Body of Work Inspiration: Kiki Smith

I would like my body of work to apply to real-life, but with fantasy warped into it.  It has to have meaning to it. Some of Kiki Smith's art, like the ones above, shows just that. It has real people with non-human things. It also tells a story. I'm not sure how I want to execute this in my body of work, but hopefully, I'll accomplish what Kiki did in her art.

Body of work

I chose Calder's mobile as inspiration for my body of work because it is interesting and pleasing to look at. I also like the flexibility I have to really make it my own work.

Emil Alzamora- Distorted Human Form

I find this sculptor to be very unique and intellectual in a lot of ways. Most of his work has a human form which is often elongated or distorted which is abstract in its message but beautiful in its form. His sculptures are often enclosed almost with the intention of hiding something. What I find to be more interesting is his sculptures that fuses nature elements and human form. On a smaller scale this is what I want my body of work to entail and I think he is a perfect example.

Electric Fountain

Electric Fountain by Tim Noble and Sue Webster exhibited at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City in February 2008. The sculpture is made from steal, neon tubing and 3,390 LED bulbs. I chose this sculpture because I think their use of lighting to mimic the movement of water is very interesting. While it is not as obvious in the pictures, when looking at videos of the Electric Fountain the bulbs alternate to give the impression of flowing water. After doing more research, I found the many believe Noble and Webster created the fountain based on references from signs seen throughout Las Vegas and New York City as well as historical fountains. The electric fountain is a contemporary twist on an old form of public art.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster white trash Thomas Iversen

                       The artist-duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster create sculptural artworks that challenge the eye by fusing opposites. What appears to be a nightmarish pile-up of road kill turns out to be a self-portrait of shadows projected onto the gallery wall; scrap metal metamorphoses into copulating rats; a heap of trash transforms into silhouettes of ‘Tim and Sue’ having a drink and smoke, apparently content with the work they have made and in which they take star billing. The sculptures consist of the material, tangible rejects of modern society in combination with ethereal light – they become visible through the combination of two total contraries. 

Tim Noble & Sue Webster- NASTY PIECES OF WORK, 2008–09

Nasty Pieces of Work by Tim Noble & Sue Webster are two side by side sculptures made of 1 wooden stepladder each, some discarded wood, broken tools, and a light projector to display an image up against the wall behind which they are placed.  The Nasty Pieces of Work look very cluttered and unorganized and are meant to look that way.  The image that is represented on the wall tells the story behind each piece.  One piece shows to have an exact shadow of its figure while the other sculpture shows to have an exact shadow of a woman.  I think this represents that while some things may look normal to some people they may appear beautiful too others.

Dirty White Trash

Dirty White Trash stood out to me for a number of reasons. One was that once I found out it was created using both 6 months' worth of the artists' garbage and 2 taxidermy seagulls. I assumed the gulls were just made up garbage as well and made to look like real gulls, but when i looked more closely i realized they were actually real. Also, the way the 2 forms in the light  are leaning back to back when the light is  turned on. Each of them is shown using a "drug": one with a cigarette and the other with a glass of wine.

Spinning heads in reverse

I chose this sculpture by Tim Noble and Sue Webster in particular because I for the first time, I noticed things that we've learned in class outside of the class room. With each vase, you can see the outline of two faces on either side. The faces aren't within the sculpture, however, they are seen just past it, a fantastic use of negative space. The two artists also did a piece similar to this a year prior to this one. It was two vases, but they were on the actual sculpture; a great example of variation of theme.

Miss Understood and Mr. Meanor (1997)

This is one of Tim Noble and Sue Webster's Shadow Sculptures. This is a shadow of their portraits, and I think it's so cool that it's made out of their personal items and domestic trash. Also, their heads impaled in stakes gives it a very creepy vibe.

Thr original Sinners

I really like how these artist incorporate light into their sculptures to create powerful Images from various conglomerations of objects as some critics might say it is Genius! I especially like this ne because without the shadow you would never be able to guess what the sculpture actually represented.

Tim Noble & Sue Webster

Tim Noble and Sue Webster take ordinary things including rubbish, to make assemblages and then point light to create projected shadows which show a great likeness to something identifiable including self-portraits. This art catches my eye because all the random things he is putting together are actually forming something as a whole.

Dark Stuff

Tim Noble and Sue Webster are known for taking ordinary things including "rubbish" to create art and then projecting the works shadows by pointing light towards it. Another name for it is "transformative art."

