Without an idea, art cannot not be created in a physical form, therefore the idea itself could be considered art. However, it may not be a 'work' of art as only the person and the person themselves can interpret it. The definition of 'good' art varies from person to person. The most basic art could be considered 'good' just because of the message it conveys, but not much thought has to be put into it. Some pieces in the Tate Modern are splurges of paint but the message behind it is what makes it be perceived as 'good'. Without actually making the art, I believe that you can not be the artist. Some individuals may request someone to make the piece of art for them as they may have an inability to produce the artwork, possibly due to a disability but they may still want their idea to be displayed to the world. Just because you cannot physically produce something, doesn't mean your creativity cannot be expressed. For me, instruction based art is only interesting when you have a level of uncertainty as to what you are going to create as it allows the instruction to be interpreted in any way. Despite giving a particular topic or way of doing things, instructions (in terms of art or photography) should allow the person following them some freedom as to how they respond to the demand. In my opinion, the photographer isn't always the one pressing the shutter as in order for a photo to be taken, the shutter has to pressed in some way. The photographer can press it or the photographer could set up some sort of mechanism to capture a photo, yet they would still remain the photographer, despite not having touched the shutter.
Do It: the art of instructions
The 'Do It' project is one where instructions from artists (from Ai Weiwei to Louise Bourgeois) are left for other individuals to follow. No matter their age, gender or the extremity of their imagination, they can decide to obey these instructions and create photographs with their own interpretations. The list of things to do is never ending, things such as: “start a rumour; write a poem using toothpicks to form the letters; invite a stranger into your home for breakfast; use a bicycle seat to squeeze lemons; make Thai curry; repent”. The uniqueness of each instruction allows each and every individual to express themselves in ways they may not have imagined to do so before. Each instruction can differ from completely humorous to essentially life threatening, completely pointless to being filled with meaning.
Two artists I find particularly interesting are Ai Weiwei and Yoko Ono. Ai Weiwei offers instructions which can be used in a positive way and for someone else’s benefit but also in a way which can be taken advantage of for the “wrong” reasons (such as how to disable an overhead CCTV surveillance camera using a can of spray paint etc). Personally, I’m interested in this as she cannot control how another individual decides to interpret this particular instruction, but nevertheless she provides it. Yoko Ono, on the other hand, has a more heartwarming instruction. She requests for individuals to write down their wishes on tags and attach them onto her “Wish Tree”. These small wishes and hopes can’t do much harm at all and typically people wish for heartfelt things, such as world peace and the healing of a person’s mother’s leg. I find this inspiring as it allows the next person to read on other people’s desires in the world and it could impact your own wishes and possibly cause them to realise the contrast between stranger’s lives.
This particular project acts as a way for strangers to gather and create a community. People from a variety of backgrounds have the opportunity to communicate and relate to people they never would have imagined, simply from a random array of instructions by other artists. Even children have this same opportunity; they created a large arte-povera papier-mache ball of newspapers which act as an environmentally friendly way to reuse discarded copies of “The Guardian”. As said in the article “the more you read, the bigger the balls” - which I personally find amusing.
Two artists I find particularly interesting are Ai Weiwei and Yoko Ono. Ai Weiwei offers instructions which can be used in a positive way and for someone else’s benefit but also in a way which can be taken advantage of for the “wrong” reasons (such as how to disable an overhead CCTV surveillance camera using a can of spray paint etc). Personally, I’m interested in this as she cannot control how another individual decides to interpret this particular instruction, but nevertheless she provides it. Yoko Ono, on the other hand, has a more heartwarming instruction. She requests for individuals to write down their wishes on tags and attach them onto her “Wish Tree”. These small wishes and hopes can’t do much harm at all and typically people wish for heartfelt things, such as world peace and the healing of a person’s mother’s leg. I find this inspiring as it allows the next person to read on other people’s desires in the world and it could impact your own wishes and possibly cause them to realise the contrast between stranger’s lives.
This particular project acts as a way for strangers to gather and create a community. People from a variety of backgrounds have the opportunity to communicate and relate to people they never would have imagined, simply from a random array of instructions by other artists. Even children have this same opportunity; they created a large arte-povera papier-mache ball of newspapers which act as an environmentally friendly way to reuse discarded copies of “The Guardian”. As said in the article “the more you read, the bigger the balls” - which I personally find amusing.
John Baldessari - an American conceptual artist
John Baldessari's artwork acts as an influence on the younger generations due to his use of a wide variety of mediums such as: photography, video, painting, texts, prints, film, drawing and books. Throughout his work, he implements either simply just text or an image (or both) in order to convey a specific message to his target audience. Baldessari stated that 'A word can't substitute an image, but is equal to it'. Interpreting it for myself, this means that words cannot convey as much as an image can (the same emotions and visual feeling) but an explanation of the image can act as the equivalent. Initially, he created pieces of art with pure painted text on a canvas consisting of statements about art and its concepts. Due to this, a gain of importance occurred for this style of art, for artists such as Ed Ruscha (an artists who paints detailed landscapes and places contradicting text on top in bold).
