Tag: Damien Hirst

Notes · Part 1

Conclusion

lornacole99Leave a comment

Looking back at the various artwork I’ve encountered in this section, here are some final questions I was prompted to think about:

Have you been surprised by your responses to any of the works in Part One? Have you felt inspired by any of the works you’ve looked at?

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, Damien Hirst –

I was surprised by the depth of contemplation this piece allowed, I knew it linked to the theme of death but I was able to look at it from new perspectives. For instance, the idea of mortality and trying to stop or control time is something I find interesting and without this piece, it might not have been something I’d have considered properly.

A Place Beyond Belief, Nathan Coley – 

At first glance, this piece seemed quite simple, yet I was surprised by the importance the message actually holds. Looking further into the context and specifically the origin story I realise that Coley designs his site-specific work for those who need it most. I’m really interested in the power that a phrase can have on a population that may have given up hope and therefore was also inspired by this piece. I think he should be commended for his methods in pushing boundaries and commenting on controversial topics as it promotes others to contemplate them more.

Longplayer, Jem Finer – 

This piece can certainly be described as being ambitious, I hadn’t even fathomed the idea of a piece of music being played continuously for a year, let alone 1000 years before coming across Longplayer.  It’s such an unusual representation of time but holds great significance in relation to how things change as time passes. What’s even more interesting and surprising is the fact that we’ll never know if Finer’s experiment is a success, but regardless of that, the attempt is definitely inspiring.

Vatnajokull, Katie Paterson –

Like Longplayer, this piece is an experience and was really intrigued by Paterson’s exploration into essentially making it interactive. Setting up a phone number to bring a sense of place to people across the world is a very clever idea and something I find inspiring. Furthermore, it demonstrates the severity of global warming which is something I deem very important.

 

Part 1

Interpreting video art – Sam Taylor-Wood

lornacole99Leave a comment
fruitstilllife
Screenshots from Still Life, Sam Taylor-Wood, 2001 – pinterest.com

Initial Reaction

Sam Taylor Wood’s Still Life is a video time-lapse that depicts a bowl of fruit decaying. My first reaction to it was mostly one of disgust since mouldy fruit isn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, however, it’s also weirdly fascinating. I do wonder where this was done as it’s not something you’d want in your house that’s for sure.

Media and Form

Fruit is often used in art, though this is a different take on it – I think the fact that she chose something natural reflects how we can’t control the decaying process and in a way, this also links to the inevitability of death.

Still life art is usually a stationary piece of art like a painting and this could have been done in a series of paintings too. The decision to do this as a time-lapse in video form allows you to physically see the decaying process and how time affects it, which I feel prompts more of a reaction.

Context

This piece resembles a Vanitas painting since fruit is a common symbol for the pleasures of life. Similarly, the decaying process links to the theme of death and mortality that is significant to Vanitas art. The juxtaposition against the natural fruit decaying and the plastic pen remaining in good condition is a reflection of the environment and world. These artificial items will be the things left when we are no longer here since no living thing can escape the inevitability of death.

Taylor-Wood also has another time-lapse piece that shows a dead hare that gradually decomposes alongside a peach. Again, this shows how fleeting biological life is and forces the idea of death on us.  I immediately think of Damien Hirst’s work with regards to this theme – the shark in particular as he also puts death on show like this and forces the audience to contemplate the control it has over living things. Tacita Dean is another artist that physically shows the passing of time with the use of nature (mosquito, birds, baby crying).

Time

This piece links to time since the choice to use video means you can literally see time passing and how it causes the fruit to decay. In a wider sense, this conveys how short biological life actually is in regards to how much time passes within the universe.

__________________

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the time-lapse, without knowing it’s a ‘piece of art’, I wouldn’t call it one – a similar reaction I had to Hirst’s shark. I think Taylor-Wood wants us to contemplate complex themes like death, decay and time, rather than being as direct with a dead shark she uses something delicious and aesthetic. You can’t help but watch the decaying and essentially death of the fruit alongside the mould taking over and coming to life, showing the effects of time and how living things can’t withstand it. The pen seems random but when watching the video it’s condition doesn’t deteriorate and you face the reality of our environment and how these artificial objects that we control are what will remain when time and death takes control of us.

