Blog #25: Tim Hawkinson vs. Yinka Shonibare

Ok so this is horrible of me to say but I might as well be honest. When we were watching the video of Yinka Shonibare I quickly noticed that his head was constantly tilted to one side. I assumed this was because he was a deep and broody artist who was tilting his head either in a condescending matter OR because he was really thinking to figure out what his art was about. So after several minutes I started to tilt my head in a mocking fashion...just then we got a full-body shot of the man aaand turns out he was disabled. Douchebag = Alaggio. That'll teach me.

As an artist, Yinka seems most known for his work with outfits resembling 18th century garb. This was the colonial period when the slave trade was at its peak. There is a level of ambiguity left to his work as well. While the construction of these costume pieces is very much Colonial the fabrics used are strikingly similar to the bright vibrant patters used in tradition West African garb. Also the outfits are placed upon mannequins which strip the wearers of any ethnic identity. Therefor it is important that Yinka's pieces never been worn by a live model as that person's race would take away from that cultural ambiguity.



With my piece, the presence of two living models was imperative. It actually didn't matter what race the models might be, just as long as there was a male and female. Yinka's work plays off the very absence of a body while simultaneously addressing the race and class issues on a multitude of levels. Both the garb and the fabric comment on the ostentatiousness of both cultures while wreaking with a certain level of irony with the period style of the clothing. Some say "you are the clothes you wear". How does that apply to this work i wonder.

 Another artist we were introduced to was Tim Hawkinson. His work also deals with the body but in a much different way than Shonibare. As stated before, Shonibare's work lacks the body and requires its implied presence. Hawkinson's work tends to resemble the body or really...body parts. In almost every piece he has done there is a certain grotesque element of bodily functions. His piece Zoopsia reminds me of organs hanging above our heads and the fact that they emit sound makes me think of gas...(could be that I'm suffering from a horrible case of bloating as I write this)... But another piece of his that I believe was made with some sort of gyrating red ink pen looks disturbingly a lot like intestines.  Hawkinson's work fascinates some because of how complex and organic his work appears while often being made from simple inorganic materials.

A few of his pieces can also be considered transformation pieces but also fall into this category of body art. For example one of his pieces was a feather and an egg made from his own hair. So in a way his work forces the viewer to ponder our mortality, our repulsion by our own bodies when distorted or dissected. The familiar and yet unfamiliar. This is one of the things that both artist share: the tendency to make us reflect on our bodies, what defines them, and how our bodies define us.

Artist 15/20: Tom Clark

"I try and present each statue with a dignity that comes from a life worth living". This is a quote from an artist who whether I like it or not has greatly influenced my home. Why some people collect little animal figurines, or beanie babies, this man's sculpted figurines are what litter my house. They were the collecting addiction my mother suffered from. Though I can't say I don't appreciate them. I attribute my very down-to-earth view of magic and fantasy to her vast collection of gnomes. Every single one of them indeed has an expression of utter contentment with their tiny and simple lives. These aren't your average, tosh, Travelocity, garden gnome but a very specific style created by a single man. Tom Clark.

Tom Clark isn't just limited to gnomes. He's done over 1000 figurines including figures from history, myth and literature. However, because it is the work that has most influenced me, I'm only going to focus on the gnomes. Much of his work ties seamlessly into the book, The Secret Book of Gnomes, by author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet. This book also inspired the short-lived television series the World of David the Gnome...whom I'm sure in turn inspired the Travelocity gnome. They all have the pointy hat, wool or burlap cloths, and typically have a long white beard (assuming they're male). But an odd thing to consider is that according to the mythology, these are NOT figurines but life sized sculptures of gnomes.



Now now, I know because of the general collectability of his works that they once again fall under Kitsch but what are you going to do. They made my mom happy. Her name is Naomi and her nickname is Gnome or Gnomie (though she will always be Mom to me). And even though I'm a sap for saying this; when my mom was happy I was happy. So needless to say I hold a great amount of appreciation for Tom Clark's work. If I recall correctly his sculptures are typically made from some sort of plaster made from acorn shells. Because of this they are always the same brown hue. I'm not sure I've ever heard of another artist using this material. But his gnomes are never conventionally beautiful. Not only is his work very rustic looking but I've never seen a figurine of his that I might consider "sexy". But the important thing is just the jolly expressions they all have and that really does make them beautiful in their own right.

