essay

Lucas Samaras stared off as a sculptor, painter and performance artist before moving onto photography and creating a whole range of work throughout his life with himself as subject.



Samaras was born in Kastoria Macedonia, Greece on the 14th September 1936 and in 1948 emigrated to the US. From 1955-59 he attended Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey where he met fellow artists Allan Kaprow and George Seal. After a solo exhibition at the Reuben Gallery, Samaras got involved with artists assosiated with the gallery and started to get into performance art alongside Claes Oldenberg, Jim Dine and Red Grooms.



During the late 1950's there was a major turning point in Samaras's work, going down the route of self observation with him becoming the subject and the artist. The "Happenings" were 18 performances in 6 parts over 6 days from the 4th of October to the 10th 1959. The acts were highlighting parts of Dada and surrealism for example "Sophia = Wisdom" part one, there is no storyline but just the running ideas and thoughts coming together. In this particular scene they are experimenting with the idea of people as props being more interesting that just your normal objects. All 18 "Happenings" were experimental theatre involving installations, light, sound, slide projectors and the audience would be encouraged to get involved.



Samaras then started to install rooms that were full of his personal history with the mood of his performaces in the "Happenings" his main influence. He spent a lot of time in his New York apartment-studio working alone and it reflected in his work. He created "Auto-interviews" which is a series of studies usuing texts to explore himself. Instead of expressing this through paiting or sculpture he started to recognise other forms or art, such as an author would work through the mediam of text, and a singer would through their voice and sound.



From the mid 60's to 80's Samaras also created a range of boxes. These boxes were made to look attractive from the outside but on the inside its a dangerous space to be for example 'Box No.85' (1973) had colourful pins stuck through creating an embellished, colourful look from first veiw then the harmfull sharp pins on the inside. All of his boxes are personal to him. This particular one would have been inspired by the time he spent with his dress-making aunt. The box is a reflection of the time he spent with her and a metaphore for loss or something missing.



Nikk S. Lee is an artist who tests the boundaries of her identity in "The Ohio Project" (1999) by spending time living and acting like different american subcultures such as lesbians, senior citizens, tourists, punks, drag queens and the homeless for up to months at a time. This is changing her cultural values and behaviour patterns by adapting to social, economic and ethnic differences. Her image and personality must also alter to fit in.



Nikk S. Lee is origionally from Korea and attended Chung-Ang University in 1993. In 1994 she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and now lives there working as an artist and filmmaker. In 1998 she gained an M.A in photography. Moving from Korea to New York is a complete culture change and would have definatly had an impact on her curiosity and inspiration of other cultures. Also from doing this fashion she could experiment with fashion while being with the different groups and would almost be like playing dress up for her. She can explore the distinctive trends and expand her knowledge. To capture her time with the groups se will confess her project to the people shes with and documents it with a photograph at the end of her experiance. Nikk S. Lee's work reflects hew life, education and asperations even though she is constantly changing her social identity.

Patricia Piccinini is an artist who creates flesh-like sculptures of her own made up creatures. They have some human characteristics, some animal and explores life forms and the identity of the human race.



Her works stir our emotions and our emotions are a big part of who we are and how we react to situations. "Foundling" (2008) is a human like creature in a baby carrier. The eyes are much bigger than that of a human baby and its legs seem to br scrunched into the seat under its wool blanket. From just looking at the creature a mothering instinct kicks in and feel like you need to help him.



"Not Quite Animal" ('Transgenic Skull for The Young Family') (2008) is an anatomically accurate cranival form of a human and animal one. Before studying Fine Art Piccinini gained a Bachelor of Economics at Austrailian National University after immigrating there from Sierra Leone in 1972. This gave her the inspiration for her following art work and focuses on biogenetics, cloning, artifice, nature, consumer culture

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The past week i have been in New York living it up! The Met Museum was my favorite visit of the trip. They had some amazing peices in the Contemporary section including Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstien, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornel and many more! It was quite exciting to see works i have been veiwing in books and on the internet but in person instead and has definetly boosted my enthusiasm to go to more museums more often.

One of the main things in this museum which caught my eye was the shadows.

Shadows can make an object create a whole new image. Here we have a chair with the light source above shining through the seat. The strong shadow helps you realise the delicateness of its frame by outlining the thin structure of the materials.

