About this module

A Close Reading of an Art Object

28/01/2024 15:59

The artwork I am closely reading is Janine Antoni’s ‘lick and lather’, this artwork is more of a collection of objects rather than a singular, considering it is made up of fourteen busts. The sculpture in this piece is made up of two different materials, seven busts are made from soap and the other seven are made of chocolate. Although I haven’t seen this piece in person, I would imagine the sensory experience of this piece to be very interesting. I feel like the chocolate busts would be smooth but melt under your touch, I could imagine it being hard but easy to mould and break down, and similar to the chocolate I imagine the soap busts to be very smooth, like a waxy feeling. Antoni cast these busts herself and initially they were all identical but when she continued working with them, they became very different from one another by the end of the process. These objects underwent a transformation throughout the process of the piece being made, the busts of chocolate were eaten and licked, eroding away parts of the face and the soap busts were affected by water and lathering. When Antoni was done some of these objects were unrecognisable, smoother surfaces and missing features resulting less like their original form and more unlike a realistic face. This is well thought out as there is an compelling link between Antoni’s busts and how older statues tend to have wear and tears resulting in missing features, limbs or even just smoother, eroded away exterior. Furthermore, there is an interesting play on materiality in terms of what material was used to create the busts. It could be argued that the finished chocolate busts have a textured patination, similar to bronze and the soap busts have a similar final look and texture to a marble statue. This feels like a fun way to play with a medium as there is an element of traditional finalised look even though very unique and less commonly used mediums have been applied to create the piece.
Antoni has said “All of my objects sort of walk the line between sculpture, performance, and relic.” The way that a more contemporary art such as performance is mingled with these finished busts that almost nod to classical sculpture is an interesting mix of ideas within the art world.

 

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.206257.html - Quote and Fig 1

https://art21.org/read/janine-antoni-lick-and-lather/ - Fig 2

 

 

Taxonomy and Genres Writing Task

03/02/2024 15:13

Taxonomy and Genres Writing Activity Part One

Recipe for a Novel

 

Novel –

Serves One, Prep time – Months to Years, Cook time –

 

Ingredients :

-Exposition

-Setting

-Characters (Protagonists, Antagonists, Background)

-Plot

-Conflict

-Climax

-Resolution

 

 

Instructions –

Step One, you will need to begin with your exposition and opening, you must begin with an introduction and setting.

 

Step Two, Introduce and develop plot.

 

Step Three, you will need to start introducing tension and conflict, most likely involving your characters in your setting.

 

Step Four, Present your climax, the height of your story, the big problem that needs to be solved.

 

Step Five, Resolution, resolve your issue, this may take multiple sub-steps. The End.

Taxonomy and Genres Writing Activity Part Two

 

 

Q. How do you describe an artwork with a focus on its genre qualities?

 

(a) Select an artwork or other creative work. Maybe from the genre you have examined in Part 1.

 

A Portrait Painting, “Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, 1887”

 

(b) List any classification systems or taxonomies that it could belong to.

 

Classification systems it belongs too could include artwork, paintings, portrait paintings, self-portrait paintings.

 

(c) Are there levels or a hierarchy of value or importance in the classification systems?

 

Arguably realism in self portrait painting could be of higher value in terms of technical skill, but in the modern age, typically realism isn’t held as more valuable as other styles.

 

(d) Identify how the artwork or creative work fits into its classification. How does it belong in a genre? How does it fit with other examples from the same set?

 

The artwork fits into its genre, because it is a painting, but also a painting that an artist has done of themselves, we know it belongs as a self portrait because it is a painting of a person head and shoulders.

 

(e) Write a short text on the particular work of art that discusses it with a focus on its genre or category. How does it demonstrate the features of the genre? How does it fit into the expectations of the category it belongs in?

 

You could think of the text as a way of placing the work in an imaginary library (instructions for shelving it) or as a way of curating the work in an possible exhibition (thematic / process-focused / artist focused).

 

Write around 300 words.

 

The piece I am focusing on is Vincent Van Goghs, “Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, 1887”. A Portrait is defined by its presentation of person or group of people, either showing their heads, head and shoulders or whole body. This explains how my chosen piece, considering it is a painting of a person head and shoulders, is in fact withing the classification of a portrait. My chosen piece also fits within the category of self-portrait as it is a painting of Vincent Van Gogh painted by Vincent Van Gogh.