It’s interesting to see how the fruits decay at various rates which is much like other forms of biological life. As humans, we all meet an inevitable death but have no control over the time it takes. Sometimes you see people’s health deteriorate (like the fruit) but often this isn’t the case and we’re reminded of our mortality and how fleeting life can be.

With contextual information, I do have a better understanding of it. By choosing to declare this as a work of art, it makes you stop and question why and what it’s representing which is powerful and the purpose of all art – the artist wants you to experience and have a reaction to something, what that is, depends on the viewer.

Part 1

Time and time-based media

lornacole99Leave a comment

I don’t think I’ve ever properly sat down and thought about time in detail, it’s something we’re all familiar with and use every day but it’s not really something I’ve tried to understand. We just learn and accept that time is what the clock reads and that’s how seconds, minutes and hours pass. It’s such a complex idea that science, philosophy, religion and the arts all have varying definitions.

To me, the main purpose of time is to act as a measurement. It helps to distinguish past, present and the future as well as being able to use the idea of chronology. We rely on it heavily in our daily routines – to get to work, for appointments, how long to cook dinner, when a particular show is on tv, but we never really think about how it came to be. Who decided a second was second?

There’s obviously a link with time and space and I know the sun and stars were used to tell the time but it also gives a sense of day and night, or when a day passes. Then there’s also the geographical element of how there are different time zones.

Going back to the work on Hirst’s shark, I realised how much humans are obsessed with controlling time. In fact, this happens so much that often we forget to live in the present. It’s not a physical thing we can see or even something we can understand yet it has so much power over us and regardless of how much we attempt to stop or delay it, time passing is inevitable.

______________________________

Time in the creative world

Like the philosophical definition of art says – ‘it’s something that outlives us’ so I’ve definitely thought about art being timeless, although I don’t think I’ve thought about the concept of time within art much.

I did a project on fashion and art trends over the past 100 years and time is obviously a big part of the different eras. It allows us to recognise the social and historical context and how that affects things like fashion during a certain time period. I also did a project on death and decay and briefly looked at Vanitas paintings. One of the pieces that I painted for the project was ‘Still Life with a Skull’ by Phillippe Champaigne which uses symbolism to represent what makes up our existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death) and the hourglass (time). During this course, I also have more of an understanding of how time is used in art.

vanitastulip
Still Life with a Skull, Phillippe de Champaigne, circa 1671 – Wikipedia Commons

Time-based media can also be shown through things like sound, video and performance. I’ve seen various Shakespeare plays at The Globe Theatre and studied the historical, social and political context behind them. Time is a big part of that since we use it to measure how the world has changed over time and as a way to learn about the history of our country. On a simpler form, time is also crucial to performances in terms of it running smoothly. For instance, the use of music, lighting or even comedic timing are all elements that require it to have the desired effect.

Time is also imperative to the art of reading and writing; I studied The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and, as a dystopian novel, time is used to provide an insight into a fictitious future. She also utilises time to switch between the present and past by using flashbacks to provide further insight into the Offred’s (the protagonist) life before the current totalitarian state the book is set in.

After thinking about time in more depth, it’s clear that it’s a multilayered concept that can certainly be used and explored in various types of media.

Part 1 · Research & Reflection

Can contextual information change your opinion on Hirst’s shark?

lornacole99Leave a comment

Damien Hirst’s infamous shark can definitely leave the viewer feeling confused, therefore getting some contextual information can be beneficial. I was prompted to listen to a video discussion from the Khan Academy, which you can listen to here.

hirst shark
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, Damien Hirst, 1991 – damienhirst.com

The title ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living‘ is enough to give you something to contemplate for a considerable amount of time, it is mentioned in the video that without the title, the shark is just something you’d expect to see in the National History Museum. So, what did Hirst mean? Well, it’s pointed out that a significant aspect of contemporary art is that’s ‘open to interpretation’ and we are ‘allowed to bring our own ideas and associations. It’s likely that Hirst wanted to make the viewers fill in the gaps and make their own decisions about what the piece represents. The quote from Duchamp covers this idea well – ‘a work of art is completed by the viewer‘.