Artist 14/20: Stan Winston

I've featured a blog about Jim Henson who, in some respects, is very similar to my next artist. His works could easily be considered artistic masterpieces as they stand but the twist with this man's work is that his artwork moves! The movement makes his work complete since his prerogative as an artist is to make his pieces deceive us into believing that they are alive and real. Such was the work of Stan Winston.


If you've seen any of the blockbusters from the past 20-30 years than you're familiar with his work. It is because of winston that we have such creatures ingrained into our culture such as the ALIEN, Terminator, Predator, Edward Scissorhand, and the Dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. He worked around puppetry, prosthetics, face makeup, machinery, and CGI to create a special effects empire and in his career has garnered 4 oscars. Winston is sort of the opposite of Jeff Koons in that he doesn't design the look of these creatures. His job is to figure out how to make them and make them work.


While his works might seem varied they all have a certain element in common which is appears to be the intention of scaring us. Most of his work was on movie monsters. They range from the alien, prehistoric, to robotic. He was particularly great in taking advantage of our fears of being hunted, our mistrust of machinery, and seeing something of our own human evils in the monstrosities he created. He and I share a number of things in common being that he originally persued being an actor but in order to make ends meet, he began working as a makeup intern for Disney. He found his little niched in the entertainment industry which is something I envy.

Blog #24: Arnzen Drug Displa

So one of our assigned blog topics was a trip and critique of a display of some kind. Quite honestly, most of the local museums and such were closed in my hometown. But the shoppes were quite busy. There is this one store on my town's mainstreet called Arnzen Drug. It's a locally owned pharmacy, electronic, and useless nicknack store.

The windos have always humored me as it is cram filled with kitsch collectibles; porceline cats, glass wind chimes, stuffed animals, religious memorabilia. From the look of this display window you'd never guess they sold drugs. This got me thinking about the specific need for a display window to either really advertise the quality of a stores merchandize or if anything else trick them into thinking you sell really cool stuff.

I can't really say if Arnzen Drug does either of those. Some of those window objects have been there for years. Clearly no one is interested in them enough to buy them. In my opinion there is so much else the store has to offer. And in terms of display, there doesn't seem to be any structure, theme, or method to the madness that is that window. Whatever the owners consider most appealing and where ever it might fit seems to be the way it's set up.

the lovely Ms. Hurley

I recall a past schoolmate of mine by the name of Brianna Hurley. She reminded me very much of current classmate Maria Garth in that she could easily be classified as "vintage". She had a magical eye for cool things in thrift stores and created a neo 1950's style that was all her own. Now there was a shoppe about 2 blocks away from our dorms in NYC called OFF BROADY. It was a vintage store run by an old woman who wore big hats and an endless pile of jewelry. I recall having passed the shoppe several times but due to the poor display, thought it was a gawdy costume shoppe. The manaquinns were dressed in outfits that were mismatched or just too period/old to be trendy to anyone in the city. However, one day after I had returned to the city, I passed the shopped and was amazed at how the display window had changed. It now actually looked like a legit fashion store. The plastic girls were now wearing very posh outfits with matching accessories. Very nice jewelry was on display as well as hats. And I remember thinking, Brianna would LOVE this place. Well the display window had done its job of sucking me into the shoppe to see what else was new. In general the shopp was more put together and organized in terms of semi, formal, or casual wear; warm or cold wear and so on. And there in her usual chair with her big had, 16 strands of pearls wrapped around her neck, and a cane sat that old woman. She hadn't changed at all. But as I looked behind one of the counters I saw a familiar face that explained A LOT. It was Brianna! She had started working there and because of her creative directing, she had truly revitalized that store to appeal to a younger cartell and apparently had increased business by over 40%!!!.

