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Skills obtained in Critical Thinking Assignment

In this entry I am going to talk about how the critical thinking assignment helped me develop my skills, in terms of expressing myself clearer and also how to discuss a topic in a more interesting and intriguing way. Another task that helped me achieve all this are the critical blog posts that I had to write each week throughout the entire year. One task which I feel shows what I have learned is the critical analysis assay on my thesis subject ‘Body Fluids’. Through this assay I also learned more on how to structure an argumentative assay and how to prove my hypotheses right. Something I learned in the critical thinking unit is that in order to support a hypothesis one must show works that are directly related to the subject, but also works that are not. For example, in the critical analysis assay on body fluids I mentioned various works that made use of body fluids, while also discussing works that did not use body fluids but are still related to the hypothesis. I also learned what the conclusion of an argumentative assay should consist of. Originally, I thought that in the conclusion one should just close up the subject, but now I know that one should mention the hypothesis again and say if it was proven or not, and give an overview of all the important points discussed in the assay. One should also include what further research can be done to prove or disprove the hyposthesis.

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Critical analysis and evaluative assay

For my critical analysis and evaluative assay I changed my original hypothesis. The original hypothesis which I had discussed in an earlier blog post was not powerful enough to build an interesting argument. My new hypothesis is that artist need to use body fluids to create a controversial piece and so elicit strong emotions in their viewers. In the assay I started off by mentioning ‘Piss Christ’ by Andres Serrano, one of the artworks that a very strong impact on viewers and gave rise to a strong controversy. I also mentioned artworks that did not made use of body fluids but still created such strong emotions and controversies. For example, ‘Fountain’ by Marcel Duchamp had a strong impact on viewers because of the use of a readymade object placed in a gallery space, which meant that the artist did nothing but buy the object, sign it, and presented it (Mundy, 2015). This artwork made such a strong impact because it was one of the first conceptual art works. Duchamp wanted to create a controversy so as to test the Art Society and to ask the question of ‘what is art?’. For a few years after Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’, conceptual art was a very successful in creating controversies. However, nowadays, conceptual art is accepted as much as the more traditional ways to present art. I discussed this in the assay, after which I gave other examples that show how the use of body fluid in art create controversies. I started off by mentioning an art work that was also made by Marcel Duchamp at the time he created ‘Fountain’. ‘Faulty Landscape’ is an art work in which Duchamp pit his own semen on paper to send it as a love letter to his woman (Sohail, 2014). Just as the ‘Fountain’, this work gave rise to strong emotions and a strong controversy that is still in place today.

With this example, I needed to show how the use of body fluids in art created strong controversy at the time when other works, such as conceptual art, were also considered controversial.  I also wanted to show how works consisting of body fluids are still leaving a huge impact on today’s viewers, while others works that did not make use of body fluids, are now considered normal by society (i.e. conceptual art). By going through all this I supported my hypotheses and also showed that it can be backed up even further with more research.

Mundy, J., 2015. ‘Fountain’, Marcel Duchamp, 1917, replica 1964. [online] Available at: <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573> [Accessed 22 Jan. 2017].

Sohail, S., 2014. Faulty Landscape [Marcel Duchamp]. [online] Available at: <https://www.sartle.com/artwork/faulty-landscape-marcel-duchamp> [Accessed 18 May 2017].

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Phobias and Fear Work Of Art

In this blog post I will be discussing one of the most interesting concepts I have worked on this scholastic year. I came up with the concept for an assignment, in which each student had to come up with a strong concept and create interesting artwork based on it. We were left completely free to do whatever we want, and so it allow us to express ourselves without any restrictions. I wanted to work on something that is very but also I intriguing, and so I chose to base my concept on the various phobias that people struggle with. I found this subject interesting because many phobias concern everyday items, such as buttons, cheese, and hair, and many people actually make fun of those who struggle with such phobias. Thus, I decided to create artworks that consist of everyday objects and present them in a way that would elicit fear, even in those individuals that do not struggle with phobias, so as to make them feel the same emotions that others who suffer from phobias do. For my finals piece I worked on 5 specific phobias, that of buttons, cheese, hair, balloons, and clocks. I created an exact replica of these 5 objects using plaster. In order to make the replicas an object of fear for those who don’t have the phobias I put in needles protruding outwards towards the viewers. When I presented these pieces in a critical review with my classmates I got very good feedback, in a sense that even though they were not scared of the real objects the replicas with the needles made them feel fearful.

