Week 6 - Barbara Kruger

American conceptual/pop artist Barbara Kruger is internationally renowned for her signature black, white and red poster-style works of art that convey in-your-face messages on women's rights and issues of power. Coming out of the magazine publishing industry, Kruger knows precisely how to capture the viewer's attention with her bold and witty photomurals displayed on billboards, bus stops and public transportation as well as in major museums and galleries wordwide. She has edited books on cultural theory, including Remaking History for the Dia Foundation, and has published articles in the New York Times, Artforum, and other periodicals. Monographs on her work include Love for Sale, We Won't Play Nature to Your Culture and others. She is represented in New York by Mary Boone Gallery. A major exhibition of her work will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in fall 1999, and at the Whitney Museum in New York in 2000.

1.Research Kruger's work to find an example from the 1970s or 1980s to compare with a more recent work.

The black and white poster is Kruger's work in the 1985. And the blue and red one is designed by Chinese designer in the 2009. Another work is designed by Pablo Di Firma ,Argentina,2009.

First, I am going to explain Kruger's work. Her works all are black , white and red. It's looks so clear. People is easy to understand what she is conveying. Compare with recent poster. I think recent work is more sample than the past, and more colorful. Nowadays, designers like to use images to convey the massage rather than use words.

2.How has Kruger's work changed with the developments in contemporary visual arts?

Kruger's work is the type of ' text art ' also known as 'Language Arts'. she usually design the poster which involved many social issues. For example, Politics/ propaganda, Consumerism, Feminism/ Gender Roles.

3.Describe a recent work that moves away from the 'poster' type work of her early career.

Kruger is more emphasis to used the text and ready-made images on the art works.

4.Find 2-3 works by Kruger to add to your blog.

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

I think , the spatial or installation art work is more complicated than the Poster. Because the audience can immediately understand what the poster say. Even though, the spatial or installation art work is more attract the audience.

5.What elements does Kruger use in her work to create a strong impact?
She use the language art to create a strong impact.

6.Comment on the development of her work over the last 30 years.
I think Kruger's work was becoming more colorful. As the development, she likes to use red color more than before. The Poster looks more lively. and the works is more attract than the white and black.

7.Comment on the examples that you find on other students blogs.

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?

I sense the Postmodern from Kehinde's painting. Background is the original pattern of various styles of African pattern, but the figures look like hip-hop. So it become a strong contrast each other.

Identify intertextuality in Kehinde's work?

For Kehind's work, intertextuality is an important issue in postmodern theory. Intertextuality refers to the way that any one text is influenced, or made up of a variety of other earlier texts. As a result, the notion of intertextuality suggests that whenever we try to make sense of a text we are constantly referring back to our understanding of its influences to help us understand it.

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

Kehinde's work always relate with the theme 'pluralism'. Firstly, I will defined the pluralism. For the Pluralism that refers to a single social and cultural group and thus opened the doors to a greater representation of contemporary visual culture from other cultural and social groups. Then, for Kehinde's work, he used different cultures in his work. For example, he add African style pattern in his work. So, I think Kehind's work relates the 'PLURALISM'.

Kehinde's work raises questions around social/cultural hierarchies , colonisation, globalisation, stereotypes and the politics which govern a western worldview.

Information on specific paintings was difficult to obtain however Matt has the info for the last 2 paintings.

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

Count Potocki by David Jacques Louis 1780-1781

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

Photorealist painter Kehinde Wiley is inspired by Renaissance paintings and late European portraits. He takes these influences and fuses them with casually dressed African-American men posing similar to prophets, saints and angels. Artists he draws inspiration from include Raphael, Titian, Tiepolo, Gainsborough, Ingres and Sargent.He begins by approaching African-American men in Harlem, asks permission to paint them, shows them his work, the subject can then choose a painting.

Week 4-Anish Kapoor

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 the ideas behind 3 quite different works from countries outside New Zealand.

1)The sculpture’s dark red colour suggests something ‘of the physical, of the earthly, of the bodily.’ Kapoor has commented, ‘I want to make body into sky'. Marsyasconfounds spatial perception, immersing the viewer in a monochromatic field of color. It is impossible to view the entire sculpture from any one position. Instead we experience it as a series of discrete encounters, in which we are left to construct the whole.