Dark Stuff was completed in 2008. It consists of 189 mummified animals such as mice, rats, voles, squirrel, toad, and many more. This piece interests me the most because it is astonishing how they can connect bones from these animals and just by shining a light towards it creates a shadow of two skulls.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster Shadow Sculpture

I chose this piece by Tim Noble and Sue Webster because it is amazing how a sculpture with so many sharp objects and edges produces a shadow with soft and smooth lines and organic form. I also like the shadow, as it shows a man and woman seeming to share a body and I feel like it shows an equality between the sexes. It is fascinating how these artists manage to create these pieces through the use of perceptual psychology (the process through which humans perceive abstract images and define them with meaning).

Wild Mood Swings: Tim Noble And Sue Webster

Not only do i think this one of the best artist i have encounter thus far, but the most mind blowing sculptures. I like the sculpture firstly because it is the definition of creating something from nothing. The artist uses a step ladder and scrap wood to create a piece that is rather abstract then manage to translate it to a simple image to the wall with lighting. One of the other aspect that I like about this piece is that it projects emotions even though its just a shadow on the wall. This is and excellent example of making abstract art be translated into simple image/ language.

Tim Nobel & Sue Webster: The Individual, 2012

Tim Nobel and Sue Webster are known for taking abstract objects and trash and presenting them as art.  This presentation's medium is 1 wooden stepladder and discarded wood. Looking directly at the sculpture it may seem like a pile of assembled garbage, however, with the use of a light projector the shadow of the assemblage projects a person onto the wall. I am able to tell that the individual on the wall is a women, I believe this takes skill and a good eye. I could imagine this project taking a long time to assemble just right,  and is well worth it. I like Tim Nobel and Sue Webster and how they push the limits in their artwork. 

Cold Death

I chose this piece called Cold Death because it is truly incredible.  The carcasses of 3 small brown rats, 3 large brown rats, 1 mink, 1 full crow, 15 partial crows, 20 rooks, 19 jackdaws, and other various bones to create the shadows of two dismembered heads placed on stakes. I think this piece is intriguing and amazing at the idea that the bones of small animals in death were able to create such realistic artwork. As creepy as it is, I love it.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster

The lonely cowboy

I chose this sculpture because I found it amusing. I thought the name of the piece was very fitting to the sculpture. What caught me off guard about this, however, is that the piece is listed for 15 million dollars.

Two warriors

Usually the sculptures I choose for this blog have some deeper meaning or some easily identifiable  theory associated with them. in this case I just thought the sculptures were friggin cool

Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami




I chose this one because it looked like it had spiritual meaning and when i looked it up it did. i feel like the background is very different makes the color in the front stand out.

takashi murakami artwork kayen west album

  
                   One of the most acclaimed artists to emerge from postwar Asia, Takashi Murakami—“the Warhol of Japan”—is known for his contemporary Pop synthesis of fine art and popular culture, particularly his use of a boldly graphic and colorful anime and manga cartoon style. Murakami became famous in the 1990s for his “Superflat” theory and for organizing the paradigmatic exhibition of that title, which linked the origins of contemporary Japanese visual culture to historical Japanese art. His output includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, animations, and collaborations with brands such as Louis Vuitton. “Japanese people accept that art and commerce will be blended; and in fact, they are surprised by the rigid and pretentious Western hierarchy of “high art’,” Murakami says. “In the West, it certainly is dangerous to blend the two because people will throw all sorts of stones. But that’s okay—I’m ready with my hard hat.”

Flower Cushion

I picked this sculpture because it looks like something I've seen in a store. After reading more about Takashi Murakami, I learned that he likes to use the ideas of Japanese pop art in his sculpture. While I really did not enjoy any of his sculptures, I think it may be due to my lack of understanding of Japanese pop culture. 

Takashi Murakami- Panda Geant

The character Panda Geant first appeared in 2003 soon after Marc Jacobs, then the creative director at Louis Vuitton, invited Murakami to reinvigorate the company’s accessories line. Murakami did so by interspersing the classic LV monogram with his trademark punchy flowers and “jellyfish eyes,” to a phenomenal public response.  The Panda has also been used in short anime films Superflat Monogram and Superflat First Love as “spirit residents of the other-dimensional monogram multicoloured world” who “tour through time and space according to Takashi Murakami.  I like how the character is multi colored and how Takashi used his art work as a character in a film.

Kanye West Bear (Gold)

Takashi Murakami first drew this bear for Kanye West's Graduation album. After its success and attention, Murakami created a sculpture of the bear of gold aluminum. This was my favorite of all the Kanye West bears he would make in total because it looks like the most expensive toy in the world. The cartoon nature of the bear mixed with the gold aluminum, which could just as well be solid gold, shows a contrast of ideas. I also like the matte finish it seems to have. It removes the option of seeing a reflection of yourself in the work and keeps your eye focused on the work itself.

SKY LORICO

Shows two very different styles that clash, definitely not the normal artis.

