies in the realm between science which demands proof & is based on material, reality & spirituality which is based on experience & not evidence''
He is fascinated on what is beyond the visible.
Sculpture Magazine December 2008 Issue Vol 2 No 10
4.
Steinunn Thorarinsdottir (Iceland)
'Prospect'
2000
Cast Iron, Aluminium, mirror & stainless steel
175cm x 100cm x 100 cm
Public Art - Reykjavik, Iceland
The Artist explores the human condition in all its diversity & strangeness, the figuration is capable of offering the pleasures of recognition - of ourselves & of the history we have created. Her figures denote the lyric isolation that all of us fear - in both art & life. The primary focus for the artist is to show the venerability of people & their capacity for survival & mute emotion. There is a silent surrounding seclusion to her work & it encourages the viewer to make sense of the world
It is passionate despite being rough & raw, the rough-cast exterior emphasises survival. The figure emphasises the relationship between isolation & ongoing existence. This is a beautiful example of form
Sculpture Magazine January/February 2009 Issue Vol 28 No 1
3.
Juame Plensa (Barcelona, Spain)
'Conversation a Nice'
2007
Polyester Resin, stainless steel & light
7 elements, 12 meters high each
Public Art - Place Massena, Nice, France
Juame Plensa's work is drawn from his complex & pluralistic perspective on the world. It is in informed by the art, literature, philosophy, religions & customs of many different cultures & their impact on the ways in which individuals & society's function. Both location & social interaction inevitably determine an open & disclosure approach. He sees art as a catalyst for social interaction & understanding.
Artists Quote:
''Form is always a means to an end & never an end itself''
His public works are beacons for people, visual magnets that draw crowds & define a meeting point. These kneeling figures are set on high poles. The poles allow these figures to be seen from a distance, they are also isolating, setting the figures on a higher place. The forms open the work to many possibilities
Sculpture Magazine October 2008 Issue Vol 27 No 8
2.
Thomas Houseago (U.K)
'Striding Man'
2006
Tuf-cal, iron, rebar, hemp & graphite
71" x 46" x 56"
3 views
Inspired by Picasso, Brancusi, Amy Bessone, Enrico David & Aaron Curry, Thomas Houseago's main concern is to capture a kind of reality so that the pieces take on an energy or life. He puts thought & energy into an inert material & gives it truth & form, his work is abstract & representational, monstrous & vunerable, aggressive but somehow casual, animated yet still, 3D but flat & looking unfinished yet satisfyingly complete.
Artists Quote:
''It is a dramatisation of the space between you're eye & the world, between looking & recording, between what you see & feel & memory''
''I am trying to understand what it is to be alive & think & feel & explore that in my work''
Sculpture Magazine November 2010 Issue Vol 29 No 9
1.
Antony Gormley (U.K)
'Blind Light'
2007
Fluorescent light, water, ultra some humidifiers, toughened low-iron glass & aluminium
7000 Lumen's of bright light
8 x 10 metres high
Installation at Hayward Gallery, London May - August 2007
Visitors explored Gormleys Installation. Oscillating ultrasonic humidifiers created a dense vapour reducing the visibility inside the glass enclosure. Gormley understands the human body as a place of memory & transformation. Most of his early works are based on the process of casting his own body, which functions as subject, tool & material. His more recent works deal with the body in abstracted or in-direct ways & are concerned with the human condition
These large-scale works explore the collective body & the relationship between individual & collective, what can be seen & sensed. His works have moved the figural sculpture beyond the confines of the physical body to include interaction with the surrounding world - community, space, energy, memory & built form.
Artists Quote:
''The work comes as a by-product of a moment of being taken out of the stream of duration in which all conscious beings are living, you need to use you're own existence as the necessary register, the body that really counts is the body that has the mind in it, in the end the viewer does the work''
The space of consciousness is contained in a physical & these 2 spaces have to somehow be reconciled, with 'Blind Light' you get the same sensation but within light.
The viewer cant see anything, you are awake, you're conscious , you're in space but the space no longer has any co-ordinates
Artists Quote:
''This is the closest I've come to a physical reconciliation of these 2 spiritual realities''
The light interacts, it lets the viewer reflect or project, the subject is always the viewer
Artists Quote:
''I think of it as being a communication with that which has not happened, a communication with those we will never meet - something that is inconceivable, impalpable, ineffable & incommensurable - that lies at the other side of our perceptual horizon''
Sculpture Magazine March 2010 Issue Vol 29 No 2
