art and body - Jamie McCartney

design a vagina - great wall of vagina

Jamie McCartney’s (b. 1971, uk) bizarre work ‘Design a vagina’ caught my attention. And made me laugh. The artist’s peculiar obsession has invited 360 volunteer female and transgender-man between the ages of 18-64 to contribute to his the ‘great wall of vagina’.

"For many women their vagina is a source of shame rather than pride and this piece seeks to redress the balance, showing that everyone is different and everyone is normal. I hope this sculpture will be definitive and effective in alleviating the anxiety many women feel about their genitals, just as many men do, at the same time as being a compelling and beautiful artwork." Says J. McCartney.

I must say, as ridiculous as his work may appear, I quite like his intentions.

check out more about J.McCartney on www.brightonbodycasting.com/design-a-vagina.php

and the short film clip on www.whiteedge.net/dav. its quite fascinating.

art and identity - Nayland blake

the big one, 2003

"Bunny Group, Two Holes", 1996/7

Graphite and colored pencil on paper
8 Sheets: 12 x 9 inches each


Nayland blake was an artsit i found to show art his identity in each of his works.
his works are decribed in many different ways as disturbing, brutal, hysterical, provocative and tender. Blakes works deal and play with cultural narratives that have been built up and told and that society abides by which he loves to contradict
The Bunny is recurring symbol in his works which is representing several things the artists identity as a gay man and also as a child with parents who were completely against bi, gays and lesbians. he chooese the image and persona of the bunny to represents the "gay promiscuity" or as he puts it "he fucks like rabbits" also the bunny connotes racial denigration.
the bunny also ties in to his African European heritage folk heroes.

Identity - Melanie Bonajo

Are All Cliches True 03, 2007, C-print, 140x120 cm (55x47.2 inches), ed. 5.

The rabbit inside the cave, 2002, C-print, 60x70 cm (23.6x27.5 inches), ed. 8.

Waiting for something beautiful to happen, 2002, C-print, 60x70 cm (23.6x27.5 inches), ed. 8.

Melanie Bonajo statement -
My work is an irregular impulse of experiences and aesthetic enjoyments stemming from the questions I have and the things that I know. I am not interested in a particular truth or a common reality, but I do have to understand and embody my truth, which I find from looking within. Although these things might be universal, consequently, questioning myself leads to the act of questioning you. Nothing should control the spirit.

Reference: http://www.fette-gallery.com/artists/melanie_bonajo_add.php

Melanie Bonajo explores identity through the medium of photography. She presents an inward view of oneself, whilst demonstrating how the worlds possessions and situations are orchestrated into reality by ones own mindset. She believes this to be the process of us illustrating our identity.

Body - Gilbert and George

Oh, the Grand Old Duke of York, 1972

"Being living sculptures is our life blood, our destiny, our romance, our disaster, our light and life. As day breaks over us, we rise into our vacuum and the cold morning light filters dustily through the window. We put on our shoes for the coming walk. Our limbs begin to stir and form actions of loseness, as though without gravity they bounce about for the new day. The head afloat on top levels on the horizon of our thought. Our hearts pound with fresh blood and emotion and again we find ourselves standing there all nerved up in body and mind. Often we will glide to this frame of light. Our mind points ever to our decay....... We are just down at the river feeling around. As the shades of night are falling around our neighbourhood we stroll because we know full well that another sculpture day is over."


Gilbert and George explore the physicality of our body as a navigating structure of moving biology.

The mental realisation that the outside world moves and turns is related to our own survival in it and the way we make sense of every little thing within it.

Meg

Reference: Vergine, Lea. Body art and performance: the body as language / Lea Virgine. Milano: Skira, 2000.

Art and Identity

Some would argue but I feel Tracey Emin deals with some of the more confronting and contentious issues of our Identities. Her work primarily focuses on her sexuality and her sexual experiences. To really gather an understanding of this I recomend perusing her work.

www.tracey-emin.co.uk

Dadang Christanto - Art & Identity

They Give Evidence, 1996-1997 - 16 standing figures holding clothes, terracotta powder, resin, fibreglass and cloth.

