Wednesday, March 31, 2010

10.337 PAUL MCCARTHY




http://www.ubu.com/film/mccarthy_painter.html


PAUL MCCARTHY. CONTEMPORARY ARTIST WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. MCCARTHY STUDIED AT THE SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE. IN 1972 HE STUDIED FILM, VIDEO AND ART AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. FROM 1982 TO 2002 HE HAS TAUGHT PERFORMANCE, VIDEO, INSTALLATION, AND PERFORMANCE ART HISTORY. MCCARTHY CURRENTLY WORKS MAINLY IN VIDEO AND SCULPTURE. TRAINED AS A PAINTER, MCCARTHY'S MAIN INTEREST LIES IN EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES AND THE MESS CREATED BY THEM. MUCH OF HIS WORK IN THE LATE 1960S, SUCH AS MOUNTAIN BOWLING (1969) AND HOLD AN APPLE IN YOUR ARMPIT (1970) ARE SIMILAR TO THE WORK OF HAPPENINGS FOUNDER ALLAN KAPROW, WITH WHOM MCCARTHY HAD A PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP. WIKI. VIEW HISTORY.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

JOEP VAN LIESHOUT


ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT (AVL), FOUNDED BY ARTIST JOEP VAN LIESHOUT (1963) IN 1995, IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ART PRACTICE ENCOMPASSING INSTALLATION, DESIGN, FURNITURE AND ARCHITECTURE. THE NAME ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT EMPHASISES THE FACT THAT THE WORKS OF ART DO NOT STEM SOLELY FROM THE CREATIVE BRAIN OF JOEP VAN LIESHOUT, BUT ARE PRODUCED BY A CREATIVE TEAM OF ARTISTS, DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS. THE WORKS OF ART ARE PRACTICAL, UNCOMPLICATED AND SUBSTANTIAL. THE WORK VARIES FROM SCULPTURES AND FURNITURE, BATHROOMS AND MOBILE HOME UNITS TO LARGE INSTALLATIONS AND COMPLETE ARCHITECTURAL REFURBISHMENTS. ONE OF THE MANY APPLICATIONS AND TECHNIQUES USED BY AVL ARE THE LARGE POLYESTER CONSTRUCTIONS IN STRIKING, BRIGHT COLOURS. THESE POLYESTER CONSTRUCTIONS, OF WHICH THE LARGE MOBILE HOME UNITS ARE THE BEST KNOWN, FORM THE AVL TRADEMARK. RECURRING THEMES IN THE WORK OF AVL ARE AUTARKY, POWER, POLITICS AND SEX.

Monday, March 22, 2010

10.333 RICHARD SERRA




http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/2777


RICHARD SERRA. AMERICAN MINIMALIST SCULPTOR KNOWN FOR HIS CONSTRUCTIONS FROM LARGE ROLLS AND SHEETS OF METAL (COR-TEN-STEEL). MANY OF THESE PIECES ARE SELF-SUPPORTING AND EMPHASIZE THE WEIGHT AND NATURE OF THE MATERIALS. SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATIONS, IN 1981, SERRA INSTALLED TILTED ARC, A GENTLY CURVED, 3.5 METER HIGH ARC OF RUSTING MILD STEEL IN THE FEDERAL PLAZA IN NEW YORK CITY. TO SEE IS TO THINK, TO CHANGE MEANINGS THROUGH PERCEPTION. NOTIONS OF PROCESS TIME AND SPACE ARE BEEING EXPLORED WITH FORMS NEVER BUILT BEFORE. 2007 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTED A RETROSPECTIVE OF SERRA'S WORK IN NEW YORK. INTERSECTION II (1992-1993) AND TORQUED ELLIPSE IV (1998) AMONG THE WORKS. WIKI. VIEW HISTORY.

Friday, March 19, 2010

10.332 LE CORBUSIER





LE CORBUSIER. SWISS-FRENCH ARCHITECT, DESIGNER, URBANIST, WRITER AND ALSO PAINTER, ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF WHAT NOW IS CALLED MODERN ARCHITECTURE OR THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE. VERS UNE ARCHITECTURE (1923) (TOWARDS AN ARCHITECTURE). IN THE 1930S, LE CORBUSIER EXPANDED AND REFORMULATED HIS IDEAS ON URBANISM, EVENTUALLY PUBLISHING THEM IN LA VILLE RADIEUSE (THE RADIANT CITY) OF 1935. LE CORBUSIER CONTRIBUTED TO A NEW JOURNAL CALLED L'ESPRIT NOUVEAU THAT ADVOCATED THE USE OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY INTO A MORE EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENT WITH A HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING ON ALL SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS. FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE CONGRÈS INTERNATIONAL D'ARCHITECTURE MODERNE (CIAM). WIKI. VIEW HISTORY.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

10.328 THOMAS HIRSCHHORN



THOMAS HIRSCHHORN. PART OF THE GROUP OF DESIGNERS CALLED GRAPUS. THESE ARTISTS WERE CONCERNED WITH POLITICS AND CULTURE, DISPLAYING IMPROMPTU CREATIONS AND POSTERS ON THE STREET MOSTLY USING THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISEMENT. HE LEFT GRAPUS TO CREATE THE HYPERSATURATED INSTALLATIONS HE IS KNOWN FOR TODAY, USING COMMON MATERIALS SUCH AS CARDBOARD, FOIL, DUCT TAPE, AND PLASTIC WRAP. THESE INSTALLATIONS ARE OFTEN SITE SPECIFIC AND OUTSIDE THE GALLERY, AND/OR INTERACTIVE. UNLIKE MUCH TOTAL INSTALLATION WORK, THE VIEWER IS AN OBSERVER NOT AN ACTOR IN THE SPACES HE CREATES BECAUSE OF THE WAY HE CONTINUES TO OFFER MESSAGES IN HIS WORK AS HE DID WITH GRAPUS. WIKI. VIEW HISTORY.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

10.322 HANNAH ARENDT




GERMAN POLITICAL THEORISTARENDT'S WORK CENTERS ON THE FACT THAT "MEN, NOT MAN, LIVE ON THE EARTH AND INHABIT THE WORLD" ARENDT'S WORK DEALS WITH THE NATURE OF POWER, AND THE SUBJECTS OF POLITICS, AUTHORITY, AND TOTALITARIANISM. MUCH OF HER WORK FOCUSES ON AFFIRMING A CONCEPTION OF FREEDOM WHICH IS SYNONYMOUS WITH COLLECTIVE POLITICAL ACTION AMONG EQUALS. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARBURG, SHE STUDIED PHILOSOPHY WITH MARTIN HEIDEGGER IN 1950, SHE BECAME A NATURALIZED CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES. IN 1959, SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN APPOINTED TO A FULL PROFESSORSHIP AT PRINCETON.