 

 

 

Translation and Notation Writing Task

10/02/2024 15:19

Translation Writing task for Module 526

English – French - English

I am not as fine as I seem, pardon
Me for yelling, I'm telling you green gardens
Are not what's growing in my psyche, it's a different me
A difficult beast feasting on burnt down trees
Freeze frame, please let me paint a mental picture portrait
Something you won't forget, it's all about my forehead
And how it is a door that hold's back contents
That makes Pandora's box contents look non-violent
Behind my eyelids are islands of violence
My mind ship-wrecked this is the only land my mind could find
I did not know it was such a violent island
Full of tidal waves, suicidal crazed lions
They're trying to eat me, blood running down their chin
And I know that I can fight, or I can let the lion win
I begin to assemble what weapons I can find
'Cause sometimes to stay alive, you gotta kill your mind
Am I the only one I know
Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?
Shadows will scream that I'm alone
But I know, we've made it this far, kid

 

to

 

I'm not doing as well as it seems, sorry
I who shout, I tell you green gardens
It's not what's growing in my psyche, it's a different me
A picky beast that feasts on burned trees
Freeze frame, please let me paint a mental portrait
Something you won't forget, it's all about my forehead
And how it's a door that holds the contents
This makes the contents of Pandora's Box appear non-violent
Behind my eyelids are islands of violence
My mind was shipwrecked, this was the only land my mind could find
I didn't know it was such a violent island
Full of tidal waves, mad suicidal lions
They try to eat me, blood runs down their chin
And I know I can fight, or I can let the lion win
I start gathering the weapons I can find
Because sometimes to stay alive you have to kill your mind
Am I the only one I know
Fighting my wars behind my face and above my throat?
The shadows will cry that I am alone

 

English – French – Hawaiin – Korean – Polish – Irish – English

 

My work is not as good as I expected. I'm sorry.
I'm the one screaming, I'll tell you about the green fields
It's not like it's growing in my head, it's not like me
Sneaky animals that eat burnt wood
Paint me a mental picture.
One thing I should never forget is my forehead.
And how the doors hold their contents.
This will make the contents of Pandora's box invisible.
Behind my eyes is the island of evil
I'm torn, it's the only land I can think of
I didn't know it was an evil island
Total waves, crazy suicidal lions
He tried to eat me, blood pouring from my chin
And I know I can fight or let the lion win
I started collecting all the weapons I could find.
Because sometimes you have to live to kill your ghost.
I'm the only one who knows
Are they fighting a battle behind my face and above my neck?
The shadow will cry alone
But I know we've come this far

 

to

 

I am not as fine as I seem, pardon
Me for yelling, I'm telling you green gardens
Are not what's growing in my psyche, it's a different me
A difficult beast feasting on burnt down trees
Freeze frame, please let me paint a mental picture portrait
Something you won't forget, it's all about my forehead
And how it is a door that hold's back contents
That makes Pandora's box contents look non-violent
Behind my eyelids are islands of violence
My mind ship-wrecked this is the only land my mind could find
I did not know it was such a violent island
Full of tidal waves, suicidal crazed lions
They're trying to eat me, blood running down their chin
And I know that I can fight, or I can let the lion win
I begin to assemble what weapons I can find
'Cause sometimes to stay alive, you gotta kill your mind
Am I the only one I know
Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?
Shadows will scream that I'm alone
But I know, we've made it this far, kid

 

I chose to do a translation of a verse and chorus form a song. I thought this song would be interest to translate because of its diverse visual imagery, I was curious if things would stay as dramatic or potentially be simplified.
I think the translation was changed a lot in some areas but not so much in others, I think this is due to the fact that some words and phrases can be directly and easily translated between languages whereas some just don’t work and have to be changed.
One thing that stayed notable resistant to being translated was “Pandora's box” and I think this is because its such a specific thing that from a mythical point of view its not different in different languages it’s a thing that cannot be changed and ergo couldn’t be translated as much.
I quite like seeing how some words and phrases getting overly simplified or changed whereas some don’t at all. And the warping of words and lyrics start to make their own story, it becomes so different but has elements that don’t change. It sort of makes me think of ‘The Whisper Game’ and how words and meaning can be misconstrued over time and original intentions and understanding is lost.

 

 

 

Gallery Visit

05/03/2024 16:06

"This week will focus on how story and narrative are part of art practice, how works of art tell stories, and how we can use story to communicate our ideas and engage with our audience. Fables, tales, anecdotes, sagas, all kinds of story may become part of the mix. We will visit the exhibition, Beyond the Page, at St Lukes (The Box) in the middle part of this session"

Proposal for Essay ~