Anna's Fine Art Dissertation Blog

[annasfineartdissertation]

Finally, a printed version of my dissertation

Despite the fact that printshop messed up a bit with the first pages (first 3 pages have the title, instead 2 pages), the outcome is still nice. Printed version looks simple and clean, exactly as I wanted it to be. 

[annasfineartdissertation]

Thesis Design

Some screenshots of InDesign process. I looked through the other Fine Art dissertations and was very surprised with their visual appearance. The lack of designing knowledge, time or desire - I am not sure what is the reason why Fine Art students tend not to care about the visual aesthetics of their work.

I am not a designer but I did the best I could to make my dissertation a bit more visually interesting. I chose a very minimalistic cover while the actual work is more visually busy. The page layout is structured in 2 columns separated by a line which provides more of a magazine look rather than an academic paper.

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Jan Pfeiffer - VALS

Jan Pfeiffer - VALS

Jan Pfeiffer was giving a lecture at Prague College and I am glad I got a chance to become acquainted with his body of work that includes video, photography, animation, and drawing. Despite this big variety of medium Jan works with, one can clearly see certain similarities in visual and technical style of his projects.

It is noticeable that the artist has a particular interest in mythological and religious symbolism. Although these themes seem far from my interests, it was nice to hear a totally different opinion and approach. A lot of Pfeiffer’s works are somehow connected to performance art. Often enough one can see theatrical or even cinematic elements in his work. I am not a fan of neither exaggerated play of actors, nor long ‘too deep’ meaningful dramatic actions. But I think it’s just a matter of taste.

I really enjoyed his hand-drawn works. A3 format, pencil and attentive attitude towards perspective — those are the features that caught my eye in Jan’s hand-drawn animation Before I Was There (2008) about Sofia. Jan stated, that he produced this animation before he visited the place or saw any photos of it. Before I Was There is based just on Jan’s personal observations of other cities of post-totalitarian countries. He said, that his primary focus was to show the influence of communism on contemporary appearance of Sofia. His style is obviously very academic, even closer to architectural drawing which has its place in my life as I was studying drawing for 12 years under the professor of architecture. 

[annasfineartdissertation]

Art History Seminar - Cubism/Futurism

(from my notes)

Braque’s Piano and Mandolin (1909) is considered to be a ‘proper’ cubist work.

But there is something different about Albert Gleizes’ The Chasse (1911). The edges are softer and the scene is not usual for Cubism.

The very same movement is evident in Marie Laurencin painting Le Bal élégant, La Danse à la campagne (1913).

Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (1912) is one of his last paintings. The sense of movement is present here also. He focuses on structure, which is a very cubistic thing to do, but Duchamp takes it further.

Futurism

The first futurist activity occurred in 1909-1912.

Futurist manifesto — means that we are stuck, and we need to move forward, going against something. The author: the world is moving, the world is changing, the art must too, in order to be beautiful.

Giacomo Balla’s A Workers Day (1904),

Giacomo Balla’s Lunar Park (1900),

Umberto Boccionni’s The City Rises (1910),

— all these paintings have a lot of movement. They still make use of impressionist technique, subjective colour and modern scenes. These paintings are considered to be intermedia works, not yet Futurism.

State of Mind: Farewells (1911) by Boccioni has some similarities with Cubism — it still has black grid on top, but here cubist grid is combined with the mixture of loose brush strokes. It is a modern scene, but dynamism which is present in this work refers to Futurism.

Dynamism of Giacomo Balla’s Dog on a leash (1912) ones again underlines futuristic obsession with the movement.

One year later (1913) Giacomo Balla introduced his painting Swifts: Paths of movement to the world. Cubism became just an element in here, not the main feature. Giacomo pushes painting one step further when trying to depict the movement of the bird.

Swifts: Paths of movement has a connection to Eadweard Muybridge’s work of 1887 when he was exploring the movement by trying to photo capture a moving bird.

Futurist photographers Anton Giulio and Arturo Bragaglia developed a method of capturing movement they called Photodynamism. Their work Bow (1911) is a poly-phase portrait. Bragaglia brothers were working with the movement and wanted to join the Futurist group, but Boccioni railed against them in his movement because he considered their work as a trivial extension of the old realist painting. He got to recommend to his friends and colleagues to abstain from ‘any contact with the photodynamic by Bragaglia’ and he issued a notice on the Futurist magazine ‘Lacerba’ stating that trials of Photodynamism do not have anything to do with art.

In Dynamism of a car (1913) Luigi Russolo depicted a very futuristic subject - a car, which, of course, is embraced by the movement on the canvas.

In his Line of speed (1913), Giacomo Balla was asking: how can I paint the force of movement? Here is the outcome: 

Lots of futurists died in WW1 as they signed up to fight in war as they believed that conflict is natural and leads to something new (they were obsessed with explosions). But the movement didn’t last for long, as Mussolini was not supporting their art 

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Art History Seminar - Impressionism/Cubism

(from my notes)

1863 - Salon of refused, organized by the salon

Manet - one of the major figures

1874 - first impressionist exhibition, totally private exhibition, no Salon involved

Distinctive features of Impressionism:

Impressionists rejected traditional perspective, moved towards a flat one instead. They tried to make an illusion of movement on the canvas by leaving visible individual brushstrokes.

Impressionists didn’t care about academia, they used exaggerated colours, put cool and warm colours next to each other in order to intensify pigments. This impressionist's painting technique is called 'Broken colour' and is evident in Monet’s sunrise and sunset scenes.

Impressionists raised subjectivity, they didn't try to idealize the world but intended to interpret it in their own way.

Impressionists also emphasized a play of natural light. They paid close attention to the reflection of colours from object to object. Painters often worked in the evening to produce effets de soir—the shadowy effects of evening or twilight. This can be observed in Mary Cassatt’s At the Theatre.

The influence of Japan and ukiyo-e is indisputable: depiction of everyday-life, domestic scenes, solid bold colours, flat perspective, illustrational effect.

Impressionists were trying to capture the life of the modern public as it is and landscapes, despite the fact that it was an academical topic, impressionists painted them in a different way.

Eiffel Tower George Seurat 1887 — he is mainly accosted with pointillism (divisionism). painting is made of separate distinct colour dots, which are applied in patterns to form an image. The process is very different from classical painting.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886) Georges-Pierre Seurat.

At the same time, Michel Eugene Chevreul published an article about simultaneous contrast. He referred to the manner in which the colours of two different objects affect each other. The effect is more noticeable when shared between objects of complementary colour.

