Landscape and Sublime

1.What and when was the Enlightenment?

The 16th and 17th century was the period of time during where Enlightenment had arisen. It was a period of time where the population began to veer from the conservative views of church and its traditions, and began to explore the universe for-themselves making there own judgements and thoughts of their surroundings. As a result of the Enlightenment philosophies has arose being; Reason, Empiricism, Science, Universalism, Progress, Individualism, Toleration, Freedom, Uniformity of human Nature, and Secularism.

2.Define the concept of the Sublime.

is when something has the quality of greatness, whether being physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual, or artistic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy)). It can also be described as something that has that certain wow factor in which nothing can ever compare to.

3.How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

When the concept of enlightenment came out man has started to explore the world. Therefore they started to make their own judgements and views of their surroundings. Because they had started to move away from the traditions and views of the church it had sparked thoughts that there is something of greatness out there in the world. This greatness was beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy)).

4.Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images.

American photographer Daniel Misrach is known for his photographs of human intervention in landscapes. One of his most recent works ‘On the Beach’ was done as series in which he used to show the beautiful landscape and mans complex relationship with it. ‘On the Beach’ had been inspired from the 911 attacks in which where taken directly afterwards. his works consist of large scaled photographs which are 6 by 12 feet, this allows you too see detailed expressions even a quarter of a mile out of sea dgashdhasdfgasfdgh. The photographs “ at first glance its people on the beach, frolicking in the water were used to seeing things like that in travel magazines” hdasdhjgasdgjasdgjh. He was very careful in the choosing of the pictures to give that sense of ambiguity, so that you look at them and think, “maybe some of them are not to safe after all”. the ocean was used metaphorically to show the ocean as the unknown. This really identifies the sublime as we are in awe of it beauty and are unaware of how dangerous and scary it can be (http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26514/richard-misrach/).

5.Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

Andreas Gursky- Known for his architectural landscape photography (above)

François Boucher, The Triumph of Venus, 1740 (above)

6.How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Misratchs photography at first gave me the impression of beauties of nature in which we interact with. But once looking closer (especially the cover photo of ‘On the Beach’) is gave me an unease feeling of that of no control of what could happen. The ocean is an unknown territory to most humans and is not exactly an environment in which we feel as comfortable as on ground. there is a feeling off unknown such as creatures. This appeals to my imagination as the cover picture almost makes me feel as if a shark or creature could just pop up and get him unexpectedly. My mind also thinks that there is a strong sense of lack of control and that anything can happen without being able to calculate it.

7.Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.

Week 4- Damien Hirst and the diamond skull.

Week 4- Damien Hirst and the diamond skull.

Discuss how Hirst's persona and work relate to the Renaissance concepts of Mercantillism and the (increased) status of the artist.

Damian HIrst is a famous english artist who is reputed to be the richest living artist to date, with a net worth of 235 million pounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst). His work explores the themes of death, in which his most current work is that of a diamond-incrusted skull named ‘For the Love of God’. This interesting piece of artwork is comprised of a real man skull who lived around 1720-1810 in Europe. The skull is completely covered with 8,601 diamonds with only his teeth showing costing a whopping 15,000,000 pounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst).

Mercantilism in the renaissance times was essentially an economic theory, based on exporting more than a country imports, thus causing the countries reserve and wealth to rise. Possessions of gold, silver and diamonds are examples of materials used by countries to export and gain wealth. Hirst has used his social status as a famous artist and extreme wealth all in order to put together the skull.It was said that if anyone else had made this diamond covered skull worth millions it would be viewed as some what vulgar to the audience in that someone with unlimited amounts of money has just wasted these diamonds worth millions on something that looks like no art and has no taste (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God_(artwork)). Knowing that not just anyone did this and that it was done by Hirst an artist of such high stature it changes the way we view the the object in the most direct and brutal way possible as the title For the love of God questions the morality of such an object can be made with reference to also the morality of how art is made. It makes the audience aware of how we as a society are only directly concerned with what is put in front of us and are unaware of the processes in which things are made. The use of diamonds represents the blood spilt in africa in order to gain wealth. This also relates back to the renascence concepts of mercantilism through the blood diamonds used to gain wealth. The title For the Love of God can now be seen as a bold statement to the lives lost over the diamonds in Africa.

Without Hirst status of a famous artist, the artwork would not have been seen the same way and would merely been looked upon as something that a famous rapper wanted as bling bling.

persona and work relate to the Renaissance concepts of Mercantillism and the (increased) status of the artist.

1.What are the themes behind the title "Last ride...' for the Auckland triennial?

The themes behind the title last ride in a hot air balloon explores the ongoing relationships between adventure and risk taking.

2. What does a curator of an exhibition do?

A curator acquires, cares for, develops, displays and interprets a collection of artifacts or works of art in order to inform, educate and entertain the public. Natasha Conlands role in the Auckland Triennial is to provide a window into the world of contemporary creativity, to stimulate and enrich local art communities.

3. Which countries are represented in this year's triennial?

India, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Thailand, Sweden, Argentina, Samoa, Tanzania, Denmark, USA, Mexico, Iran, England, Scotland, Algeria, Lebanon, China, Canada, France.

4. Is Auckland the only country to have a triennial? Are there other similar art shows?

Yes, Auckland is the only place this year to be holding a Triennial. There is a similar art show which coincides with the Auckland triennial such as the Biennial of Sydney. There have been triennials held in the past such as Queenslands Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

5. Name 4 artists who will be showing work in the show.

Robert Hood, Nick Austin, Aicia Frankovich, Alex Monteith.

6. Select an artist's work from the website, copy the work to your blog and write a short
comment on what the work is, and what it represents.(Reference your sources)

Silpa Guptas " Singing Cloud" steel and microphone investigates into how the now all penetrating media has a increasignly large influence into our understanding of the world (Gupta, 2010). The work represents how the media has becomeinfluential into societies understanding and perceptions of the world. The large steal mass of microphones looks as if it is purposely placed above the viewers to show its dominance. Therefore the piece may be suggesting the cloud symbolically has a superior power over todays society. The piece shows how Gupta is well aware of how we have made technology an important part in our lives and that it affects how we all experience he world today.

7. Comment on why you find this work interesting, how does it relate to your own interests?

The first thing that caught my eye with this sculpture was the dominance of the object and its large mass which i found to have huge impact with the message it is trying to display to the viewers. This piece is also very interesting as i am also well aware of how technology has been made this extension to our daily lives. I think the message that she is putting across is important for viewers to to be well aware of how we can rely largely on technology, as i think that technology should not play such an important role in our lives as it may take us away from the simple things we most enjoy in life e.g a walk to the beach instead of driving.