Contemporary art is important. It is a art style that includes a lot more creative outlooks and more intense expression. The interesting part about contemporary art is it is meant to invoke a feeling or idea to the viewer just by looking at the piece they created. This can be done in many ways. We have seen artistic pieces that resent war or death, but we also see pieces that represent glee or excitement. These pieces have no set subject matter, and they have no set guidelines. It is completely up to the artist to create a piece of work that can be as different or creative as they feel while still being able to draw that emotion or thought from the viewer. I think contemporary art is a defining time within the art community and has a lot of importance in not just the art world but the rest of the world as well.
As much as I can appreciate and love art, there will always be exceptions to that. We’ve discussed how contemporary art ranges all over the place and can look very different. Now while I am capable of appreciating that, there are some times where even I cannot understand or see the true artistry presented in the work. Lets go over a few pieces that I don’t personally like.
“White on White” by Kazimir Malevich painted in 1918. This piece speaks for itself. No it is not just a blank canvas, the artist just took white paint and painted over an already white canvas. Truly I do not understand this piece and I think it is such a waste of space, not to be rude.
The next piece I want to focus on is called “My Bed” by Tracey Emin from 1998. This piece is supposed to have a deeper meaning for the artist, including underlying tones of depression and such. Personally though I just do not enjoy this piece. Looking at someones unkept and dirty bed whether it be an art piece or not really does nothing for me.
Lastly I wanted to talk about “Equivalent VIII” by Carl Andre in 1966. Another piece that I believe speaks for itself. I just think that whenever I look at this I just think of my basic woodshed class that was required in middle school. It just feels like a bored kid put these blocks together on the floor and took a photo. Personally I do not see what’s so artistic about this piece.
Today I wanted to look at some of the many materials that we see used in contemporary art. By now we know that there are many different types of art that we see defined as contemporary art so that means that honestly anything could be used to create art like this. Let me show you some examples.
Starting off with this piece we look at what is called “Georgia Granite Circle” by Richard Long in 1990. As you can see it is a literally a circle made up of a bunch of granite rocks. This art installation uses nothing but rocks yet still is considered a piece of art.
Next we look at “Hubcap Quilt” by Douglas Coupland in 2003. This piece of art is exactly what it looks like as well. it is a quilt that has hubcaps hanging off of it. This artist used common materials you’d find in your grandparents home to create this piece of work.
This piece is called “Selfless in the Bath of Lava” by Pipilotti Rist in 1994. Although it is not playing in my blog because this is just a snapshot of the actual piece of artwork, this is a video clip which falls under the digital media materials. It involves the use of green screen and other digital elements.
Lastly I wanted to talk about “Fathers Whisper” by Elmer Borlongan in 2006. This piece is a simple oil on canvas and I included this because it is what I believe MOST people think when they think of any type of artwork really. Yes contemporary art can be made up of crazy materials but it also can be made with some of the most simple and normal artistic materials we have.
I did not get to anywhere near the amount of materials that can be used in contemporary art. If I am being fully honest I believe anything can be used to create art. I just wanted to highlight how some of the weirdest or maybe even seemingly useless items can be used to create creative art.
The impact of contemporary art was huge. People really seem to enjoy viewing contemporary art because it can be so different and tends to also commentate on things without directly saying it. Sometimes it’s more discreet than other though. A lot of them can be ranging from commentating on war to commentating on society. The art tends to be intriguing and allowing of lots of different styles or ideas. Personally I enjoy contemporary art because of how different everything can be. Whether it be a huge pink solo cup or a shark that’s been forever kept in resin, the art is always crazy and always interesting. I just really appreciate the freedom of expression overall.