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The Importance of Materials in Art

During my studies, I have always tried to create interesting work and translate my ideas to reliefs and 3D art works. Personally, I believe that one of the most important things that an artist requires to be able to produce art is a good knowledge of materials and how to combine varied materials together. During the years, I have always tried to explore and work with different materials, including ceramics and metals among various other materials, that although they were not introduced to me in school I was able to learn a lot about them through research and a lot of experimentation. Nowadays I think that all the knowledge I have gained about the various materials will allow me to create more interesting pieces and obtain more satisfying results in my work. it also means that restrictions are very minimal, as I can create any thing that I can think of, using any material that I need to achieve my vision. For me I see an artist who lacks knowledge about materials is restricting himself when it comes to bringing his ideas to life in the form of artwork, and this could cause them to stay within their comfort zone using the same material repeatedly. This I believe will halt any development in his art. I want through this phase of being stuck with the same material during my first two years at MCAST, were I did everything with ceramics, and I felt very restricted when I was trying to come up with an idea. This is what prompted me to experiment with other materials, and although I still use ceramics, I am also able to work with materials that have different properties than ceramic and so I can be more creative in my works.

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Marco Evaristti Art

Marco Evaristti is a contemporary artist who was greatly influenced by Marcel Duchamp. In his works Evaristti aims not just to create beauty, but to create a work that is significant for him and that will have an effect on society (Bang & Olufsen, 2012). One of his most controversial work is ‘Fish Soup’, in which he filled food blenders with water, put in a gold fish, and plugged in the blenders. These were displayed in a gallery and the public could switch on the blenders if they desired to do so (Long, 2007). In my opinion this work did have an impact on society, and so it fulfills the artist’s goal of influencing society through his art. In fact, it prompted anger and rage in many people, especially animal activists who want to take Evaristti to court for animal abuse. For this reason, I think that although the way he made use of animals is cruel, the piece itself is good as it was capable of evoking emotions in the audience and motivate society to act against animal cruelty.

Another great artwork by Evaristti, which is also relevant to my thesis project, is the meatballs he produced with his own body fat removed by liposuction and ground beef. He fried these meatballs and put them in cans to be displayed in a public gallery. Many have described his works as disgusting and immoral. In an interview Evaristti explains that the purpose for such works is to shock society and so move it to ask questions. His meatballs piece is a reflection of society’s unhealthy obsession with food and weight loss (Long, 2007). I think that this piece would be good to include in my thesis questionnaires as it is a very good example of the use of body fluids as a medium in art and should prompt participants to really think about the subject without any bias.

 Bibliography

Bang & Olufsen. Marco Evaristti. 2012. [Online Video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhjohMvV1s> [Accessed 14 Apr. 2017].

 Long. G, 2007. Meatballs made from human fat, anyone? | Reuters. [online] Available at: <http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-chile-artist-idUKN1724159420070518> [Accessed 14 Apr. 2017].

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Personal Thoughts on New Thesis Hypothesis

In one of my previous posts I explained that my thesis hypothesis has changed. I am now going to investigate if body fluids can be considered as a medium in art like other mediums such as oil, watercolour, acrylic and much more. During this blog post I am going to talk about what I think about this hypothesis and also how artworks can benefit from using body fluids instead of other mediums. I think that the use body fluids as a medium in an art work can create a very strong controversy and by that the work can get more attention in the art world. I also think that the aesthetic provided by body fluids cannot be achieved using other media. However, one weakness which I have come across in art works which use body fluids as a medium is that the public can interpret it in a completely different way than the artist intended.

One of the best examples of an art work that used body fluid as a medium is Illma Gore and INDECLINE’s painting ‘Rise Up Thy Young Blood’. This piece reflects all the points that I mentioned. It was created as a part of a campaign against the racism that Trump was stating during his election campaign.  This mural was made completely out of blood, and while the artists wanted it to be a message of unity and peace, some people looked at it as a waste of blood which could have been used to save people’s lives (Sehayek, 2017).

