The world goes POP @ tate modern

This exhibition exapanded the boundaries of what could be classified as pop art, I wondered if all the artists would've even classified there own work as pop art. Pop art is normally asscoiated with pop culture, glorifying or highlighting key components of consumer culture. However this exhibition was highly political. A big issue with displaying highly political works from the past is that most of the viewers will not have known how it felt to live affected by

these things, knowledge of is not the same as experience, therefore the works seem to loose their relevance. Additionally the nature of pop art, is partly to 'pop', to shove the intentions of the work in the viewers faces, however a whole exhibition filled with work like this becomes hard to digest. The lack of subtly becomes tiresome as you are handed everything you need to read the work there and then. In opposition to this, Marcello Nitsche's 'Kill Fly', was far more politically subtle and used symbolism as a way to camouflage the conceptual content of his work. However the work itself still encompassed pop art composition, being bright and big and unrealistic. Kill fly plays on the notion of command and punishment, the imagery of the fly swatter and the hand being a microcosm for these themes in the greater world. The idea of microcosms is something I want to take forwards into my own practise. A lot of my ideas deal with very big human issues, things that I cannot resolve or work with, so microcosms are a good way for me to deal with these issues. Kill Fly also seeks to involve viewers, making them participants in the artwork, placing them at the mercy of a larger entity, ready to punish squat in hand. Interaction is also something i value in art, not necessarily a literal physical reaction, but instead the feeling of being part of the work, or being affected by the physical presence of the world, making them feel big or small, human or non-human.

KILL FLY - MARCELLO NITSCHE

In the gallery the sculpture itself was displayed, however I find this image much more interesting as it places it in an appropriate context, in the clean gallery environment, it feels like more importance is placed on its formal qualities. However outside in social environment, it becomes more read-able, and more sinister, with the viewer being very aware of the power and command ratio, with the bigger playing on the small and more vulnerable. In reflection it has made me more aware of how i present my own work, I must remember to carefully consider this aspect. In fact I would like to experiment more with displaying my work in a mixture of more social surroundings to reflect the content of my ideas.

Colin Self's Leopardskin nuclear bomber no.2, interested me because of its complexity in comparison to some others. At first your eyes are drawn to the seemingly lovely well made, aesthetically appealing children's toy, the toy is a bomb, but this is nothing unusual in children s toys. However this should be shocking, just as any violent children's toy should. This bomb a weapon of mass destruction into a consumer commodity. The leopard fur reminds us that this is a threat, like a predator, except our own man made predator, The aggressive spiked tips wildly contradicts the soft and inviting fur, with the two entirely different tactile sensations, perhaps masking the pain of war. Self is also supposedly referencing male aggression with the phallic shape, however I disagree, the soft fur and pale pink colour of the tip are obvious stereotypes of femininity, additionally I do not see the bomb shape as being overtly phallic because it is masked by the wings of the bomb. In regards to matter this made me think of miscommunication of matter, and matter of mind coming together, how one object/ one thing of matter, links to different things, evokes different matter of the mind. The end of the bomb is a very fleshy pink, relating to the target of the bomb, almost like the bomb itself is a severed limb or leg, relating to my ideas surrounding hierarchy of matter and making the body more useful. However it is ironic, the bomb made from a leg or arm, targeting more legs and arms, separating them from the body so they can then be made useful again...