Despite my digression, Arnzens (as it's locally called) is one of those stores that may suprise you with what it has and because it's a business cornerstone to the community it doesn't have to worry about "slow business". Nonetheless, I think THEY might be suprised with what a little sprucing up could do. Do a holiday window painting! Mix the displayed merchandise up a little with regards to the seasons! I actually believe that because it is just a frequented store and a staple to the community that it is their civic duty to set the tone of the town. Really push that modern commercialism mixed with holiday cheer in our faces. Show us toys, an electric train set, and that anamotronic Santa this Christmas! Get us excited about the holidays! In NYC that's actually a big thing. No matter what you're selling, the creativity of a store's window display is really what got people coming in. And because of this I have been tricked into a store! oh yes. Their window display featured nothing they really sold but because I went in there, I took the time and browsed.

Blog #23: Fashion as Art?

Oi Gevalt! So having gotten the blog requirement sheet I have at least ...16 blogs to complete in 8 days. At least 2 blogs every night: not too bad. So let's do this thing. So what's on my artistic mind...hmmm.

OH! I made a scarf over Thanksgiving Break. I'm not sure if that qulifies as art but I suppose fashion is a form of sculpture. Really it's nothing to marvel at and must be the easiest dame thing a person can make. I just found some nice woven plaid fabric, cut a square yard of it, sewed all four sides approximately 2 inches from the edge, and then frayed all the excess edges. Over time the remaining threads will twist into tassels on their own. But I like it. It's a simple yet bold black and white plaid. And while it's a very thin/flexible fabric, it's 100% cotton. So essentially I made the scarf in the picture on the left. I by no means am a fashionista though my family insists that I'm a , what is the term, metrosexual? Well I don't know about that but I know what I like and I've had my eye on this fabric before. Now, tis mine! Bwahaha

Next I think I'm gonna have to knit myself a ear warmer/head band. It's darn cold in these parts and my ears are the first to go. I'm not sure if it's worth describing the process aside that it will be a double-knit patter. This just means that I'll use alternating colors, it will be reversible with opposited color patterns on either side. What that pattern and/or colors will be I have no idea so in my free time that will be a little side project.

But while we're on the topic of fashion, it really is an artform in it's own right. Clothing sends just as, if not more, messages than conventional visual art. However i suppose it says more about the wearer/owner than it does about the designer. Also I think the taste in fashions is much more tempramental than the taste in art. But just a taste in a specific timeperiod or style can be one of the strongest messages a person can send. We are all victims of contemporary culture in some shape or form, especially when it comes to the latest trends. *GOD I hate what Justin Beiber has done for boy's hairstyles* And adopting a style, whether it be goth, prep, hipster, or whatnot says alot about your identity. I've searched for my stylistic identity for sometime now and I think I'm only now starting to develop it. I like to come off as learned and pretentious. Tis true. I love my glasses because of this. But in general I've always liked the look of a dapper professor. The nice shoes, the vest, the argile sweater, the turtle neck, the artists scarf, the cultured grey streak I've started to don. Mind you there's a fine line between looking nerdy and fashionably smart which really just comes down to certain details. I've been told it makes me come off as snobbish but I also have been asked for directions alot more recently.

Blog #22: Final Class Assignment Idea!!

Our final class assignment sounds incredibly exciting albeit proving to be very challenging given the parameters. If it were simply an independent project I would have an endless list of ideas but having to make this a potential class assignment has been surprisingly limiting. I'm a perfectionist and have always avoided group projects unless I had good faith in my partners.

Yup Yup. So the first idea that came to mind was a large collection of identical vials filled with various bodily fluids. That would include blood, tears, urine, saliva, semen, breast milk, sweat, puss, bile, etc. There would be a large variety of colors and each classmate would be responsible for a unique fluid. But I didn't think that was "interesting" enough. Plus, it probably wouldn't be fair for that poor student who had to get a hold of blood or semen.

Another idea that passed through my mind was a collection of bullets that have been shot in famous people. Presidents, popes, Billy the Kid, Martin Luther King, John Lenon, Prince Albert, etc. But then I thought this wasn't elaborate enough yet too detailed in determining the bullet models as being historically accurate. It would take a butt load of research and wouldn't be as fun to make since it wouldn't be "creative" enough and looking at this example picture. It just wouldn't be very visually stimulating.