What are possible interpretations of the piece though? In the video, they comment that with the title it seems that as living people, we are essentially being told that we can’t comprehend death so Hirst is literally forcing to face it. They point out, that the subject of death comes from various aspects – there is a literal dead shark but then, this is usually a creature we associate with killing and with the title, it’s impossible to not contemplate death in some way.

Thinking about art in a wider sense, it has dealt with big, philosophical questions throughout history and Hirt’s is just another example of that. In fact, topics such as ‘coming to terms with mortality’, ‘transcending the physical body’ and ‘the afterlife’ are all things that are prominent when you look at the history of art. A lot of contemporary art deals with these broad subjects a lot and there is often a physical and conceptual dimension, in the video, they suggest that perhaps those of sorts of artwork could be better defined, perhaps as philosophical art.

In the video, they also talk about how Hirst’s piece came to be and the future it has. For instance, it is definitely a real shark that was caught, killed and then suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. Something that’s actually not a one-off for Hirst as he as used other animals, for example – the sheep that were sliced lengthways and then also displayed in formaldehyde. This substance helps to maintain the intactness of the shark for some time but it still decays, just slower – in fact, the original dissolved so there is already a second shark.

hirst sheep
The Black Sheep with Golden Horns, Damien Hirst, 2009 – damienhirst.com

This links to the impermanence of art and how it’s designed to withstand time. Very usefully, they mention the philosophical definition of art, which is ‘something that outlives us‘. Now, the dissolving of the shark wasn’t exactly a choice that Hirst made on purpose, though in the video they do note that they think he is too smart to not have realised that would be an effect, in a way it helps to reinforce the idea of being confronted with the inevitability of death. He could have used amber, which would have preserved the shark for longer for ultimately you can’t stop time and the decaying.

Stopping time and preservation is something that humans have attempted to do through history – just think about how the Egyptians used the mummification process and it’s similar to how we use various chemicals or things like plastic surgery to maintain that idea of youth by essentially trying to stop or at least delay time for as long as possible. However, despite our best efforts to control time, we can’t actually stop the inevitability of living things changing and not being at the best forever. In the end, just like Hirst’s shark, death and decay will ultimately take over.

______________________

After thinking in depth and gaining more contextual information about The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, I do think I understand it better and get why Hirst decided to declare it a piece of art. The fact that it allows you to contemplate so many bigger questions and deep topics shows it has clearly has significance and isn’t just done as a joke or for shock factor. I wouldn’t necessarily say I like it now but with more context, I do think you can see it in a new light.

Part 1

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst

lornacole99Leave a comment

It’s certain that a lot of contemporary art pieces can evoke a mixed and often negative reaction. One of Damien Hirst’s most renowned works, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991 – or more commonly referred to as ‘the shark in formaldehyde’, is a perfect example of this.

Here are my initial thoughts about this piece:

not visually pleasing (1)
Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991 – www.clc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk

Do you have an emotional response to it?

Initially no, it’s pretty strange but weirdly fascinating and you can’t help but look at it. However, when you think about it, there’s something a little twisted for humans to want to view a dead animal as art. It certainly highlights how we love to have control, especially over a typically powerful predator as we’re still able to put it in a vulnerable position as a ‘talking point’.

What do you think it’s about?

I think the fact that it’s so unsettling is a direct response to how we stereotypically don’t like to face death head-on or even think about it, so maybe Hirst wanted people to confront that. To see such a large, dangerous creature suspended like that definitely strips its power and no matter how much control we like to think we have, death is inevitable.

What do you think about the title?

It’s definitely well thought out, almost poetic and forces you to think about the subject of death. It is true that we find it impossible to really understand death and I guess putting it on display like this isn’t a common thing, so it’s not a surprise that it’s controversial.