Takashi Murakami

Murakami is sometimes called the Andy Warhol of Japan for his approach in trying to combine fine art and pop culture in Japan. Murakami is very hard to define he dabbles in sculpture, animation, fashion, print and merchandising.  He can probably even be considered a graphic designer but all of his work starts out as sketches that are scanned and colored in illustrator. This piece stood out to me because there is so much going on in one area and it caught my eye.

Fate (2013)

This sculpture is made out of platinum leaf on carbon fiber. I love how it depicts many strong emotions. Fate itself brings on events in someone's life beyond their control, and the skeletons faces shows what a person goes through because of their fate. I feel his use of one color is a great move since the piece itself says a lot already.

Mr. Rainbow DOB

Takashi Murakami's is a Japanese artist is one of the biggest names in the contemporary art world.  His work is immediately recognizable for its popping and candy like colors. "Mr. Rainbow DOB" was completed in 2006. I like this work because its abstract cartoon look. What stood out most to me was how he blended the colors so well. 

College Dropout Bear

   

Art and Hip Hop music have always been a big influence on each other. In this sculpture Takashi collaborated with hip hop artist Kanye West to create the bear for his album, college dropout. I like how it's not just a paint but a life size figure which we rarely see when it's a collaboration with hip hop. The aesthetics of the piece including the colors, shape and details are very coordinated. Lastly I love how you can detect the sad emotion that is being portray though the Bears eyes which plays along with the theme college dropout. 

The Broad

I do no like this sculpture because I don't think that it should be considered fine art. I think it looks like a life sized cutout cardboard character that you might find at a comic-con. I don't think that there is a message in the art and I think that it is pointlessly overly sexual. 

-Aimee Caron

Takashi Murakami

I chose "Cherries" made of steel, acrylic, and urethane paint. I chose this piece because it was the only one I found that I somewhat liked, and that's pushing it. It is fun and whimsical but it seems too cartoonish for my taste. I think it is something that would be found in a child's toy box instead of a museum. I am not a fan of this style of sculpture at all.

Takashi Murakami: Flower Matango Palace of Versailles

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist whose main variation on a theme is Japanese cartoon sculptures. He takes low-culture objects and presents them as high class art. The reason he does this is in remembrance of post-war Japan that caused a gap between classes. This is evident in the pictures above in which the funky sculpture is presented in the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris. I also like how he incorporates many hues and colors into his art, it is appealing to the eye of the viewer. 

Blog for Monday 2-22

Takashi Murakami Sculptures

Try finally

Bansky Thomas Iversen

The name Banksy ignites controversy, starts conversations and piques curiosity. Banksy is undoubtedly the most controversial street artist to emerge on the global stage. The fact that his identity remains unknown after 20 years on the graffiti scene only adds to the intrigue that surrounds his work. The works of Banksy have appeared in America, Australia, Canada, England, France, Israel, Jamaica and Palestine. Wherever Banksy goes, he makes an impact. His pictorial and satirical messages cross the boundaries between art, philosophy, politics, sociology, humor and narcissism. 

Banksy

I chose this image because it is provocative and moving in the way that it uses two figures of authority and stereotypical masculinity to show a vulnerable moment between to men. I think that the embrace between to men at the time that it was created is provocative enough but to make them both police officers makes the image even more powerful.

-Aimee

Mobile Lovers

When I first saw Bansky's Mobile Lovers I was confused. I thought that "mobile" was referring to its ability to move. I thought it was a small piece that was brought to different places. However, when I took a closer look at it, I realized that the two lovers were holding phones behind one another while hugging. I thought this piece said a lot about our generation and how we have people right in front of us, yet we ignore that to socialize on a much broader scale. I thought it was also slightly ironic that people could see it in person and the rest of the world would see it on the internet. What I think is the best part is that the piece is life sized- making people feel equal to it and therefore more easily relate to it.

9/11 Tribute

Bansky created this piece in 2013 on a side street in Tribeca, New York. While the image is familiar to many of us, I find the use and placement of the flower to be interesting and the image to show the events of that day in a creative way. The placement of the towers is also interesting, and symbolic as one of the towers is placed over a crack of cement, which goes all the way up the tower to where, the flower is placed. The flower is placed in the location where the first plane crashed into the towers and in representational of the explosion. The flower itself is a chrysanthemum, which is symbolic of death in some cultures. While the somewhat simple piece was small it created a large controversy throughout New York. While some people saw the piece as a great tribute and treated the site of it as a memorial, others were disgusted by the piece and found it to be extremely offensive. Following this piece, Bansky did make some controversial remarks about the One World Trade building, which subsequently lead to the cancelation of his planned exhibit at Century 21.

I Chose this piece of art by banksy because I think the imagery is very powerful. It makes a bold statement against our modern world in that we all live in a coddled dream world ignorant of the pain and danger outside.