Here the sculpture is quite innocent and has a lot of different depths to it. When its shadow takes its form it seems to take on a viloent, threatening shape, almost like a character waiting to strike someone down.

To the left is a Roy Lichtenstien sculpture and its shadow changes how you veiw it for it is being elongated and the smooth flow of the lines extended. The shadow is the opposite to its owner with its range of greys compared to the brightly colourered sculpture.

To the right is the shadows on a staircase in The Met. The criss-cross of lines of shadow in one direction and the lines of the stairs in another creates a interesting way of building up layers. The shadows over the stairs are being manipulated in a natural way which makes me wonder of other ways this could be achieved.

Here is a picture which i took which is playing around with shadow, making the light the most predominant feature and drowning out the face of the person almost making the person the shadow.

Bernard Frize

Bernard Frize is an artist James Iveson adviced me to take a look at and im really greatful because i love his work. Frize's work is more about the act of painting rather than what hes painting. Before starting a peice Frize will load his brush up with different colours of paint and then move his brush across the canvas to see how the paint reacts. The outcome is random and and non-representational.

His recent work Frize has been usuing quite unsettling pale colours with an underlying line of black which distracts the eye.

I love the flow of the lines and the patterens he creates. It reminds me of some of the work i have been doing, trying to make my lines smooth and have movement.

This one is a stencil i made and repeated it over a large bit of cardboard. I wanted the lines to have movement but also be interupted.

This is a picture of paint draining down a sink. The pail colours reminds me of Frize's work and the freeness of the paint is a random way of working.

Ooglies!

Simple ideas can go further than expected. Simple is a great way to start. Sometimes things dont need to get complicated. So sit back and enjoy an 'Ooglies' experiance (showing on t.v weekdays channel 1 at 4:00pm)

Ooglies Plays around with household objects by adding googly eyes they come to life and interact. The characters personalities are based around what the object is used for, for example in other episodes there is the mexican chillies who run around in a group surrounding other characters, when they run off everything is left toasted or burned.

The bread roll who trys to catch rashes of bacon and other sorts of food to fill himself. This reminds me of when children get told off for playing with their food. I wonder what the possibilities of playing around with different dinners to make something creative.

The baby blocks who cry, moan, fidget and just act like typical babys.

Giving these object googly eyes helps them take on a personality and life more easily. It reminds me of things around us that have hidden faces for example, the front of cars, houses windows and doors, bark on trees, door handles, light switches. This calls for an investigation.

James Iveson Lecture 27/10/09

In the lecture James Iveson did he focused on different ways to get creative and produce work with the example of different artists and then revealing the ways in which he works.

colours

Alex Kats - who gets everything prepared, paint colors all mixed up and takes onboard to paint a huge canvas in a five hour period. He works wet on wet paint to create a misty background and knows the trees he's painting like the back of his hand. He is painting something specific but there still the element of creativity. There still is space for improvisation and spontaneity.

On the other end of the skale is Marc Jacobs and Louis Vitton 2007 'Dir Louis Prigent' where he was using old Louis Vitton clothes and bags to create something new and edgy. The way in which he works is full of possibilities haveing a good range of different materials, styles, designs just laying around everywhere and he sort of picks and chooses what he wants. Its quite like a trial and error situation. Holding up different heels for a shoe, yes, no? Then the next heel, yes, no? Until he comes across the design hes been waiting for.

This lecture inspired me to try out different ways to practice my art. A random way, a set way and made me realise to not give up on work as soon as i dislike it. For me going into the studio not knowing what work im going to produce is thebest way because the ideas come as i work more during the session, ideas i most likely wouldnt have thought of from planning.

'Better Things' 28/09/09

'Better Things' (2008) is a brilliant film by Duane Hopkins which focuses on love, life and loss from different perspectives. This powerful film deals with themes such as drug abuse, old age, death, guilt and grieving.

After a young girl dies from a heroin overdose and her boyfriend doesn't turn up to her funeral. It follows the friends as they carry on with their lives and take more drugs to deal with their loss. The whole film is experimenting with the effects of the soundtrack and noise, and what it adds to a film.

