"Good Art Must be Dense with Meaning" - Robert Hughes

In the final part of his documentary entitled "The Mona Lisa Curse" Robert Hughes further explains his problems with today’s art. Specifically Hughes focuses on the work of Andy Warhol and the dry repetition of his artwork. The mass production of Warhol's work takes away from the meanings of his paintings. There is some truth to Hughes' criticism about work like Warhol's in that the paintings easily lose their unquineness. Art in Hughes' was all about how precious and special the work was which gave it a very deep meaning. If art becomes so widely known and easily accessed (like The Mona Lisa) there is no more motivation to go to the museums and truly appreciate the beauty of the work. While Hughes' does have a valid argument in suggesting that art has lost it's true meaning in recent times his criticism seems to be very cynical. The depth in which Hughes goes to completely take away the meaning of Warhol's work seems extreme and over the top. If Hughes was able to deliver the message of his documentary in a more subtle and discrete way it would have been much more effective. It is apparent that the message of his documentary could easily be lost in the blatant cynicism that is seen. In doing further research on the project we were able to fully understand the point of view of Hughes however most people may not be able to appreciate his true love for art.

I Do, I Undo and I Redo

Louise Bourgeois the creator of three steel towers, named I Do, I Undo and I Redo was the first to create the first commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. She is regarded as one of the most important artists at work today. Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911 where she studied until moving to New York in 1938. Throughout her career she has always made new developments in art while perusing a very personal path and removing herself from the avant-garde movements of her time. Her work explores ideas in painting, sculpture, installation, printmaking and performance.

Her installation in the Turbine Hall consists of three steel towers, each which are about 30 feet high. It includes spiral staircases that coil around central columns and supporting platforms which are surrounded by large circular mirrors. In each tower Louise Bourgeois placed a bell jar containing sculpted figures of a mother and child. Visitors of the Turbine Hall can climb the staircases to the platforms which Bourgeois envisioned to be stages for intimate encounters between strangers and friends. All encounters can be viewed from the bridge that runs across the Turbine Hall and the viewing platforms that over-look the space. The large circular mirrors are meant to reflect these encounters between participants and the architecture along with the viewing public and the towers.

The Mona Lisa Curse

In art critics, Robert Hughes, film documentary entitled "The Mona Lisa Curse" he discusses ways in which art has changed since he fell in love with it in the 1960's. Hughes shows viewers the crowds that gather in New York to see The Mona Lisa when it was first sent over from France at the beginning of his documentary. Hughes comments on the intricate detail of the marvelous painting but soon elaborates on what he calls The Mona Lisa Curse. The documentary portrays the contemporary artwork we see in the world today as over commercialized and inferior to the artwork of the mid 1900's. He explains that artwork today has the ability to make a piece of art as special as The Mona Lisa seem so familiar and deprived of meaning. Hughes’ views can very easily lead to questioning the effectiveness of today’s artwork. Have we gone from truly meaningful art only forty years ago to completely losing sight of what makes it beautiful and unique?  Hughes has a raised some interesting point in this part of his documentary which give viewers reason to believe artwork has drastically changed over the years.  

After the End of Art

One of the main questions that were raised in this article is who has the ability to determine what art is “good?” While for the most part art was only to be appreciated by the “experts” it has become increasingly clear that there is such a thing as the “public’s art.”  The issue has become more controversial as to whether or not the public should have a say in which pieces of artwork are being displayed in widely viewed museums.  While it seems only fair that the public should have input on the decision making process it does pose for difficulties in the effectiveness of the process. Having both the museum and the public give their opinions about the artwork in the museum blurs the lines of power. As the number of people involved in the process increases the level of controversy and/or disagreement also increases. Overall our opinion of this particular issue is that the public should not be completely discounted from the process. Although it may result in a more difficult process it is important for the public to have their own “art” as well as the experts.

Museums and the History of the MET

Many museums were built in the late 1800’s and were structured to have a romantic and elite kind of feel, and were originally targeted and operated for  a higher class of people.  They came about in an unscrupulous way and were viewed for specific things. Artifacts from wars and specific times in history were primarily what were kept in museums which were used to educate and provide the public with evidence of past events. Some museums were publically funded and some privately funded, which still holds true to this day. However over time the way art was made and viewed evolved along with what was placed in museums. Art today is more accessible and is spread through a broader audience.

The Metropolitan Museums of Art known as the “MET” is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central park in New York City. It was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens; its founders included businessmen and financers along with leading arts and thinkers of the 1800s whose goal was to open a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. It officially opened on February 20, 1872. Its collection contains more than two million works of art and is currently divided into nineteen curatorial departments. Works of art that are stored in the met vary from artifacts from Ancient Egypt, painting and sculptures from many European masters, and a large collection of American and modern art. The MET also contains holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Islamic and Byzantine art and is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, antique weapons and armor from around the world and costumes and accessories from various time periods.

Ai Weiwei - Sunflower Seeds

Ai Weiwei is a well known political artist in China; much of his work reflects anti-government sentiment and expresses the weaknesses and pit falls of events that have occurred throughout its history. His work, Sunflower Seeds, located in the Tate Modern in London, consists of 100 million hand painted sunflower seeds which cover the floor in main hall of the museum. The piece of work can be viewed from the Turbine Hall Bridge. Each sunflower seed is sculpted by skilled artisans from porcelain and later hand painted then baked, although each seed looks the same they are unique in their own way.  

Weiwei believes that art is a tool to set up new questions and to challenge the human mind. His goal is to make people who don’t necessarily understand art, understand what he is doing. More than 1,600 locals are involved with this project, in an interview he stated that everybody in town knows somebody working on the project. His work has brought business to the town, he states it is like the old time where people work together but have different positions. Weiwei plans for his work to go down in history of the town.

This piece of work is very unique and most certainly is mind blowing. We believe that it is highly impressive that so many artificial sunflower seeds were produced and scatted in a museum.

"The Pharmacy" By: Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is an English artist, art collector and entrepreneur. His work is known to represent some type of human condition, mainly life or death. Although his work is very different from art that I have viewed, it is creative and intriguing in its own way.  One of his more famous works known as the Pharmacy which is a room-sized installation meant to represent not only a real pharmacy but also life. The room contains bottles and prescription drugs, along with four bottles that are filled with a blue, red yellow and green liquid placed on a counter. The four bottles are meant to represent the four elements, earth, air fire and water.

            In this particular piece of work we also find an insect-o-cutor, Damien believes that the most important aspect of this particular item is that it symbolizes some type of god. A god that kills without any mercy, emotion or choice.  

Other items in the installation are a desk which is meant to convey a message that this is a real pharmacy. A cabinet with bottles meant to represent bodies, or society, stools with honeycomb placed on top which made to represent a non-human world and is meant to attract flies to be killed in the insect-o-cutor. Lastly there is medicine which is made to represent dreams.