1) What is the gist of Kandinsky's essay "Concerning the Spritual"? Kandinsky seeks to displace the spirituality of religion to the activities of making art,thus shifting the focus to the formal aspects of a work rather than its religious content.
2) What was the controversy concerning Chris Ofili's painting "Holy Virgin Mary"(1996) ?
In 1999, Mayor Giuliani,thought the work was disrespectful of the Catholic religion and tried to have city funding cut for the Brooklyn Museum.This attempt at censorship ultimately failed.
3) How might the paradox of globalization be affecting the production of art today?
Advocates of globalism,like Thomas Friedman, see an equalizing effect where emerging technology and shifting economic trends create a new model of political and cultural exchange while opponents feel that the gap between rich and poor is expanding and that the needs of individuals are secondary to those of multinational corporations.This duality is evident in the art world where some exemplify the breakdown of cultural differences like Do-Ho Suh,in the piece titled "Who Are We"?(2000), while some like Tracy Moffatt reinforce identy issues by pointing out the tragic fate of Australian aborigines in her film "Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy",1989.
4)How can one "read"the work of Anish Kapoor ? Heartney associates a kind of Eastern looking spirituality with the reductive aesthetic of Minimalism.In the massively monumental "Cloud Gate",2004, a seamlessly distorted reflection mirrors everything around it in a topological form that has no beginning or end, an apt metaphore for our apparently endless universe.
5)What's next? Cornelia Parker in her piece "Mass(Colder Darker Matter),1997 displays the charred remains of a church struck by lightning by suspending the blackened fragments in a cluster reminicent of of the shape they might have occupied before there miraculous transformation.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Graduate Art Seminar Week 14
1) How would you compare the body/performance art of Carolee Schneeman with that of Marina Abramovic?
While both artists were part of the feminist art movement of the 1970's and used nudity to undermine some commonly held conventions about female sexuality, Heartney argues that their approach was diametrically opposed. While Abramovic "uses her body in ways that accentuate self-control, physical endurance, and risk", Schneeman's performance is more "Dionysian" in its unfettered sexuality.
2) Compare the work of John Currin to that of Lisa Yuskavage.
The work of John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage use the element of kitch and satire in depecting the figure. Currin seems to be making references to painting styles and techniques past masters, as Yuskavage parodys the objectification of women.
While both artists were part of the feminist art movement of the 1970's and used nudity to undermine some commonly held conventions about female sexuality, Heartney argues that their approach was diametrically opposed. While Abramovic "uses her body in ways that accentuate self-control, physical endurance, and risk", Schneeman's performance is more "Dionysian" in its unfettered sexuality.
2) Compare the work of John Currin to that of Lisa Yuskavage.
The work of John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage use the element of kitch and satire in depecting the figure. Currin seems to be making references to painting styles and techniques past masters, as Yuskavage parodys the objectification of women.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)