Every person has a distinct set of memories containing relationships. Relationships between people and objects, sights and sounds, fantasies and realities make up our persona; either consciously or subconsciously we are affected by each experience. Though each set is different pertaining to the individual person, we are all the same in that we have these occurrences.
For as long as I can remember my mother hated the color yellow. She would never buy my sister and I yellow clothes, domestic decorations had to be free of golden hues, and she would even steer clear of food in yellow packaging. She never knew why such a negative feeling would embrace her at the sight of something so simple, until one day she came across an old photo of her father when times between them had been very difficult. He was standing next to a yellow ford. Instantly, all the years or color aversion hit us in the face; it was not the color yellow that harmed her, it was the memory of seeing a yellow car pull into the driveway, and the gut feeling that ensued.
According to Melanie Klein, a psychoanalytic theorist, objects are internalized by emerging patterns in one's sensual experience produced in the care taking environment. These internalized images may or may not be accurate representations of the actual surroundings; some may be fabricated and embellished based on emotional tendencies. Each object is perceived as a need satisfying entity recognized by the senses.1 From infancy each human develops strong connections to objects, unknowing the difference between people, objects are all that one can differentiate. Mental capacity builds upon previous experience as the infant interacts with its environment. They develop fantasies in which they formulate a hypothesis of objects and their believed use. Infants learn to distinguish themselves from their parent and inanimate objects by testing their fantasies through interaction with these objects. I believe that the use of objects as metaphors for memories or directed emotion can be seen as a continuation of this theory. Infant’s brains have not yet developed the capacity to see themselves as a separate entity of the world; they see an extension of the body through objects. It is a displacement of emotions and emotional connection with objects that we still contain after our brains have developed past infancy.
According to Melanie Klein, a psychoanalytic theorist, objects are internalized by emerging patterns in one's sensual experience produced in the care taking environment. These internalized images may or may not be accurate representations of the actual surroundings; some may be fabricated and embellished based on emotional tendencies. Each object is perceived as a need satisfying entity recognized by the senses.1 From infancy each human develops strong connections to objects, unknowing the difference between people, objects are all that one can differentiate. Mental capacity builds upon previous experience as the infant interacts with its environment. They develop fantasies in which they formulate a hypothesis of objects and their believed use. Infants learn to distinguish themselves from their parent and inanimate objects by testing their fantasies through interaction with these objects. I believe that the use of objects as metaphors for memories or directed emotion can be seen as a continuation of this theory. Infant’s brains have not yet developed the capacity to see themselves as a separate entity of the world; they see an extension of the body through objects. It is a displacement of emotions and emotional connection with objects that we still contain after our brains have developed past infancy.
Architecture, household items, trinkets, and toys all hold certain precedence in our lives whether meaningful or random, happy or sad. These objects tie us to times in our life, special feelings or events, and it is something everyone can relate to. Conversely, due to society’s gravitation to the mass produced item, many people may have similar objects and opposite reactions, though the connection is still there and it is what each individual brings to the object that makes it meaningful. In the example of the color yellow, another person may have slept happily in a yellow room as a child. For them, that color may foster comfortable thoughts of security and good dreams. The object seen is subjective but the feelings exhibited are very real to the individual.
Many of the artists that I will talk about use object association in their work, because it is such a universal fixation. The use of found material, once in use by humans, makes it a more tangible and memory provoking presence than a painted or sculpted form, especially if the audience is unfamiliar with art and design principles. Art principles are not something everyone is familiar with, but objects are seen in everyone’s account of life. Another aspect in common with these works is the communication from artist to viewer. The intended meaning of the artist, as well as my interpretation as the viewer and conversation between pieces will provide a sturdy grounding for the language exhibited through these works.