COLIN SELF - LEOPARDSKIN NUCLEAR BOMBER NO.2

In regards to matter, the work of Antonio Dias was interesting. On the description on the side, it said something like 'this realistic human flesh', i wondered why I must be told something is realistic, if it is realistic then it doesn't need to be said. The 'human flesh' was not realistic, so the curators must've felt the need to label it as this, because it was 'supposed' to be realistic. But then In my mind, i started to wonder what the importance was of real matter and representational matter in art. Obviously it would be very hard to get an actual piece of human flesh and it would put an expiry date on the work (EXPIRY DATES ON WORK TO BE THOUGHT ABOUT METAPHORICALLY but not right now), however should you pretend it is what it is not. Is it not better for the representational matter to own being representational matter. Is there more power in representational power. New connotations are added to the plastic flesh that you cannot ignore, such as consumerism, the human body as invaluable or as valuable, or as an object, a product? The body as disposable. Additionally the work is supposed to reflect a shrine, but having a shrine for a piece of plastic flesh is wildly different from a piece of real flesh... feels more like a worship of plastic, or of human dummies?
On reflection my work focuses a lot around the body and no doubt I will end up using animal meat and flesh and body parts ( i always do), however it will be interesting for me to consider the effects of using them rather than human parts, including limits and restrictions. Additionally whenever i use plastic representations to be aware of the connotations of doing so.

Overall the exhibition had many interesting parts and left me lots to think about. I think the curation was bad, grouping all these works under the title of 'pop art' may not have been the best thing for them and perhaps having them altogether was too overpowering to take in. The choice of colours was also questionable at times, with the 'feminist' art grouped together in a PINK room. It felt almost insulting the female artists work on show, everything they worked for only to be displayed in a pink room, perhaps there was some irony to it, I just cant think what... I was also quite unimpressed with the feminist art on display, most of it being very obvious, however i must remember the context of these artworks, being made in a time where attitudes to women were poor (although there are still lots of problems today, woman have made progress), so the artworks needed to be obvious to have affect.

Bill viola @ Blaine Southern

 'Moving stillness' is a landmark in Viola's meditations on the fragility of nature and our perception of its changes over time. Viola's video installations create total environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound. In doing this, the viewer is forced into feeling the effects of the artwork, with no distractions from anything other than their mind. Viola's work explores the phenomena of sense perception as an avenue to self knowledge, linking to universal human experiences like birth, death and the unfolding of consciousness. In this way is creates an accessible platform to all, but with a focus on subjectivity, as the artworks seek to truly engage ones mind. Myself, I am very interested in consciousness and the human condition, and my works are often concerned with exploring the both the limits and phenomena of humanity. However my approach if often more forceful and questioning. Viola's work is more subtle and calm with 'moving stillness', creating a 'rare moment for mindful focus', perhaps in my own practise I employ this quote and seek to create work that allows for concentration on ones mind, to reflect some of my ideas around consciousness.
Viola subverts the image of a mountain from one of strength, something that is solid and unmoving into a form that appears fragile. Due to the installation environment the mountain is constantly unravelling & reforming. It becomes metamorphic for the existence of the mountain as a conceptual image in the mind. THE MOUNTAIN NEVER MOVES, ONLY YOUR MIND DOES. This idea of the mind over reality is something that deeply interests me. I believe that only what your mind see's is real, as you can only live through your mind. If your mind tells you the mountain is moving then the mountain is moving because subjectively there is no world other than the one you see. Viola's approach is slightly different but both focus on the mind and the world we see. I find making artwork about this topic very difficult because it focuses on something we cannot see and anything I make is completely subjective to me as only I know my mind. However 'moving stillness' shows how this sort of subject matter can be tackled.