One particular clip where a tree is being blown violently by the wind (which is in the trailer), the sound is muffled suggesting the friends distance from life after the tragic death. It reminds me of being deep in thought and blanking out everything around. This is quite a lonely experience.

I found the film ridiculously sad and cried all the way though! With two other story-lines such as a young girl who is scared to leave the house and an old couple who are silently struggling to keep their love. The film makes you appreciate what you've got. All the character's are striving for 'better things' and its almost as if its teaching us a lesson to aim higher!

I really recommend watching this film if you get the chance. Just have the tissues at the ready!

If you want to find out more i found this video of Duane Hopkins explaining about the thoughts and ideas behind the film:

Duane Hopkins - "Better Things"
Uploaded by troiscouleurs. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Erik Johanson

Erik Johanson is an inspiration! A digital artist from Sweden, takes his own pictures and manipulates them. His work is quirky, creative and playful.

In the picture above we can see the artist himself doing an everyday task but he has made it really intreging by making it look like hes ironing himself flat. This reminds me of when you've got ready for the day and about to leave the house and notice your clothes need to be ironed. Honestly i wouldnt bother getting undressed to drag out the ironing board and so on. If only there were such an iron we could use when our clothed are on our bodys. It may sound lazy but impatience is a virtue.

In the above picture his body is taking on a different form and becoming part of the ice cream in his hand. Its as if he is sacrificing his arm for his ice cream because hes holding it at the highest point and it will be the last thing to melt. Erik Johanson must really love his ice cream.

This is my favorite image Erik Johanson has made (above). We can see him punching himself in the face and his fist becoming sunk into it. His face looks like a kind of 'bean bag' material look as if its soft and doesnt hurt. We all have them days, moments, situations where we just what to knock our heads off a wall, or get swallowed up by the ground, and to look at this image give me enjoyment to know that the artist is getting one up on himself and getting some pay back.

The image above is very beautiful. The concept of Erik Johanson laying down a road almost like a blanket across this wonderfully green feild. He makes the road seem like a element that can get taken away, just like a picnic blanket in a feild can be picked back up, to keep this feild more natural and unpolluted. The reality of it is that that road will stay there and interupt the peice.

Under the Volcano - An exhibition for Malcolm Lowry 1909-1957

So far i have been to two different talks at the Bluecoat about the work in the exhibition which is all based around Malcolm Lawry's writing. The first with Paul Rooney on Tuesday 6th October 2009. The second was with Cian Quayle and Pete Flowers on Tuesday 3rd November 2009.

The range of work which has all been produced is from the same starting point. I find it interesting how all the artists have responded in complete different ways yet the same running theme is there.

The prominent theme for me in both of these talks were layers and layering:

The layering you can find in text for example in Lowry's 'Under the Volcano', following more than one story of events that occur at the same time. The character Geoffrey Firmin is an alcoholic and because of this it is effecting his career, love life and health.

The layering of physical materials for example, the layering of paint in Pete Flowers 'Los Calaveras Flores' (below) which is part of the exhibition. The complexety of imagery and layers are building up, coming together and transforming.

Also the layering of meaning for example Cian Quayles's 'Everyone i have ever met with a Three Legs tatoo' (below). He is creating a sense of time and place, leading you on a journey but being diverted along the way. The emotion in his work is to create the feeling of returning to a place which was once familiar.

This image i find particulary interesting because its an ongoing task and i would love to know how many people actually have a 'Three Legs' tatoo. Its something i have never come across and find the tattoo personal to this man. Yet someone else out there may have it as well. Malcolm Lowry's 'under the Volcano' took around ten years to finish and maybe the way in which he is working is a reflection of that.

Malcolms Lowry's characters are based around himself. They are personal to him, his lifestyle and his life events. The artists have also reflected this in there work. Cian Quayle used family snapshots and postcards in the process of his work and Pete Flowers went over to mexico and lived there for 6 weeks to live the life of the character.

Contemporary Art and Consumer Society - Spaces lecture 28/09/09

Head of E.O.W. II, 1961

Frank Auerbach is a expressionist, figurative painter who is know for using thick paint and layers of paper to create his work. I find the way that he works very inspiring as he thinks that once you begin to like a peice of work you have to destroy it in order to gain the most out of your creation. I think he does this because once you start likeing something you begin to get a specific idea of what you want. By allowing yourself to destory it opens up endless possibilities. His paintings become so heavy during this process and in the past has had to have his painting layed out on the floor instead of up on the wall from the sheer weight. His earlier work has been said to be almost skulptural.