Notre-Dame (1902) by Henri Matisse — forms look solid, uniform colour scheme, Matisse limited his colour palette and at the same time emphasized it.

In his View of Collioure (1905) he wants the viewer to think about the combination of colours, not about the landscape.

La dance (1909) — something more solid, limited and bold colour palette, decorative field.

The red room (harmony in blue) 1908— sensations that viewer gets from those colours, huge saturating red. Everything becomes stylized in the work of Matisse and this leads to Fauvism.

Van Gogh’s The Night Cafe (1888) — impressionists love colour, Van Gogh is not an exception. Weird perspective, he is not concerned about bringing a real traditional perspective. Intense electric lights (we assume that it’s night), one figure standing alone, these people are not having fun (no moulin rouge and dancing), rough subject matter. True rage and unhappiness. A depressing scene, artist expresses his own experience of the world.

Tree Roots (1890) — pattern brushstrokes, the main attraction here is the unique treatment of colour, takes us away from the actual subject of matter.

Woman Rocking a Cradle (1889) — Japonism, Van Gogh was collecting the prints as well.   

Van Gogh came out Impressionism but actually started Expressionism.

Paul Gauguin (was a friend of Van Gogh, but due to Van Gogh’s mental issues, they couldn’t get along) — Yellow Christ (1889) — spiritual themes (even though these religious themes were rejected by modernists). The skin tone is yellow, an impressionistic set of colours on the background, fictionalized scene (figures around Christ are not from Bible).

Orana Maria (1892) by Paul Gauguin— no so flat, it’s darker, the palette is much more controlled, he became very tired with European culture and life. He went travelling to Tahiti, he did this twice. This is a traditional Christian scene. Nibs and Mary with Jesus on the right, tropical approach. 

Matamoe, Landscape with Peacocks (1892) — Unleashed colour palette. He was suggesting a purer way of living than in Pari, he wanted to go away from modernity. He wanted to escape modernity. This evolved into Primitivism.

Still life with Cupid (1895) by Paul Cezanne — he was exploring a new style, he was interested to play with the perspective. Unnatural position of the leg on the background — like he is looking on the statue while moving around. Cupid’s head looks too big, back of the room, like he was studying the perspective. He tried to put different perspectives of one object to one canvas. 

Cezanne’s works from the 1890s are mainly still lives but all of them are messing with perspective. Several perspectives collide in one image. He is not interested in colour but rather in structure.

Cezanne Mt. Saint Victorie — a place he painted several times (1885 - 1904) — technique is different. He is still looking on the colours but separating the image to a different patch of colour. How he might look in colour can be a building block. Patchwork of colours. He is interested in colour, but not like other participants of the movement.

In 1905 Cezanne relies just on colour building blocks. He wanted to break the image and put it back together again, restructure it. Deconstruction.

Cezanne had a solo exhibition in first decade of 20th century, Picasso and Braque were discussing how can they develop Cezanne’s study of the perspective.

Cubism 

Houses L’Estaque (1908) by Braque — same painting style of Cezanne but much more rigid.

Factory at Horta (1909) by Picasso — more geometric shapes, divisions of colour but even more extreme. He uses the lines to divide the structure more strictly. All the compartments of the painting have a different light effect, strictly shifting perspective in each compartment.

Picasso, Demoiselle d'Avignon (1907-1909)— proto cubist work — is widely seen as a transition between Cezanne obsession and Cubism. Non-depth of the bodies, brushstrokes on foot. The painting looks unfinished in some ways, it's clearly an experimental painting. Head on the right is turned on 360-degree — unrealistic position of the body and head. A strong impression of 2 figures on the right: they look like masks; Picasso was collecting African masks. Matisse introduced Picasso to his collection of masks. Colonial backdrop — Picasso, Matisse all of them were collecting or interested in African masks and other artefacts (just like impressionists were interested in Japanese prints). 

Cubism takes multiple perspectives and compresses them in on one image.

Influence of African masks in Picasso’s work: Chokwe Mask 19th century vs Head of Woman Picasso (1907).

Those masks had strong geometric features, suggesting a human face, stylized and distorted. Picasso, who studied Cezanne’s work, was extremely interested in structure of African masks.

[annasfineartdissertation]

Sources Part 2

Source 5:

A Brief History of Installation Art by Heather Harvey

https://artsmagazine.info/articles.php?view=detail&id=201007251946141353

This short article is very descriptive and, probably, even naive. The author writes about installation art as it was her child, no critics at all. But she briefly mentions spiritual experience.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, though, something distinctly new begins to occur in visual art. Some artists start to question the Renaissance traditions. They are no longer convinced that the best art is necessarily the most realistic. These avant-garde artists look for new approaches and new potentials. They feel that the virtuosic realism of the Renaissance tradition has grown stale and overly academic. It has lost its power to inspire, awe, or surprise. The avant-garde artists hope to reclaim this power by exploring states of mind, emotions, psychological or spiritual experience, political aspirations, and philosophical insights in their art. They begin to intuit that abstraction and other expressive approaches are capable of conveying these sorts of poignant, important, and ephemeral truths.

Heather Harvey opens a very interesting question (not deliberately, I assume). She writes:

Installation also releases artists from the typical constraints of the art market because most installation art is difficult to sell or collect. So artists worry less about the dollar value of their art and concentrate on the meaning and experiences they are creating. This allows them to return once again to the roots of art — to inspire, transform, rethink, and contemplate the human condition.

Source 6:

THE IMMERSIVE ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE AND THE EXPLOITATION OF SPACE by Bonnie Mitchell

https://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ca10_s3paper2.pdf

The paper mostly focuses on virtual reality system. The author also talks about early installation art. Here are some quotes:

Over the past fifty years, artists have explored the computer’s potential to create both virtual and physical art forms that embrace the concept of space. Through the use of immersion, interaction, and manipulation of both virtual and physical space, computer artists have created powerful aesthetic environments that enable audiences to experience alternative realities. Immersive installations that respond the human body and online multi-user virtual environments such as Second Life satisfy the viewer’s inherent desire to escape physical reality and become part of the art experience itself.

