ART 21 Film Review

In our last class we watched a film that featured the work and process of a variety of twenty-first century artists. Art21 placed the viewer directly into the lives of these artists, capturing the immense passion and overwhelming amount of thinking behind each of their installations. The film acts as a modern documentary offering a series of interviews that allow the audience to understand the reasons why each featured artist chose to explore art and the importance of art in their lives. 

The first artist the film introduced us to was Vija Clemins. Clemins works are extremely detail oriented and realistic in nature. Clemins explains how it is her ninth time painting the painting she is currently working on. Clemins describes her process as building the painting over time. Clemins also explains that the her drive to paint her series on rocks was because she desired to make them herself. The next artist Elizabeth Murray centers her work around the use of shapes and intense color. Murray explains that her method is to just let the cards fall where they may and go from there. In her interview Murray describes her process of becoming an artist and how her professors told her she would never succeed in art. Next, the film focuses on Ann Hamilton, an artist whose work deals with textile art and installation. Hamilton explains how her work represents the social metaphor that connects thread of sewing as the thread of writing. Hamilton also does a series of pinhole photography using her mouth as the 

viewfinder. The shape of the mouth strangely reflects the shape of an eye, with the subject taking the role of the pupil. Bruce Nauman is the next artist featured in the film. He's work is primarily installation based pieces including sculpture and film. Nauman's process is that he focuses on something that at first appears to be functional, but at closer examination you can't figure out quite what it's function may be. Nauman explains that with art you have to approach it so that you can't watch anything in order to be aware of everything. Matthew Barney, the last artist we viewed, is a combination videographer, sculptor, and performance artist. His work is edgy and at times disturbing and violent, however it all works together to tell a central story. Barney's work points out that there is no place for fear in art. That you just have to trust your intuition and go for no matter what anyone else says. 

Each of these artists push the boundaries of art in their own way. Each artist explores the questions "What is art?" and "What is art for?" I agree with Waldemar Januszczak in that the sole purpose of art is to transform the viewer, to change something inside them, to make them think. Bart Rosier writes in his article, What is art?, that an artists role is to try to express what we all feel. I think that each of the artists featured in art21 are successful in fulfilling the meaning of art. 

Class Discussion: Interpreting Images

During our last class discussion we each reviewed a series of several images. The instructions were to  analyze each of the images based on what they communicate to the viewer, as well as how each image communicates this based on content, color, language, and more. In my group our images ranged from street signs, to fingerprints, to no-smoking signs. We discovered that many of the images were universally recognizable. For example, in the image of the red circle with the white rectangle through the middle, most people understand that this means danger or stop because of the commanding red color. The last two images we concluded were icon images that are simplified representations that symbolize something, but are not actually made from those things. Where as the middle two images of the fingerprint and the footprints in the sand are images made from the actual object that it represents such as our fingers or bare feet. 

New Media Artist Blog#1: Wolfgang Staehle

In 1999, German sculptor Wolfgang Staehle installed a digital camera in an office located on the upper level of a high-rise building in the West Chelsea area of New York City. The lens of the camera was strategically pointed at the Empire State building, capturing a continuous stream of images from sunrise to sunset. The images were then transmitted over the Internet to an exhibition at the ZKM Center for Art and Media. The installation was titled Empire 24/7. Staehle drew inspiration from Andy Warhol's 1964 film that focuses solely on the Empire State Building for eight hours.

Both Staehle and Warhol use still images to create a feeling of static. This in turn forces the viewer to take the time to concentrate on the detail of the structure and the manipulating effects of light. Staehle explained that his work aims to emphasize "instant images for instant consumption." In my opinion, Staehle's work is successful at commenting on the fast-paced nature of today's society as a result of technological advances. Staehle's use of instant images mirrors society's need for instant gratification, whether it be instant information or fast food. The way in which these constant images were presented and continuously updated creates an effect that mimics a window looking out onto the Empire State building even though the exhibition was located miles away in Karlsruhe, Germany. Therefore the installation acts as a commentary of how the world is completely interconnected through technology.

In 2001, one of Staehle's later works captured the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center as they were happening, forever preserving history in art.

I was drawn to Wolfgang Staehle's work because I feel that unlike other new media art Staehle's exhibition, Empire 24/7, and his later works are successful in that they are truthfully works of art. I believe that art must serve a purpose and compel the viewer to question the world around them. Art makes us think. Art does not have to be a beautiful painting or photograph, but rather art is a reflection of ourselves and Staehle fully reflects our world.

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