WEEK 2-Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

1. Define Post-Modernism using bullet points that include short quotes.
- Antimodernist
- Revision of modernist premises
- A philosophical movement away from the viewpoint of modernism
- A tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative
- A phrase commonly used to describe the human era of the 20th century.
- An intentional departure from modernist approaches that had previously been dominant
-  One of the most important aspects of the Post-Modern mindset is that the perceiving subject cannot be taken out of the equation.

Francis Berry, Whimsical Entropy: Postmodern Elegy, Watercolour, 14" x 20", 2006
2. Use a quote by Witcombe (2000) to define the Post-Modern artist.
“The post-modern artist is reflective in that he/she is self-aware and consciously involved in a process of thinking about him/herself and society in a deconstructive manner, ‘damasking’ pretentions, becoming aware of his/her cultural self in history, and accelerating the process of self-consciousness.”
Postmodern Western art by contemporary artist Francis Berry, postmodern painter
3. Use the grid on pages 42 and 43 to summarize the list of the features of Post-Modernity.
"Postmodernism is of interest to a wide range of artistic practices and social science and humanities disciplines because it directs our attention to changes taking place in contemporary culture. These can be understood in terms of (1) the artistic, intellectual and academic fields (changes in modes of theorization, presentation and dissemination of work which cannot be detached from changes in specific competitive struggles occurring in particular fields); (2) changes in the broader cultural sphere involving modes of production, consumtion and circulation of symbolic goods which can be related to broader shifts in the balance of power and interdependencies between groups and class fractions on both inter- and intra-societal levels; (3) changes in the everyday practices and experiences of different groups, who as a result of some of the processes referred to above, may be using regimes of signification in different ways and developing new means of orientation and identity structures."

5.Research Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994) in order to say what features of the work are Post-Modern.
'
Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994), Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei has masterminded some of the most powerful icons of today: the National Stadium, the “Han Dynasty Urn with Coca Cola Logo,” and his unpretentious, minimalist building style of grey-brick has revolutionized contemporary Chinese architecture. He has challenged his country's political authority and literally destroyed its cultural traditions. He paints “the Coca-Cola logo’’ on a 2000 year old Dynasty urn. As one of China's leading contemporary artists, Ai Weiwei has challenged his country's political authority and literally destroyed its cultural traditions. As an architect, he has had a key role in designing one of the most strikingly visible symbols of contemporary China -- the stadium now rising for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2008 “Birdnest” Olympic Stadium Construction Site

6. Research British artist Banksy's street art, and analyze the following two works by the artist
to discuss how each work can be defined at Post-Modern.

Los Angeles (2008), Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England based graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world. Banksy is very political with his pieces and isn’t scared to express his ideas, which again are very post-modern like. As we can see in this artwork, he’s put up a caveman carrying a bone in one hand a tray with a burger, fries, and a milkshake in the other.


http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov06/Chinese.artist.dea.html
http://www.arthurimiller.com/journalism/the-worlds-of-ai-weiwei/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei

WEEK 1-Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'.

What do you understand by the word 'claymation'?
From my point of view, claymation is a kind of cartoon that made of plasticine, both character and the background.People make characters and the background with clay and take a lot of pictures of them, after that, they put them together and then played back in rapid succession, then that’s a claymation.
What is meant by the term 'surrealistic Garden of Eden'? and 'all that is natural goes awry'?
In my opinion, ‘Surrealistic Garden of Eden’ and ‘all that is natural goes awry’ is mean that Nathalie Djurberg's intricately constructed claymation films are both terrifyingly disturbing and artlessly sweet. Her works always bring fresh air and make all exhibition full of natural. She creates universes which are dark and mysterious.
 What are the 'complexity of emotions' that Djurberg confronts us with?
Djurberg’s works is full of creativity and exaggeration. Her animations show human beings at their most crass, psychopath, sadistic and often disarming behaviour. The macabre atmosphere of her animations almost never come with words, just a languid and fidgety music composed by Hans Berg.
How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children's stories, and innocence in some of her work?
Djurberg’s works show us graphically violent and erotic. If this reminds you of some cute TV programme you followed as a kid then let me crush any nostalgia you might have. Djurberg clearly didn't see the same children animations as you and i. She used claymations to tell stories which full of exaggerate violent and erotic.
In your opinion, why do you think Djurberg's work is so interesting that it was chosen for the Venice Biennale?
I’m interested in Djurberg since i saw her works. Her work takes me to a fantastic dreams, vivid characters and dramatic scene.

