Last blog question for semester one- Banksy's work

How can we categorize Banksy's work -graffiti or murals?
Graffiti is art piece that artists make to sell in public for the pleasure of passers-by, usually tourists, in order to earn money.A mural is any piece of artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. First of all his work assaults you with the fact that it's graffiti. If you look his work into details, you realize its mixture with graphic visually and style from urban to stancilied image to challenge the socially and making people to think.

What are some of the differing opinions about Banksy's work?

Peter Gibson, a spokesperson for Keep Britain Tidy, and Diane Shakespear think Graggiti's work is vandalism asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism. Some people think it is great because images making us to think deeper to figure out messages that Graggiti is trying to tell. it is the way to tell the truth through his art about the society that we are living in, his way of making art work challenge the art, the politics, because he is telling what art truly is about. "He sees the i"rony and hypocrisy of our mundane lives (at times) and asks us to view a larger picture.
How does his work sit in relation to consumerism? Can his work be sold?

In his website in the SHOP area, it says "Banksy does not produce greeting cards or print photo-canvases or paint commissions or sell freshly baked bagels. Please take anything from this site and make your own (non-commercial use only thanks)."
What are some of his attitudes to the sale of Art?

He refuses to sell his work but he is using visuals and text provide us with puns that have more than one layer of consciousness.
Who is Banksy? Do we know his true identity?

Banksy is a British graffiti artist. He is believed to be a native of Yate, South Gloucestershire, near Bristol and was born in 1974 in Bristol,England, but identity is unknown. His father is a photocopier technician, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.

Upload 2-3 images of Banksy's work that you find interesting, and comment
on the ideas behind the work.

His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti writing with a distinctive stenciling technique. He creates some magical and truly original posters and paintings. He always put something that seems destroy the whole painting, but however, if you take more look at the painting ,you realise that, it is not destroyed, it is the connection between viewer and the work, because it makes me to think about the meaning behind the work and relate the work to today's society about human, politics.

reference:

http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/Blogs/Sundancing/January-2010/A-Sundance-Surprise/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/100514077/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-leaves-mark-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239142/Banksy-graffiti-war-fellow-street-artist-painting-24-year-old-mural.html

'Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam'(2001)

'Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam'(2001)

'Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam- 'Towards the Complex-For the Courageous, the Curious and the Cowards', (2001) is a video project by Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba.

Research this project to identify the ideas behind the work. Can you connect some of the concepts and ideas from the renaissance, Enlightenment or Modernism with the work. Discuss your answer.

Discuss how do you think the title of the work reflects

the artists' intentions?

The idea of using cyclos under the water because Hatsushiba has been looking at cyclos and their drivers since I arrived in Vietnam back in 1994. Cyclo is such a traditional transport that back in the old time, however the cities expand and develop, fewer streets will allow cyclos. As modern means of transportation, such as taxis, become more popular with modern business, cyclos become less and less in demand. In the near future, we may see them only as tourist attractions. Hatsushiba remodeled cyclo and its function has the same way as traditional cyclos, he was trying to revitalize the design by accenting some areas like the front section. He also used more curves to make the cyclos sportier. Also, with one of the new cyclos, he used stainless steel bars for the frame.

Hatsushiba used video to present his art work because he thinks it is a interesting and more memorial way to remind people that in today's society not many people value the old. People chasing new and fashion .Colonial houses are destroyed for new multi-story apartment buildings. Even old trees are cut to broaden streets. He thinks cyclos are still refurbished if anyone needs them fixed; however, this happens less and less.

This work really bring view lots of thought about modernism. Technology is developing still, things like computers, cameras, cellphones always updated so fast, it is so fast that we don't have enough time to follow, not everyone can afford to use the newest product. Hatsushiba used a Sony single CCD miniDV video camera with an underwater camera housing which he purchased a year ago. He mention that the quality of equipment that he uses has improved since the first video. The second and third videos were shot with similar cameras to the first. For the fourth video, he upgraded to a 3CCD camera. The recent video in Laos was shot with a Sony HD (but not yet full HD). Technology keeps moving forward and sometimes it can get in the way. This is also a symbol related to the idea of enlightenment. People always need to test on new things to create more. As you can see these people in the video are walking really slow with cyclo, the speed is opposite to the speed that technology is developing today.I think I feel a spiritual connection to many things beyond my work. He was getting goose bumps looking down at the bottom of the ocean where he had placed the mosquito nets. He interprets goose bumps as an interaction with the supernatural.

reference:

http://www.nyartbeat.com/nyablog/2008/07/for-the-courageous-the-curious-and-the-cowards/

http://www.asiasociety.org/arts-culture/asia-society-museum/past-exhibitions/vietnam-memorial-work-jun-nguyen-hatsushiba

http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/#/artists/jun-nguyen-hatsushiba/

Industrialisation and Art- week 7

Impression Sunrise' (1873)

1.Define the Industrial Revolution and Industrialism.

Industrial Revolution is the complex of radical socioeconomic changes, such as the ones that took place in England in the late 18th century, that are brought about when extensive mechanization of production systems results in a shift from home-based hand manufacturing to large-scale factory production.

Industrialism is an economic and social system based on the development of large-scale industries and marked by the production of large quantities of inexpensive manufactured goods and the concentration of employment in urban factories.

2.Research Monet's painting 'Impression Sunrise'(1873) to analyze the work in relation to Industrialisation.

This painting depicting a Le Havre landscape. It hung in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 and is now displayed in the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris. From the painting's title, art critic Louis Leroy coined the term "Impressionism", which he intended as disparagement but which the Impressionists appropriated for themselves.

The sun is set against the dawn, the orange color against the gray and the vibrant force of the sun against its motionless surroundings. To many spectators, the sun undulates or pulsates slightly. The sun is nearly the same luminance as the grayish clouds.This lack of contrast explains the painting’s eerie quality. The painting creats a mixture colour feeling that all the objects in this painting are sticking and mixing together. if we think about the Franco-Prussian War (19 July 1870). I think Monet was trying to use this painting to show how the environment looked like during that period of time, the war brought pollution, also means large amount of weapons were produced. Imperfect is what we can see from this painting.

3.Olafur Eliasson's 'Weather Project'(2006) is a contemporary work that relates to Monet's

famous landscape. Research the project to identitify the artist's intentions, as well as the site (space or venue) chosen for the project, to provide depth for your answer.

Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar and water, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. This is a new way to present art piece compare to Monet's painting. Because Eliasson used scientific way to create an amazing result which creating a real feeling of a sun, a sun so close to us, making me feel like we are in the space right beside to the sun. Monet and Eliasson both use their own techniques to show how industralisation is affecting the world around during the period of time that they are living in. Compare the Weather Project to Impression Sunrise, modern art looks more alive and creative.The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirror, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. If we look at the reflection from the mirror, i can imagine how do people look like on the earth from the satellite.

'Weather Project' (2006)

Olafur Eliasson

reference:

http://economics.about.com/cs/economicsglossary/g/industry.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet,_Impression,_soleil_levant,_1872.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Weather+Project&aq=f