***

In 1968, Ivan Sutherland created a virtual reality system that gave the user the ability to occupy the same “space” as a computer-generated wire-frame object. Through the use of a head- mounted display, the user was able to interact with and manipulate the object. This revolutionary experiment paved the way for artists, such as Myron Krueger, who developed a series of art installations that strived to embrace and mimic real world interaction. Krueger coined the term “Artificial Reality” to describe a new genre of work in which the user’s physical body influenced the unfolding of meaning in the work of art. From his earliest interactive artworks, “Glowflow” and “Videoplace” in 1969, to his experiments in the 90’s with hand-gesture interfaces, Krueger strove to create responsive environments that used computer-mediated physical space to construct the aesthetic experience. [7] According to Noah Wardrip-Fruin, the art community at first rejected Krueger’s work, possibly because it focused on “response” rather than the creation of aesthetic objects. During this same period, however, Allan Kaprow, an artist already accepted as a member of the fine art community received applause for his rejection of the physical object. [15]

***

Fascination with constructed reality appears to be inherent in the human psyche. From the beginning of recorded history, humans have engaged in storytelling. Cave paintings, petroglyphs, ancient artifacts and rituals mirror our contemporary obsession with worlds that extend beyond our concrete physical environment. An inherent desire to experience that which transcends our physical confinement to limited environments, has resulted in the popularity of books, movies, television, video games, theatre, and other forms of escapism. 

When coupled with the ability to directly affect the outcome of the experience by utilizing our bodies as an interface, the constructed world comes closer to mimicking the real world. If one of early computer art’s goals was to create worlds such as the nursery and holodeck, fifty years later we have still completely missed the mark. Although there are research projects and artistic endeavours that still seek to create virtual spaces indistinguishable from physically real spaces, new directions have emerged, spurred on by technical and philosophical issues resulting from past attempts to create such spaces.

***

Through their nascent efforts to create intelligent, holodeck-like spaces, artists and computer scientists have discovered that human perception of reality relies on a large, complex combination of factors. In the past fifty years, many of these factors were employed in a variety of ways to create aesthetic experiences that differ markedly from original attempts at virtual realism. The sensation of “being there” depends heavily upon sensory absorption within the environment. One must feel immersed in the space and physically a part of it. Sensory immersion is fundamental to our relationship with the natural environment.

Capitalizing on the psychological power of immersion, contemporary artists have created immersive spaces that enable the audience to escape to other realms and experience genuine emotional responses. The power of artistic illusion, as well as the human desire to create realities within realities, enables us to suspend our belief in our physically situated world and accept artificial constructs. Our obsession with video games, short stories and films demonstrates our desire to enter symbolic space and actively engage with alternate realities. In The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality, Michael Heim asks, “Are not all worlds symbolic? Including the one we naively refer to as the real world, which we read off with our physical senses?”

***

Through the definition, creation, and manipulation of both virtual and physical space, computer artists have created powerful aesthetic environments that enable audiences to experience alternative realities. 

Source 7:

A History of Installation Art and the Development of New Art Forms : Technology and the Hermeneutics of Time and Space in Modern and Postmodern Art from Cubism to Installation by Faye Ran

I think that this book will be helpful for writing the second part of the thesis body, where I’m planning to talk about Installation art, its history, development and influences. 

Today Installation art has moved from its position as experimental practice, into the mainstream of Contemporary art practice. Navigating the currents of Modern and Postmodern art, author Faye Ran provides a historical framework for the understanding of Installation, and much else besides. 

The onset of Modernity through the industrial revolution coincides with disappearance of ‘lived time’ which is replaced by consumable time. In the author argues, technology is the single most important factor of in modernism and the avant-garde. Multiple (and reproducible) of time and space are offered by photography and film, quite unrelated to the experience of our lives. In short, as technologies change, conceptions of time and space are altered and, as a result, art changes.

According to Faye Ran, modernist critics, among them Benjamin, Mumford, and later Fried address the artwork through form and aesthetic experience, locating it as unique and specialized, whereas Postmodern theories revolve around context, and material and social relationships. Ran’s account covers an amazing amount of ground, zigzagging through a wide array of ideas and cultural materials, yet, all the while, she approaches installation art, her final frontier.

Source 8:

Changing Space: Virtual Reality as an Arena of Embodied Being by Char Davies

http://www.immersence.com/publications/char/1998-CD-Virtual_Dimension.html

Despite the fact that the author’s main focus is virtual reality, he discusses experience of ‘changing space’ from psychological perspective.

Thirty years ago, in The Poetics of Space, the philosopher Gaston Bachelard examined the psychologically transformative potential of "real" environments like the desert, the plains, and the deep sea, immense open spaces unlike the urban environments to which most of us are accustomed:

By changing space, by leaving the space of one's usual sensibilities, one enters into communication with a space that is psychically innovating. … For we do not change place, we change our nature.[3]

Char Davies quotes Arthur Deikman's (was a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California) ‘Deautomatization and the Mystic Experience’, where Deikman suggests a concept of Deautomatization. This concept derived from Hartmann's discussion of the automatization of motor behaviour: "In well-established achievements, they (motor apparatuses) function automatically: the integration of the somatic systems involved in the action is automatized, and so is the integration of the individual mental acts involved in it. With increasing exercise of the action its intermediate steps disappear from consciousness . . . not only motor behaviour but perception and thinking, too, show automatization."

Bachelard's poetic insight into the psychological effects of "changing space" is echoed by psychologists documenting the effects of traditional contemplative practices in terms of altering states of consciousness. According to Arthur Deikman's "Deautomatization and the Mystic Experience," the conditions fostered by such practices involve a dehabituating or "deautomatizing" of perceptual sensibilities.

Deautomatization is an undoing of psychic structure permitting the experience of increased detail and sensation at the price of requiring more attention. With such attention, it is possible that deautomatization may permit the awareness of new dimensions of the total stimulus array—a process of "perceptual expansion."

… Deautomatization is here conceived as permitting the adult to attain a new, fresh perception of the world by freeing him from a stereotyped organization built up over the years and by allowing adult synthetic functions access to fresh materials.

… The general process of deautomatization would seem of great potential usefulness whenever it is desired to break free from an old pattern in order to achieve a new experience of the same stimulus or to open a perceptual avenue to stimuli never experienced before.[4]

This dehabituating of perception tends to occur as a result of certain psychological conditions, such as when the participant's attention is intensified and is directed toward sensory pathways; when there is an absence of controlled, analytic thought; and when the participant's attitude is one of receptivity to stimuli rather than defensiveness or suspicion.[5]

Most often attained through rigorous training in age-old meditation techniques (drug-induced experiences are outside the scope of this essay), such conditions lead to an undoing of habitual perceptions—in favour of alternative sensibilities. While these may be less efficient in terms of biological or psychological survival, psychologists believe that they permit experience of aspects of reality previously ignored.