"Dadang Christanto (1957) is an Indonesian born artist who sees his role as an art activist. Dadang's professional creative life grows out of his experiences in Indonesia and in Australia, and encompasses the deepest levels of human experience and identity. Often his work is in response to the suffering of Indonesians persecuted for the political and religious beliefs or their ethnicity, primarily during the Suharto regime. Christanto was only eight years old when his father was arrested and soon after killed during this time of civil distress. This has been a strong influence throughout Christanto's artmaking, as he continues to reinforce his identity and experience his native history through his sculpture and performance works. Dadang feels that people who live in a difficult, repressive places, develop a different concept of identity and that individuals who are forced to show only their public, official facade are also in danger of losing their private identity. Now reciding in Australia, Christanto is able to embrace his identity and share his concepts behind this ideo with the artworld."

Heads from the North, 2004 - installation, 66 bronze heads

I'm attracted to Dadang's work personally, as I too like Dadang have Indonesian heritage. Because my family are 7th generation Chinese in Indonesia, the concept of Identity has always been an important concept in my family as our Chinese identity overtime has been lost through the generations in Indonesia. Up until recently, I had always thought of myself as being Indonesian because it is the culture which I identify most with. However, my father told me a couple years ago that we are infact originally Chinese and that we have a 'made-up' surname because Chinese immigrants were made to change their surnames to avoid racially motivated abuse/discrimination in Indonesian society. So really, I am of Chinese, Indonesian and Dutch background, first generation in Australia; an individual who identifies with 4 different cultures! I think the more the merrior, race and identity seem so heavily integrated. When I was young I didn't really understand or appreciate my cultural diversity, but today it's something that I'm very proud of :-)


http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/multicultural_art/artists/construct_ourselves/co_art3_dadang.html

Art and Identity

I know its not sculpture, but for a topic like art and identity I can't help thinking about the graphic novel 'Persepolis'. Its been made into an animation too and is definitely worth checking out. It is the story of a young girl growing up in Iran, forging her own identity in circumstances of violence, political volatility, and increasing religious fundamentalism.

Duane Hanson - Art & The Body

Queenie II, 1988 - polychromed bronze with accessories

"Duane Hanson (1925-1996) was an American artist whose primary interest was in recreating the human form, and well known for his lifecast and realistic works of everyday people. Hanson uses a range of materials including polyester resin, fibreglass, bondo and bronze. He first began representing the human body at age 13 in 1938 when created a 3 dimensional wood rendering of the figure in Thomas Gainsborough's famous portrait 'The Blue Boy' (c. 1770). Hanson's earlier sculptural works include a carving of his mothers broomstick, which he made into miniature representations of the human form."

The individuals which Hanson has chosen to represent appear to have the stereotypical appearance of Americans, especially the uniform of the janitor and the holiday outfits of the tourists. What interested me the most however, are the blank expressions and motionless stances of the individuals. The certainly don't appear to be enjoying themselves, doing it is whatever they're doing. Because the invidual's roles in society are so easily identifiable, and their expressions so plain; I feel that Hanson is attempting to comment on the routine of everyday life and perhaps the inability to escape routine (of a job for example).

Traveller, 1988 - autobody filler, fibreglass and mixed media with accessories

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/duane_hanson.htm

Art and Identity - Latifa Echakhch

Latifa Echakhch's art practice is strongly influenced by her experience as a Morrocan immigrant living in Paris. She explores themes surrounding the individual and the state, reflecting on her own heritage, cultural differences, social phenomena and the socio-political issues surrounding immigrants within the West. Her work incorporates culturally defined objects such as Morrocan tea glasses and rugs as well as national symbols, legal documents and common, everyday objects such as carbon paper, sugar cubes, and rubber tires. Echakhch removes these articles from their original context and deconstructs them, without completely altering their form so that viewers can witness the objects in a broader, more significant light within the gallery space. This gesture enables the viewer to contemplate the stereotypes and socio-codes that are embedded within these materials.