But then one evening as I was watching some British program on the BBC, a group of crotchety old Englishmen were attempting to fish out a bottled message from a small creek and then my final idea hit me. I propose we do a collection of messages in bottles. More broadly anything significant that has been or could be found floating in the water. This might include the typical "HELP! I'm marooned" message, to anonymous letters of someone reaching out to anyone who might listen. It could be letters to Santa, Poetry, Suicide Notes, Photos, Treasure Maps, Cremated Remains, Wedding Rings, ANYTHING that might be thrown out to sea for whatever reason. When people toss things like this in the ocean they either want it found or lost/forgotten. So I think it would be nice for each student to come up with something that they might toss out to sea and then from there we can put them on display with an article describing what is known about the contents. Who sent it, who it's to, what the letter reads, etc.

Artist 13/20: Josephine Wall

Okie dokie. So while I'm on a run of fantasy artists, I'd like to share with you another artist. Her art actually ventures into the Surreal as her art is very dreamlike. I'm continuously forgetting her name. I wouldn't say she's influenced me per say with my art style. However, every once in a while I'll see one of her works and recognize it instantly and I'll have to look it up as I JUST did. Her name is Josephine Wall.

Several Christmases ago I received a puzzle as a present. I suppose Josephine isn't any better off than Kinkade in terms of being a sell out whore in that her work has been on puzzles, night lights, and whatnot. Anyhoo it was a puzzle of this painting of the Greek goddess Iris. If you don't know Iris was a sister of the harpies but for whatever reason she didn't have the body of a bird, only the wings. And so she's one of the first "angelic" figures in ancient history. This image is a collage of several of the significant attributes of Iris. She was more or less a female counterpart to the god Hermes and was a messenger of the gods to mankind. She would create the bridge of color (the rainbow) which connected the heavens with the land. She was also the retriever of souls which she would extract from the body through the colored part of the individual's eye (the Iris). Also her flower was the Iris, one of the only flowers to display every color. ....if you haven't noticed there is a color theme with this woman. I'm not sure about the butterflies....butterflies = colorfulness? I don't know. And in the background there is the city of Atlantis of which Iris secretly transported the goddess Hestia to deliver the 12 mortal sons of Poseidon. Anyhoo I love the use of color in Wall's paintings.

That is actually one of Josephine's more structured or solid paintings as most of her work consists of objects morphing or flowing into others. She is also likened to Pre-raphaelite artist by her use of embodying goddesses, elements or virtues with women (much like Herbert Draper) But her style of things melting or evaporating or sprouting out of nowhere is very reminiscent of Dali. Her work as become so iconic that it's been exhibited from America to Sweden to Japan and she has several contracts signed to sell prints of her work from very prominent museums.

Flight

The use of bold color is something I always shy away from. Take my last portraits of James Dean, Rock Hudson and Gia Carangi. After I scan my work I typically with tink around with saturation and contrast and it helps is seeing how I could always go "farther". I usually end up liking my edited work more than the originals. I've saturated the colors and like them oh so much more. This is a talent of Josephine Wall's that i hope to emulate in the future.

Blog #21: Thanksgiving Art Time

Before I left for Thanksgiving break I decided to try and make an effort to get caught up on my blogs. So far I've succeeded only in failing to do that. BUT let it be known that I haven't been neglecting my artistic juices. As a matter o face I may have stumbled onto artistic genius. Or just something really really cool.

I am a pathetic member of the BSU BGLAD club. I say pathetic because I have yet to contribute much to the campus's gay community. However another less-than-active member (last I checked) was attempting to organize an art show at the SUB highlighting the "hardships of the LGBT community". I believe any contributing artists are supposed to pay homage to anyone who has suffered or worked to help the gay community. This can include anyone from Harvey Milk to Lady GaGa. Well, I'm fairly good at portraitures so I figured that's what I'd do since it only takes me a few hours to complete one.

After much deliberation, I decided to make attempts at a series of LGBT members who have died under tragic circumstance. This includes Rock Hudson (one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS) to a man named Robert Eads (a female to male transexual who died of ovarian cancer because no doctor would treat him). I've completed James Dean (carcrash) and Gia Carangi (AIDs) and hope to finish portraits of Matthew Shepard, Fred Martinez, Brandon Teena & Harvey Milk.

