Vanitas: The transience of earthly pleasures

After my tutorial with my tutor, I concluded that my project isn't just about decay but rather the process of transformation and change. The impermanence of material. While researching on the net, I came across this intriguing exhibition which I would have loved to have gone too!!!

Vanitas was first developed in Holland during the 17th century where the wealthy would display their earthly treasures but in the end you cannot take it with you to Death. This was frequently displayed using the human skull to symbolise the passing of time and fragility of human existence which links quite well with Lori Nix's work. Other items that were used ranged from books and candles to flowers and insects.

The pieces below are contemporary interpretations of this well known theme of our own mortality:

 Bertozzi e Casoni - Electric Chair with Butterflies

 Kate MccGwire - Slick - 2010 - Magpie and crow feathers, mixed media and antique fire basket

Ori Gersht - Time after Time

 Tim Noble + Sue Webster

 Tom Gallant - Moths - Cut black paper, collage, cork and taxidermist pins

 Tom Gallant - Rose Window V (After Morris) - 2010 - Wood, glass, cork, collage, varnish, cut paper, taxidermist pins (porn magazine)

Wim Delvoye - Untitled (Car Tire # 2) - 2009 - Handcarved lorry tire

Linocut Workshop

I recently signed up for a linocut workshop where I carried out a reductive method which meant that to construct  the print I had to gradually destroy the plate in order to print the layers. This disintegration and destructive process led me to a movement called, Auto-Destructive Art which began during the 1960s by Gustav Metzger.

The particular work I was interested in was the Southbank Demonstration where he used hydrochloric acid on nylon as a protest against nuclear weapons. This acid was painted onto the fabric so that it would gradually dissolve away.

Manifesto:

'...self destructive paintings, sculpture and construction is a total unity of idea, site, form, colour, method and timing of the disintegrative process. Auto destructive art can be created with natural forces, traditional art techniques and technological techniques...[and] can be machine produced and factory assembled....[it's] life time varying from a few moments to twenty years...'


Machine produced - newspapers, plastic bags, paper, fabric scraps - the waste of consumerism

Sarah Vo

Not much information on her, she's primarily a photographer but I feel that her work has a sense of impermanence that links to the fragility of memory and time passing. The blurriness and imperfections in her photographers add great character to the pieces and is refreshing to see because of the perfection of digital photography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisisvo/
http://sarahvo.carbonmade.com/

Erik Sommer

I quite liked the unusual use of material and the fact that he describes his work as paintings rather than sculptures, although not much information on him I was more interested in the statement on his website rather than his work.

'...a conversation between age and beauty, capturing the passing of time through the deterioration of texture. His paintings reflect his urban environment, yet maintain a sense of fragility and aggressiveness.'

Beautiful/Decay Website

Randomly, I found this website which is where I found a lot of my artists that I'd never seen before. Definitely recommend it, and I'm very tempted to buy the catalogues, they look so good!!! Just click on the link!

http://beautifuldecay.com/

Emil Alzamora

Often things that have been left behind and changed by time are often distorted, it is this distortion that I found interesting in these sculptures of the human form where the artist exaggerates different aspects which reveal the emotional or physical situation.

http://www.emilalzamora.com/

Martin Ouellette

Again like Lori Nix, photography is fundamental to his practice although not necessarily the final outcome as he transfers these macro photographs into paintings and manipulates them to bring the viewers attention to the profane which are often mass-produced items. The impact of blurring elements of the background is very successful and contrasts greatly against the minuscule detail in the decaying objects commonly found in urban landscapes.

His writings are what most interest me on his website:

Profane: '...something beautiful and lasting in the fleeting moment of forgotten things that get thrown away or left behind.'

Time and cycle of life of these objects and how unique traces are left behind is also of particular interest to the artist. His website can be found at:

http://martinouellette.grandportfolio.com/

Lori Nix

Considered a 'non-traditional' photographer as she constructs her subject matter, rather than finds it. These photographs depict our failing future and the demise of humanity but also with a sense of The Sublime, as she highlights these environments in positive lighting. Her focus is on danger and disaster with a sense of humour. 

I feel very engaged to these photographs as I do feel that humanity is destroying the planet and I find it refreshing to see that our presence can fade and Mother Nature can take over as you can see in the 'The City' series below. I love this idea of time having an impact on ourselves and our environments, the sense of impermanence is an appealing subject that I hope to investigate in this project. 

http://www.lorinix.net/the_city/index.html

Antony Gormley

I saw this piece when I visited Tate Liverpool in 2010. I was struck by the use of organic material and the ability for the material to change (mold). It focuses on a Life-Death-Life cycle, where the artist consumes the bread (negative space) and the material is left to decay. However, out of this transition bacteria have been able to grow and feed from this material leading to further break down.

The element of death is further emphasised by the pose of the human form (negative space) typical of the dead. I feel that this piece has a religious context too, especially as the artist is strongly Catholic or at least was brought up to be. This piece 'investigates the physical and spiritual relationship to the natural world...[and] the body [as] a physical container.'


http://channel.tate.org.uk/media/40034301001
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=21315&tabview=text

Valerie Hegarty

This artist builds environments out of paper, paste and paint to form remnants of decay found in derelict human environments. She focuses mainly on the destructive rather than the constructive forces in her work, for example she replicates historical paintings and destroys them in various ways, whether it's through fire damage, water damage, cracks or even woodpeckers! These are some of my favourites:

Websites:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/valerie_hegarty.htm
http://www.guildgreyshkul.com/artist.php?id=116