ron_mueck

Ron Mueck has become internationally recognized for his unique sculptures, which replicate the human figure with unrivalled technical skill. His work has a powerful psychological range, focusing not only on universal experiences like birth, life and death but on emotional states such as isolation, fear and tenderness. His startling manipulations of scale are key to our experience of each work.

Mueck's work showed at the Christchurch Art Gallery from the end of 2010 through to January 2011. Research Mueck's sculpture in order to answer the following questions;



1. Mueck's sculpture is described as 'hyper-real'. Define the meaning of this term and apply it to his work.

Hyper-real, the exaggeration in comparison to reality. (www.dictionary.com) which I think Mueck demonstrates with his oversized, models that produce the diminutive detail of the human body, but play with scale to create his confusingly immaculate sculptures which are adored world-wide.

2. Mueck is not interested in making life size sculpture. Find out why he is more interested in working with the scale of the figure which is not life size, and mention 2 works which use Scale that is either larger or smaller than life.

In reality, whenever something extra large or extra small is presented, it seems to draw more attention as would something normal sized. Demonstrated in his work, “Boy” and “couple”, these two pieces were of different scale but drew perpetual attention to his shows. “Mueck's huge 4.5m crouching Boy was the centerpiece of the Millennium Dome in London and of the Venice Biennale in 2001.” (http://www.oddee.com/item_95063.aspx)

3. Define Renaissance Humanism, and analyze the term in order to apply it to an example of Mueck's work. Note that the contemporary definition of Humanism is much broader than the Renaissance definition.

Humanism is a system thought that considers human beings rather than the church, as able to decide their own morals, truths and behaviors. (Resource book) Associated in his work, is the truth of how humans really look. With the precise detail, it shows all imperfection society edits so that the cover girl of next month’s subscription to Vogue is stick-skinny. With Mueck’s work, it makes the birth of a baby seem disgusting, rather than how many would describe as cute. Despite the scale, Mueck makes nothing but the truth, and makes everything as he sees it. And with the attention-seeking scale, it is not hard to get the message across.

4. Research and discuss one of Mueck's sculptures that you might find challenging or exciting to experience in an art gallery. Describe the work, upload an image of the work, and explain your personal response to the work. Comment on other student blogs to develop the discussion around the variety of our own personal and individual responses to art and design.

“Boy”, a 4.5m sculpture of a boy crouching, semi-naked with his eyes staring with mere innocence. Despite his palms being slightly out of proportion, visual pleasure and amazement is witnessed. Not only did this piece challenge my thoughts as to how he’d put it together but also why it was his eyes were doodling to the left. The way his mouth is covered by his arms and how his eyes are staring at me, it gave me the impression of innocence but then quiet-manipulative at the same time. Gollum-like (from Lord of the Rings) having a sculpture like this in a gallery will change the atmosphere in a good way and change the way people look at little boys.

Reference List

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/816457/ron_mueck_australian_hyperrealist_sculptor/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/816457/ron_mueck_australian_hyperrealist_sculptor/?fb_xd_fragment#?=&cb=f13f91dcb851e17&relation=parent.parent&transport=fragment&type=resize&height=611&ackData[id]=1

christchurchartgallery.org.nz/exhibitions/ron-mueck/

(http://www.oddee.com/item_95063.aspx)

http://www.chilloutpoint.com/featured/ron-muech-hyper-realist-sculptor.html

barbara_kruger

Barbara Kruger has been described as a feminist, conceptual and a pop artist.

Her work reflects her interest in graphic design, photography, poetry and writing.

Research Kruger's work in order to answer the following questions;

Describe the 'style' that Kruger has used in the two presented works.

In the artworks, Kruger has demonstrated her pass graphical skills. In the two pieces, there is a similarity between the bold texts which roughly masks a ¼ of the image. (“I shop therefore I am.”) In addition to this, the bare, plain color schemes she used in her works, gives me the impression of an “80’s advertisement”. Especially with the bold, centered text, she could also/maybe trying to accomplish a poster with a meaningful message regarding criticism of sexism. 

What are some of the concepts and messages that Kruger is communicating in them?

“I shop, therefore I am” is a materialistic phrase, infrequently used to describe the happiness found in shopping. The other piece “Face It”, I think implies that, you don’t need luxurious garments to craft a beautiful person or expensive clothes to feel rich. Inferior. Both her pieces consist of basic color schemes and phrases which emphasize criticism and feminism. 

 

Do these images communicate these ideas effectively? Explain your answer.

Barbara Kruger’s images communicate effectively. I think, the way the text is formatted is also an influence on the message Kruger is trying to put through her work. The Boldness of the black/red text on the white strips screams urgency, with the “in your face” sense.

Define the concept of Mercantilism and explain how these two examples can connect with the concept.

Mercantilism: (American Heritage Dictionary) the practice, methods, or spirit of merchants; commercialism. In the two examples, “I shop, therefore I am” and “Face It”, demonstrate the basic meaning of mercantilism. Due to the fact that graphic art was made to be sold, therefore Kruger has decided to use graphical medium to emphasize the message of shopping. This is relevant nowadays because of how shopping has become more of a hobbie rather than a chore.

Upload a more recent example of Kruger's work where she has used a new medium that is not graphic design. Title your image of the chosen work and comment on your response to the work. How do you think the audience would experience this work?

I have chosen “Twelve,” an intellectual piece of work that associates four wall “conversations that turn on personal relationships –between couples, with children, among friends– and on more general and mundane themes.”  Each character’s face fills a wall as they usually verbalize each other.

                Experiencing this work, would be of standing in a theatre play, with the stage filled with the actor emotions and experiencing the story first hand, rather than hearing it from someone alse.

Reference List

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Barbara-Kruger.html                                            

http://www.answers.com/topic/mercantilism

American Heritage Dictionary

http://architettura.it/files/20041030/index_en.htm

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