Joseph Bueys, political-utopian artist who was an active member of WWII, believed that the process of making and viewing art containing object metaphors could have drastic effects on the population.2 His work which contained objects such as felt, furniture, and war time items which directly related to his subject as well as his understanding of the world. To him everyone was an artist and could do as he did; they just had not realized it yet. By making the public aware of their creativity and means of making, ideally they could put that creativity into ideas of social and political change.2 By exhibiting these ideas, higher understanding would be developed through critical thought and analysis, and solutions to problems would be resolved. Clearly this is a very radical idea, and though it would be nice to think art could solve all world problems, it seems to be an unlikely solution. However, he does have some good points. By teaching critical thought through developing and breaking down art, one is taught to look past their first thought unto more highly developed, and perhaps more tolerant idea. Also, art can be used as an alternate language for expression for those that have difficulty with the expression of words. Through this process, the artist is given the opportunity to express their experiences. The viewer must look into that work and interpret it based on their ideologies. This process provides a communication other than speech that can be a useful tool in helping promote understanding from artist to viewer. The subsequent artists require critical thought through metaphors of self experience and expression.
Alison Safford is a sculpture who is interested in promoting the translation of experience through a visual means. Her work contains issues that are spoken about tactfully and metaphorically through objects causing the viewer to work hard to understand her meaning. She is influenced by artists that share her conceptual values such as Alexander Brodsky. He often had to disguise his work in order to pass the censorial powers in the Soviet Union. In 1957 the academy of architecture was abolished by Khrushchev, declaring that the socialist realist architecture was an “over-decorated” style that was considered unnecessary.3 The “Paper Architects” group protested corrupted standardized production, by producing on paper what they could not produce physically. The drawings were outlandish, often containing humans as part of the architecture to contrast the dehumanized structures created at the time. Eventually he created sculptures with many unnecessary aspects such as stairs leading to no where, floating objects, and complicated items resembling organic forms in abnormal areas to satirize the government’s distain of his art form. Their attack on the government was while still allowing their message to seep through to those they deemed important. Though great lengths must have been taken to disguise the meaning of their work, it developed critical thinking through art. Despite the fact that censorship is less strict in most parts of the world today, it is still important to develop these critical metaphors through the decoding of these works as well as the education of art.
In a recent interview and on the topic of critical art education Safford has said,
In a recent interview and on the topic of critical art education Safford has said,
“Critical thinking is so urgently important in any democracy and by looking at
art which is inherently talking about/pointing to something beyond itself, you
learn to not take things at face value, to not be a sheep…If more people were
trained in the arts we’d be more tolerant of differences, and less tolerant of
bad architecture. And art is not a luxury, [it] should be for all, and education
is the best way to gain access.”3
http://www.egodesign.ca/_files/articles/blocks/3224_alexander_brodsky_peer_van_.jpg
Alison Safford demands that her audience work to understand each piece of art she makes. This entails translating multiple metaphors represented in objects, as well as looking inside oneself to find one’s own relation to each metaphor. It is important to Safford that each audience member develops their own connection to the work, in that matter it is somewhat open ended. Two pieces that exemplify this have meanings that the artist herself intended, based on her own biography; however, altering interpretations are welcomed seeing as they do not have one distinct meaning.
Alison Safford demands that her audience work to understand each piece of art she makes. This entails translating multiple metaphors represented in objects, as well as looking inside oneself to find one’s own relation to each metaphor. It is important to Safford that each audience member develops their own connection to the work, in that matter it is somewhat open ended. Two pieces that exemplify this have meanings that the artist herself intended, based on her own biography; however, altering interpretations are welcomed seeing as they do not have one distinct meaning.
http://blackboard.alfred.edu/courses/1/ARTH300-01-12808-FA2009/db/_43326_1/1%20Safford%20Tell.jpg
Tell consists of a large casted bathtub with thirty tongues welded to the inside. Safford explains that it is about. This is a piece, as are all the works I have chosen to discuss, which draws strong associations with meanings one relates to the objects casted. The bathtub is a place where one bathes, cleanses and relaxes. It is where children play and adults wash away their problems. The tongue is an object, part of the body, which tastes, speaks, or can be sexual. The combination of these two entities is very peculiar. Not only does the thought of sinking into a bathtub where I would be licked by tongues instead of engulfed in warm water avert me, but these items are also made of cool metal. The combination is not exactly inviting. The title Tell also speaks to my interpretation. I would say the meaning of this piece was something of discomfort. Not only discomfort, but speaking of, or being forced to speak of something that is disheartening. Instead of relaxing in this container one would be perturbed and perhaps haunted until they are propelled to Tell.