2)"Svayambh" is a deep red, wax-like block that will be moving almost imperceptibly along a set of tracks, which reach from one end of the entire eastern galleries to the other. Its appearance which is reminiscent of a train can be related back to Kapoor’s fascination with Andrei Konchalovsky’s film "Runaway Train" (1985), where two escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a train with no brakes and nobody driving. Creating a red line through the building, "Svayambh" passes through two doorways, which form and seemingly force the block through their restrictive frames making it leave behind smeary traces of its material: a mixture of Vaseline, paint and wax. This enormous red mass reminiscent of compacted blood evokes an almost apocalyptic image. Interestingly a red heifer or "parah adumah" . .notably adom means red and dam means blood in Hebrew is often associated with the Apocalypse in Judaism.

"Svayambh" can be seen in direct correlation to a further site-specific work, a "wound" or slit of about 1.5 m that Kapoor will carve directly into a wall. Images such as these carry even greater connotations in a building with such a difficult history as the Haus der Kunst’s.2. Discuss the large scale site specific work that has been installed on a private site in New Zealand.

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

Kapoor's work Site-specific Work at The Farm, Kaipara Bay, New Zealand. The work looks like a huge trumpet. and it is 8m high and 25m long, and made of mild tube steel and tensioned fabric.The PVC membrane has a fleshy quality, which Kapoor describes as being ‘rather like a flayed skin'. The title refers to Marsyas, a satyr in Greek mythology, who was flayed alive by the god Apollo. The sculpture’s dark red colour suggests something ‘of the physical, of the earthly, of the bodily.’ Kapoor has commented, ‘I want to make body into sky'. Marsyasconfounds spatial perception, immersing the viewer in a monochromatic field of color. It is impossible to view the entire sculpture from any one position. Instead we experience it as a series of discrete encounters, in which we are left to construct the whole. (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/kapoor/default.htm)

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

My favorite work is 'Tall Tree and The Eye' by Kapoor in the courtyard of the Royal Academy on September 22 , 2009 in London. The work is really amazing. For his work, he likes make make it big and red , also make it move and make some noise. 'Tall tree and the eye', it is made by 76 steel balls which are long 1 meter. They are stacked into a modern Tower of Babel. However, it looks like a ladder, or a child's bubble gum, or a christmas tree, also likes many mirror. In his hands, the original tone of cold metal , all with the transformation of the surrounding scenery. these metals would look like pure lake.

Week-3

The Walters Prize

1. What is the background to the Walters Prize?

The Walters Prize is awarded for an outstanding work of contemporary New Zealand art produced and exhibited during the past two years. The prize sets out make contemporary art a more widely recognized and debated feature of our cultural life.

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

Dan Arps - Explaining Things, he worked with the mixed media. His works telling us that where the art stops and the ordinary world starts.

Fiona Conor - Something Transparem, she worked with MDF, plywood, plastic and acrylic. Her work is both visually captirating and compelling conceptually.

Alex Monteith - Passing Manoeuvre with two motorcycles and 584 vehicles for two.

Saskia Leek - Yellows is the putty of the world, oil on board.

3. Who are the jury members for 2010?

The Walters Prize are always selected on a national basis and their identities are not made known to each other until they meet to confirm the projects which they have chosen to nominate.

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

Vicente Jdoli is the judge for 2010. and he career in the visual arts spans more than 20 years, he was director, Tate Moder from 2002-2010. Chief Curator 1986-1988 and then Artistic Director of instiruto valenciano de arte moderno 1988-1996 and founding director.

5. Who would you nominate for this years Walter's Prize, and why?

I think, Fiona Conor would get the Walters Prize. Her work is both visually captivating and compelling conceptually.

Substantiate your answer by outlining the strengths of the artists work.

How does this relate to your interests in art?

I think Fiona's work is really interesting. She can do very well with glass and metal. The work is putted in whole room, and it fuse with the room. In the room, every thing looks so clean and white. Every part likes copying and pasting from each other.

What aspect of their work is successful in your opinion,in terms of ideas, materials and/or installation of the work?

The ideas of Fiona Conor is quiet interesting. and the important is the materials. Her work puts in the whole room, and she used glass, timber and metal.

