Still Life is one of the most classical works of contemporary art I know. It inscribes itself in art history with hardly any commentary. This is not just a Still Life. It is a vanitas, a particular type of still life developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Flanders and Netherlands. Its specificity was the showing of the vanity of the worldly things through often subtle signs of elapsing time and decay. Some of the vanitas had obvious references like skulls, but others yet had simply a watch, or a slightly rotting fruit. Sam Taylor-Wood's work is another step in that direction: the image, beautiful as ever in Taylor-Wood's universe, decomposes itself. By the end, nothing is left but a grey amorphous mass.
On closer inspection, one thing distinguishes this picture from its predecessors. The ball-point pen. A cheap, contemporary object. One that doesn't seem to decay. That is not part of the universal, self-disappearing life. Is it here to stay? This nothingness, this ridiculous signature of us?
This is a poor vanitas. We are more accustomed to rich interiors with gold and crystal. But we don't need more: we got the point. And nothing more is necessary. A simple basket, some light. Time. And a cheap pen. Oh, and lest I forget: an extremely good camera, top of the line, to catch this delicate, beautiful insurgence of death.
Monday, 9 January 2012
A little death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIl9rO9sURE
"A little Death is also about the finiteness of life. It is a still life in the style of vanitas paintings, loaded with transient elements and popular from Renaissance to Rococo. She more specifically joined in with the great French specialist of this genre, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779). A dead hare is pinned to a nail. Next to the animal lies a peach. The vanitas painting continues here. The corpse decomposes. For a second, it looks as though it moves, but it’s the worms devouring the flesh. Thus, death generates life, life is dependant of death. The hare is also a symbol of sexual lust. There is a self-portrait of Sam Taylor-Wood, in a dandy-like outfit, posing with a stuffed hare (Self Portrait in a Single Breasted Suit with Hare, 2001). Moreover, the title of the video, A little Death, refers to the term French philosopher Georges Bataille used for an orgasm (une petite mort). What does that peach, that keeps so wonderfully well next to the decaying hare, actually mean?"
"A Little Death could easily be discussed as examples of either memento mori - because they remind us of our mortality - or even better, as examples of vanitas - as they speak of the vanity of things (their eventual worthlessness) and especially, of the vanity of people (their aggrandized self-worth). Portraiture should be the diametric opposite of still life in that it challenges the onslaught of time and renders the subject immortal."
"A little Death is also about the finiteness of life. It is a still life in the style of vanitas paintings, loaded with transient elements and popular from Renaissance to Rococo. She more specifically joined in with the great French specialist of this genre, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779). A dead hare is pinned to a nail. Next to the animal lies a peach. The vanitas painting continues here. The corpse decomposes. For a second, it looks as though it moves, but it’s the worms devouring the flesh. Thus, death generates life, life is dependant of death. The hare is also a symbol of sexual lust. There is a self-portrait of Sam Taylor-Wood, in a dandy-like outfit, posing with a stuffed hare (Self Portrait in a Single Breasted Suit with Hare, 2001). Moreover, the title of the video, A little Death, refers to the term French philosopher Georges Bataille used for an orgasm (une petite mort). What does that peach, that keeps so wonderfully well next to the decaying hare, actually mean?"
"A Little Death could easily be discussed as examples of either memento mori - because they remind us of our mortality - or even better, as examples of vanitas - as they speak of the vanity of things (their eventual worthlessness) and especially, of the vanity of people (their aggrandized self-worth). Portraiture should be the diametric opposite of still life in that it challenges the onslaught of time and renders the subject immortal."
"Still Life" - mortality and life’s inevitable transience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MIzXWGcb3u0
"Still Life (2001) has been said to be one of the most classical works in contemporary art. It carved a permanent record for itself in art history with hardly any commentary. This is not just a Still Life. It is based upon a particular type of still life painting that developed during the 16th and 17th centuries in Flanders and the Netherlands. It is part of a classical genre that contains symbols of change or death as a reminder of their inevitability. Its focus was upon confronting the vanity of worldly things through often subtle signs of elapsing time and decay. Some of the older works had obvious references like skulls, but others simply had a watch or slightly rotting fruit."
"This is a very poor reflection of our vanity. We have become more and more accustomed to believing that our feelings of real success and personal worth are to be measured vicariously against the lives of celebrities, business magnates and influential politicians, along with the images that they convey of power, wealth, designer fashions, and rich interiors filled with gold and crystal. But Taylor-Wood’s message is that we don’t need all of that. We get the point, nothing more is necessary. A simple basket, some light. Time. And a cheap plastic pen."
"Still Life (2001) has been said to be one of the most classical works in contemporary art. It is part of a classical genre that contains symbols of change or death as a reminder of their inevitability. The short film carved a permanent record for itself in art history with hardly any commentary, confronting the vanity of worldly things through its focus upon the often subtle signs of elapsing time and decay."
"Still Life (2001) has been said to be one of the most classical works in contemporary art. It carved a permanent record for itself in art history with hardly any commentary. This is not just a Still Life. It is based upon a particular type of still life painting that developed during the 16th and 17th centuries in Flanders and the Netherlands. It is part of a classical genre that contains symbols of change or death as a reminder of their inevitability. Its focus was upon confronting the vanity of worldly things through often subtle signs of elapsing time and decay. Some of the older works had obvious references like skulls, but others simply had a watch or slightly rotting fruit."
"This is a very poor reflection of our vanity. We have become more and more accustomed to believing that our feelings of real success and personal worth are to be measured vicariously against the lives of celebrities, business magnates and influential politicians, along with the images that they convey of power, wealth, designer fashions, and rich interiors filled with gold and crystal. But Taylor-Wood’s message is that we don’t need all of that. We get the point, nothing more is necessary. A simple basket, some light. Time. And a cheap plastic pen."
"Still Life (2001) has been said to be one of the most classical works in contemporary art. It is part of a classical genre that contains symbols of change or death as a reminder of their inevitability. The short film carved a permanent record for itself in art history with hardly any commentary, confronting the vanity of worldly things through its focus upon the often subtle signs of elapsing time and decay."
"Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"
Inspiration for the theme of double personality:
The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.
The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.
Katarzyna Kludczynka
„When trying to define myself I reach for the camera. Looking for my identity in mirror reflections I automatically notice all my selves tumbling in me. Sometimes just two of them show, sometimes four, and sometimes all of them hide behind only one.”
"Internal schizophrenia and the search for oneself is the starting point of the whole series. All these multiplied characters that express various emotional states are really one. Her various personalities try to communicate among themselves and they use a photographic camera to this end. They produce a language of communication known only to them and lead an extraverbal dialogue. Being their prototype and actually being them all at once I also stand in opposition to them at the time of confrontation. Although they are my doing, they escape my control and live their own lives. Faceless creatures that photograph my every move, treat me impersonally and watch me as they do everything else. They keep silent and hang their heads down meaningfully or call - or rather scream - something to me. Do they really take these photographs or do they only pretend to release the shutter? Who are they? Are they really me?"
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