Redefinitions

Hi Everyone,

Before anything else, I would like to thank you all for following my blog for nearly four months now. Viewing my stats, and realizing that my posts are being read at various places in the world gives me a lot of inspiration. I like to believe that the data I collect and the observations I share prove useful for everyone who is interested in contemporary art, or wishes to have a peek at today's artistic sphere.

Today's blog entry will be dedicated to two incredibly resourceful artists, both of whom likes to reinvent or redefine everyday objects, and challenge the widely received meaning they carry. Alan Sailer mainly thinks in the frame of l'art pour l'art, while Zbigniew Libera's works usually convey messages which are preoccupied with social and cultural tendencies and stereotypes.

Alan Sailer: High-speed Photographs

Here is an artist who gives a new definition to the expression "trigger happy." The 54 year-old photographer, who lives in California, found his individual path in the field of the art of destruction. A photo shoot, according to his notions, is not just a figurative phrase anymore. So much the more as his hobbyhorse and specialty is to shoot everyday objects with an air rifle and take high-speed pictures of them. He shoots his targets from a close-up position: he is only 20 centimeters away from the object he aims at in his dark "laboratory." The special effect that his camera features is a homemade flash which is set at a one-second delay and thus gives a heart-stoppingly detailed picture of the disassembling targets. The result is spectacular and dramatic, since the artist rips wide open the heart and essence of everyday objects like vegetables, fruits, or bibelots.

His art is not only complex on a visual level: he has to master the cold technicalities of professional photography as well to get the maximized effect from his ephemeral targets, which explode within seconds after Sailer's bullet enters them. "The camera is set at one second and an f-stop of 9-13 depending on the reflectivity of the subject. The flash stops the action. The one second gives me time to click the camera shutter with one hand while I pull the trigger on the rifle with the other," he explained in an interview.

His expectations regarding the chosen objects sometimes put him in predicates which typically resemble the dilemmas of conceptual artists. Namely that from time to time, he enjoys the idea of an artwork more than the result itself. His photograph, It's a bit runny, for instance, is based on a Monty Python episode where the comedians say: "Ah, we do have some Camembert, sir... It's a bit runny, sir..." Still, Sailer is not quite satisfied with his execution of the idea; yet, he publishes the image, since it is based on a valuable and cherished concept. Although he's a maximalist, his artworks show that even mundane everyday objects can be turned into pieces of art with a pinch of creativity and vision.

You can indulge in the visual delight Sailer's ingenious photographic vandalism offers if you check his works on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8763834@N02/

Zbigniew Libera: Ken's Aunt

Libera has been widely infamous for changing tiny details regarding the concept behind acclaimed toys, and turning everything, including the audience, upside down with his twisted mind ever since he made the Lego Concentration Camp series. The effect of his work, Ken's Aunt, is no different. His piece incorporates 24 plus-sized Barbie dolls stored in cardboard boxes, undermining the general catchiness of the glamorous Mattel dolls who otherwise breathe the crystal-clear air of perfection through their cautiously colored lips.

The plump Barbies, who still have the charming facial features of the original blonde bombshell, are tooled up with luscious hips, busoms, and a "swim ring" of fat around their waist which rather resemble the proportions of the fleshy fantasy female team Rubens liked to spend his freetime with. Also, as their name indicates, they are more mature than their anorexic little sisters, which the artist emphasizes with the somewhat old-fashioned undergarments they wear as well. This rethinked doll is apparently much more of a cuddly Auntie who locks unprepared adolescents into her suffocative hug during family visits than the hardly-disguised hourglass-shaped sex toy it used to be.

The acid idea clearly rebels against society's standard aesthetic values which blunt the body image of women and girls at a very early age. Although the overweight, yet voluptious Aunties seem quite shocking to the audience, their body shape is curiously much closer to the everyday female body than the skinny blonde's, whose waist is so slim that it could hardly bear the weight of her shapely breasts. Thus, although Libera's toys appear to be non-canonical, if one thinks the situation through more profoundly, they must realize that either a great percentage of real life (and real sized) women live outside the norm of attractiveness, or it is the dolls of Mattel that are unrealistic.

"My ability to work with objects is taken from everyday urban contemporary life. In my study of the development of correctional devices and educational toys, I see such devices reveal more about a society and its mechanisms for creating and enforcing its norms than any study of society could," the artist himself stated about the concept which lies behind his artwork.

"I wanted to inject an internal "virus" which would disjoin the object and the domain in which it operates," Libera said.

Mission accomplished. At least in Barbie World.

Spring Exhibits II.

Spring is a very special season for young contemporary artists, since the winners of the Derkovits Bursary are announced at this time of the year. This acclaimed award is a very significant one, as it is the only federal award which is intended to support entrant artists under the age of 35.) Although the idea of the bursary is an unparalleled one in Hungary, the total sum of money that these beginning artists are given is a fairly modest one (eighty thousand forints per eleven months.) Still, it is better than nothing, and besides the money, it means a real prestige for a young artist to partake in the Derkovits Bursary, particularly in light of the fact that there are approximately two hundred applicants each year. Moreover, it is a great improvement compared to the previous years that the artists are allowed to participate in other exhibitions and projects as well.

As usual, the three classes of the previous year's winners have an exhibition in Ernst Múzeum at springtime. The current exhibit was opened at 9 April, and it features a wide array of colorful works both stylistically and with regards to their genre.
As the critiques observed, the artworks of this year are unusually mature and conscious regarding their themes and construction. The majority of them show a chaotic, yet witty blend of techniques, resulting in astounding and inventive pieces. However, the best of them do not only remain on the playground, but take a look at the street as well: there are several works which carry a strong social connotation as well, and thus leaves the grounds of l'art pour l'art. As some experts indicate, this could freshen and energize the Hungarian artistic arena.

Even though the versatile and playful exhibition promotes an incredible amount of works, which have a blurry conversation with each other and the visitor, there are no particular pieces which are emphasized in the exhibit. All the artworks exist in the same space and in the same time with equal importance.
Although it is pretty hard to choose from them, I selected two specific artists and their works to present in my blog. One of them is Germán Fatime, and her salacious collages regarding the female body and its treatment by society and the media, while the other one is Koralevics Rita, whose creative and voluble installations just crave analysis.



Germán Fatime: No Fur

This artist usually creates works which are constructed with flawless technique, but their greatest strength is the complex layer of the messages they carry. Stylistically, the works' biggest achievement is the spontaneity and the well-hid deliberation they manage to amalgam. Contentwise, they usually explore female roles and stereotypes. Although the image they convey concerning the social conceptions about contemporary women is often sharp-fanged, the sense of humor they are constructed with always protects them from becoming too acerbic or narrow-minded.
Germán Fatime's series, No Fur, is made with diverse techniques, and reflects on the distorted body image that the media transmits about the ideal state of the female body. Her works are ironic presentations of the prescribed beauty today's people base their expectations on.


Koralevics Rita: Dobozolt terhek (Boxed Loads)

The artist's series, Boxed Loads, mainly transforms everyday articles of personal use into artworks which have a strong aesthetical emanation and significance. Her installations of crowded rooms, or rooms with conspicuous absences reflect on contemporary familial and romantic relationships. There is a sense of distortion she depicts: the realistic elements become surreal, while the surrealistic parts seem natural. Furthermore, her pieces circuit around the current concept of "home" in a world where everything is mobilized and transitory. As she herself claimed, these installations are also leads for her to find her roots and a state of stability in her life.

Anyone who wishes to have an accurate picture about the new generation of today's contemporary artists and the artistic sphere itself should go visit the exhibition which will be open till 29 May.