Londonography

Marian Goodman Gallery

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE

What struck me most about Kentridge's work was the sense of organised chaos with conceptual inputs coming from all over and this chaos could be seen through the work, with varying languages written all over the paintings and the contrast of music, dance, costume and other references in the video pieces. I find this exciting as it reflects my own confused way of working, as I have a inner (and outer) chaos with my ideas. However despite the excess of inputs, I felt the work was read-able, the chaos was not a problem, far from it, instead it was part of the success. Why? because it boosted the works enjoyment, the work was hard to read, so watching it felt like a puzzle. The video downstairs 'notes towards a model opera' was particularly strong for this, part inspired by Madame Mao's eight model revolutionary operas which involve jingoistic representations of military victories, martial arts and ballet, and even include peculiar skills of learning to throw a hand grenade. The dancing seems to conflict itself, dancers in culturally revolutionary uniform, wealding guns like limbs, the dance a  mixture of south African choreography and classic ballet. Not even the background to the piece feels constant, as it presented as a notebook with pages being torn out and flipped continuously. My last video piece from foundation, was also chaotic like this, with many different contextual references running through it, i tried to explain them all, but ended up realising this was self-defeating so left it be. My question is, with complex but also visually exciting work, how does knowing the context change the viewers perception, is important where all of the references came from. However saying this... I felt Kentridge's work was fairly easy to read in a general sense, easy to grasp the basic idea, is the basic idea all that matters? No?
The work has huge political and social groundings, referencing many humanitarian issues from past and present, work grounded in things of this nature, for me, can either be very powerful or not at all. This work was powerful. The dunce hats and cardboard covered boards bearing slogans is referencing the self- denunciatory rituals that many Chinese academics were forced to endure under Mao, however the implicit approach works here, rather than something very obvious.The humiliated professor is part goya etching, part dadaist, part contemporary African. Often politically driven work, is only made by those who are victims of it in some way, Kentridge grew up in south Africa through the apartheid,, however being jewish he was more of a bystander to it all, a watcher, I find this interesting, of course he was still affected by it, but he himself was not a victim, perhaps this is why he has has softer approach in his work.
'More sweetly play the dance' was a danse macabre, coming from the medieval notion of dancing as means of starving off death. I like this powerful subversion of dance, maybe when we dance we are just fighting off death, keeping ourselves occupied, so we cannot think of it, dancing is supposed to make people happy. Cleverly this medieval link is so relevant today, making us think of all the refugees fleeing warlord. A sombre dance, they are also dancing to fight off death. Then there is links to the 'existential solitude of the walker' and with 'social solitude', lines of people walking in single file from one country to another, from one life to an unknown future. The work releases a huge sense of guilt in the viewer (for some viewers), here we are sat on chairs enjoying the music enjoy this 'dance', this dance that is painful for the performers( metaphorically) . There are priests guiding patients who cling to sketched saline solutions barely keeping them alive, they are weak and frail, and we are sat there from the comfort of our chairs enjoying it.
Music plays an important role in the mood of the piece, the music both celebratory and wailing to fit the tones of the piece, celebration of the people, but showing the pain. The music is still empowering though, as sad music would simply mock, music transforms it into an epic.  In my own practise although i work with video, sound is very foreign to me, I use sound, but comes secondary to moving image, however i feel i should try exploring sound more and its importance, as mood is very important to my work, the human condition is something felt through all senses.
( The firework display today an example of music power, the jolly music suddenly made the fireworks seem possibly scary as if something was about to go wrong, whereas the more moody 'epic' music made everything seem like a circus act)
On the technical side, I liked the complex nature of the videos, making it very much something to be experienced rather than watched, with the multiple screens that surrounded the viewer and also the physical presence of the work, especially with 'more sweetly play the dance', as the whole video was full of physical movement, bringing the animated video very much into the real world, when the figures reached the final screen it felt as though they would march right out and towards you, in both in friendly and threatening way. Kentridge's work has presence in a way i have barely seen from video work before.



Frith Street Gallery

FIONNA BANNER  (Font)

Sadie Coles

UGO RONDINONE (clouds + mountains + waterfalls)


RICHARD T.WALKER (everything failing to become something)

Formalism

Formalism

How does formalism relate to my practise. Being someone who places a lot of importance on ideas and concepts, I find it hard to separate these from my work, nor do I want to. However formalism is intriguing, especially in relation to audience, the form is the content, everything you need to see is right in front of you, provides complete new way of valuing art. I think it makes art more challenging, how do value something so subjective? Currently I am in a rut with my work, the independent study although very exciting has left my with too many ideas and no structure, perhaps a way out would be to adopt to temporary formalist approach towards art and work on form. However where does the form come from, it must come from somewhere?

"Paintings are about paint." - how can a painting be about paint?

How can formalism be applied to video work? 

painting strictly visual - except out body can see depth as it knows how to move through space. Video work is movement through space. 

