week 6 blog- Richard Misrach

1. The enlightenment period is typically believed to have taken place during the 18^th century. ‘Enlighten’ means to give intellectual or spiritual light to or to shed light upon. Hence the enlightenment takes its name from the people who wanted to contribute to a brighter future and society. The enlightenment was based in France, and lead by a group of intellectuals; philosophers and professors. This intellectual movement is often described as a paradigm of new ideologies which were based around the prospect that the human condition could be improved by utilizing scientific facts and reason. A new consideration for individual human welfare was also a significant part of enlightenment thinking, a focus on toleration, individualism, and freedom gave the people freedom to exercise their personal reason and rationality free from religious orthodoxies (also known as secularism). The rapid pace of developments in the areas of social science and studies of the natural world can be accounted to way that the ideologies of reason, rationality, science, empiricism, universalism, secularism and progress all acted as enablers and catalysts for each other. For example secularism allowed man to view the world as more of a machine which operated based on facts which could be calculated. The application of rational thinking allowed man to document a set of rules and laws which universally applied to all things in nature.

2. The ‘sublime’ concept (first defined by Edmund Burke in 1756) holds that life spirit is dependant on its harmony with nature’s terrific ness, power, grandeur, vastness and incomprehensibility. According to Dr. Stephen Prickett (2007) the sublime is marked by the power to cause an intense pleasure over the observer, a pleasure that has transcendent qualities. The concept is strongly connected to landscape which is apparent in many works produced as the time which include overwhelming, wild landscapes, evoking pleasure in the observer as described above. For example the painting below by Turner (1842) titled Snow storm- Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth illustrates idea of the sublime as an overpowering force, in this case a storm that cannot be rationally or wholly grasped. The concept of the sublime contrasted the scientific empiricism of the enlightenment as it demonstrated (through art as a medium) that not all nature could be measured or contained within human understanding.

Snow Storm- Boat off a Harbour's Mouth (1842)
J.M.W. Turner

3. The intellectual movement of secularism (one concept that came from the enlightenment) enabled a shift in focus from religious paintings to works that depicted the vastness and beauty of nature. Previously in the 18^th century the ranking of landscape painting as an intellectual medium was low, however when religious control subsided due to a new interest in the natural world I suspect artists experienced the sublime quality of nature and landscapes, conveyed this through paintings and the sublime became popular due to its mystery. The allure of untamed wilderness must have been very appealing to the enlightenment man because it’s so strongly contrasted the pretence that man could gain control of nature through science.

4. Richard Misrach’s work can be described as modern day sublime photography. He uses vast open landscapes ranging from dry textures grasses and sands to luscious and furious ocean. He typically has one or more figures in the shot, emphasizing the relationship and scale between man and the natural world. He appears to favor high bird’s eye view angles and distant angles which allow a generous proportion of the landscape into the frame. Some of Misrach’s images have a tranquil aesthetic value- conforming to the ‘transcending pleasure’ encountered by many early 18^th century sublime paintings. However some of his images are thought provoking, shocking, unsettling. These types of images are more accurately described by the quote below sourced from corehound.wordpress.com

Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling- corehound (2010).

5. Other artists’ whose work reflects themes from the sublime:

David McCracken- contemporary spatial

-‘drop in the ocean’

-‘mainland’

Anish Kapoor- contemporary spatial

-‘cloud gate’ (1995)

-‘sky’

Christo- contemporary spatial

-‘running fence’

Kerry Martin- contemporary oil painting

-‘morning drift 2’ (2007)

-‘chasing shadows’ (2006)

Frederick Edwin Church- Enlightenment sublime landscape painting

-‘Dämmerung in der Wildnis’ (1860)

-‘the Natural Bridge’ (1852)

6. Misrach’s work appeals strongly to me because it causes me to adopt an awareness of my own insignificance in the world, but in a very peaceful harmonious manner. I think many of the landscapes in his work look surreal and magnificent, which creates a sense of awe. One particular photograph appeals strongly to me in an emotional sense; it was taken in 2005 and is Untitled #696-05.