 Bibliography

Sehayek, M., 2017. This Artist Has a Message for Trump’s America and It’s Painted Entirely in Blood. [online] Available at: <http://www.laweekly.com/arts/this-artist-has-a-message-for-trump-s-america-and-it-s-painted-entirely-in-blood-7826211> [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017].

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Class Debates

One of the most recent task assignment was to conduct several debates in the classroom. The topics of these debates were all based on different issues in art, and each pair had to discuss a particular topic from the affirmative and the disagreeing side. These debates offered us an opportunity to look at each topic from different perspectives, and allowed me to form a more knowledgeable opinion regarding the various issues. One particular topic which I found very interesting was ‘can restored art be considered as authentic?’. I found this interesting because I was unsure of what the answer to this question should be, and through these debates and the reliable sources that were discussed I was able to obtain a definite conclusion. In order to do so I did my own research about the sources that were mentioned during the debate and I found that they were all well-known organisations in the artworld. With the knowledge, I have gained through the class debate and even my own personal research regrading this issue I concluded that restored art should not be considered authentic. One of the reasons for this is that the materials and techniques used for restoration are not always identical to that used by the artist himself. Also, the areas that are restored would not have been created by the artist himself (Dutton, 2017).

My personal debate topic is ‘the use of people and animals in art’. I chose this topic because I think it can help me in my thesis project, as body fluids are obtainable only from humans and animals and so all body fluid art makes uses of people or animals.

Dutton, D., 2017.Denis Dutton on authenticity in art. [online] Available at: <http://www.denisdutton.com/authenticity.htm> [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

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New Hypothesis For My Thesis

In my thesis project, I am going to explore how artists are using body fluids in their art. Originally, I intended to investigate what Maltese people think about the use of body fluids in art, but I found it very difficult to conduct such a study. The reason for this is that while I was doing my research and the questionnaires I obtained very vague responses, with no definite answers to conclude my hypothesis. Thus, I decided to move away from my initial hypothesis and after some more research and a lot of thinking, I thought of a new hypothesis, which I found very interesting and supports the original thesis subject of body fluids in art. My new hypothesis is ‘Can body fluids be considered as a new medium in art?’. I think that that with this new hypothesis I will be able to achieve a more complete and definite conclusion, as participants can give me more qualitative answers in the questionnaires and interviews I intend to perform.

Although I have not yet conducted any formal questioning, I have already discussed the subject with various people. During a discussion with other students who are studying fine arts, all agreed that body fluids can be a very interesting new medium for artists. However, many also said that if body fluids is to be used as a medium for art, and animal body fluids are going to be used, they should be collected without causing any harm to the animals themselves.

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Helen Chadwick, Piss Flowers, 1992

Helen Chadwick is the artist who created the ‘Piss Flowers’. These are white flowers casted from the patterns left in the snow after she and her boyfriend pissed in it. Chadwick explains that what she finds fascinating about these pieces is the way they were created. Urinating in the snow is something which should not work, but it somehow gives rise to such beautiful works. She describes these pieces as products of chance events, products of things that happened, rather than something made through conventional methods. The artist Cathy de Monchaux describes the ‘Piss Flowers’ as something romantic. She explains that by creating these patterns with her boyfriend, she incorporated her love life in the works (Long Nigh, 2016). The artist’s urine stream created the deep indent, while the boyfriend’s urine created the pattern of the petals around it (Sarah Kent, 2013).

What I find very interesting in these works is that the artist managed to think of a very unique and creative way to melt the snow. I also like how she used a process which is not as controlled as conventional artistic method. The process of urinating is highly variable, and changes greatly from one body to another, and also within the same individual, as it is affected by body temperature, the hydration state of the body etc. The flowers themselves are white, and look very clean and ordered, which is something I find fascinating when remembering that they are made from urine, something which contains the waste that the body is rejecting.

Figure 1: Helen Chadwick, Piss Flowers, 1992 ( Phil Irish, 2014)

Kent, S., 2013. Helen Chadwick, Richard Saltoun | The Arts Desk. [online] Available at: <http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/helen-chadwick-richard-saltoun-london> [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017].

Long Nigh, 2016. The Art of Helen Chadwick Full Documentary. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pJj-HeZqCU> [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017].

Figure 1: Irish, P, 2017. Phil Irish. [online] Phil Irish. Available at: <http://phil-irish-artist.tumblr.com/post/88406715310/pissing-in-the-snow-can-have-beautiful-results> [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. 