Formalism turns the viewer purely into an eye, what if i could turn myself purely into an eye, would it be possible to separate my viewing from the world around me? How can the eye be just an eye, with nothing connected to it, how can it make sense and store what it is seeing. NOTHING CAN BE PURELY VISUAL. But I want to try and reason with the ideas of Greenberg 

Autonomous artworks. Independent do not need anything else of the world, self contained and self sufficient. How could i respond to this through work, creating two artworks, the same but claiming one as formalist and one as not, through the eyes of what theory is it most sucessful.

-Go to galleries as an 'eye' - view works just an ellusive eye. Be just the eye- HOW?

Eglatrian art for everyone - is it though? 

isnt formalism just impossible? Or it reaches a point with no room to go higher. Death of himself. Suicide of Greenberg?

Solar Anus

Artist in response to Bataille's Solar Anus.

Tetsumi Kudo

@ Hauser & Wirth 

- 'Prevailing obsession with the theme of impotence linked to nuclear attack, a penchant for grotesque renderings of the body, cut into pieces or dissolving into puddles of goo, a science fictional dystopian picturing of the body as part machine' - Dystopia is something I am interested in, because it depicts such a negative future, highlighting how negative we are as humans, turning even the future (which should be exciting as it is unknown) into something depressing and scary. The mind & body and the problem of conciousness is another thing related to my practice. Many of the Kudo's assemblages seem to also question this, with heads connected to plant pots in incubators and human brain type creations hooked up to wires and separated from a human body. For me the work seems to lean towards idea of AI, however it is unclear whether Kudo see's these human parts as concious. The work could be read as scary, perhaps a vision of what happens when aliens are combined with nuclear weapons, a  greater unknown power, studying, cutting up and trapping our bodies, just as we have done to animals. The throw away and rough edge to the work, adds to the discomfort, like a botched surgery. The lack of care given to our precious body parts, with the brain being the most precious of all, roughly stuck to a box made of egg cartons. Kudo is strongly anti-humanist and i see this reflected in his work, through the dismemberment of body parts, again with the lack of care shown towards them, disregarding them as human and of any importance. This is a refreshing viewpoint, as it goes against the egotistical human nature. 

The prop like qualities to his work, create a distance between reality and his assemblages, making them easier to bear.

"Disillusionment with the modern world - its blind faith in progress, technological advancement, and humanist ideals." - Kudo was an anti-modernist, which is highlighted through his work, showing troublesome results of technology and modern science, it does question whether things are better left alone. Not only does his work evoke imagery of nuclear consequences but that of genetic engineering, the phallic figures being grown from plants, and heads in incubators, trying to morph humanity falsely into perfection. In the cube series, the small boxes contain decaying cocoons and shells revealing half living forms, often replica limbs or detached phalli or paper mache organs, that merge with man made items. This imagery is disturbing yet fascinating, perhaps suggesting that the ideals for humanity are met when mixed with consumer goods, reflecting the adoption of mass production, a way to mass produce the perfect human?

In terms of materiality the use of plastic is everywhere, plastic the pinacle product of consumerism and the opposite the the human flesh in texture. It is malleable and quick to make, much easier than the human body. Yet for some reason i am drawn to the shiny plastic and the goopy textures, the science fiction kitsch aims at repulsion, but all i want to do it touch. The tactile urge is overpowering. The squishy forms seems trapped, in the intermediary state between solid & liquid. Kudo expressed a key component to his art philsophy as CHRYSALIS, the pulp stage of the butterfly, again a state between states, is this a reflection of humanity? A pulp state before we become something new? 

In my own practise, I am concerned with science fiction related to the anatomy, new forms, pushing where humanity could go next, also with dystopia in mind. I feel now I want to explore more with sculpture and installation again, to reflect my focus on the body. It has left my questioning my view on humanism, am I anti-humanist or pro-humanist (something to think about)...