In terms of Installation art, artists mainly work with familiar objects/materials, giving them a new form and meaning. Thus the 'familiar' becomes the unusual. 

This creates room for other modes of perception: instead of the mind being on autopilot it begins to pay attention, in the present, to what is unusual and unknown.

[annasfineartdissertation]

Art History Seminar - Modern Art

On today’s class of Art History, we were talking about Modernity — a historical period, and Modernism — the expression of the modernity conditions. Modern artists rejected traditional values and techniques and emphasized the importance of individual experience.

In an era characterized by industrialization, rapid social change (rising middle-class), and advances in science and the social sciences (Freudian theory), secularization (in sociology, the process of cultural transition away from religious values. Reduction of the role of religion in society; a transition from a society governed primarily by religious tradition to a secular model of social order based on rational norms). Modernists felt a growing alienation incompatible with Victorian morality, optimism, and convention. New ideas in psychology, philosophy, and political theory spark a search for new modes of expression.

The exhibition of Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) in 1863 is characteristically regarded as the beginning of Modern Art. Manet depicted a nude young woman in the foreground, another one in the background and among two men dressed in civilian clothes.

Paris Salon refused this painting, but Manet agreed to exhibit it at the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) which was a parallel exhibition to the official Salon.

The painting was severely criticised: Luncheon on the grass was considered pornographic, and, in addition, Edouard Manet was considered to be an awful painter, because he used spots of colour, left some parts 'unfinished' and changed 'classical' perspective.

In this painting, Manet questioned two major accepted norms of the traditional painting: that art should feature lofty themes and figures of historical importance and should present a scene according to classical perspective (i.e. so a painting was a convincing presentation of three-dimensional reality in two dimensions). The Luncheon on the grass is an explosive painting which changed the rules forever.

In contrast to the Renaissance works where nude women are goddesses and nymphs, in Luncheon on the Grass, the women are not idealized and the woman in the foreground of the painting is clearly a contemporary woman, naked and shamelessly looking on the viewer; in a company of two completely dressed men, as the picture’s allusion to sex (Manet allegedly nicknamed this painting “la petite carée,” which can translate to “the foursome” in French).

Manet is constantly playing with the techniques of painting, leaving some parts intentionally unfinished, that’s why his work looks like a painting; before, painting was used just to make an illusion of the reality. Some parts are painted just in one layer, the other though, depicted with a greater detail. The still-life on the bottom left, for instance, is sensual and detailed for a reason; fruits and alcohol were spilt over, hinting that people on the painting were having a good time. And last, but not least, parks at the time in Paris were well-known for being locations for prostitution, quite common in France at the time at all levels of society.

Manet’s presentation of contemporary figures and subjects realized the call of writer Charles Baudelaire, who in his 1859 essay, “The Painter of Modern Life,” asked for an art of modern life, modern subjects and a modernization of classical subject matter, such as the nude.

The way in which Manet painted the Déjeuner—rather than its imagery—is what made it the most groundbreaking and modern. It questioned so many accepted notions about how a painting was supposed to be created. To begin with, look closely at the whole work and it becomes quickly apparent that Manet is unconcerned with creating the illusion of a real-life space, and furthermore, he seems to be in many places trying to purposefully rupture one’s sense of illusion by muddying the relationship between a figure and ground and flattening out parts of the image.

Manet's Olympia also painted in 1863 could be called a parody on Titian's Venues 1538. Manet's painting shows a nude woman confidently lying on a bed, wearing nothing but black ribbon choker, which had ties to prostitution, a gold bracelet on her wrist and slippers on her feet - all symbols of wealth and sensuality. Titian's dog turned to hissing cat; Titian’s Venus is holding flowers, while Manet’s is being brought a bouquet of flowers by a servant.

But the thing that defines it as a revolutionary work of art - is the wholly modern context. Because Olympia is no classical goddess or mythological nymph from the pages of Ovid - Olympia is a 19th century Parisian prostitute. Even more shocking is the expression on her face. Her gaze is directed at the viewer, as if placing the viewer in the role of her client. True, female nudes have been created by artists for centuries: Greek sculpture consisted of hardly anything else, and the Italian Renaissance regarded the human body as the ultimate subject. But nudity was only acceptable provided that the context was sufficiently high-minded. And a courtesan lying naked on a bed had the cold and prosaic reality of a truly low-minded subject.

Impressionism was the first modern movement. Lots of painters were inspired by Manet and took more radical side.

Manet’s Portrait of Zola 1868 depicts his friend and supporter. Notably, there are not only the references to other Manet’s paintings on the background (such as Olympia), but also Japanese prints.

The birth of modernism and modern art can be traced to the Industrial Revolution. New forms of transportation, including the railroad, the steam engine, and the subway, changed the way people lived, worked, and travelled, expanding their worldview and access to new ideas.

From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints, became a source of inspiration for many Western artists. Ukiyo-e woodblock prints were created to fit a demand for inexpensive, souvenir images. Although the prints were inexpensive, they were innovative and technical which gave each one value.[5] These prints were rarely created with a single patron in mind, rather they were created for the commercial market in Japan. Ukiyo-e prints gained popularity in Europe in 1860s. Western artists were intrigued by the original use of colour and composition. Ukiyo-e prints featured dramatic foreshortening and asymmetrical compositions.

If one would compare Van Gogh’s Flowering Plum Tree (on the right) dated 1887 and Hiroshima’s Plum Park in Kameido (on the left) made in 1857, one will see a clear connection between the images (luckily for Van Gogh, at that time copyrights were not as developed as they are now).

Mary Cassatt's painting The Bath (1891) was inspired by Utamaro's Woman bathing small boy made in the early 1800s. In her painting, Cassatt employed unconventional devices such as cropped forms, solid colours, bold patterns and outlines, and a flattened perspective, all of which derived from her study of Japanese woodblock prints; but more importantly, she adopted an everyday life situation to be worthy to become a theme of the painting.

Claude Monet’s painting of Camille Monet in Japanese Dress made in 1876 also has a visible influence of Japonism.

Claude Monet took modern movement a step further. Throughout the years, Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872) has been celebrated as the quintessential symbol of the Impressionist Movement. Impression, Sunrise depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown.