Safford goes further to tell me that it is referencing St. John of Nepomuk, a Roman Catholic saint, who was thrown off a bridge and drown for refusing to divulge information to the king. When he was found his tongue was still well intact, apparently still holding his secret.4 The tongues in her sculpture, obviously representing this secret, and the bathtub symbolizes the cove of water in which the secret remains preserved. Though this was her given explanation, I can also see ties to Kleinian theory based on her simplification of body of water to bathtub as well as the metaphor for tongue as the sense of speech. Speech is not included in this theory because it occurs after the process of human realization; however the ties to reaction with the outside world still remain.
Another piece that uses an object as metaphor for a sense is called 20 Visions 20 Sightings. This piece includes twenty eye glass lenses held by twenty framed rockers atop a slab of concrete. Each lens is in perpetual motion making it hard to look through, and even if they were to stop and permit the opportunity at a glance, it would still be quite difficult given the height of the lenses. Each one rests about three inches from the floor. When the viewer does lay on the floor for an altered view “the images inverted from curved lenses become distorted, and de stabilized”.5 My first interpretation is of the confusion and frustration of the inability to see something; however, then I realize that the cement underneath the lenses, what they are rocking back and forth on is a pale gray, nothing more. When I try to look through the lens there are blurred images of feet. There is nothing there of interest for me to look at that I can see clearly. I am then reminded me of an experience from my youth, that of falling from a swing and being knocked out for a second. My head was on the ground I had no idea how long I had been there, feet crowded around me, unfamiliar feet. Finally a noise and then my mother is standing in front of me. I look up, she is familiar, I am fine. For that brief moment though I could not discern my place, it was terrifying for a matter of seconds.
For Safford, this piece was the result of a dream. In her dream she scanned lines of text without being able to discern a meaning from any words. She knows they are words but something is obstructing her brain from making a connection. This striving for a connection is what most of her work is about. The meaning I gather from her pieces, though not exactly what she has meant, relates to the body of her work well. There is not one way to discern her work, it involves life experience transferred from one human to another. By bringing unlike objects together her entire body of work is creating the metaphor for artist to viewer connection, translation and absorption of meaning on the viewers own terms.
Tell consists of a large casted bathtub with thirty tongues welded to the inside. Safford explains that it is about. This is a piece, as are all the works I have chosen to discuss, which draws strong associations with meanings one relates to the objects casted. The bathtub is a place where one bathes, cleanses and relaxes. It is where children play and adults wash away their problems. The tongue is an object, part of the body, which tastes, speaks, or can be sexual. The combination of these two entities is very peculiar. Not only does the thought of sinking into a bathtub where I would be licked by tongues instead of engulfed in warm water avert me, but these items are also made of cool metal. The combination is not exactly inviting. The title Tell also speaks to my interpretation. I would say the meaning of this piece was something of discomfort. Not only discomfort, but speaking of, or being forced to speak of something that is disheartening. Instead of relaxing in this container one would be perturbed and perhaps haunted until they are propelled to Tell.
Safford goes further to tell me that it is referencing St. John of Nepomuk, a Roman Catholic saint, who was thrown off a bridge and drown for refusing to divulge information to the king. When he was found his tongue was still well intact, apparently still holding his secret.4 The tongues in her sculpture, obviously representing this secret, and the bathtub symbolizes the cove of water in which the secret remains preserved. Though this was her given explanation, I can also see ties to Kleinian theory based on her simplification of body of water to bathtub as well as the metaphor for tongue as the sense of speech. Speech is not included in this theory because it occurs after the process of human realization; however the ties to reaction with the outside world still remain.
Another piece that uses an object as metaphor for a sense is called 20 Visions 20 Sightings. This piece includes twenty eye glass lenses held by twenty framed rockers atop a slab of concrete. Each lens is in perpetual motion making it hard to look through, and even if they were to stop and permit the opportunity at a glance, it would still be quite difficult given the height of the lenses. Each one rests about three inches from the floor. When the viewer does lay on the floor for an altered view “the images inverted from curved lenses become distorted, and de stabilized”.5 My first interpretation is of the confusion and frustration of the inability to see something; however, then I realize that the cement underneath the lenses, what they are rocking back and forth on is a pale gray, nothing more. When I try to look through the lens there are blurred images of feet. There is nothing there of interest for me to look at that I can see clearly. I am then reminded me of an experience from my youth, that of falling from a swing and being knocked out for a second. My head was on the ground I had no idea how long I had been there, feet crowded around me, unfamiliar feet. Finally a noise and then my mother is standing in front of me. I look up, she is familiar, I am fine. For that brief moment though I could not discern my place, it was terrifying for a matter of seconds.