A Chaque Stencil, une revolution, 2008

A4 carbon paper, glue, alcohol

Coutesy the artist and Tate Modern, London

Fantasia, 2008,

Wooden flagpoles, metal wall brackets, Courtesy the artist and Tate Modern, London

Erratum, 2004, Broken tea glass, Dimensions variable
Courtesy the artist and The Studio Museum in Harlem

Frames, 2000-2008
Courtesy of the artist and Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan

Art& Identity: Sabi Van Hemert

Very INTERESTING SCULPTURESSS~!!!!!!!!!!! SMALL ALIEN BABIES~~:) LOL


untitled, 2007, leather , synthetic materials.

untitled 2007, synthetic materials, wood, lacquer

Untitled 2009, leather, synthetic material, pins

Sabi Van Hemert is an Ductch artist who creates strange figures. The fusion between the baby and alien. I guess, the way the artist doesn't create the faces, questiones the audience about their identity. What are they, what kind of emotion are they carrying inside and so on. The way each sculptures are positioned/ the body shapes are weird but kind of dipicting the movements of the babies.

"For weeks, with greate patience and discipline, I cut and paste or prick, following self-imposed rules such as "all forms in same rhythm" or "all lines continue onward". This, precision, and the particular materials I choose, help to give my work its alienating yet sensual , tough yet vulnerable charater"

The artist mentioned about creating vulnerable character = the baby

IF YOU'R INTERSTED PLEASE CHECK OUT THE WEB PAGE :

www.sabivanhemert.nl/index.html

Bruce Nauman

Stairway

Plaster Steps

I'm not to sure why I thought these were relevant, but it does have something to do with the notion that both these objects aren't exactly what you think they are, you identify with them in the wrong way so that they're practicality is skewed, but then it isn't, but then it is, but then it isn't, but then it is.9999999999 recurring.

Also something to do with investigating the way we relate to a material or an objects identity, and not just the cultural designators of the hominid.

Art and Identity: Candice Breitz

Candice Breitz was born in Johannesburg, 1972, and she is a professor of Fine Art at the Braunschweig University of Art since 2007. She is best known for her video works and installations. She has done couple of works revovling around identity, and how it's perceived in general, and by the people with different identities. I have chosen to share her video series titled "Factum", 2009. Since I haven't watched the video, I have copy pasted the paragraphs from the link, http://artobserved.com/2010/03/go-see-london-candice-breitz-factum-at-white-cube-hoxton-square-through-march-20-2010/ . Please bear in mind that it is the author of the respective article's perspective and interpretation.

"The exhibition, entitled “Factum” after Robert Rauschenberg’s almost identical canvases, Factum I and II, is an investigation into four twins and one triplet. Breitz has created beautifully intimate video portraits of each twin, which when coupled together in a kind of diptych, reveal the subtleties and nuances that make one individual. It is an extension of her perpetual fascination with repetition, identity and portraiture. By examining a phenomenon we wrongly presume as naturally and biologically identical we are encouraged to accept how very different twins really are...

...Throughout the series Breitz draws attention to the complex and intertwined nature of their relationships by allowing each to speak as an individual, uninhibited by the presence of their siblings, only to pair them up again as she wishes. The process evokes the reality of people’s lives especially for twins – as one is constantly negotiating various relationships, situations and impulses."


Factum Kang


Factum Tremblay


Factum McNamara


Factum Misericordia


Factum Tang

It was an interesting way to highlight the differences between people, by bringing together the people that appear and are assumed to be similar. There may be advantages of being twins, but it could also be frustrating where being different and individualism are emphasised as a way to flourish your life and career. As for the artist, being a professor may have led her to foster her fascination with people's identity.

Reference:

http://artobserved.com/2010/03/go-see-london-candice-breitz-factum-at-white-cube-hoxton-square-through-march-20-2010/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candice_Breitz

Below are some links featuring her other works:
http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/contemporary_international_art/candice_breitz
http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/426
http://www.candicebreitz.net/

Richard Prince

Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer who is most famour for his rephotographing of other peoples images most famously "Cowboys" a restageing of the Marlbro man cigarette advertising campaign. For the most part I have found artist who deal with personal identity directly seemingly self obsessed and really pretty boreing. In Pince we find an artist who avoids this while looking at the underlying questions at the heart of what identity is. The Marlbro man touches on the american image of it's self and questions contempory masuclinity, through recreating with quite solid fidelity these iconic images Prince holds up a mirror to America and asks "really? Is this who you are, or who you think you are?". And through inverting such well asimilated fragments of the collective american psychi questions the factors and points out the numerous layers upon which all identity is constructed.

