This week, one of the topics we discussed in my discussion section was the capacity of art to establish a new relationship with nature and thereby point towards a type of reconciliation with the world and with other people. The theorists we were reading believed that art was the only redemptive hope in a world beholden to a type of reason which forces man to dominate over nature and over his own inner nature. I brought in some images from the artist, andy goldsworthy, to prompt a discussion about whether his art offers a new way of understanding the world and wanted to share some of my favorite images with you.
My students had some good stuff to say about the images. They mentioned the transient aspect of the sculptures and the awareness of death, and talked about the importance of experience, rather than cognitive thinking, as a way to approach this art.
3 comments:
Your students sound all smart and stuff! But no discussion of that Matthew dude and his work in Vaseline?
I really like "icicle stack". Well, I am a big fan of the color blue, and it is kind of like the opposite of our everyday notion of "ice sculpture".
Does Goldsworthy photograph his own work too?
(meh, sorry about blogger messing up the last two photos. if you have links and want to send them to me, I can edit the post and try to make them show)
I think using Matthew Barney would have been over the top (I want to be the hipster TA and all, but I have my limits)--- and conceptual art can be so inaccessible that I think it would be harder to see how we can have a "transformed relationship to nature" with it because we can't even figure out how to relate to the barbell made out of vaseline! Both Barney and Goldsworthy are interesting in relation to the high art/low art distinction, don't you think?
Goldsworthy's stuff is so pretty that you can imagine it being on a Restoration Hardware catalogue. People can appreciate it without having to be particularly artsy. Barney, through his relationship with Bjork and his mega-show, also broke through to new audiences. I was trying to make the point in section that the line between high and low has become fuzzy, but is it completely porous?
I have nothing intelligent to say. Those are very pretty photos though! Thanks for sharing :)
Post a Comment