For Safford, this piece was the result of a dream. In her dream she scanned lines of text without being able to discern a meaning from any words. She knows they are words but something is obstructing her brain from making a connection. This striving for a connection is what most of her work is about. The meaning I gather from her pieces, though not exactly what she has meant, relates to the body of her work well. There is not one way to discern her work, it involves life experience transferred from one human to another. By bringing unlike objects together her entire body of work is creating the metaphor for artist to viewer connection, translation and absorption of meaning on the viewers own terms.
Patrick Renner is influenced by his own personal biography as well as the biography of his loved ones. His work speaks of memory, the value of memory, and memory’s effect on architecture, both the architecture that dominates our life patterns and the remembrances and associations we encounter because of the human/architecture relationship. That being said, much of his work entails close personal memories represented by architectural associations such as flooring and windows. His Alfred University MFA thesis has divulged his reasons for such an interest in memory; his grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease right before he went away to college. His own metaphor for this disorder was a misshapen bar of soap his grandmother had him and his cousin piece together from numerous other fragments of soap saved throughout the years. Those many pieces would represent the innumerable experiences that would makeup “Grandma Renner’s” memory, and the use and withering of the soap with time would represent the dilapidation of those experiences with time.6
Pangaea and Brainwash have come from this experience. Brainwash, the more obvious of the two, consists of a circular structure made from windows on stilts. A steady stream of water is sprayed continuously on the structure, washing it and remnants of anything on it. Viewers are affected by this torrent as relatives would be affect by the loss of a loved ones memory. That, ones close member of their family would soon grow distant, forgetting their faces. In Pangaea, a section of wall hovers above the floor in nine pieces. As the viewer watches, they break apart and drift about two feet from each other. The surface of the flooring is a turquoise floral pattern with nicks and scratches indicating ware and usage. Flooring is something we stand on, often taken for granted is the necessity of this object. The same can be said for memory; it is the grounding of our life, what all our thoughts, feelings and decisions are based on. The cracks and movement represent the deterioration of the mind. Whereas Kleinian theory speaks of infants formed connections to object, Renner is coming at it from the opposite perspective: the end of life and the breaking down of object relations. “With each passing day our mental landscape expands; memory provides architecture to make sense of it all. Unfortunately mental architecture will fall into despair just as that of the physical world.” 6 As the home, the well used object whither with time, so does the human memory and inevitable the human persona, that which makes is the foundation of a human being.
Pangaea and Brainwash have come from this experience. Brainwash, the more obvious of the two, consists of a circular structure made from windows on stilts. A steady stream of water is sprayed continuously on the structure, washing it and remnants of anything on it. Viewers are affected by this torrent as relatives would be affect by the loss of a loved ones memory. That, ones close member of their family would soon grow distant, forgetting their faces. In Pangaea, a section of wall hovers above the floor in nine pieces. As the viewer watches, they break apart and drift about two feet from each other. The surface of the flooring is a turquoise floral pattern with nicks and scratches indicating ware and usage. Flooring is something we stand on, often taken for granted is the necessity of this object. The same can be said for memory; it is the grounding of our life, what all our thoughts, feelings and decisions are based on. The cracks and movement represent the deterioration of the mind. Whereas Kleinian theory speaks of infants formed connections to object, Renner is coming at it from the opposite perspective: the end of life and the breaking down of object relations. “With each passing day our mental landscape expands; memory provides architecture to make sense of it all. Unfortunately mental architecture will fall into despair just as that of the physical world.” 6 As the home, the well used object whither with time, so does the human memory and inevitable the human persona, that which makes is the foundation of a human being.