In addition to the film, the miniature tea set is on display at the gallery, as "an autonomous sculptural installation." Inspired by 18th century Neo-Baroque china, there are gold-gilded pieces, embellished with elaborate floral ornamentation, andan array of desserts including cakes, pastries, cookies and candies.

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

http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/01/i-found-myself-alone-by-nathalie-djurberg-at-the-zach-feuer-gallery-food-art/

Industrialisation, Modernism and architecture.

 

-the importance of the design and construction

Design and construction，the importance of incorporating sustainability into buildings is now an accepted fact. What is still required is to ensure that participants in the building process understand their role in managing sustainability. This requires that:

• Industry produces the highest quality products,
• Architects create innovative and sustainable buildings,
• Contractors work to established codes of practice.

A weak link anywhere in this partnership can undermine the effectiveness of any sustainable strategy. That is why our industry is communicating with architects, builders, tilers and bricklayers to ensure that the development of innovative techniques and clay products is suited to the needs of the construction industry.

By examining the context of European building and by understanding and accepting its various regional differences, the European clay brick and tile industry is creating products of technical excellence that can lead to sustainable architecture.

More than ever, sustainability remains our driving principle.

-significance of the materials

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry. With significant media attention focused on nanoscience and nanotechnology in recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities. It is also an important part of forensic engineering and failure analysis. Materials science also deals with fundamental properties and characteristics of materials.The materials are significant, the materials can change the feelings that the building give us., also can change the function of the building.

-significance of the designer

A designer may be defined as knowledgeable who’s trained to enhance the performance and usage of interior spaces of any property.He is educated, experienced and has the requisite skills to switch and produce about structural modifications to enhance the beauty and usage of the interiors of any place.He has a lot of obligations that should be implemented to be able to give an entire look to the interiors.

-function for which each was built

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "single moment in the architectural culture" because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

The building was constructed on time and budget, which is rare for architecture of this type. In an interview in Harvard Design Magazine Gehry explained how he did it. First, he ensured that what he calls the "organization of the artist" prevailed during construction, in order to prevent political and business interests from interfering with the design. Second, he made sure he had a detailed and realistic cost estimate before proceeding. Third, he used CATIA and close collaboration with the individual building trades to control costs during construction.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (1997) Frank Gehry

 

The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris^[10] and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named for its designer, engineer Gustavo Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

The pig iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125 metre square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

http://www.tbe-euro.com/en/clc-erection/default.asp

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

http://www.narticle.com/significance-of-an-interior-designer/

Landscape and the Sublime

 

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?

The Age of Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy, intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. It is also known as the Age of Reason.The "Enlightenment" was not a single movement or school of thought, for these philosophies were often mutually contradictory or divergent. The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of values. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals, and a strong belief in rationality and science. Thus, there was still a considerable degree of similarity between competing philosophies. Some historians also include the late 17th century as part of the Enlightenment.Modernity, by contrast, is used to refer to the period after The Enlightenment; albeit generally emphasizing social conditions rather than specific philosophies.

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

In aesthetics, the sublime is the quality of greatness or vast magnitude, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation.

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

In 18th century, landscape paintings where only seen in the background, and were ignored if a painting was just of a landscape, and religious paintings were the most important, during this time artists wanted to show every the beauty of the nature and It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that more landscape painting were being painted and also being accepted.The concept of the sublime came out of the enlightenment when it was in the 18th century when people began to think more of they way world was ruled through the rules of the government, rather then the rules of their religion.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work.

the sumptuous study of weather, time, color and light in his serial photographs of the Golden Gate, and On the Beach, an aerial perspective of human interaction and isolation. Recent projects mark departures from his work to date.

PDN readers voted Richard Misrach’s 2007 book On The Beach one of the most influential books of the decade in a survey conducted for our January 30th Visions of the Decade issue. Taken from hotel room windows in Hawaii over the course of three years from 2002–2005, Misrach’s large-format photographs of beach scenes were published by Aperture in a beautiful oversize book.

“I was drawn to the fragility and grace of the human figure in the landscape,” Misrach wrote of the series. “My thinking about this work was influenced by the events of 9/11, particularly by the images of individuals and couples falling from the World Trade Towers, as well as by the 1950s Cold War novel and film, On the Beach. Paradise has become an uneasy dwelling place; the sublime sea frames our vulnerability, the precarious nature of life itself.”

In one series, he has experimented with new advances in digital capture and printing, foregrounding the negative as an end in itself and digitally creating images with astonishing detail and color spectrum.

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Misrach’s photography give a completely different feeling. Especially On the Beach , Both are great photographers .They make me feel so peaceful and silence.

 

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

http://www.pdnphotooftheday.com/2010/01/3367

The social status of the artist.

