Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta was born on November 18, 1948 and died on September 8, 1985. She was a Cuban-American artist. Mendieta’s work was comprised of performance art and “earth-body” sculptural, photographic, and video work. Her work is considered to be strongly feminist. Her work is also considered to be a bit autobiographical as well. At first her theme was violence against the female body. She later focused on spiritual and physical connections with the land.

            Mendieta is most known for her “Silueta Series.” This series exemplifies her fascination for the study of “ancient cultures, cross-cultural archetypes, and engagements with themes of gender and identity.” In these pieces she outlined the earth with her body and used leaves, twigs, blood, and other organic materials. I really like these pieces because she literally inscribed herself into nature.

Stelarc

            Stelarc is an Australian performance artist. This work mainly focuses on the capabilities of the human body. The major theme of his work is “the human body is obsolete.” His performance includes robotics and modern technology combined with his body. He practices flesh hook suspension, which is where his body would be raised solely by hooks.  He has also performed with a robotic arm and has let his body be controlled remotely by electronic muscle stimulators, which were connected to the internet.

            I really like Stelarc’s work because he pushes the limits of his body by using technology. In a way he is very similar to Marina Abramovic. She tested her body’s limits as well. However Stelarc uses technology and to me he is in a way cleverer than Abramovic when he tests the limits of his body. His flesh hook suspensions seemed really extreme to me. He literally would pierce his skin with hooks and suspend himself. I also thought it was interesting that he created a “third ear” by surgically putting it in his left arm.

James Turrell

James Turrell was born on May 6, 1943 in Los Angeles. He is an American land and earth artist who shows themes of light and space in his work. His work is meant to impact the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. His work is meant to allow the audience see themselves “seeing.” Turrell stated he wants to use his eyes to penetrate space.

            One of Turrell’s pieces is called “Gather Light” 2006. He uses L.E.D. light, etched glass, and shallow space. By looking at his work I can clearly see his fascination with light. The majority of his work is with light and glass and it feels as if you are in a way looking towards the future. His work is meant to be related to his personal and inward search for mankind’s place in the universe. Knowing this, I can see it in his work. His work is simple but it makes his message just that much bolder.

Farmlab

Farmlab ended up being completely different from what I had expected. At first I was not even sure if I was in the right place until I called Farmlab and asked where they were specifically located. When I found it and walked in I was surprised that it wasn’t a museum at all. The art pieces inside could be best described as random. I was taking pictures at first however one of the people there told me I was not allowed to take pictures because the artists would need credit for their work. One of the pieces that I was actually able to take a picture of was a car filled with dirt and with plants growing inside it. I really liked the message this piece gave me. I thought of how cars are actually bad for the environment and it was just really thought provoking to see the car with plants inside it. Besides that I did not really see much else that interested me while I was there.

Vanessa Beecroft

Vanessa Beecroft was born on April 25, 1969. She is an Italian contemporary artist and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her work is mostly comprised of large-scale performance art. She usually uses live female models that are often nude. Her work can be described as close to a Renaissance painting and in between a performance and documentary. Her performances are made for specific locations and have references, which are political, historical, etc. The women in her performances were often nude and were similar to each other through details such as hair color or identical shoes. In her more recent works her models are clothed and take on a more theatrical approach in the performances.

One of Beecroft’s works that I was particularly interested in is VB61 Still Death! Darfur Still Deaf? This performance involved thirty Sudanese women and lasted three hours. Thirty Sudanese women lied facedown on a white canvas. They positioned their bodies to look as if they were dead bodies piled on top of one another. The bodies were darkened with make-up and the women’s bodies were covered with a red stroke of paint. The women stayed motionless and kept their eyes shut. This work was really thought provoking to me because Beecroft was showing the death that is going on in Darfur. I liked how she made the models look dark and then used a bold red color that emulated blood.

Earth Art Project

For my project I decided to choose land or earth art. I attempted to create a small scale version of the Spiral Jetty by using rocks. I was not able to add water because the dirt would turn into mud and the rocks would not show so I tried to make a small scale land version of the Spiral Jetty as opposed to the original which is under water.

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy was born on July 26, 1956. He is a British sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist. He produces sculptures and land art in their original land settings. His work often includes brightly colored flowers, icicles, leaves, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs and thorns. He also practices rock balancing which is an art in which the artist would take rocks and balance them on top of one another in different types of positions. For a lot of his work, Goldsworthy uses his bare hands, teeth, and found tools to create his art. For his permanent sculptures he uses machinery.

One of his works that I really found interesting was a sculpture he created out of ice. On a bright sunny morning Goldsworthy cut a slab of risen snow. He scraped away at it with a stick creating a circular design. The circular design carved in the snow was just short of breaking through meaning that if one were to touch it it would break. I really like how the majority of his work is really detailed and this piece demonstrates that. He scraped away at the ice carefully and he put in a lot of detail. I also really think it is interesting how he only creates sculptures with materials found in its original settings.