http://sculpturespace.org/wp-content/uploads/image/original/renner1.jpg
The next two artists included use parts or whole bodies as objective forms. Kelly Jacobson’s work is “an exploration of how the entropic systems inherent in both the body and architecture can be translated into artifacts of human experience”. Many times she will combine human form with that of an obviously man made structure. Her work of particular significance to this theme is entitled The Origin of Mouthstones. It consists of eighteen welded steel stands holding cement and sand tablets. At first the tablets look like fossilized stones and perhaps contain plant fibers and animals; however, when looked at closer, one can see that they are bits of teeth and fossilized bite marks. Behind these stands is a video projection of Jacobson’s mouth and just enough of the rest of her body to know that the mouth is connected. Her lips are moving but no sounds come out. Surrounding the room are still plates of the video. Her mouth is formulating silent words. The urge to read her lips then arises, but the video projections, as well as the still plates surrounding the space, seem to be slowed, drawing out her words so that they are incomprehensible. The concurrence of apparently fossilized mouth pieces and their holder, the mouth connected to the body, shows the source of these relics. However, the source is in a past tense video projection and all that remains are the teeth, much like the skeleton which will remain after our minds and bodies are gone. Though the analyzing of objects points to a morbid endpoint of human existence, I think it is more indicative of what is left after communication has failed us. Not only does the silent video show this but it also relates back to another sect of Klein’s theory. According to this premise, while testing fantasies, the infant will exhibit biting and chewing tendencies as an act of frustration. 1 Similarly, Louise Bourgeois’ Destruction of the Father speaks of her experience with a male dominated household, in which she was not allowed to speak her mind freely. The work, abstracted and unobvious, is about her physically wanting to eat her father because of the frustration he caused her as a child. Jacobson’s deteriorated mouths leave only the teeth or method for biting and chewing. That paired with her silent video of inaudible speech point to lack of communication and perceived result of frustration. This piece is an important member of the group because, besides trying to communicate a metaphorical idea, this piece is actually speaking of the act of communication, a very important idea to this group of artists.
The next two artists included use parts or whole bodies as objective forms. Kelly Jacobson’s work is “an exploration of how the entropic systems inherent in both the body and architecture can be translated into artifacts of human experience”. Many times she will combine human form with that of an obviously man made structure. Her work of particular significance to this theme is entitled The Origin of Mouthstones. It consists of eighteen welded steel stands holding cement and sand tablets. At first the tablets look like fossilized stones and perhaps contain plant fibers and animals; however, when looked at closer, one can see that they are bits of teeth and fossilized bite marks. Behind these stands is a video projection of Jacobson’s mouth and just enough of the rest of her body to know that the mouth is connected. Her lips are moving but no sounds come out. Surrounding the room are still plates of the video. Her mouth is formulating silent words. The urge to read her lips then arises, but the video projections, as well as the still plates surrounding the space, seem to be slowed, drawing out her words so that they are incomprehensible. The concurrence of apparently fossilized mouth pieces and their holder, the mouth connected to the body, shows the source of these relics. However, the source is in a past tense video projection and all that remains are the teeth, much like the skeleton which will remain after our minds and bodies are gone. Though the analyzing of objects points to a morbid endpoint of human existence, I think it is more indicative of what is left after communication has failed us. Not only does the silent video show this but it also relates back to another sect of Klein’s theory. According to this premise, while testing fantasies, the infant will exhibit biting and chewing tendencies as an act of frustration. 1 Similarly, Louise Bourgeois’ Destruction of the Father speaks of her experience with a male dominated household, in which she was not allowed to speak her mind freely. The work, abstracted and unobvious, is about her physically wanting to eat her father because of the frustration he caused her as a child. Jacobson’s deteriorated mouths leave only the teeth or method for biting and chewing. That paired with her silent video of inaudible speech point to lack of communication and perceived result of frustration. This piece is an important member of the group because, besides trying to communicate a metaphorical idea, this piece is actually speaking of the act of communication, a very important idea to this group of artists.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42408000/jpg/_42408522_louise_father416.jpg
The last artist in this exhibition is slightly different; her art contains figures without the reliance on objects to form connections with the viewer. Christina West’s work contains only sculpted figures obviously absorbed in their own thoughts, problems and ideas. These figures look human, but up close the artist’s hand is obvious in taking out the subtleties of the human individual. They are painted with the same paint as used on the walls. Without indicators of clothing, they are nude. Clothing points to issues such as social standing, age, work type and individual sense of style which is not something West’s work is dealing with; she is more interested in discerning the human mind and its connections to its surroundings as well as other humans. The figures are often posed as if submerged in a social situation; however, that situation is often never revealed completely. West’s 2006 thesis explains that while creating she is constantly thinking of