There is a total lack of clarity, we can hardly tell what's happening on the background (perhaps, there are more boats in the smoke); ripples on the water are just single brushstrokes. While Impression, Sunrise and Monet’s artistic technique fell under harsh criticism at their outset, Monet’s masterpiece gave birth to a new movement and created a revolution in the world of art. Unlike other artworks of the time, the subject matter and specific painting techniques, Sunrise seek to transcribe the feelings initiated by a scene rather than simply rendering the details of a particular landscape. This act of expressing an individual’s perception of nature was a key characteristic and goal of Impressionist art.

Notably, that J. M. W. Turner, an English Romantic painter and member of the royal academy, painted his Snowstorm in 1843 —  way before Impressionism. The technique is very similar: there is movement on the canvas, we suppose there are waves and wind, among which blurred ship mast becomes visible. Turner wants the viewer to feel, rather than just look at the details.

Impressionists started a Plein air tradition: they would go with the canvas outside and draw (before, artist would make some small sketches and combine them in a studio). Industrialism made Plein air possible. There was no more need to grate a pigment and mix with water, one could simply take a tube of paint with him.

[annasfineartdissertation]

Sources Part 1

Due to my greatest disappointment, I still didn’t get an access to e-library, thus all of my sources, for now, are short online articles.

Source 1:

In the Age of Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens by Stephen Apkon.

In this book, Apkon focuses mainly on the moving image, but there is a part where he explains how our brain works, what are mirror neurons and why is it easier for us to consume visual content rather than text. 

In the chapter called ‘The Brain Sees Picture First’, Apkon discusses visual language from the biological perspective. And explains that visual language is becoming a global one because our brain perceives image way faster than the written word. 

«85% of brain —writes Apkon — is dedicated to processing and making sense out of the visual stimulation that flows in at an astonishing rate. The eye and the brain evolved together as working unit.» 

 As for me, this is a very shaky statement. Probably this number represents some proportion among sensory data in general. 

But the idea remains the same, the speed of processing the visual content (or an image) is a part of the reason why images ‘hit us in the gut’ quicker, than the written word. 

Apron writes: «There is a physiological reason that we laugh out loud more readily at a funny movie than at a comedic novel: it is because our visual pathways are trapped more directly into the inner, ‘reptilian’ core of the brain that houses pleasure-reward centers and that governs our basic responses.»

The author claims that processing of the images is directly linked to our natural behaviour. While the language of words evolved recently and demands «an indirect path from reception to cognition». The language of words keeps us distant from emotional core and leaves a lot of place for us to fill.

Experiment

Rafael Malach (professor of brain research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel) believes, that seeing is a subjective and creative act.

Malach conducted an experiment, where patients were shown 64 video clips, and then were asked to say to the microphone what they had seen. And when patients were talking about the clip, they experienced the same burst of activity in the neurons as when the clip was shown.  

And the rest of the chapter he talked about mirror neurons. I won't put you through all of the nonsense information. So to tell a long story short, mirror neurons work through vision, when you observe someone eating an apple, our brain imitates that action without actually performing it. That is why, explains author, we are emotionally engaged with the movie and thanks to mirror neurons we can feel empathy, friendship, and suffering of the other person.

Source 2:

What happens in the brain during a spiritual experience?

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322092.php

I think it might be useful for the understanding of the brain work during an immersive experience. 

Prof. Lisa Miller, the editor of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Psychology & Spirituality, has conducted a series of studies on what happens in, or to, the brains of people with intense spiritual lives.

Her research has indicated that people with habitual spiritual practices show cortical thickening in the prefrontal cortex. Intriguingly, she says that individuals who live with chronic depression experience cortical thinning in the same brain region.

This has led her to argue that spirituality and depression are likely "two sides of the same coin."

Recently, Miller and a team of researchers from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, at the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City, NY, and the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, have used functional MRI to find out what happens in the brains of individuals as they picture an intense spiritual experience.

They recruited participants subscribing to different spiritual and religious practices, whom, in a first experiment, they asked to remember a personal spiritual experience as their brains were being scanned.

This was done with the help of guiding scripts that the participants received beforehand, instructing them "to describe a situation in which [they] felt a strong connection with a higher power or a spiritual presence."

Since they all had widely different spiritual practices, the experiences described in the experiment prompt spanned an extensive range, from "a two-way relationship with a higher power" and "a felt sense of oneness in nature by the ocean or atop a mountain" all the way to "being in a zone of intense physical activity (such as sports or yoga), sudden awareness, bodily felt connectivity or buoyancy, meditation, or prayer.»

It is stated in the article, that during spiritual experience (could be literally anything) inferior parietal lobe — which has been tied to a person's awareness of the self and of others — was less active when they were describing (not even experiencing) a spiritual event, whereas the activity in that brain region increased when they thought of stressful or emotionally neutral experiences.

So, the team suggests, this region "may contribute importantly to perceptual processing and self-other representations during spiritual experiences."

This appears to confirm Miller's previous arguments that spiritual experiences could help to "buffer the effects of stress on mental health."

"These results demonstrate neural mechanisms underlying spiritual experience across diverse traditions and perspectives," the researchers explain.

Art experiences against stress? Could art be considered as spiritual experience? If yes, than our tendency to create immersive rather than objective art can be explained as an attempt to receive a spiritual experience in our non-religious society and thus become happier?

Source 3:

What is Installation Art? | History and Top Art Installations Since 2013

https://mymodernmet.com/what-is-installation-art-history-artists/

Brief introduction to Installation Art. Modern Met Team also talks about characteristics of installation art (immersive, large-scale, site-specific) and influences (dada, conceptual art, performance art): 

Characteristics 

IMMERSIVE

A key attribute of installation art is its ability to physically interact with viewers. While all artistic mediums have the ability to engage individuals, most do not completely immerse them in interactive experiences.

In addition to facilitating dialogues between observers and works of art, this unique characteristic invites individuals to view art from new and different perspectives—literally!

LARGE-SCALE

Given their interactive nature, most works of installation art are large in scale. Their sizable statures enable viewers to become completely immersed in each larger-than-life environment. In many cases, it even allows them to sit, stand, or walk through it—a distinctive capability not commonly found in more traditional forms of art.

SITE-SPECIFIC

Unlike sculptures, paintings, and similar pieces, installations are usually planned with certain sites in mind, from rooms in galleries and museums to outdoor spaces. Given the strategic nature of their designs and the uniqueness of their surroundings, site-specific works of art ensure a one-of-a-kind aesthetic and experience.

Influences

Like many modern and contemporary genres, the installation art form is rooted in several different movements—namely, Dada, conceptualism, and performance art.