Art & Identity

Art & Identity

An identity is the means that differentiates one person from another, makes a person both unique and yet still similar to others, in many ways. Our Identities are shaped by both nature and nurture, it is both genetics and chance that we are born a particular ethnicity and in a particular location. It is through the nurture of our parents, teachers and social interactions we are exposed to particular religion, beliefs, customs, political views and etticeit. Our identity encompasses all of these things, it is a combination of all that we have learnt, been exposed to, and are interested.

Relating art to identity, is a fairly broad process as our identities encompass so many things. More frequently artists place emphasis on a specific aspect of their identity within their work, to pin point their view and express their passion or hatred.

Ai Weiwei, (born 1957, Beijing) is a leading Chinese artist, curator, architectural designer, cultural commentator and activist. Ai Weiwei is best known for his controversial practice which strongly expresses his disdain for communist China, he is angry with China's leaders for holding its people in the past. Within Weiwei's practice he uses powerful symbols' such as Authentic Han dynasty urns and vandalises them with popular iconography as if the urn's were the Communist belief system that he opposes.

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 530 x 223, 1995

.

Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo, 10" by 11" by 11", paint/Han Dynasty urn 1994

Art & Identity- Cai Guo-Qiang

ART & Identity- Cai Guo-Qaing

Research Summary
Benjamin McCready

Cai Guo-Qaing raises interesting ideas when in relation to the theme of Art & Identity. His work primarily draws inspiration from ancient Chinese decorative art and ink paintings, Chinese tradition, Feng Shui, Chinese medicines and remedies, and Chinese wildlife. Through Cai Guo-Qaings work you can easily see Chinese culture embedded into his work. Cai Guo-Qaing spent the first 29 years of his life in China, of which at the time was enduring political unrest. His work 'Venice's Rent Collection Courtyard' is a direct appropriation of a 1965 anonymous propagandistic work called Rent Collection Courtyard from the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution which depicted the exploitation of feudalism and was meant to contrast with the benefits of life under Mao Zedong. The remaking of this iconic sculpture initiated an intense debate. Cai Guo-Qaing explains

“... the tragedy of time, of people, of artists who were once full of passion and conviction in their beliefs. Reflecting upon the artist's work in particular, we see the discrepancy between ideology and reality, the tragedy of it all.”

Rent Collection Courtyard, 1965

Anonymous

http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/bevans/Art101/Art101B-10-China/WebPage-Full.00079.html

(accessed 9th August 2010)

Venice's Rent Collection Courtyard

1999

Cai Guo-Qiang

http://www.caiguoqiang.com/imgs/imgs_project/1999_venice%20rent_01.jpg

(accessed 9th August 2010)

If you look closely Cia Guo-Quiang's replica you will find it is sculpted in a crude fashion which would not suit the purpose it once had.

Although this particular work won the Leone d'Oro award at the 48th Venice Biennale, He may be more well known for his work with explosions. His explorations with explosions are broad, varying from performance, painting, action sculpture, photography, to video. The main ingredient is gunpowder which is a chemical deeply seeded in ancient Chinese culture. The paintings also resemble Chinese and Japanese ink paintings from early Imperial China with similar colour and tone, subject matter, scale and ratio.

Luoshenfu by Gu Kaizhi (344-406 AD)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luoshenfu_Gu_Kai_Zhi.jpg

(accessed 9th August 2010)

Fetus Movement II: Project Extraterrestrials No. 9 by Cai Guo-Qiang

1992

http://www.asiaartcenter.org/e_index.php?page=exhib&exhibno=56

(accessed 10th August 2010)

Another work that references Cai Guo-Qiang's identity is Head On which is 99 life sized replicas of wolves and a glass wall in which the wolves leap in an epic arch but colliding with the glass wall in a pile. 'This represents humans mindlessly following a collective ideology. Aesthetically this particular installation is harder to trace to traditional Chinese art, but is still a very direct comment on political China.