The image (below) is of a couple on the beach in an intimate embrace sharing a kiss. The image is clever because it keeps the viewer at a distance while letting us see the relationship between the two people. The beach is completely barren which emphasizes both the isolation of the couple and also intimacy. I think it’s a gorgeous captured scenario.

Information sourced from:

http://corehound.wordpress.com/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6827/The-Sublime

http://artandperception.com/2007/07/wanderer-in-a-sea-of-foggy-ideas.html

images sourced from:

http://www.orbit.zkm.de/?q=node/143

http://chinachapter.blogspot.com/2006/12/early-tuesday-morning-my-sister-and-i.html

http://butlersheetmetal.com/tinbasherblog/images/steel_buildings_cloudgate.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94981824@N00/4300691

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/apictureofbritain/images/home_front/turner_snowstorm.jpg

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/christo_runningfence.jpg

http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/uploads/Misrach1994_21.jpg

http://corehound.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/richardmisrach1.jpg

http://www.robertmann.com/artists/misrach/images/f_misrach13235.jpg

http://www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/martin.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Edwin_Church_001.jpg

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~silversmiths/makers/silversmiths/47553.htm

http://www.aperture.org/exposures/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/couple.jpg

week 5- Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler experiments with installation works, using mainly video projection onto flat and 3 dimensional surfaces e.g. dolls, balls, architecture and living/mobile surfaces such as treetops and clouds of steam. According to the artists website he has been said to have 'freed the video image from the "box."...creating a hybrid of art and cinema'. He is regarded as one of the unique, revolutionary contemporary artists of modern times. The curatorial focus of Tony Ourslers works from the past two decades has been the human head. The works present the notion of the head as the ‘permeable center of consciousness’. His installations also address the ebb and flow of natural and mental elements e.g. light, smoke, thoughts, impulses, language, voice, memory- all of which interact with the central icon the human head. The artists installations are influenced by the artists interest in our information and media society and its effect. The elements listed previously are expressive of this interest as they use video technology as the central medium and create a strong relationship with humanity through the subject matter (the human head and in particular the eye). I imagine the artist uses public reaction from his engaging work to further his understanding of technological effect on human thought.
Ourslers’ work "Eyes" is fascinating as it evokes both a curiosity and understanding of thoughts entering and being exuded from the human eye. large blinking eyeballs are floating like independent planets in the universe; this installation ‘points to the eye as an anatomical analogue of our desire for escapism through technology’ according to the artists website. I understand this to mean that the eye has the potential to transport the mind; ironic really, as the audiences’ mind is literally transported as we view his work whilst his work simultaneously communicates this meaning. His work “Eyes” can be seen in the image below.

Number 7, Plus or Minus 2

Particular concepts of the enlightenment can be applied to Ourslers’ work. Using his multiple burning cigarettes projection form 2009 (image below) the ideologies of reason, empiricism, science, universalism and progress can all be discussed. Reason and rationality can be applied as the work is immediately striking to the viewers’ conscience; smoking is known to impact negatively on human health and whether the viewer is a smoker or non smoker the work makes one consider the actual value of smoking. Empiricism is the idea that facts about the natural world can be apprehended through sense organs. In this case we cannot smell the cigarettes but we can see the process of them burning and instinctually predict that the product will be ash, we also instinctually sense heat from the large PVC cigarettes though it is not physically being produced. The transformation of the burning cigarette into ash is literally a scientific one, but science is also apparent in the work as it brings to mind the effect of smoking on human health, an awareness that scientific research has validated and spread. Different brands of cigarettes from all over the world are displayed, creating the idea that smoking is a universal behavior; this hence makes the work universally relevant. Perhaps awareness of the negative effects of smoking on the human body will be spread by this work, hence lessening the number of worldwide smokers, this in itself would be progress.

Marlboro, Winston, Parliament, American Spirit, Salem, 2009

Dimensions variable. PVC tubes, video projection

Reference:

http://www.tonyoursler.com/individual_work_slideshow.php?navItem=work&workId=8&startDateStr=Feb.%206,%202010&subSection=Installations&allTextFlg=false&title=Number%207,%20Plus%20or%20Minus%202

Extract from: Hamilton, P. (1992). The Enlightenment and the birth of social science, in Hall, S. & Gieben B. (eds.), Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Open University Press (pp. 21-22)