DADA

Like Dada, an avant-garde movement that emerged in the early 20th century, installations often showcase an experimental approach to art. Specifically, installation’s incorporation of mixed media and emphasis on three-dimensionality are undoubtedly inspired by two Dada staples: ready-mades and assemblages.

CONCEPTUALISM

Inspired by the Dadaists, Conceptual artists believe that the idea behind a work of art takes precedence over its aesthetic. This sentiment is also present in installation art, with well-known contemporary artists like Ai Wei Wei and Damien Hirst using their celebrated installations as a means to relay messages to viewers. “As a person, I was born to give out my opinions,” Ai Wei Wei explains. “By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am.”

PERFORMANCE ART

While performance art—a practice performed before an audience—may seem dissimilar to installation, a form of fine art, the two movements are linked by a key characteristic: a creative and conceptual use of space. In both cases, artists find innovative and inventive ways to reinterpret and reimagine everyday environments.

The article also discusses a range of installations from 2013 to 2017. It is notable that installations from the year 2017 were mainly aimed to deliver a message (invite the viewer to reach artists conclusions). In the year 2015, installations had more playful qualities, providing a pleasant experience, changing our perception of the space. 2013 - a mix of activist art and pleasant experience. 

Source 4:

Installation Art by Julie Reiss

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199920105/obo-9780199920105-0026.xml

This source provides a good list of books on topic installation art:

Bishop, Claire. Installation Art: A Critical History. New York: Routledge, 2005.

A critical history of installation art that analyzes the nature of the different experiences offered to the viewer. International in scope, the book offers various frameworks including the psychoanalytic and the phenomenal as a means of characterizing the experience of installation art. Reductive in its categorizations, yet useful as a starting place for considering critical entry points for any given installation.

Coulter-Smith, Graham. Deconstructing Installation Art: Fine Art and Media Art, 1986–2006. Southampton, UK: CASIAD, 2006.

This online book locates installation art in Peter Bürger’s Theory of the Avant-Garde (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984). Uses the term “deconstructive art,” a lineage Bürger dates back to Marcel Duchamp, Dada, and Surrealism. Emphasis is on the transgressed aspects of installation art and its potential to close the gap between art and the viewer. Somewhat dense but worth the effort.

De Oliveira, Nicolas, Nicola Oxley, and Michael Petry. Installation Art in the New Millennium: The Empire of the Senses. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.

A follow-up to Installation Art (De Oliveira, et al. 1994), this well-illustrated volume includes installations by a wide range of international artists, organized by theme. Written at a moment when installation art had recently become ubiquitous, the book overall captures the energy of contemporary installation art. Interesting introduction by Jonathan Crary contextualizes the work in relation to contemporary experience.

Gonzalez, Jennifer. “Installation Art.” In Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. Vol. 2. Edited by Michael Kelly, 503–508. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

A comprehensive encyclopedia entry on installation art. Discusses the meaning of this art form as well as citing texts dealing with the subject, such as Victor Burgin’s “Situational Aesthetics” (Burgin 2009, cited under the Installation Art Experience). The article also talks about landmark exhibitions and important works in the development of installation art. Available online by subscription.

Ran, Faye. A History of Installation Art and the Development of New Art Forms: Technology and the Hermeneutics of Time and Space in Modern and Postmodern Art from Cubism to Installation. New York: Peter Lang, 2009.

Ran regards installation art as the preeminent postmodern art form and situates it in relation to technological and cultural shifts in the 20th century. Dense and at times convoluted but contributes new ideas regarding installation art’s sources.

Reiss, Julie H. From Margin to Center: The Spaces of Installation Art. Cambridge, MA, and London: MIT Press, 1999.

Identifies installation art’s salient features. Using critical reception, interviews, and photographic documentation, Reiss traces the history of installations in New York from the marginal alternative spaces of the art world to mainstream museums by the early 1990s. Clearly written, the book offers a methodology for the art historian addressing installations that are no longer extant.

[annasfineartdissertation]

Photography as a Weapon by Errol Morris

What you believe to be a thesis statement?

The thesis statement of Errol Morris’ article ‘Photography as a Weapon’ is basically written in the title — photography is a very influential and powerful tool that has an ability to alter reality and manipulate our minds.

What are the arguments used to prove the thesis statement?

The first argument of the article is photographs can deceive. In Morris’ opinion, the presumption behind a photograph is: ‘Someone saw this.’ We tend to believe that the photographs are original, ‘presenting something that someone saw and wished for someone else to see.’ The author maintains that the photograph could be manipulated even more easily, just by adding captions or labels. He supports this thought by providing an example of the photographs presented by Colin Powell at the United Nations in 2003. 

‘Photographs that were used to justify a war. And yet, the actual photographs are low-res, muddy aerial surveillance photographs of buildings and vehicles on the ground in Iraq. I’m not an aerial intelligence expert. I could be looking at anything. It is the labels, the captions, and the surrounding text that turn the images from one thing into another.’(Morris)

The author analyzes why do we trust photographs. Morris discusses a famous photograph of 4 Iranian missiles being launched with digital photography expert Hany Farid. The photograph appeared to be fake, as one of the missiles was simply photoshopped. ‘The brain is just very good at processing visual imageries and bringing in memories associated with images.’ (Fraid) Fraid claims that images stay in our head, but the labels are not as text is processed in a different part of the brain. 

You start putting it out there and saying, ‘Oh look, this picture? It’s a fake. This picture? It’s a fake.’ But you know what people remember? They don’t remember, ‘It’s a fake.’ They remember the picture.  Fraid 

So this is exactly what happened to Iranian photograph: people won't remember that the photograph was manipulated, they will recall only the image itself — Iranian missiles being launched.

Morris also resolves what angers us if the picture was manipulated in his discussion with Charles Johnson, an American web designer and blogger, who uncovered several photographic frauds. They discuss the term ‘fauxtography’, why is it important to expose photographic fraud and how to do it. As Johnson poses it, we should ever not expose fraud. 'When you see a photo that’s been faked, and it’s on the cover of newspapers, and it came from a regime that’s our enemy, you’ve got to expose that, if you see it.’(Johnson) Both, Morris and Johnson, stated that we are angered not because the photograph has been manipulated, but that we have been manipulated by the photograph. We have been lied to and became the victims of the fraud.