But here's where I've stumbled onto brilliance. I've decided to do these portraits in crayon. Why crayon? Because it's a humble, challenging and exceptionally neglected medium. I do not have the luxury of erasing or blending colors. And speaking of colors, because of the LGBT theme...I'm using nothing but the 6 colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. So there you have it. Most likely I'll be scanning the originals so I can enhance the colors on the computer like I do. Hopefully the art show goes as planned and I'll be exhibited. Some pieces are going to be put on silent auction. Some of the proceeds will go to the expenses of renting the gallery out and anything more will be donated to the LGBT center. So if you want one of these you'll just have to come to the gallery and fork up the doe.

Artist 12/20: John Howe

I think it would be unfair to cover one of these artists and exclude the other so I shall do my best at covering them both individualistically. Firsts I'll do one an entry about one and another later on. Together these men have created an iconic world and brought to visual life the mythology of J.R.R Tolkein. Because of them we can now artistically identify "Elven" arcitecture, "Dwarven" weaponry, and images of Minas Tirath, Mordor, the Shire that have been ingrained in our minds. Not only did they provide the illustrations to the books but also were the head artistic directors of the films Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King directed by Peter S. Jackson. The two men who accomplished this were none other than Alan Lee and John Howe.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia John Howe was primarily self taught with the help of his mother. In school he would complete artistic assignments for fellow students for the price of 50 cents a pop. After his graduation from highschool he went on to college in Strasbourg, France, and the following year in the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs. All throughout his life has expressed a great interest for fantasy. His work focusses on the mystical and legendary which gives him the freedom of creating a yet unseen person, place or thing. His other works have included illustrations for Beowulf as well as artistic input for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe film from 2005. And despite that their major claim to fame is share, there is supposedly a mutual friendship between both John Howe and Alan Lee.





John Howe



Blog #20: Disney Princesses (part deux)

WELL! Guess what I found out the other day. My work is on the internet media. Unfortunately not some original idea that I've come up with but once again my Disney Princess Lineup. I seem to only be doing that coporation favors. So this time around it's on a website channel called Indie Mogul which appears to run reviews and raise awarement of upcoming movie releases. In this case it was a Disney Princess Top 10 countdown in lieu of Rapunzel joining the lineup.

Add caption

I was aware of the upcoming film over a year ago and had only seen minimal footage. Rapunzel was not well received by myself and fellow Disney buffs, mainly because her film was in 3d and clearly a comedy. Gone are the days when a dramatic fairy tale is taken seriously. Well in my liesure time's prime, I made several alterations to the Disney Princess lineup, as I've mentioned before. I've added Princess Tiana, I altered the color of some of the dresses, I created Ariel's & Jasmine's dresses altogether, and finally I got around to sticking Rapunzel in there. It was doubted that she would mesh well in the lineup due to the fact that she's 3d and all but I thought I'd give it a try.

Normally I would search the internet for a large enough picture of her to edit and superimpose. However no full-body images of her existed yet (at least none that would work). I knew what she looked like and so I tried just modifying various body parts of the other princesses to make a Frankenstein as it were but I simply wasn't pulling it off. So finally I came across some merchandize material that had pictures of her on it including a doll box, a few coloring books, and whatnot. So with a good image of her face, a partial image of her body, and several segments of her hair I was able to piece her together and soften her three dimensional look. She still stood out in both style and texture so I never took much pride in it. Nonetheless, apparently the image is now being used on DisneyWiki http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Princess and latest this following film clip. An older version is also currently the header image for Wikipedia's Disney Princess article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Princess . My only complaint is that people use it assuming its an image released by Disney. But nope. It's mine.

Artist 11/20: Alphonse Mucha

Now this artist, I knew I liked for a very long time. His style is so distinct that no one can make anything similar without being referenced to him. I would intermittently come across his works but never knew his name. This is Alphonse Mucha.

He is often referred to as the accidental father of the Nouveau. Having moved to Paris he accepted a last minute commission to design a theatre poster for a local play. His innovative style was an immediate success amongst the Parisians and soon he was in the highest of popular demand. During the movement (1890-1905) Art Nouveau permeated from painting into sculpture, architecture, furniture, jewelry, calligraphy and even works of glass by the famous Louis Comfort Tiffany whom we've covered before.

