art since 1945 new york – the art capital of the world
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Art Since 1945
New York – The ArtCapital of the World
Art Since 1945- a move away from traditional Western art
- a move away from realism
Traditional Western Art
• art has to be beautiful
• art has to be realistic, i.e. closely resemble nature
• an object of art always has a monetary value: it can be sold, it can be bought
• art has to be experiencedin a museum context
Traditional Western Art
• art is not about process, but about the final object
• painting and sculptureare more important than decorative arts (i.e. thereis always a very cleardistinction between art and craft)
• art is detached from life
Dada, early 20th cent. - “What is Art?”
Fountain, Marcel Duchamp, 1917 (ready-made object)
Importance of ContextAnything can become art, even ready-made objects. The
meaning of an artwork does not necessarily lie within it,
but often times arises out of the context in which it exists.
Marcel Duchamp: Fountain (1917), Bicycle Wheel (1951)
“Please Do Not Enter” Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2jFs2StW6o&feature=related
Abstract Expressionism – 40s & 50s
Convergence, Jackson Pollock, 1952
Key Artists: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning
• emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation
• large scale work completely engulfs the viewer
• work is about the act of painting or creation itself
• brush strokes & paint texture have physical presence
• work is abstract, nonrepresentational, gestural,dynamic, emphasizes emotions
Abstract Expressionism
Color Field Painting – 40s & 50s
Untitled (left) / Orange and Yellow (right), Mark Rothko, 1952-53, oil on canvas
Assemblage – 1960s, NY
Assemblage is an artistic process. It consists of making a
3D artistic composition from putting together found objects.
Robert Rauschenberg, NYC
• Art was inspired by Dada
• Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg – most important artists
• Art is closely related to life
• Subject matter was the everyday, banality of urban America
• Used “found” objects, advertising materials,images from magazines
Assemblage – 1960s
Robert RauschenbergInterview with the artist
Monogram, 1955-59, Robert Rauschenberg
Earthwork & Installation Art
There no longer any particular materials that enjoy
the privilege of being immediately recognizable as art
media: recent art is made not only with oil, metal and
stone, but also with air, sound and light.
Andy Goldsworthy – earth art installation James Turrell, “Gard Red” (1968) – mixed media installation
Installation Art – Key Points
• Space is part of the work
• Art no longer has to be viewedin a museum
• Audience is part of the work
• Viewer’s Experience = immersive, interactive
Pop Art – late 50s, 60sPop artists drew their inspiration from the banality of
urban America. Their work acted as a critique of the
commercialization of mass media, TV, advertising,
consumption, etc. Warhol believed that art is a
commodity in the same way the soup cans are.
Andy Warhol James Rosenquist
Pop Art
Marilyn Series, Andy Warhol, 1960s (right)
Dada & Fluxus – emphasis on formal instructions & process +
the willingness to embrace chance. In life, things just happen.
Ex: Marcel Duchamp, “Rotary Glass Plates”, 1920 Ex: Nam June Paik, “Random Access”, 1963
Fluxus - Importance of Chance
Art is Part of Life
Alan Kaprow coins the term “lifelike art”. New art forms
are created such as performance art, “happenings”, etc.
The distinction between art and the everyday is no
longer relevant.
• “Happenings” were staged performances
• Blurred the line between artist and audience
• Gave rise to Performance and Conceptual art of the 70s
• Example: Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece”
Happenings
Artists highlight the importance of the creative process
over the final product. The documentation of the process
would often be presented as the work of art itself.
Ex: art made of the leftovers of some prior activity.
Bruce Nauman, “Composite Photo of 2 Messes on the Studio Floor”, 1967
Importance of Creative Process
Conceptual Art: 1950s-70s
All of the new art movements that were created in the
50s-60s can be put under the umbrella of “Conceptual
art”.
In Conceptual Art, “the idea becomes the machine
that drives the work.” (Sol LeWitt)
Ex: Joseph Kosuth, “One of The Three Chairs”, 1965
Postmodern Art
Key features of Postmodernism:
• Appropriation (recycling and re-mixing old images, ideas)
• Pluralism (art can take many directions at once and all of them are equally valid)
Art Since the 80s
Key features of Postmodernism:
• Effects of globalization (Western ideas about art as well as system of art education have been adopted by other non-Western countries, etc.)
• There is no such a thing as “progress” in art:(art history is not a straightforward progression of 1 style to another: you have to study everything that happened, not just the winners…)
Art Since the 80s
Postmodern Art
Fountain, Sherrie Levine, 1991, bronze
Postmodern Art
Keith Haring
Digital Media ArtDefinition & Examples
Digital Media Art is:1. Created with the help of digital
technologies such as computers, digital cameras, GPS devices, mobile phones, etc.
2. Created by artists interested inthe intersection between art & technology
Digital Media Artists:
1. Use technology as a toolExamples: digital photos, prints, etc.
Digital Media Artists:
2. Use technology as a medium(art is being stored in digital format, uses interactiveand participatory features of the medium)Examples: Game Art, Net Art, Interactive Video Installations, Robotics, Data Visualization Art, etc.
Data Visualization Art - C5 Landscape Initiative
http://thirdfaction.org/blog/
Digital Media Art – Strong Connections
to Previous Art Movements
1) Dada
2) Fluxus
3) Conceptual Art
Dada – emphasis on formal instructions
Ex: Marcel Duchamp,
“Rotary Glass Plates”,
1920
Digital Media Art – Characteristics
Formulated by code (math. rules, functions)Artists set up rules, than
leave work open-ended.
Example: Sims
http://www.rhizome.org/artbase/24114/myData/myData=myMondrian is an interactive computer program in which the personal
data provided by viewers is translated into Piet Mondrian-like composition
Fluxus – randomness and chance
Ex: Nam June Paik,
“Random Access”,
1963
Visitors were able to use the sound
head, which has been detached from
the tape recorder, to interactively
run through the tapes glued to the
wall, and constantly vary the sound
sequence according to location
and speed. This random access to
the musical raw material enabled
visitors to produce compositions
of their own.
Conceptual Art – emphasis on the idea
Ex: James Morgan & John Pierre Bruneau, Looks Very Tidy,
2007
http://factorynoir.com/portfolio/media/looks_very_tidy.mov
Digital Media Art – Characteristics
Audience is part of the work – interactive and participatory
aspects of digital art
Digital Media Art – Characteristics
Digital Media Art – Characteristics
Often open ended, in the state of flux
author is a co-creator along with the audience
Ex: Christa Sommerer
and Laurent Mignonneau,
A-Volve, 1994
(interactive, real-time environment)
Digital Media Art – CharacteristicsEx: Christa Sommererand Laurent Mignonneau, Verbarium, 1997
http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/WORKS/FRAMES/FrameSet.html
Digital Media Art – Main Points
1. Consists of binary data
2. Can be easily manipulated, changed, etc.
3. Process-oriented work is ephemeral
4. Often requires collaboration with others
5. Often requires audience participation
6. Often deals with art & technology
7. Often reflects upon digital medium, it’s language and aesthetics
8. Often blurs boundaries between various disciplines
Cool Digital Media projects to check out:
www.rhizome.org
“A Global Festival of Art on the Edge”,
San Jose, California
http://01sj.org/
What is Art?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDo_vs3Aip4
Exercises
What style is this? What are some of the key characteristics of this style?
What style is this? What are some of the key characteristics of this style?
What style is this? What are some of the key characteristics of this style?
What style is this? What are some of the key characteristics of this style?
What style is this? What are some of the key characteristics of this style?