The figures in No Exit are all a pale yellow with a drip of wall white as if someone had dumped a bucket of white paint from the ceiling directly on each figure. White contact paper is on the floor below each person as if the white paint had resonated from each figure. A tub of rubber sits on the floor and it looks as if it has been dipped into by they figures. Parts of their body that are in use are casted from rubber: a woman’s eyes shielded by her hands, a man’s hands covering his genitals, and a crawling woman’s buttocks. Rubber is a frequently used and malleable material and representing parts of the body in that material objectifies them, as well as further presenting that they are not people but sculptural representations of people. Figures are intermingled with pedestals but not set on pedestal, playfully pointing to the aspect of art, but not raising figures to high art. Many of the figures seem to be pained. The woman crawling on the floor has her head bent down and she is wincing as if she was knocked down and unable to walk. The man leaning against the wall is covering his genitals as if they were bothering him and another man is examining his penis. The figures do not only seem to be examining themselves as a child would, they are also the size of children though their bodies are obviously mature adult bodies. It is this peculiar aspect that ties it back to the object relations theory. The fantasies that each human initiates in their mind are represented by the inward thought of each figure. The actions and interactions that are involved in shows the testing of each fantasy. Because these adult figures are the size of children shows that this theory does not only take place in childhood, but throughout the adult life as well.
The last artist in this exhibition is slightly different; her art contains figures without the reliance on objects to form connections with the viewer. Christina West’s work contains only sculpted figures obviously absorbed in their own thoughts, problems and ideas. These figures look human, but up close the artist’s hand is obvious in taking out the subtleties of the human individual. They are painted with the same paint as used on the walls. Without indicators of clothing, they are nude. Clothing points to issues such as social standing, age, work type and individual sense of style which is not something West’s work is dealing with; she is more interested in discerning the human mind and its connections to its surroundings as well as other humans. The figures are often posed as if submerged in a social situation; however, that situation is often never revealed completely. West’s 2006 thesis explains that while creating she is constantly thinking of
“projections about potential narratives… and possible responses from futureThey represent another aspect of the human condition: the fact we are never fully amerced in anything but ourselves. We could be paying attention, involved in a conversation, embedded in an act; but we are never without awareness of our own body and our own thoughts. While pointing at this, the audience is then forced to look into the mind of that figure, creating a contradiction. Her audience’s translations are another aspect of the work. In order for her work to be successful, the viewer must attempt interpretation of each figure. It is this interaction between form and perceived interpretation that is the aim of her work.
viewers. A large part…involves searching for poses and arrangements that walk
the line between ordinary and unusual, innocent and corrupt, public and private…
[each work] presents implications that viewers are then required to confront and
assess based on their own ideologies.”8
The figures in No Exit are all a pale yellow with a drip of wall white as if someone had dumped a bucket of white paint from the ceiling directly on each figure. White contact paper is on the floor below each person as if the white paint had resonated from each figure. A tub of rubber sits on the floor and it looks as if it has been dipped into by they figures. Parts of their body that are in use are casted from rubber: a woman’s eyes shielded by her hands, a man’s hands covering his genitals, and a crawling woman’s buttocks. Rubber is a frequently used and malleable material and representing parts of the body in that material objectifies them, as well as further presenting that they are not people but sculptural representations of people. Figures are intermingled with pedestals but not set on pedestal, playfully pointing to the aspect of art, but not raising figures to high art. Many of the figures seem to be pained. The woman crawling on the floor has her head bent down and she is wincing as if she was knocked down and unable to walk. The man leaning against the wall is covering his genitals as if they were bothering him and another man is examining his penis. The figures do not only seem to be examining themselves as a child would, they are also the size of children though their bodies are obviously mature adult bodies. It is this peculiar aspect that ties it back to the object relations theory. The fantasies that each human initiates in their mind are represented by the inward thought of each figure. The actions and interactions that are involved in shows the testing of each fantasy. Because these adult figures are the size of children shows that this theory does not only take place in childhood, but throughout the adult life as well.