The second argument of the article is that manipulated photographs could be used not only deceive us but can be used to bring our attention to certain issues. To support this, Morris analyses the works of a German visual artist John Heartfield, who became famous for his war-related photomontages. In his works, Heartfield pointed out that photography is used as propaganda and we should be careful with the information provided by mass media. Heartfield employed the motto: ‘Use Photography as a Weapon.’ His photomontages are pretty straightforward, ‘he juxtaposed familiar photographic images to create a bleak picture of Europe on the verge of war.’ (Morris) One of his most powerful images is accompanying with the text: ‘Whoever reads bourgeois newspapers becomes blind and deaf. Away with these stultifying bandages.’

Summarizing the article, Morris goes back to his thesis statement. 

We should remember that the power of photographs comes not only from their ability to copy reality but also to alter reality. Photographs can be used — to borrow Heartfield’s phrase — as weapons. They can be used to warn us about the dangers of impending war. They can also be used to ratchet up the blind forces of rage and unreason that drag us into conflict. Morris

[annasfineartdissertation]

Analysis based on Gilda Williams book, Research questions

Artwork 1

Name: Urban Nature

Year: 2009

Artist: Naoko Ito

Material: Glass jars, tree branches 

Medium: Sculpture

Size:  50" h × 70" w × 35" d

What is it?

In this work, segmented tree branches are preserved in glass jars, forming a sculpture which is placed within the white cube. The work retains the original form of the branches in a manner where the whole is made of smaller parts. Even though grey concrete floor can be seen through glass jars; the dramatic lighting directed strictly to the sculpture emphasizes the dark background.

This dramatic light enhances the sculpture: the background is in slight shadow, a dark ochre colour which embraces the entire sculpture, drawing the observer’s eye. The source of light is placed directly above the art piece, which can be seen by the glints on the glass surface. Thus, the form of an original branch was reconstructed while the remaining space is filled with empty jars.

What does it mean?

It seems that the branches are growing through the glass, yet at the same time they are captured within. Dark concrete background visible through the sculpture resembles a concrete jungle, where the branch is everything left from nature. The artwork shows how we try to tame nature in the twenty-first century. Prehistoric times have gone, the need to manually conquer nature has disappeared as such, but why do we still posses the primordial instincts to defend and conquer?

Naoko Ito was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese treat nature in a very different way.

As an island nation with few natural resources, Japan can't afford to be profligate. That means it has something to teach other nations. The country is one of the most energy-efficient industrial countries in the world, and some of Japan's leading companies, such as Toyota and Sharp, are known for technologies that foster greener lifestyles. A conservation mindset is ingrained into Japanese people from birth, and is apparent in little ways throughout society. (TIME, 2008) 

Despite industrial development, Japan still keeps its forests safe. There is even a notion of forest bathing which is a Japanese practice for lowering heart rate and blood pressure and to reduce stress, increase hormone production and boost the immune system.

Her move to NYC caused her to stress out over her very different cultural background, the stress which then erupted into this artwork. Naoko: 'New York has a lot of parks but I feel like the park is fake nature. I started thinking about how, especially in the New York area, in urban areas, how people get along with nature. How they contain it.'

What significance does it have to the world at large?

The artist brings attention to our relationship with nature.

Topics: 

Natural World

Industrial World

Tame Nature

Decartes (rule nature)...conquer

Contain Nature

Subduing Nature

Urban Nature

Natural System and Processes

Questions: 

How do we treat nature? 

How different cultures treat the nature? 

Which role nature plays in a modern society/art?

What is the relationship between Natural and Industrial worlds?

How nature influences our physical and mental health? 

Why do people have an urge to interact with nature?

What is the best way art could be an interpretation of life?

Artwork 2

Name: One hundred and eight 

Year: 2010

Artist: Nils Völker

Material: Cooling fans, plastic bags, MDF, custom electronics

Medium: Interactive installation

Size:  2.40 x 1.80 m 

What is it?

The Installation is a rectangular structure, where the main component is a rubbish bag. 108 plastic bags are put in rows, the bags inflated and deflated selectively in turn by two cooling fans which are controlled by microcontrollers. As soon as the system detects the viewer, it reacts dynamically by deflating the bags. The background is black. The light is dramatic, directed to the structure.

What does it mean? 

The black background combined with the specific lighting and white plastic bags brings all attention to the structure. Although the body of the installation is motionless, it creates an impression that it isn’t just a cold metal system, but an alive creature with its own life. Each bag resembles a cell of the organism, which subsequently deflates in case of interaction, thus causing gray shapes to appear upon the structure. The installation doesn't require any additional sound support as the plastic bags fill the environment with rustling.

The material choice of trash bags ‘personifies’ the current ‘cultural nature’. Nils Völker turned an ordinary everyday-life object into a piece of art giving it a completely new meaning, breaking the cliche and forcing the audience to observe it from a different perspective.

A rubbish bag structure became an embodiment of consumerist culture. One may call the garbage bag something like ‘alpha packaging’, as it wraps up everything which we have already acquired. The fact, that there are just a few things in the modern world which cannot be wrapped in a garbage bag, endows the bag with an unusual connotation and makes it in a way a ‘shadow’ of consumption. 

What significance does it have to the world at large? 

Artist brings up a topic of consumerism.

Topics:

New Media

Electronics

System

Cold metal system

Behaviour

Habits

React

External Stimuli

Everyday Object

Observe from different perspective

Consumption

Consumerist Culture

Personify surroundings - олицетворять окружение

Alpha Packaging

Shadow Consumption

Questions:

Why do we, humans, have the interest in animating the ‘artificial’? Are we trying to play Gods? Or is this an attempt to tame a newly emerged technological world with its nature and creatures? 

Is consumerist culture represented in new media art? 

Why are we (the ones living in urban jungle) influenced/inspired by natural elements as plants, animals, forces of nature, etc?

What is the role of new media in art?

Do artists in the twenty-first century create art based on viewer experience? Is there a tendency? Does this become a form of consumerist culture? 

How does cultural background influence artist’s interest?

Artwork 3

Name: Apani

Year: 2011

Artist: James Turrell

Material: LED

Medium: Installation

Size: 16 x 12 x 6m

What is it?

The installation is a white room of proportions16 x 12 x 6m, filled entirely with projection which creates an illusion, this making us perceive a flat projection, rather than a three dimensional space.

What does it mean? 

Installation activates the sensory perception, which contributes to the discovery: what once seemed before to be a flat projection, is now in reality a light-filled room. Turrell’s work created an illusion, which at first made visitors perceive a flat projection, only to discover that the colourful wall was a light-filled room they could enter. The projection was not stable, programmed to shift from hue to hue bringing to them a sense of motion, and creating an experience of swimming in a sea of light.