1. Identify aspects of Durer's self portrait that show a changing view of the artist's view of himself as individual.

The self-portrait is all the more remarkable because it so closely resembles earlier representations of Christ. Art historians note the similarities with the conventions of religious painting, including its symmetry, dark tones and the manner in which the artist is shown raising his hands to the middle of his chest, as if in the pose of blessing. Why Dürer chose to portray himself like this is unknown, though it is likely that it was a combination of arrogance and a desire by a young and ambitious artist to acknowledge that his great talents were given to him by God.

2. Explain how the artist's social status increased during the Renaissance period. Briefly explain why this happened.

Durer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, had secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance. This was reinforced by his theoretical works which involved principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions.

3. Comment on Gavin Turk's work in relation to individualism, status of the artist and egotism.

Like Knob (1997) Gavin Turk explored issues of authorship and identity by making a number of works based on his own signature that comment on the value that the artist's name confers onto a work. He has also made a number of photographic and sculptural self-portraits that often involve some degree of disguise. One of his best-known sculptures, Pop (1993), is a life-size waxwork self-portrait in which he adopts the identity of Sid Vicious singing 'My Way' in the pose of Elvis Presley as depicted by Andy Warhol.

4. Find 2 images of work by artists or designers that reflects some of the ideas of individualism, self promotion or egotism that have been discussed on this blog. Upload images to your blog, title and date the work, identify the artist/designer and comment on the work in relation to the question.

  This self portrait is dated 1498 and inscribed: "I have thus painted myself. I was 26 years old. Albrecht Durer." Since the artist turned 27 on the 21 May, the picture must date from the beginning of the year. The artist's pose is self confident, showing him standing upright and turning slightly to lean his right arm on a ledge.

The Germans still tended to consider the artist as a craftsman, as had been the conventional view during the Middle Ages. This was bitterly unacceptable to Durer, whose second Self-Portrait (out of three) shows him as slender and aristocratic, a haughty and foppish youth, ringletted and impassive. His stylish and expensive costume indicates, like the dramatic mountain view through the window (implying wider horizons), that he considers himself no mere limited provincial. What Durer insists on above all else is his dignity, and this was a quality that he allowed to others too.

This is Durer's first painted self portrait, dated 1493. It is the earliest known self portrait in European art produced as an independent painting (although earlier artists had sometimes portrayed themselves among figures in an altarpiece or fresco).

Durer inscribed at the top of the self portrait: "Things with me fare as ordained from above", a sign of his faith in God. His strong nose, heart-shaped upper lip and long neck are emphasized in the painting. Using a mirror, Durer obviously found it difficult to paint his hands and eyes, the two features which are always a challenge in a self portrait.

References:

1. Self-Portrait (Dürer, Munich), Bailey, Martin. Dürer. London: Phaidon Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7148-3334-7, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Portrait_(D%C3%BCrer,_Munich)#cite_note-B68-2

2. Renaissance, http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/index.html

3. Gavin Turk, http://www.skny.com/artists/gavin-turk/

4. Self-Portrait at 26 (1498), http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/durer-portraits.html#self-portrait-in-a-fur-collared-robe

Self-Portrait at 22 (1493), http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/durer-portraits.html#self-portrait-in-a-fur-collared-robe

Barbara Kruger

After analyzing the 'I shop therefore I am' and 'Face It' images by Barbara Kruger the first thing we notice is the style is not much different from her other works. Both images are Two-tone images with overlaid captions. Also the captions are in 'Future bold oblique' font and typed over white which is usual in much of her work.

In 'I shop therefore I am' Barbara has used French philosopher Rene Descartes famous quote '"Cogito ergo sum' in a materialistic way. It simply means--A person is defined by not what they think, but what they own or wear. The captions in 'Face it' are self-explanatory and relates to 'I shop therefore I am'. If we read it in this way--'Face it! This luxurious garment won't make you rich or beautiful' .We need no more explication.

I think these images communicate theses ideas effectively. We should value the thoughts of people rather than their outlook or assets.


Mercantilism is a political and economic system that arose in the 17th and 18th centuries. It purports that a country's economic strength is directly related to the maintained  of a positive balance of trade. That is, in order to remain economically and politically viable a country must export more than it imports. Barbara's work also relates to consumerism and self-economic,which after country's economy.









Barbara Kruger(n.d), wikipedia the free encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/barbara-kruger. 


Mutis(n.d), what is the meaning of 'I shop therefore I am?' yahoo!Answers, answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090525205/55AAqYRNP


Mercantilism(n.d),Reference for business, www.renferencefor business.com/encyclopedia/Man-Mix/mercantilism.html.