Blog Post #8
Yinka Shonibare was one of the artist that stood out to me in class this past week. I first of just enjoyed looking at his work. At first I was just drawn to the bright colors but as he began to speak about them I became even more infatuated with them as a whole piece. So I decided to do a little more reserch on him....
Shonibare examines in particular the construction of identity and tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories. Mixing Western art history and literature, he asks what constitutes our collective contemporary identity today. This is shown a lot in his headless sculptures that wearing Victorian style clothing that have African prints on them. "But actually, the fabrics are not really authentically African the way people think," says Shonibare. "They prove to have a crossbred cultural background quite of their own. And it’s the fallacy of that signification that I like. It’s the way I view culture it’s an artificial construct." Today the main exporters of 'African' fabric from Europe are based in Manchester in the UK and Vlisco from Helmond in the Netherlands. I personally loved how he was taking the things that he knew about history and art and mixed them all together to come up with these striking clothes. He also mentioned how he recreates scenes using these sculptures. I think the other element that I really like are the headless sculptures. I think not having a head allows you to picture yourself in the place of the person or to envision on your won what they will look like.
Today in class we talked about David Byrne. I thought that his work was interesting.I really like when artist make musical pieces that are interactive. To me it gives the viewer the feeling as though they are a great musician and are making the music that comes from within them come alive.
I also really enjoyed his Playing the Building. Part of the reason that I enjoy installations that make noise is that it takes a lot of time and understanding. You not only have to understand how sound is effected by space but how to manipulate the sound to get different noises. It is truly astounding. The other reason in which I loved this pieces is the fact that it all starts with a piano and moves outward to fill the entire room, and that you don't just hear the piano, he has incorporated other instruments like a flute. I would love to go there and compose my own little song.
Then we watched Stop Making Sense. I was blown away by this mind boggling show. At first I was not sure that I was going to like the video. The opening made me feel like I was watching a wanna be rock star at a high school talent show. However as the songs moved from one to the next it was clear that we were watching a genius. Even though it was done in the 80's I feel that today's generation could get into it and see the beauty that they presented. I think some of what made this video so amazing was the filming style of Jonathan Demme. I think that his lighting technique made it come alive in a whole new world. I also like how he had the change from one song to the next, by adding and taking away different people and elements of the stage. It made it more than just a concert but an art form. To me it was not just about the music but convey the emotion behind the music and making the audience apart of the performance.
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