For this assignment, I chose to watch an Art21 video to learn about various modern artists. The video was titled "Realms of the Real". It was made to examine identity and culture. Throughout all four artist videos, the main theme that came to mind when I watched them all was "connection". Whether that was connecting with themselves, their culture, their community, and even the world at large. That theme seemed prevalent and important with every artist in this series.
The first artist featured in the video was Ragnar Kjartansson. He is a musician who has created a lot of different musical performances, videos, photos, and paintings. He commented in the video that he loves to mix the “magical and mundane”. That exploring art through life and creating art through life, having fun, and using real life scenarios.
The second artist in the video was Candace Lin. In the video she did projects surrounding China, she made a porcelain clay exhibit that was flooded with water and diluted urine so that it would discolor. She went on to create a digital video sequence and an immersive exhibit about cats. The final exhibit they discussed for this artist was one considering non-humans and decentering humans from the world. They continued to explain how she loves to teach and has taught various courses including raku firing pottery. She mentioned that she enjoys “misusing” things to create something new. She enjoys creating art that you might hear or smell before you even see it.
The third artist was Tomas Saraceno. He first studied as an architect and then became an artist. He explains in the video how spider webs are like life. How our relationships, music, and life in general are all interconnected like a spider web. He created balloon like “sculptures” that would float in the air. His main theme throughout his art seems to be “connection”.
The fourth artist within this video was Njideka Akunyili Crosby. She likes her art to comprise daily little items, daily realities, everyday situations. She grew up in Enugu Nigeria and didn’t take an art class until she was in college. Her husband, her children, and things in her life are in her art a lot. She commented that “when a snail moves, it brings its shell with. That means that when you move from place to place, you take the things that matter to you.” She uses a lot of layers, textures, and colors within her art.
Keeping in mind the theme of connection, I made sure to think about how each video might be connected to each other and what I could see that might be interconnected through a web of my own. Many themes for these artists seemed to repeat for each of them. A lot of culture, a lot of nature, and a lot of connecting to those around us.
Even though all of these artists were so different, they had similar themes throughout their art. Many used nature and their own families in their art. Many of them used mixed media. Many of them stretched their art to the limits, creating massive exhibits, huge sculptures, or even performing in vast spaces. While I enjoyed every artist separately, it was difficult to not see all of the similarities once they were apparent.
I really liked that the artists featured in this video were from all over the world. Being able to see these themes and see how interconnected our world is through art was pretty amazing, actually. To see the themes of family, friends, community throughout every part of the world. To see cultural identities be different and yet mean so much to every individual making it a universal thought and feeling was great to see. Art creates life, life creates art, and the art connects us all.
#ConceptMapping #ArtistsandIssues
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