Head On by Cai Guo-Qiang

2006

http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/Head+On+--+Cai+Guoqiang

(accessed 9th August 2010)

Zaya, Octavio. "Interview" in Cia Guo-Qiang ed. Dana Friis-Hansen, Octavio Zaya and Serizawa Takeshi 8-35 (London: Phiadon Press 2002)

Krens, Munroe ed. Cia Guo-Qiang I Want To Believe (New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications 2008)

http://www.caiguoqiang.com/

(accessed 7th August 2010)

Heartley, Eleanor, Art and Today; Art and the Identity, (New York, Phaidon Press, 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrTrKJQnwJs

(accessed 7th August 2010)

Art and Identity: Nikki S. Lee, Annotated Bibliography

Skateboarders Project #7 (2000)

Yuppie Project #4 (1998)

Hispanic Project #18 (1998)

Nikki S. Lee is a Korean born New York City-based artist born in 1970. Her projects involve infiltrating various subcultures through mimicking the dress, gestures and mannerisms of the selected group. Her photographs work as the record of a hybrid process Lee has gone through. A process that is more performative then photography based.

Her process starts with the identification of a particular group in society, in which she becomes apart of over weeks or months. She tells the people within the group that she is an artist and what her intentions are, which in time has to great significance in her integration. At spontaneous times she asks whoever is around to take a photo, a happy snap. On each of the photos is the date stamp left by the cheap camera. This stamp emphasizes the amateur quality of the photographs, their lack of conventional composition. It feels like a mark of the ‘real’, the evidence of a precise moment when a group of people were together.

The photos seem genuine, even with the preparation Lee takes for each ‘role’, the photos don’t feel staged. She has used this process for a number of different projects, transforming herself into a skateboarding kid, an exotic dancer or a businesswoman. The success of the project relies on the acceptance by the group of Lee and capturing it on film.
Each viewer will find his or her equivalent – maybe not directly, but maybe through a scene or a mannerism to relate to.

We see Lee in the photos as if she has always been apart if that community or social group. Unlike an artist such as Cindy Sherman who also uses themes that relate to what identity is through replicating a cliché or stereotype within a studio. Lee practices only outside the studio, her work seems defined by the communities she is surrounded by. Lee states, “ I don’t think about nationality or race” and adds “I don’t need to up that issue because other people will”.

What ‘ive taken from her documented performance is that her work doesn’t distinguish between art and life. It doesn’t feel very ‘arty’ in the sense. Lee defines herself and what identity means though the relationships with other people. Her work isn’t about, ok now im going to be a goth, or a surfie. Lee addresses the question of identity though a holistic approach. Believing that the self exists only in relationship with community. It is my understanding that Lee isn’t even playing a role at all rather she tests her own identity. In turn understanding that if it is possible to be apart of any isolated group then a person’s identity is defined by its surroundings. That the individual cannot exist without the whole.



http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/lee_nikki_s.php
http://oneartworld.com/artists/N/Nikki+S.+Lee.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_S._Lee

Art and Today. Heartney, Elanor, 2008, Phaidon.
Nikki s. Lee Projects. 2001, Cantz Hatje.
Nikki s. Lee Projects. 2001, Interview with Gilbert Vicario.

Art & Identity: Jamie Salmon

Jamie Salmon, Fragment #3
60cm x 25cm x 80cm
Silicone, pigment, fiberglass, acyrlic and hair
2008.

This work by Jamie Salmon employs hyperrealistic qualities to express both the nature of identity and reality and how both interplay.

The partial form of the sculpture represents the forming, deforming or decomposition of an identity, a literal tearing away of the flesh to see what is underneath. In this case it is fibre-glass fibres that are seen, instead of the expected capillaries and muscles. Although the humanlike parts of the sculpture are so believable, this figure has never had an identity. She is the creation of the artist and yet the melancholy look in her eye is still able to connect with the viewer.