Head Of J.Y.M 1973

His work has made me realise its ok to experiment, mess up your work and test out even the sillyest of ideas. Pondering over ideas wont get the same result as trying them out.

Loop pool ping pong on ice 11/09/09

Loop Pool was an exhibition at the International Gallery in Liverpool which featured over 100 artists and 'Commercials for a concept'. I loved the concept of being able to relive the best bits of a film or moment again and again creating a visual cycle.

"A loop is like a crack in a record. A perpetual mobile visual emotion. Repetition brings filmic motion to halt. Its like a magic moment that never ends."

'Commercials for a concept' was a range of short videos advertising things which cant be bought like time, space and emotions.

Ive picked out 3 of the artists and their video's that show different ways in which looping can be effective.

Daniel Martinico's film 'Kiss me' 2001 was a loop where one man grabs another man's arm and finds a type of disease. They continue for the rest of the sequence just shooting worried looks at each other and it gives the situation a humorous tone even though the event was a serious matter. The whole scene is open to discussion and you have to fill the rest of the information in for yourself, creating your own starting and ending.

Rafaël's "Denis" seems to create a eerie, disturbed atmosphere but i get the impression the boy is only playing around with us, maybe pranking until the icey stare he gives to the camera at the end of the video.

Here is the link to the video. Its only 1minute 7 seconds long so please take a look:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x39wln_denis-y-2002-rafael-all-rights-rese

Sabina Jacobsson did a short film showing milk about to boil over the pan, but just before it does it starts to unboil. And then its repeated. The relieve that is felt when the milk starts to unboil just at the point of no return, there is a return. (I am currently awaiting the video to be sent over to me by Sabina!)

While being at the gallery and looking through over 40 different video loops it became a tedious task but because the videos were looping i never missed what was going on if i lost concertration or turned away to have a chat. This could be a good way in which to get information across while being able to communicate in a different situation.

P.s while searching for certain video's for this entry i came across a brilliant website for short films:

http://www.independantexposure.com/

Check it out!

Taxidermia

'Taxidermia' is a film by Györgi Pálfi which was released in 2006 in Hungary. The film follows 3 different generations of men in the same family who have no common sense, no self respect and the strangest of lifes. It has an underlying theme of showing animal characteristics in humans and a vulgar over tone consisting of sexual scenes, masturbation, vomiting and other bodily fluids. I love the way in which you are taken throught the history of a family but each generation is so different.

The first man, Vendel, is a World War 2 solider who is treated like a slave by his Lieutenant. He lives in a small shack and to pass the time fantasises about the Lieutenants two daughters and 'piggy looking' wife. He masterbates when ever he can. His story ends when he the Lieutenants shoots him in a pile of pig carcases after finding out that Vendel slept with his wife.

The Lieutenant's wife gives birth to a boy, Kálmán, who is born with a pig's tail. He grows up to become part of a competitve eating competition in Easten Europe which involves special tacktics and a lot of vomit. Even though the scenes in which is is filmed are file he is a sex symbol to the on-looking crowd.

Kálmán falls in love with a fellow competitioner and has a boy called Lajos who becomes a professional taxidermist. I love the contrast of of his skinny frame to his dads huge body. The dad doesnt really pay attention to Lajos, hes more focused on feeding his 3 massive cats to continue his eating obsession.

Lajos has more in common with his grandad (Vendel) with his dad treating him like a slave bringing him masses of food while he sits and watches his 'glory days' on tape of being a champion eater. This depressing situation is lightened while Kálmán eats chocolate bars whole with the wrapper still on. This obviously leads to his death and Lajos re-acts quite oddly by doing taxidermy to his dad. Then he ends his own life on a contraption he created which rips his body apart.

The imagery in this film is very powerful, over the top, frightful, yet at the same time humerous and it seems to really work to make disgusting images intreeging and engaging. I feel it brings a different element and creates layers in the story. It helps embarrasing or gross images likeable.