6. Comment on other blogs from your ALVC group to agree or disagree with other people,always backing up your answer with clearly stated reasons.

Week 2-Hussein Chalayan

Hussein 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.Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) andBurka (1996) , are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer.

1.what are your personal responses to these works?

I think Chalayan's work is interesting. For the Afterwords, Chalayan combined fashion with installation art. However, I think it is not useful.

2.The works can leap to hybrid fashion / art.and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?

For the Burka , he have even made the leap to hybrid fashion/ architecture forms that serve a double purpose as clothing and furniture. For the Afterwords, I think it is not only fashion, but is art. It shows people the meaning of human life.

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

I think the fashion is not all clothing, it also is made by new ideas.

4.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?

I think this is a good experience to have link with industry. He would have many different ideas. Chalayan works with Florian , and they used Swarovski to created art.

Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?

I think it is still art when the art is used to sell products. Every product relate with art or design. The art is can be sell to everyone who want to have it. Sometime , even a chair or cup also can represent the art.

5.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?

Actually, I don't really know about the art movements. But I 'm sure the Absent Presence has a big influence for Chalayan's. The film installation telling a story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology. The film questions whether the extent to which identities can adapt to new environments.

6. 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 the artist personally made the piece is not really important, but the artist has to use own idea. The idea is more important. The artist can draw the idea or explain to other worker. However, it depend on what type of art or design. For painting , the artist has to make the work by personally. If Spatial design, i think it doesn't personally build the subject or something.

Semester Two -Week 1

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)

1. What do you understand by the word 'claymation'? The portmanteau term "Claymation" is a registered trademark in the United States, registered by Will Vinton in 1978 to describe his clay-animated films. While the word is not considered a genericized trademark, it has become a trademark that is often used genericallyin the U.S. and is also a term used in the UK to refer to any animation using Plasticine or similar substance. The Claymation is a important creation for the art development .

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

I think, the Eden is meant happy and peace place. People dream to live in Eden Garden. However, the Eden Garden comes from our dream. Nowadays, there are lots of wars in the world. So, for the work of Djurberg, she wants to show people that hopeful world. She lets all the natural goes awry. In this works , every plant looks so danger and horrible.

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

For Djurberg 's woks, She likes to use exaggerated facial expressions performance figures. As the complexity of emotions, her work left me deep impression.

4. How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children's stories, and innocence in some of her work? She always use cute color to show the stories. and she explores the human instinct of the wild and primitive desires . When these instincts and desires to childlike simplicity of the animation when the media presents the more shows that these acts of irrationality. Deviant sex, sadistic violence, evil and cruel death of incest were edited together in a cruel drama. This will be pure and naive juvenile and adult criminal records together.

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?

I think everyone 's ideas is becoming similar.

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

Djurberg's work is so interesting， because she likes to use children 's stories to show the human 's darkness. And the figures which is created by Djurberg that could bring me to a deep impression.

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

I think her work is really amazing, and I can feel the oppressive world when I appreciate her work. Djurberg's work could bring people into the stories.

Banksy's work

Banksy was born in England in 1974, Bristol, Dad is a photocopy machine technician. BY the mid-80s wave of graffti writing graffiti began his famous works in London Zoo's first elephant bar. Early in the New York subway graffiti style hand and did not let Banksy feel satisfied, it touches on version of the paper in addition to Banksy graffiti more confident in writing, he found that repetitive visual graffiti paper mold and accurate texture than hand lines to attract the viewer's attention more graffiti, so as to stimulate the audience's visual impression. Banksy graffiti more than a considerable degree of political satire and adolescent rebellion, such as shoes to be worn round Stalin, face changing as the British Queen Elizabeth monkey portrait, event advertising billboards monkeys to rule the earth we declare the coming era, and carrying rocket launchers in the RCA dog and so on. His work and the other molded paper graffiti artists difference is that injecting / implying more directly convey the message map the surface and leave the view of the considerable space to think and even re-creation. For those who do not want to anger despite the body of the kid who only painted, Banksy's graffiti work is to have a collection of impulses, Banksy graffiti British paper mold shaped for the version under a different definition of style, as he quoted the words of picasso: the desire for destruction is also to create for himself . However, for Banksy, Picasso gave him the desire and courage to undermine the achievements of Picasso could not reach the age of things.