This work portrays a physical fragility, as well as an emotional one. The viewer can believes that this figure has a story, a past, a life and also that her story, her past and her life have been reduced down to what she is before us: Only part person, only part personality, only part of an identity.

Art and Identity: Ani O'Neill

O'Neill works within installation and performance as well as other mediums. Most of her work draws on her Pacific Islander heritage. She uses the traditional craft skills; a lot of her works are largely made up of woven objects. In her art she focuses on her personal identity within a culture, and the issues that are tied to that connection.

Personally I enjoy the simplicity of her works and her use of colour.
There is something about woven items that brings to mind the time and care needed to create it. It brings a human touch to an object, which is harder to find in obviously mass-produced items.

http://www.tautaipacific.com/ani-o-neill/
http://www.pacificartsalliance.com/artists/cook-islands/ani-oneill
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/cook-islanders/3

ART & Identity

I suspect there will only be two presenting tomorrow:

ALEX & BEN.

(Could you both let me know which artists you are presenting).

Amanda.

Art and The Body: Nandipha Mntambo

Artist Introduction:

Nandipha Mntambo was born in Swaziland (landlocked country in Southern Africa) in 1982. She graduated with a Masters degree in Fine Art with distinction from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in 2007. Her first solo exhibition, Ingabisa, took place at Michael Stevenson in 2007. She recently showcased her work at MCA for Sydney Biennale, 2010.

Work:

She mostly uses cowhides in her sculptures and installations, which she moulds around her body, and she even moulded around her mother's body. Her work is known to be about feminity, gender roles and poetics of the body. The work shown below, fig.1 titled Iqaba Lami, makes reference to the 19th-century dress incorporating the Victorian bustle adopted by the Herero women of Namibia.


fig.1 Iqaba Lami fig.2 Indlovukati

View:

Even though the work is done around human bodies, and talks about beauty and feminity, it reminded me more about social and political changes that took place in Africa, which reminds me that it could have been under Arts and The Politics as well. It is mainly due to the mention of Victorian bustle and Herero women of Namibia. I had previously done a little research on Himba tribe of Namibia, and I saw a strong resemblance to Herero women. Their garments are made up of cowhides, and how Herero women's silhouette transformed into that of Victorian women. Garments represented a certain era and how it was influenced by the ruler and people of that era. This reminded me of colonisation of Africa. Her works to me represented an amalgamation of Herero tribe and Victorian era's silhouette, which alone shows the adaptation of western civilisation, a diminish of tribes in Africa.

Reference:

http://www.michaelstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/mntambo/index2007.htm
http://www.michaelstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/mntambo/index2009.htm

Art and the Mind/Body: Stelarc

Stelarc (born Stelios Arcadiou on June 19, 1946 in Limassol, Cyprus to Greek Cypriot parents) is an Australian performance artist whose works focus heavily on futurism and extending the capabilities of the human body.

The one core theme that centers from Stelarc's works is the idea that the human body is obsolete. That without some sort of technological interference we will not advance. This idea of forced evolution to the body, to extends its limits is very apparent in his later work . As Stelarc states in an interview,"the body lacks of modular design," "Technology is what defines the meaning of being human, it's part of being human." Especially living in the information age, "the body is biologically inadequate."

Stelarc found a medical doctor willing to implant a cell-cultivated ear beneath the skin on the artist’s forearm. He apparently isn't satisfied with his newfound appendage just yet, however, and is reportedly planning another surgery to give the ear "more definition." What's more, he's also hoping to implant a microphone inside the ear that'll use a Bluetooth transmitter to, you guessed it, broadcast what it hears over the Internet.

Stelarc, (2007), 'Third Ear'.

http://eamazings.com/index.php/eamazings/stelarc-third-ear-implants-inside-his-arm.html

Although i do not agree with the idea of the body becoming second to that of technology as i can't see our technology becoming more advanced and complex then biology. I am fond of the integration between the body and the technology, as though the entities come from the same source. That stripping both down to raw particles dissolves any barriers that separate their origins.

There is also a fantastic interview with the artist in this link.

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/stelarc/a29-extended_body.html