Mucha's style is indicative by the use of thick outlines surrounding his subjects. This could be likened to the lines used by Sandro Boticelli but Mucha's lines were so thick it almost appeared like a stained glass window with areas being highly detailed and others being nearly monochromatic. I've done a bit of research on Mucha before as it was his style that specifically inspired the Disney film Enchanted staring Amy Adams as the princess parody, Giselle.

 Upon examination, one can see that her dress is identical to that worn in a poster advertising Moet & Chandon White Star, a brand of French Champagne painted in 1899. While obviously Giselle's facial features depended heavily on those of Amy Adams, the actress herself can be compared to the type of woman Alphonse Mucha seemed so keen on painting. Being primarily restricted to the female form, his subjects were often women of literature, goddesses or the physical embodiments of art and virtues much in the same way Giselle embodies the essence of a Disney Princess.

Artist 10/20: Thomas Kinkade

I'm hitting up Kitch Central today baby! Thomas Kinkade. Oh yes. The king of cheesey marketability himself. And what can I say...yeah...I'm a sucker for pink trees and gazebos. He's known as the 'Painter of Light' and is apparently the most collected living artist.

Yes well...the man is a sellout whore. There's no denying that. His art can be seen on puzzles, candles, keychains, whatever, everywhere! And not only is his art "serene" and "heart string pulling" but the man is a sell out whore because he knows exactly what the american people want. His work almost reflects what I think is the idealic dillusion many americans have of this country. This self-riteous, pretentious, christian american attitude is slapping us in the face with every brushstroke. There's nothing real in the man's work. It's all dreamy and perfect which can rub some people the wrong way. I personally don't mind that so much as people trying to apply religous context. Then I find out that he's a born-again christian and yes, his work also reflects that with a sudden up-surge of crosses and prophetic sunbeams.

But is this shameless commercialization so wrong? What is the artist dream? I should think that all artists would dream to be taken seriously for their work within their lifetime. Perhaps its the fact that Kinkade hasn't done anything "new". The man is stinking filthy rich and I think most artist (myself included) are just bitter. We all want to change the world, not profit from taking advantage of what other people want. But even if your art was loved by the masses, wouldn't you be ok with slapping it on a t-shirt? The artist is a self-absorbed individual...I can attest to this.

Sadly, the more I read about the man, the less I like him but his garden work is just pristine and a part of me doesn't see these scenes as unattainable. My life-goal is to have a plot of land which has been landscaped with these paintings serving as ground plans. Even if it isn't a perfect representation, I like to depict people, places and things in their optimal potential.

Blog #19: Progress report!

OH Unhappy Day! I've lost my USB thumbdrive which contains all my digital work, including my disney princesses, my personal photos, papers written for other classes, and programs I used. Well actually I must have lost it nearly 3 weeks ago and I'm only now getting around to lamenting about it. It really is distressing since I rarely misplaces things. Rather, it must have fallen out of my hoodie pockent when I tied it around my waist. Bah! Anyway, I've been working around it and I supposed it really isn't work blogging about.

Well I've been working on my latest project semi-diligently. It's been a trip. First I couldn't find any tights/pantyhoes that were under 4$ and I knew that a single unitard would require at least 4 and I wasn't about to spend $36+ on this project. But then somone mentioned the dollar store and Eureka! Not only were they a buck, but they were also nylon/spandex knit so they don't run as easily. So my week was fun, forcing myself into "Queen" tights all over various parts of my body. I tell you,  "queen" must not refer to a size otherwize I'm insulted for women everywhere! Those things were in some dire need of stretching.

After I formulated a rough patter, I was wondering how the heck was I going to put this thing together? I figured I couldn't use a normal stitch for fear the tights would just shred. I turned to glue but realized that wouldn't stretch and I wasn't about to glue it together while I wore it. So I resorted to using a loop stitch and wouldn't you know, IT WORKED! Worked like a dream it did. I still haven't fitted this to my female model....could be problematic. I've got two unitards constructed and all that's left is making the connecting tubes and rehearsing the performance. The tights still come off as transluscent and while I've got underwear I'm wondering what accomodations I'll have to make for her. We'll see....we'll see

