Thursday, February 28, 2008
To rely on the context is one of the most important characteristics of the human process of communication. Our new artwork of the month relies quite cleverly to the context both through direct (visual clues) and indirect components (artwork status, the photographic medium) and your lecture may probably be biased once again, like with every other artwork of the month I introduced in the past, because many people including me already gave their own interpretation; I do not think I am a powerful opinion leader though. The solution for you is to go on place to see this artwork for real, but that might be difficult to be honest... But let me introduce the artwork first:
What is this exactly? The actual artwork called Groundspeed (Red plazza) is 'what happened in the Australian jungle' (a very dangerous piece of jungle according to the 'enhancing' ArtReview article). I first came across the artwork while reading an article in the June 2006 edition of the ArtReview magazine in an article called "Art at the Extremes". If it is featured in anArtReview article, it might be important... 
The artist, Rosemary Laing chose to go in the carpet shop in Kiama (New South Wales - Australia) and to order several hundred square feet of their finest Axminster. The artist point is to reflect on how Europeans changed both physical and cultural landscape 200 years ago. She changed the wild Australia Forest into what looks like an ordinary living room here in the U.K.Therefore, what is presented to the viewer is a picture of the actual artwork, which makes it even more interesting. 
First because it is brought to the contemporary art world which would probably never go on place to see the artwork as it they would do with recognized accessible Land Art. But that is only to be mean that I say this. This artwork obliges you to rely on the picture you get in the Gallery.
Spiral jetty - Robert Smithson
The photographic medium is therefore relevant because it imposes a distance. The viewer becomes a powerless note keeper and has no possibility to interfere with the actual creation which may recall the feeling of what people may sense in front of the TV while watching Al Gore 'An Inconvenient Truth' or any alarmist BBC News coverage about climate change actual repercussion. I believe that this adds a terribly contemporary note to the artwork.
The artist uses cleverly both the photographic medium and the museum as the place in which the communication act is supposed to occur to create meaning. Groundspeed came to the public in 2001 and remains inspirational. Can you believe how fast time flies? This was a time, only 7 years ago, when people still did not care that much about environment and climate change. It usually takes time to change minds that deeply but in this special case communication might have helped a bit. Think about what comes to your mind when we are talking about pollution? A few pictures of the melting ice in the north pole and polar bears sinking because they find no land to stand on, films of flooded houses in the U.K. in the summer 2007. Think now about the war on terrorism? There comes to your mind the pictures of 9/11 disaster. The world always relied and will rely more and more on visual symbols.
This could be an answer to the question "What is Art for?"explored earlier in these blog lines.
It incites to action by putting into light concepts we may not be able to see anymore because we seek for social coherence; concept that are sometimes easier to occult than to have to reflect on. To quote the French producer Jean-Luc Godard : "La culture, c’est la norme, l’art c’est l’exception" (Culture is the norm, the art is the exception). This is done thanks to the clever use of a web of complex symbols, that aim to impact the viewer as deeply as possible.
Le radeau de la méduse (The Raft of the Medusa - Géricault)
Guernica - Picasso
3 comments:
c'est quand même pas un vrai chimpanzé ????? je dis ça parce qu'en amérique du sud ,il y a un malade mental qui se prétend artiste qui a enchainé un chien dans une boite en plexi et qui l'a laissé mourir de faim : soi-disant de l'art.... ne me fais pas honte ,mon fils , en exposant ce genre d'image ... moman
I think the above paintings/photos/pictures are the best set of artworks I've seen for a long time.
I especially identify with 'Fuck'd'. For me, it's stronger and more interesting to look at, even though it's simpler ( and also brilliant it has to be said), than any of those fancy Roman paintings you get in Italian church ceilings.
I'd also agree with your mum, although if the chimp died of any other causes (and wasn't killed for art's sake) then I don't think there's a problem with using it.
Undoubtedly your best post yet.
One interesting thing to know was that everybody seems to think that the Chimpanzee is/was a real one... No. It's not a real one, the hair is real human hair though!
Reactions are interesting and thanks a lot Dim!
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