The artwork provides a complete loss of depth perception, which builds a connection with the so-called ‘Ganzfeld effect’ discovered by a German psychologist in the 1930s. 

* Ganzfeld effect is a phenomenon of perception caused by a person being in a homogeneous and structureless visual and auditory environment. The effect occurs when the brain uses white noise to supplement the visual picture of sensations when there is a lack of visual information.

The artist mimics the effect with the help of lights indicating a discrepancy between knowledge and perception. What Turrell shows to the audience is not an illusion or deception, it is an incredible reality of pure experience.

What significance does it have to the world at large?

The artist himself constantly points out that his work is best described as ‘Perceptual Art’. Turrell made a huge step away from the expression of the artist's consciousness (Abstract Expressionism), towards the viewer's experience of the artwork, without predetermining (conceiving) the outcome. Thereby, his artwork became a part of a broader shift in art and made its contribution to contemporary art development.

Topics:

Motion

Swimming in a sea of light

Ganzfield effect

Knowledge and Perception

Reality of pure experience

Perceptual art

Questions:

What is perceptual art?

How does knowledge influence our perception?

Which role plays viewer’s experience in the artwork?

Why does viewer’s experience become predominant in the artwork?

Is it necessary to predetermine the outcome of the artwork?

Summarizing all the questions and topics mentioned above, I came up with following questions which, in my opinion, are relevant to my artistic practice:

Can art be perceived as a pure experience?  

Is aesthetic experience a necessary ingredient in an installation?

What is the best way art could be interpreted from life and vice versa?

Is consumerist culture represented in new media art? 

What role does viewer experience play in art?

Why does viewer’s experience become predominant in the artwork?

Is it necessary to predetermine the outcome of the artwork?

[annasfineartdissertation]

Inspirational Artworks

Apani (2011) by James Turrel

James Turrel is a contemporary American artist whose art explores the light and space. He manipulates the light as a clay sculptor. Each installation activates the sensory perception, which contributes to the discovery: what seemed, for example, a flat projection, in reality, is a light-filled room. Turrel’s work Apani (2011) for the 2011 Venice Biennale created an illusion, which at first made visitors perceive a flat projection, only to discover that the colourful wall was a light-filled room they could enter. The projection was not stable, programmed to shift from hue to hue bringing a sense of motion, and creating an experience of swimming in a sea of light.

The artwork provides a complete loss of depth perception, which builds a connection with the so-called ‘Ganzfeld effect’ discovered by a German psychologist in the 1930s.

* Ganzfeld effect is a phenomenon of perception caused by a person being in a homogeneous and structureless visual and auditory environment. The effect occurs when the brain uses white noise to supplement the visual picture of sensations when there is a lack of visual information.

The artist mimics the effect with the help of lights indicating a discrepancy between knowledge and perception. What Turrell shows to the audience is not an illusion or deception, it is an amazing reality of pure experience.

The artist himself constantly points out that his work is best described as ‘Perceptual Art’. Turrell made a huge step away from the expression of the artist's consciousness (Abstract Expressionism), towards the viewer's experience of the artwork, without predetermining the outcome. Thereby, his artwork became a part of a broader shift in art and made its contribution to contemporary art development.

Urban Nature (2009) by Naoko Ito

Naoko Ito is a Japanese contemporary artist who focuses on the relationship between human race and nature. 

The series of works called Urban Nature consists of photos, installations, but it is her sculptures that really stand out. The sculptures are nothing but the combination of natural elements, such as plants, with man-made glass jars. The artist kept an original intricacy of the branches. Carefully following the curve, Ito put the pieces of the branches to the jars, reconstructing the initial shape. 

At first glance, it seems that the branches are growing through the glass, yet at the same time they are captured within. Naoko's artwork shows how we try to tame nature in the twenty-first century. Undoubtedly, in prehistoric times, being in an endless struggle for survival, the man had a necessity to tame the obstinate nature. But centuries have gone by, predatory animals were caged, and dense impenetrable forests turned into city parks. Seemingly, the need to conquer nature has disappeared as such, but what moves us now? An ancient survival instinct? Naoko argues: ‘New York has a lot of parks but I feel like the park is fake nature. I started thinking about how, especially in the New York area, in urban areas, how people get along with nature. How they contain it.’

Nature is subdued, humiliated and put into a glass jar. Man can enjoy it on the safe distance looking right through the glass cage, just like watches the lion in the zoo. Naoko's Urban Nature is an environmental art piece which has evolved from earth as a sculptural material towards a deeper relationship to natural systems and processes.

One Hundred and Eight (2010) by Nils Völker

Nils Völker is a new media artist whose artistic practice embraces electronics and programming in combination with everyday objects. 

An interactive wall-mounted Installation One Hundred and Eight is a structure the main component of which is a simple rubbish bag. The bags inflated and deflated selectively in turn by two cooling fans which are controlled by microcontrollers. As soon the system detects the viewer, it reacts dynamically by deflating the bags. Although the body of the installation is motionless, it creates an impression that it isn’t just a cold metal system, but an alive creature with its own life, senses and fears. 

This creature expresses specific behaviour and habits, which are quite familiar to humans and may resemble the behaviour of some sea creature like Actinia. And like any other sea inhabitant, it is afraid of any foreign matter and reacts instantly by hiding away from external stimuli. Following the movements of the observer, his interactions continue until the observer remains in a specific area. As soon as the installation doesn't distinguish anyone around, it takes a while to reconstruct itself and switches to its ‘calm existence mode’. Noteworthy, that installation doesn't require any additional sound support as the plastic bags fill the environment with rustling.

A trash bag is quite an interesting choice of the material which ‘personifies’ the current ‘cultural nature’. Nils Völker turned an ordinary everyday object into a piece of art giving it a completely new meaning, breaking the cliche and forcing the audience to observe it from a different perspective.

The Installation constitutes a pseudo-living responsive body. Likewise, the ancient people who had personified natural phenomena, we, those ones who live in time of urban nature, surrounded by products of our natural consumerist culture, have the capacity to animate the ‘artificial’. Consumption is primarily associated with the waste products the greatest amount of which consists of packages. Packing is the first acquaintance with the product, the first thing that your fingers touch after the purchase; however, being deprived of any another function, the packaging becomes nothing but garbage. One may call the garbage bag something like ‘alpha packaging’, as it wraps up everything, we have already obtained. The fact, that there are just a few things in the modern world which cannot be wrapped in a garbage bag, endows the bag with an unusual connotation and makes it in a way a ‘shadow’ of consumption.