Blog #18: 5 Body Artists

 Matthew Barney: now there's an interesting frude. I've seen pictures of him/his work and thought "Cool!" while simultaneously thinking "...creepy...". Based on a quick google search, he seems to be most well-known for his work with makeup/prosthetics. Just like special effects artist, Barney transforms people in the mythical and grim. However, while some of his pieces, which he deems as "sculpture", are performed live, it's usually captured in photography, film, and drawings. A Yale graduate, he is also the creator of the Cremaster Cycle, "an art project consisting of five feature length films, together with related sculptures, photographs, drawings, and artist's books" which is regarded as one of the greatest achievements in avant-garde cinema. He is a strange man. A strange strange man. I just watched the trailer for the Cremaster Cycle and I have no idea what it's about. No bloody idea. But it looks pretty and twisted. But in regards to our body project, Barney seems to specialize in costumes and sculpting upon the body to create something else. Both implying and transforming the human form. Did I mention he's married to Bjork?

Rachel Whiteread: here is one of those artists who has found her thing, her niche and is STICKING TO IT! She was made known famous for her empty space sculptures where she filled the area beneath chairs. With it she clearly illustrated the space in our lives that goes unused or perhaps wasted. Since then she has moved on to fill the spaces of bookshelves, stairways, to entire houses. Easily it can be seen as a commentary on the greed we in 1st world countries have for space in not just our homes but in our lives. She was the first woman to win the coveted Turner Prize in 1993 and currently one of the Young British Artists. She's almost 50 so I wonder how much longer she's eligible for that little club? But she's innovative in that she thought to capture a place no one and yet thought to, mostly because it was something that is so taken for granted it's hardly seen at all.


Rebecca Horn: Is an installation artist who is probably more known for her works that extend the body. We've covered her in class and she was the creator of those long-fingered gloves meant to expand one's presence in the room. While it added a sense of liberation from the normal confines of the human anatomy, it also became a burden through the unfamiliarity of having and using 4ft long fingers. Another piece of hers that I liked and almost chose to emulate was her mesh face mask with attached pencils. So rather than drawing with one's hands they can draw with their face. I wanted to take this and make a pair of denture from sharpened pencils but I felt it was just not original enough for my taste. She has also created a piece known as 'Unicorn'. The title informs the imagry of a horn strapped to a womans head. It has been noted that this strap suit is almost identical to Frida Kahlo's 'Broken Column' and I would just like to point out that this outfit was the inspiration for one of the costumes Milla Jovovich wore in the sci-fi fantasy film, The Fifth Element. It is erotic while simulating the confines of bars or straps used to secure potentially harmful patients.

Jana Sterbak: Speaking of artwork or artists that have been since used, Jana Sterbank is an artist who may have inspired another fashion icon. Probably her most noted piece is the meat dress properly titled: Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic. Any member of PETA's worst nightmare, the dress is stiched together with animal flesh and over time slowly rots, changing color, shape, size, smell, and so on. Another piece she's done is an armchair made from meat called  Chair Apollinaire. Animal activist appaul her work and I applaud it. It has so many potential meanings. For one, it replaces the idea of leather being a trivial luxury with identifying it as a part of a butchured creature. Can it reflect how women are objectified - seen as pieces of meat? Or is it a commentary on fashion itself; like the meat, it may seem appealing at one point but given time, a decades style becomes outdated, even repulsive. A near identical dress was donned by Lady Gaga at the VMA's as she accepted her Best Artist of the Year award. Gaga claims the dress was meant to represent how fashion is painful.

Nick Cave: While this mans work was by no means used by any fashion icon that I can think of it often represents some characters from pop culture. Nick Cave is known for his wearable outfits that particularly come to life when worn by a performer. In this way his work is similar to the muppets. Made from materials like hair, sticks, feather etc his constumes reflect or follow the movements of the person wearing them. Not only do the materials come into play but the colors add a new dynamic and brings new meaning to color and movement. Terms usually used to describe works like Van Gogh but in this case, the movement is literal. But looking at the given picture, whose mind doesn't think of Cousin IT from the Addams Family. His over hairy character was horribly restricted by the fact that he never moved and let his hair go wild or did anything funky with it like highlights or braids. Nick Cave satisfies our curiosity.