Baldessari began an experimental process where each image taken is accompanied by a single caption below it. An example of this is the photo on the left, where he captioned with 'THE INSPECTOR IS COMPELLED TO LOOK DIRECTLY DOWN THE ROAD AND INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE PICTURE'. According to him, the composition of this image is simply incorrect and shouldn't be as it is; he believes that the main focal point shouldn't be the individual in the centre. After this project, he explored More famously, Baldessari stated and instructed his students to write 'I will not make any more boring art' on the walls' as he burnt his own artwork in order to 'change the course of art history'. He began to take photos with coloured stickers covering the faces of people and things in order create a sense of anonymity. |
Examples of Baldessari's instructions:
For me, photographing these images were a struggle to do due the fact that I had to follow the instructions. They gave me an understanding as to what to attempt to achieve but it became quite restricting when it came to actually photographing the images. Some of the photos were difficult to capture, such as the 'defenestrated objects and photo them mid-air' (where we had to throw objects in the air and take an image of them). It was a struggle to throw an object whilst trying to focus the camera so the object in my photos are blurry. I felt quite limited as to what I could do as we had to remain in the school building whilst taking these photographs. I interpreted some of the instructions incorrectly, therefore I was unable to expose the creative part of myself. However if I were to redo this, I'd photograph a piece of art, crumple it up and then redraw on the creases to create another work of art. Despite this, it allowed me to explore the school and find items and areas to be the main focal point/setting in the each of the photographs. In order to refine and improve these 16 photos, I would go to a thrift store as instructed and attempt to mend the art as that instruction really fascinates you.
Baldessari's 'Assignment #8'
We were instructed to follow an assignment initially set for Baldessari's students and I chose to do Assignment #8:
Document change, decay, metamorphosis, changes occurring in time. Photograph same thing at various times during the day.
With this stimulus, this is what I produced:
Document change, decay, metamorphosis, changes occurring in time. Photograph same thing at various times during the day.
With this stimulus, this is what I produced:
Whilst taking these images, I attempted to create a dull atmosphere as for me, decay has negative connotations to it. Although metamorphosis is typically interpreted as a positive aspect in life, I wanted to continue with the monotonous mood as I felt like it flowed better. Currently, I find it is more pleasing to view than a photo containing vivid colours and this array of images reflects my mentality at this point in time. I feel as if these images aren't the best quality but it adds to the aura of them (in my opinion anyways). They almost make me feel tired as it doesn't strain my eyes to look at them, which is representative.
'There has to be 4 different colours in the photo'
In order to imitate John Baldessari's instructional art, we were given an instruction produced by another student and we had to create photos following that specific instruction (the created instructions were distributed randomly, we were all unaware as to what instruction the envelope given contained. Mine was that each photo had to include four different colours in each individual image.
At first, I was oddly unsure as to what it meant by 'different colours'. Did a difference shade of a colour count since they are considered 'different colours' in stores? Did the colours have to be distinctly different, like red and green? I knew that instruction was written with the intention to be simple, but I overthought it. In these photos, I attempted to capture photos which evidently included separate colours but in some, I attempted to photograph objects and their surroundings in similar colours (but different shades). Taking these images was enjoyable as it required an attention to detail and I enjoy having to look for specific things (although it becomes frustrating if I cannot find them).
Erwin Wurm - a Vienna-based sculptor
Erwin Wurm's use of random objects and materials stemmed from his inability to afford specific materials, so he used what was at hand. For this reason, his first sculptural works were simply made from wood as he lived above a wood shop, meaning he could have their excess material. He began a series named 'One Minute Sculptures' (in the 1990s) where he'd use any individual, background or object to create a scene to photograph. These images evoke many emotions and thoughts (such as: confusion, fear, humour, childishness etc) but their unusualness is definitely the reason why they're so unique.
Examples of his work include:
Examples of his work include:
My take on Erwin Wurm's style:
When attempting to recreate and take my own photos in the style of Erwin Wurm, I found that asking the individual to do certain things felt strange at first but after getting over the initial uncomfortable feeling, the photos ended up creating the same feelings that Wurm's work evoked. I personally really enjoyed this style of photography as it honestly makes me chuckle. My favourite aspect would be the fact that you can essentially do the first thing that pops into your mind as it is a "One Minute Sculpture", and not much thought is required. Compared to the other tasks we were asked to do, I felt like this one didn't limit my creativity, despite the fact that we were in school.
The photo I find the most amusing is definitely the last one with the individual's head on top of the mannequin's torso. Although you can see where his body is, it makes it seem as if his head belongs to the mannequin. Another image I liked was the fourth one where it seems as if the individual is about to use the guillotine to slice his hand. I feel as if this embodies Wurm's style accurately without copying his work completely.
The photo I find the most amusing is definitely the last one with the individual's head on top of the mannequin's torso. Although you can see where his body is, it makes it seem as if his head belongs to the mannequin. Another image I liked was the fourth one where it seems as if the individual is about to use the guillotine to slice his hand. I feel as if this embodies Wurm's style accurately without copying his work completely.
Photography game:
We were asked to create some form of game or entertainment which included our own photography and multiple ideas initially came into my mind. The idea that I chose to do was a jigsaw puzzle as it didn't require too many materials and it is a clear way to present photos. Here is what I managed to create:
Whilst creating this game, I found it difficult to cut out the individual pieces as I had to use a retractable blade knife and it was uncomfortable to hold however I'm quite pleased with the results. Before cutting out the pieces, I had to cut and measure pieces of cardboard to stick my printed images on. After sticking them onto the cardboard for the strength of the puzzle, I used sticky back plastic to 'hand laminate' the photos and then I traced out the outline for the pieces to use as a guideline for where I should cut. For the image of the cat, I decided to cut out 'traditional' jigsaw pieces, however for the image of the flower, I wanted to create a piece which was much more difficult to complete and contained more irregular shaped pieces. Although the pieces aren't cut as neatly as they could be (if I were to have had a sharper blade or an alternative way of cutting them out), I like the homemade feel to the puzzles. The instructions that I initially included weren't clear enough and I felt like they could've been presented better so I changed them (the last two images show the different set of instructions). With the new instructions, I had previously planned to laminate them, however I felt like they looked nicer as they were because the box was matte and the puzzles has the shiny effect already. All the materials used for this game were materials I already had in my household, therefore I didn't have to spend any money to do create it.