{"id":1009,"date":"2017-08-07T05:40:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art102\/?page_id=1009"},"modified":"2017-08-07T05:40:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:40:41","slug":"modern-variations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art102\/learning-pathways\/artistic-media-three-dimensional-art\/modern-variations\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern variations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"objectives\"\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Introduction<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
Dan Flavin, Untitled (Corner Piece)<\/i>, 1969. Fluorescent tubes on metal, 1226 x 1226 x 203 mm, Tate Liverpool, England<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dan Flavin is one of the first artists to explore the possibilities of light<\/a> as a sculptural medium. Since the 1960\u2019s his work has incorporated fluorescent bulbs of different colors and in various arrangements. Moreover, he takes advantage of the wall space the light is projected onto, literally blurring the line between traditional sculpture and the more complex medium of installation<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"objectives\"\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Installation Art<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Installation art<\/b> utilizes multiple objects, often from various mediums, and takes up entire spaces. It can be generic or site specific. Because of their relative complexity, installations can address aesthetic and narrative ideas on a larger scale than traditional sculpture. Its genesis can be traced to the Dada movement, ascendant after World War I and which predicated a new aesthetic by its unconventional nature and ridicule of established tastes and styles. Sculpture came off the pedestal and began to transform entire rooms into works or art. Kurt Schwitters\u2019 Merzbau<\/a><\/i>, begun in 1923, transforms his apartment into an abstract, claustrophobic space that is at once part sculpture and architecture. With installation art the viewer is surrounded by and can become part of <\/i>the work itself.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
Rachel Whiteread, Embankment<\/i>, 2005. Tate Modern, London<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

British artist Rachel Whiteread\u2019s installation Embankment<\/i><\/a> from 2005 (image shown at right) fills an entire exhibition hall with casts made from various sized boxes. At first appearance a snowy mountain landscape navigated by the viewer is actually a gigantic nod to the idea of boxes as receptacles of memory towering above and stacked around them, squeezing them towards the center of the room. <\/p>\n

Ilya Kabakov mixes together a narrative of political propaganda, humor and mundane existence in his installation The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment<\/a><\/i> from 1984. What we see is the remains of a small apartment plastered with Soviet era posters, a small bed and the makeshift slingshot a man uses to escape the drudgery of his life within the system. A gaping hole in the roof and his shoes on the floor are evidence enough that he made it into space.
\n
\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"objectives\"\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Performance Art<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Performance art<\/b> goes a step further, involving the artist as part of the work itself. Some performance artworks are interactive, involving the viewer too. The nature of the medium is in its ability to use live performance in the same context as static works of art: to enhance our understanding of artistic experience. Similar to installation works, performance art had its first manifestations during the Dada art movement, when live performances included poetry, visual art and music, often going on at the same time.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
Illustration of the 1974 Joseph Beuys performance at the Ren\u00e9 Block Gallery in New York City<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The German artist Joseph Beuys<\/a> was instrumental in introducing performance art as a legitimate medium in the post World War Two artistic milieu. I Like America and America Likes Me<\/a><\/i> from 1974 finds Beuys co-existing with a coyote for a week in the Rene Block Gallery in New York City. The artist is protected from the animal by a felt blanket and a shepherd\u2019s staff. Performance art, like installation, challenges the viewer to reexamine the artistic experience from a new level. <\/p>\n

In the 1960\u2019s Allen Kaprow<\/a>\u2019s Happenings<\/i> invited viewers to be the participants. These events, sometimes rehearsed and other times improvised, begin to erase the line between the artist and the audience. Yoko Ono<\/a>\u2019s Cut Piece<\/a> from 1965 specifically invites members of the audience to interact with her on stage.\n<\/p>\n

This same idea \u2013 using the artist\u2019s body as subject, is evident in the performance art of Marina Abramovic<\/a>. In The Artist is Present<\/a><\/i> she sits quietly as individual visitors sit across the table from her, exchanging silent glances and stares.\n<\/p>\n

Today we see a new form of performance art happen unexpectedly around us in the form of flash mobs<\/b>: groups of people who gather in public spaces to collaborate in short, seemingly spontaneous events that entertain and surprise passersby. Many flash mobs are arranged in advance through the use of social media. An example of flash mob performance is Do Re Mi<\/a> in the Central Station in Antwerp, Belgium in March of 2009.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"objectives\"\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Decorative Arts<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Decorative art<\/b> requires the specific skilled use of tools in creating works or art. These tools can take many forms: words, construction tools, a camera, a paintbrush or even a voice. Traditional studio arts include ceramics, metal and woodworking, weaving<\/a> and the glass arts. Decorative arts are distinguished by a high degree of workmanship and finish. They have their roots in utilitarian purposes: furniture, utensils and other everyday accoutrements that are designed for specific uses, and reflect the adage that \u201cform follows function\u201d. But human creativity goes beyond simple function to include the aesthetic realm, entered through the doors of embellishment, decoration and an intuitive sense of design.\n<\/p>\n

In the first example below, the smooth simple lines of a Tulip Chair<\/i>, were designed by Eero Saarinen as an exercise in clarifying form. When it was made its futuristic use of curved lines and artificial materials were seen as emblematic of the \u201cspace age.\u201d In another example, a staircase crafted in the Shaker<\/a> style takes on an elegant form that mirrors the organic spiral shape representing the \u2018golden ratio\u2019, which we explored in visual balance<\/a>, one of the Artistic Principles.\n<\/p>\n