Art History 2 Final: Artworks; Author, Title, Date, Culture, Style

Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965

Stating that the object, idea, and image are all separate things. Use word Semiotics

Asmat (culture) Bisj poles, mid-20th century, Irian Jaya/Melanesia

The poles were used as a symbol of asserting political dominance because they were a pledge of vengeance for a relative's death. The culture believed that after the death of a relative, the balance and spirit power must be restored by taking the head of an enemy. The poles were carved from tree trunks, and the Asmat saw the body as a tree: the head being fruit of a tree, arms being branches, and feet being roots. Head hunters were therefore represented as fruit eating animals or birds.

Frank Lloyd Wright Kaufmann House (Falling Water), Bear Run, Pennsylvania, 1936-1939

*Discuss in relationship to values of Modern architecture

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine, France, 1929

Bauhaus.

Deconstructivism

A term in relationship to architecture where the attempt of the architect is to disrupt traditional styles (form follow function) of architecture.

Kiki Smith, Untitled, 1990

Figural Painting and sculpture. Sociopolitical statement because ... bringing attention to the fact that nude bodies don't look like the mass produced, idealized bodies we see all the time. Animalistic, raw, natural element of the bodies brought forward. Statement that we aren't able to control the body and the way it 'should' work or look.

Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist), 1950 and Mark Rothko, No. 14, 1960

Comparison.

Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950, 1950 and Mark Rothko, No. 14, 1960

Comparison.

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930 and Feather Cloak from Hawaii, 1824-1843 (artist is unknown).

Comparison.

Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao Museo, Bilbao Spain, 1997 and Daniel Libeskind, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, 2006.

Comparison. Also deconstructivism. Calling into question what the role of the aesthetic of the building should be. About the aesthetic rather than efficiency. Commentary on the idea of being creative, not focused on form following function.

Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao Museo, Bilbao Spain, 1997 and Daniel Libeskind, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, 2006.

Comparison. Deconstructivism. Organic, form does not follow function. Organic, natural shapes rather than precise, rectilinear shapes. Opposite of modern art. Not about efficiency like traditional art.

You should know the author and title of each article we read in relationship to the artwork it was paired with (you should be able to provide a title for the artwork as well as provide the artist's name...or culture). You should also be able to answer the question that was posed with the assignment (for the expository essay). Lastly, you should be able to discuss the article and artwork in relationship to the Impulse it fell under (most of the time I explicitly asked for that in the question I posed). Basically, for this part, you will revise what you wrote for the expository essay based on what we discussed in class after you submitted. I will list every article and its artwork, but you need only discuss one pairing in depth.

Hawaiian Feather Cloak (sociopolitical)

Abelam (culture), Yam mask, date unknown, Papua New Guinea/Melanesia

In this culture, yams were a very valuable crop, and the man tho harvested the largest yam was awarded the mask . Emphasis of the importance of subsistence agriculture, also political power and cultural status for those who harvested the largest yams (made the most money). Yams were fundamental for the agricultural society.

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1970

Site specific architecture.

Maya Ying Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C. 1981-1983

Site specific architecture. Commentary on the Vietnam war and the loss due to the war. Wall cut into the earth, commentary on how the loss cut into the earth as a deep loss. Move down into the earth like a grave. Personal because need to get close to the names in order to read them. 6 feet deep like a grave.

Jenny Holzer, Untitled (selections from Truisms, Inflammatory Essays, The Living Series, The Survival Series, Under a Rock, Laments, and Child Text), 1989, Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Truisms (one line statements)/Inflammatory essays (longer): A series of commentary on the post modern condition. Talking about the way the world is currently. Installed truisms all over the public, presenting them as advertisements. Statements that read like a religious mantra (sounds authoritative, more of a statement than an opinion).

EXTRA CREDIT

What is the relationship between social/collective memory and the sociopolitical impulse in art? How does Picasso use both form and subject matter to communicate this relationship?