http://cwestsculpture.com/gallery/priebe
These four artists seem to be in touch with themselves as humans as well as the artifacts present that make them who they are, as well as similarities in the minds of others. Melanie Klein’s psychoanalytic theory presents ways that a child develops its mind though forming a hypothesis of object relations; because this happens to every human it can form a direct line of communication connecting society through visual objects. The translation of strong symbolism from artist to viewer is a mode of communication for these artists that some believe to surpass that of physical speech. Based on beliefs of Joseph Beuys, a pioneer of critical thought and communication through art, these artists transfer their own self to their viewer for interpretation and understanding. Each piece has an open ended meaning in hopes that the viewer can formulate an individual opinion based on their own ideologies. Every human has distinct memories that can be exhibited by relationships with visual objects. Displaying something as simple as the color yellow, can have far-reaching effects on the mind.
Works cited
1Mignon Nixon, Bad Enough Mother October, Vol. 71, feminist issues (Winter, 1995), pp. 70-92 The MIT Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/778742
2 Germer, Stefan. “Haacke, Broodthaers, Beuys” October 63, Vol. 45, (1988), The MIT Press. http://www.jsor.org/stable/779044.
3 DPR Barcelona, “The Paper Architects”, review of Brodsky and Utkin, the Complete Works, by Lois Nesbitt, Beyond Books Between Art, Science and Architecture, September 2, 2009.
4 Safford, Alison Claire, Interview by author, Alfred, NY, Nov 29, 2009.
5 Safford, Alison Claire, “Master of Fine Arts Thesis Report” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 1996) 1-10, 4.
6 Renner, Patrick. “Committed to Memory” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 2006) 1-11
7Jacobson, Kelly. “Artist’s Statement,” Kelly Jacobson, http://www.kellyjacobson.net/files/about/about_statement.html.
8 West, Christina. “Master of Fine Arts Thesis Report” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 2006) 1-8, 8.
These four artists seem to be in touch with themselves as humans as well as the artifacts present that make them who they are, as well as similarities in the minds of others. Melanie Klein’s psychoanalytic theory presents ways that a child develops its mind though forming a hypothesis of object relations; because this happens to every human it can form a direct line of communication connecting society through visual objects. The translation of strong symbolism from artist to viewer is a mode of communication for these artists that some believe to surpass that of physical speech. Based on beliefs of Joseph Beuys, a pioneer of critical thought and communication through art, these artists transfer their own self to their viewer for interpretation and understanding. Each piece has an open ended meaning in hopes that the viewer can formulate an individual opinion based on their own ideologies. Every human has distinct memories that can be exhibited by relationships with visual objects. Displaying something as simple as the color yellow, can have far-reaching effects on the mind.
Works cited
1Mignon Nixon, Bad Enough Mother October, Vol. 71, feminist issues (Winter, 1995), pp. 70-92 The MIT Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/778742
2 Germer, Stefan. “Haacke, Broodthaers, Beuys” October 63, Vol. 45, (1988), The MIT Press. http://www.jsor.org/stable/779044.
3 DPR Barcelona, “The Paper Architects”, review of Brodsky and Utkin, the Complete Works, by Lois Nesbitt, Beyond Books Between Art, Science and Architecture, September 2, 2009.
4 Safford, Alison Claire, Interview by author, Alfred, NY, Nov 29, 2009.
5 Safford, Alison Claire, “Master of Fine Arts Thesis Report” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 1996) 1-10, 4.
6 Renner, Patrick. “Committed to Memory” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 2006) 1-11
7Jacobson, Kelly. “Artist’s Statement,” Kelly Jacobson, http://www.kellyjacobson.net/files/about/about_statement.html.
8 West, Christina. “Master of Fine Arts Thesis Report” (MFA Thesis, Alfred University, 2006) 1-8, 8.
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