Christian Boltanski, as an artist, has placed an importance on the theme of memories and how they can be used to suppress the idea of despair. Memories are seen as a powerful tool in order to diffuse these ideas of despair and disillusionment in a modern world. A large portion of humanity has learned to base most of their individual identities on collective experiences as a whole. Much of Boltanski’s work explores how some of that individualism gets lost within shared experiences through the concept of memory. As an artist, this significant theme used in his work has helped re-establish a certain sense of belonging in correlation to his own identity and what it has transformed into. This form of remembering is incorporated in his own work as a way of defining his universal sense of belonging. Christian Boltanski presents a collective understanding over the loss of his true identity in his work involving the theme of memories through the representation of images and material objects.
Boltanski has contributed to the art world for several years now and through that time; the media (as well as other observational sources) has kept an overflowing archive of information on him as an artist. Although most of the information we, as viewers, remember him by are most likely true, we can never really know how much these opinions and observations about him have altered his sense of self and what he truly belongs to. Boltanski has expressed in multiple interviews how these biographies have slowly disintegrated the story of his life and how his work has illustrated a new purpose his life now represents.
Being a multi-media artist, Boltanski has expressed his ideas and messages through numerous types of elements in his works. Photography has pl...
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...d due to what ‘we’ ultimately decide to remember about him; his viewers in the end will be the ones who define what group he belongs to since the true reality of his past has been lost.
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A passing moment (like the one involving Verushka) is fickle on the surface, but under the right circumstances, is potentially timeless. Matthew Goulish uncovers this transition in his essay “Criticism.” He explains, “we understand something by approaching it,” and that “we approach it using our ears, our noses, our intellects, our imaginations. We approach it with silence. We approach it with Childhood” (328). In order to truly see something, or rather, to truly know something, Goulish asserts that we have to look at it in the same wide-eyed manner we would in our youth. Though we, as humans, have a tendency to analyze based on preconceived ideas, only through an acknowledgment of the unknown and an acceptance of the absurd can we truly “[liberate the] critical mind to follow whatever might cross its path” (329). In doing so, Goulish recognized the distinction between the literal and the surreal, and similarly understood the effects of embracing one over the other when viewing a subject. Verushka’s state of being was documented with a brief, exhaustively exploitative photo session, and acts as a direct representation of the concept of actually “viewing.” Everything, from her free-flowing hair to her effortless poses, personifies Goulish’s acknowledgement of the the pursuit of liberation. Though she’s the focal point of the image, this “liberation” isn’t her own; it’s the
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Mark Rothko is recognized as one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century and during his lifetime was touted as a leading figure in postwar American painting. He is one of the outstanding figures of Abstract Expressionism and one of the creators of Color Field Painting. As a result of his contribution of great talent and the ability to deliver exceptional works on canvas one of his final projects, the Rothko Chapel offered to him by Houston philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil, would ultimately anchor his name in the art world and in history. Without any one of the three, the man, the work on canvas, or the dream, the Rothko Chapel would never have been able to exist for the conceptualization of the artist, the creations on canvas and the architectural dynamics are what make the Rothko Chapel a product of brilliance.
Although Nauman is now one of the most talked about artists in today’s world, art was not always his main interest. As a child Nauman was shy and often alone, as a result he was very passionate about music. He studied piano, guitar, and upright bass and played in bands throughout high school and college. Having a childhood filled with music has influenced his works and contributes to the success of his use of sound and rhythm in his videos and installations. Nauman graduated from college into a career of painting but soon realized that he could not get the reactions from his viewers that he wanted through the medium of paint and began to explore sculpture. His sculptures are known for being non-functional and being made from “non-art” materials. Nauman then turns to incorporating video and sound into his sculptural installations, and then creating complete video works. In his later years he begins producing “sculptures” that are neon signs, often provocative and suggestive. Throughout Nauman’s life, he has continued to influence the art world through each of his ...
The poem, “Remember”, by Joy Harjo illuminates the significance of different aspects in one’s life towards creating one’s own identity. Harjo, explains how everything in the world is connected in some way. She conveys how every person is different and has their own identities. However, she also portrays the similarities among people and how common characteristics of the world impact humans and their identities. Harjo describes the interconnectedness of different aspects of nature and one’s life in order to convey their significance in creating one’s identity.
My goal for this paper is to give a practical critique and defense of what I have learned in my time as a Studio Art Major. During my time here I have learned that Pensacola Christian college’s definition of art “art is the organized visual expression of ideas or feelings” and the four parts of Biblosophy: cannon, communication, client, and creativity. Along with Biblosophy I have studied Dr. Frances Schaeffer 's criteria for art, seeing how the technical, and the major and minor messages in artwork. All of these principles are great but they do need to be refined.
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