Everyday Objects Become Art

Installation art is a very unique way of art. When looking at it I often times question how much thought and creativity is really necessary to create the works that these artists are producing. Taking a more analytical look though, viewers find the deeper aspirations of the artist and the work starts to make more sense then before. Fred Wilson is one of these types of artists whose work is interesting but not flattering until you realize his deeper thoughts. One specific piece, "Dark Dawn", that incorporates black glass that looks like it is dripping down the wall and forming a puddle on the ground. He used black to represent racism and to show the sadness that comes along with racial division. A significant amount of his works deal with racial problems and his ideas that he tries to express through his art has a lot of significant views from his past and current life.

Olafur Eliasson "The Weather Project"

Olafur Eliassion was in the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern in London in 2003. Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air using a mix of water and sugar. He used semi-circular discs made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps, which radiated yellow light in a single frequency. Throughout the Turbine's ceiling was a huge mirror that visitors could see themselves in as tiny black shadows against the massive orange light. Many visitors lied on their backs and seemed to be taking in the light from the massive light. The work attracted two million visitors. The illusion of this huge sun created an idea of natural elements and experiences. My father can never sleep, and when he does he only can sleep for an average of 3-4 hours a night. During the day as long as the weather permits, my father lays out in the sun. Many family members and friends have told him that he will get skin cancer, and ask him why does he need to be so tan? But his response is that he does not go out in the sun to get a tan, it’s a euphoric experience for him. He can relax and fall asleep under the heat and light of the sun. He enjoys natural experiences, and I can imagine if he went to see this exhibit he would very much enjoy the natural elements that come from it. 

Catastrophe Strikes the Tate Modern

A Columbian artist, Doris Solcedo had the unique opportunity to fill the tremendous Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern. The museum has invited many different types of artists to present their work and Salcedo was sold on the fact that she would be unique. Like most of her works the work she created for Turbine Hall had a very deep meaning consisting of social and political connections. The work "Shibboleth" was a crack in the floor's concrete that stretched 167m long, stretching the length of the giant hall. It took over a year to construct, but when it was done it hit viewers with amazing beauty. Salcedo explains that the crack shows elements of catastrophe from the inside of the crack and on the outside everyone recognizes the crack, but are not personally effected by it. She parallels this with her native country, Columbia, by referring to the crack as her countries problems and immigration. The whole world knows the travesties her native country goes through day to day, but since it is not effecting them it doesn't alter their view on the world. This piece was not as extravagant as others in the Turbine Hall, but it has meaning behind it that will push back viewers and allow them to look at the world a little differently when they leave the Hall.

Damien Hirst- Pharmacy

Installation art can look like a gallery setting but it could also be a way that the artist transplants different worlds. It can be made up of many different objects and ideas. Seeing something in a different concept can change a viewers ideas on installation art. It is a type of art that the viewer physically enters into, and is often hard to define because it could be any array of objects in a space so it could just be a normal piece on a gallery or it could be anywhere. Presence is never the main point, but its about the total sense. Damien Hirst did installation art, he did "Pharmacy" which represents a real pharmacy and it represents life and death and the body. There are four bottles on the counter filled with water and food coloring which represent the four elements; water, fire, air, and earth. These were traditionally used to symbolize a pharmacy, so Hirst uses this to represent the past. Hirst also uses symbolization with him placing an insect-o-cutor. Hirst says that it is unlikely for there to be many flies in a pharmacy, but that people act as flies in the pharmacy when they come to look at it.

From Hoarding to the MOMA

There is a unique piece that is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art. Installation artist Song Dong has an interesting way of incorporating his past into his current art work. Installation art consists of three-dimensional works designed to transform the perception of a space. Installation art can stretch from mountain sides to vacant turbine facilities, which is the case in a London Museum. For Song Dong, although, it is a room in the MOMA that presents the events and almost everything possession he has ever known in his life.

When Dong was younger his father passed away which greatly affected the rest of his life. His mother felt that by keeping everything of his fathers that it would neglect the fact that the house would be so empty without him. She kept everything that they went through in their home and soon the fullness of the house provided security that was absent after his father died. Many years later Dong had the opportunity to display his mother's collection in an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. This piece of installation art is truly incredible because it has hundreds of pieces that all contribute to Dong's past. It is incredible that he able to show his life off and let his parents know that he is doing okay all in a days work.

'I’m Still Here' is a Deception

Performance art has started in the 1960's, it was a backlash to minimalist. The conceptual concept was the piece itself whether it be music, dance, or whatever medium that artist produces. Its live and has no guide lines, its experimental and not a consumer product. Performance art has changed a lot throughout time. Casey Affleck did a documentary on Joaquin Phoenix and it came to be found that Phoenix was just doing an elaborate performance, and so this now was a mockumentary and therefor it was Phoenix's performance art. The alleged documentary was aimed to show the deterioration of the mind and body of Joaquin Phoenix from supposed drug induced raps, to his belligerent appearance on David Letterman. Phoenix committed himself to this performance art for 2 years, he altered his body by gaining weight and growing facial hair. He was so into character that he fooled the audience and Letterman when acting to be under the influence of alcohol.

Main Objective, Wow the Audience

When Mariana Abramovic was asked what the difference in performing art and performance art she quickly replied, its real. Abramovic is noted as the grandmother of performance art and her passion for what she does is incredible. She explains that in theater, the blood is fake, knives aren't real, and pain is in act. In her work on the other hand, everything is real. On stage the audience witnesses Mariana endure pain for the sake of art. The main goal for the performance is to implicate real emotions from the audience. The audience is ultimately judges the work of the art. Creativity and shocking scenes is what makes a performance into a masterpiece.

Mariana's body has taken a large beating for the events she puts herself through for the sake of her work. One such instance she elected to sit in a wooden chair with no arm rests for 700 hours. The work consisted of people coming and sitting in front of her watching as she just sat there and stared with a blank stare. The pain felt by enduring such a piece of work was worth it, Mariana said because it was a test of endurance and physical and mental strength. Another work of hers accidentally got out of hand and fire consumed her causing her to pass out and be rushed to the hospital. She only suffered minor burns, but this is the type of work that made here into what she is today. The danger of this art is what makes it real leading to real emotions felt by the crowd that helps bring back viewers time after time.