Industrialisation and Art

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom. It then spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way. The earliest use of the term "Industrial Revolution" yet located seems to be a letter of 6 July 1799 by French envoy Louis-Guillaume Otto, announcing that the process had started in his country. Industrialism is an economic organization of society built largely on mechanized industry rather than agriculture, craftsmanship, or commerce.

Monet's painting 'Impression Sunrise'(1873) was painted of the sun seen through mist at the harbour of Le Havre when he was staying there in the spring of 1872. A sketch quickly executed to catch the atmospheric moment, it was cataloged as Impression. The word 'Impression' was not so unusual that it had never before been applied to works of art. It was first adopted by the artists themselves for their third group exhibition in 1877, though some disliked the label. It was dropped from two of the succeeding exhibitions as a result of disagreements. Monet's Impression was not in itself a work that need be regarded as the essential criterion of Impressionism. There are many works before and after that represent the aims and achievements of the movement more fully. Yet it has a particular lustre and interest in providing the movement with its name. Monet's painting relates to Industrialisation because it reflects the industrial revolution in a more literal way as it shows the harbour in the background. As the industrial revolution changed most aspects of everyday life, Monet's painting did too. This also shows the relation between Monet's painting and industrialisation.

Olafur Eliasson's, 'The Weather Project' takes this everywhere subject as the basis for exploring ideas about experience, mediation and representation. It was installed at the London's Tate Modern in 2003 as part of the Unilever series. The eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson famously remarked ‘It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm.’ The artwork represents the sun and sky and how they dominate the expanse of the Turbine Hall. A fine mist permeates the space, as if creeping in from the environment outside. Throughout the day, the mist accumulates into faint, cloud-like formations, before spreading across the space. A glance overhead, to see where the mist might escape, reveals that the ceiling of the Turbine Hall has disappeared and then replaced by a reflection of the space below. The arc repeated in the mirror overhead produces a sphere of dazzling radiance linking the real space with the reflection.


References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/first/impression/
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/eliasson/about.htm

Science and Progress - Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler works in several media, but he is best known for his eccentric and groundbreaking videos of eerily painted dummies. His art deals with topics from Multiple Personality Disorder to corporate power and media brainwashing.

Tony Oursler quotes, "I've never given up painting. My interest in video certainly came from a deep belief that an artist should try to work with the images of the moment, for lack of a better word. Or, in the medium of the moment. Still images did not really carry the cultural current that the moving image does. This is still true today. ts really digital activity that I'm involved with now. Video is really just an appendage of some sort of digital system, which is being defined and redefined all the time. Painting of course, allows for a deep exploration of two-dimensional space, which is a basis for any other kind of image construction."

Tony Oursler has used the medium of film to create his own unique sculptural aesthetic, taking the images out of the television box and making them function in three-dimensional space. A recurrent theme in Oursler's work is the way in which visual technologies influence and even modify our social and psychological selves. His practice continuously engages with popular culture and questions how systems of mechanical reproduction, like photography, film and television, have come to dictate not only the way we see the world, but also the ways that images are constructed. A key feature of his work is the ways in which the human body comes into play. The body functions through the encounter with the work.

Enlightenment in Oursler's work consists on the different ideas and materials he uses to present his work. As Oursler uses different materials, Science can be applied to his work because he uses projectors to show his work in 3D. Progress can apply to his work because as technology starts to grow and become more high-tech, Oursler will be able to produce even bigger and better things. Individualism also applies to Oursler's work because the work he produces is very unique and very different to other artists. This artwork that he produces individualizes Tony Oursler.

References:

http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/tony-oursler/cv/

http://images.google.co.nz/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=tony+oursler&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

http://www.tonyoursler.com/text.php?navItem=text&subsection=All%20Text&page=1

Fiona Hall's work and Mercantillism

Fiona Hall's contemporary work relates to the Renaissance concept of Mercantilism.
These works were part of an art show titled 'Force Field' which can be viewed in one of the exhibition spaces on You-tube - Part Three: Fiona Hall: Force Field.

Mercantilism is an economic theory considered to be a form of economic nationalism that holds the prosperity of a nation. It is dependent upon its supply of capital and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable". Economic assets (or capital) are represented by bullion (gold, silver, and trade value) held by the state, which is best increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations (exports minus imports).
Mercantilism developed at a time when the European economy was in transition. Between the 1500s and the 1700s, many European states wanted to expand business at home, export more goods than they imported and increase foreign trade. Countries often used mercantilism to control and to protect their industries. For example, England wanted to protect the sale of woolens which was its main industry. As a result, in the 1400s, England barred all foreign wool and silk from entering the country. During the late 1500s, England used money and market restrictions to attract foreign craftsmen's to start new businesses. Throughout the rest of the world, mercantilism has been pursued, most successfully in Asia.

Leaf Litter, from 2000 was exhibited alongside Tender, from 2003-05. Both pieces deal with the conflicted role that money plays in contemporary and multicultural society and how it contrasts the socialized concept of money, with natural, organic items. As the images above show, respectively leaves and bird nests.

Looking at the pieces - Leaf Litter and Tender, they investigate the interrelationships between the natural world and the commercial world while money is the bottom line in our contemporary economy and overrides crucial environmental concerns, plants are often the raw material for generating income. (Money made from paper is also produced from plants).

Leaf Litter consists of a number of individual elements made of bank notes from different countries joined together to form panels. On the bank notes, Fiona Hall draws leaves that represent a native plant from the country of origin. These plants have become endangered as a result of economic pressures to grow commercial crops. And Tender is dozens of fragile birds' nests made from shredded United States dollar bills'. The leaves are transparent in places so that the person on the note underneath shows through. These multiple sheets are held together with paper tape on the back, which when hung on a wall allows the lower part to move.

Looking at the piece - Tender, as the saying goes, "money doesn't grow on trees" Fiona explains that there are some things that no amount of money can buy.

References:

http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/840/

http://www.google.co.nz/images?hl=en&gbv=2&q=fiona+hall+tender&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=FIDWS7yHG4KkswPEhZnwAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CB0QsAQwAw

http://nga.gov.au/federation/Detail.cfm?WorkID=26201