Tutorial

REALISING MY INTERESTS

-consciousness, mind / body - location of the mind, the way the mind works, metaphysical, substance dualism, functionalism, the hard problem
- matter - physical but what about matter of the mind- everything we see derived through our senses all the matter we see is through our physical self ( touch, sound sight etc) - this we make sense of this through our minds - so we cannot trust matter? or matter is the mind?
- death & human bodies , anatomy
-science fiction - the future, in link to robots and AI, can machines be conscious
-after death not an after life though, freezing bodies in hope of life  again , selfish - egotistical, classic of the human race - what would happen after being awoken from a frozen death, would you be the same again, most likely not, would be behind the times and without family friends or anything? at what cost do you pay for life.
- my own issues with death - always been a fascination since I was young , have I finally come to terms and accepted it , maybe?
- passages, spirals, connections, tubes - clinical, anatomy, plastic, models, organs, flesh, blood, hybrids
- Why do people want to rest in peace?
- why do I find the most extreme things and people fascinating - briefly alter ego, my fascination with the insides and outsides of people the difference - what you cannot see and are told is there, but unless you cut open yourself you cannot fully connect.
BECOMING - desire too become others, animals... other people other minds - I can never

Matter

_{Different levels of matter – Hierachy of matter?}

_Initially one might argue that humans are at the top of the hierarchy because we are the most sophisticated form of matter, we are conscious at the highest level so we believe. But how do we decide how to order different forms of matter, as there is clearly matter that is more important than other forms. But what if we place the order of importance on other things such as need or rarity, then it changes things. Some commercially valued matter is placed at a high importance because it is rare or difficult to come by. But also what about matter that we need. I see this as the most important type and so for me this is how I order the hierachy of matter. This then reminded me of a famous case where a man adveritised he desire to eat someone and asked if anyone wanted to be eaten. Many replied, and so one man was chosen and he was killed and the eaten all with consent (not by the law but by the individual). By agreeing to be eaten initially one might think (and I did think ) that he was lowering his status as a human being. However I now believe he raised his status, then becoming something of need, he became food. I place food and drink at the top of the order of matter because they are the things we need most, without them humans would die out. Food doesn’t need humans, of course some forms do like very man-made products as they would not be what they are without humans, however they are not living matter, it does not mean anything to them to be dead or alive, and its probable that the matter that made the food would still survive just not in its form, but that is irrelevant.

(HOWEVER I feel I need to investigate this more, why is food of greater importance. Humans are the most sophiscated form of matter, what basis am I judging this on? Should we treat the living human body as one form of matter or many different parts of matter put together or both, or is this irrelevant to this criteria for juding. No matter how you look at it the brain is complex will always top the hierachy of matter in terms of complexity, or will it ? consciousness in machines and computers, can it mirror consciousness, I think not, but consciousness I believe is in the mind and not the brain and the mind exists in the realm of information, for now at least, that argument can come later on.

Ultimately the reason for the hierachy of matter in terms of need, is the way to judge because need is essential. Humans are 60 percent water, even the most complex part of a human, the brain, is 70 percent water. “All we really are is a machine that ennobles water, and that uplifts water to high levels of consciousness” David wolfe raw  food pioneer. Ironic that this quote came from a food pioneer, battle of complexity or need.

What about if humans never existed would the world of matter be better off overall? In many ways humans have ruined the earth but in other ways they have made it better, they have made it more complex in terms of technology but have made It much more hostile place? NEED TO DELVE INTO THIS MORE, but I want to avoid touching too much of environmental approach, more interested in the philosophy behind the hierarchy of matter and why I think that agreeing to be eaten elevates your position in it.

OBJECT:

Quite simply something that highlights the low status of human matter in the hierarchy. My scab. It is from the complex human body. It is matter that has been taken off the body. I did need the scab to prevent infection in my leg to prevent me from dying, but it has served its purpose to an extent, as I am alive, my wound was not serious anyway. I am now going to throw it away. The scab does not serve any other purpose.

OR my toenail or fingernail as these are both things that are unimportant when off the body, they loose there complexity and have no need

although does this really reflect my concept?