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John A. Douglas “Body Fluid II [Redux]”

In my upcoming blog posts I will be reflecting and discussing the subject of “Body Fluids in art”, which will also be my thesis assay for critical thinking. In my previous posts I have already mentioned some artists who made use of different body fluids to master their artworks, including Andres Serrano, an artist who made use of various body fluids in many of his works and who created the highly controversial piece ‘Piss Christ’.

Another artist which I would like to discuss in terms of body fluids in art is John A. Douglas. In a live performance, entitled “Body Fluid II [Redux]”, Douglas performed his daily dialysis on stage, acting out various activities such as sleeping, walking, and striking different poses while being dresses in a gold Lycra suit. The concept behind this performance (installation) was to emphasize the sense of science-fiction in man-machine interface, which make the body seem odd and unusual (Andrew Frost, 2013). The performance also signifies the personal connection that the artist has built with the machine, a piece of technology that was keeping him alive and providing him with a way to lead a normal life. During his performance, various large screens were also used to project the artist dressed in gold crossing different environments, including deserts, mountains covered with snow, and blue skies (FBI RADIO, 2013)

What I find very interesting in this performance is that the artist chose to communicate such a personal and emotional aspect of his life using body fluid art.

Figure 1: John A. Douglas, Body Fluid II [Redux], 2013. Performance. Courtesy the artist and Performance Space (Andrew Frost, 2013).

Frost, A. Body Fluid II [Redux] – The Art Life. [Online]. Available at: http://theartlife.com.au/2013/body-fluid-ii-redux/ [Accessed: 12 March 2017].

RADIO, F. (2013). Parental Guidance :: Body Fluid II. FBi Radio [Online]. Available at: http://fbiradio.com/parental-guidance-body-fluid-ii/ [Accessed: 12 March 2017].

Figure 1: Frost, A. Body Fluid II [Redux] – The Art Life. [Online]. Available at: http://theartlife.com.au/2013/body-fluid-ii-redux/ [Accessed: 12 March 2017].

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Client Collaborations

I now feel that whenever an argument comes up during a conversation, I am more able to decide whether an it is interesting or not, and whether it is worth to getting into it. This improvement is all due to the practice that we have had during the critical thinking unit.

During this semester, me and my classmates have had various debates on how companies work in collaboration with us students. Some students argued that they are not happy with the compulsory collaboration with certain brands, as the requirements can be very restricting in terms of ideas, experimentation, and materials. On the other hand, other students are very happy to work any brand, as they see these tasks as opportunities in their studies.

My opinion in this argument is that I enjoy working in collaborations with all brands, as they give us an opportunity to experience an aspect of our career and to understand better how an actual client might have his/her own expectations for their product. In my free time, I am also working with some other clients on different projects, most of which are sculptural works. I found these experiences quite different from those working with a client as part of an assignment brief, mainly because when working without a brief, certain clients leave you completely free in terms of material, concept and ideas and so allow you the express more of yourself in their product. Despite this, there are clients who will tell you exactly what they want and how they want it. This can be challenging when the client does not have much knowledge on the material he sets his mind to, and so imagines things which may not be obtainable in the way he/she wanted it to be.

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Critical Thinking Unit Evaluation

In my past years at MCAST I found it difficult to carry out a critical analysis and to reflect on my research and my final work, as I had no guidance how to tackle the critical part of my evaluations on the work. However, it became easier after last year’s English lesson, which provided us with the basics of how to structure and write an evaluation. These lessons also taught me how to express myself better in writing, especially when writing an evaluation of our works. The Critical Thinking study has also been very useful to practice and improve my critical analysis and writing skills. I feel much more confident when it comes to pitching in my ideas and to back them up with strong arguments. Critical Thinking also provided me with the tools required to identify and describe what is good and what can be improved about my work, and this I believe has helped to create stronger pieces regarding both the techniques I use and the concepts and ideas behind them.

Even though I do feel that I have improved my argumentation skills through the Critical Thinking study unit, I am still not completely confident when it comes to structuring an argument. One of the things that I am still unsure of is how to conclude arguments in a way that backs up the reasons behind the argument. Although I have not understood every details that we were thought during this unit, I am sure that it will help to have better reflection on my blog posts about my thesis project, and this will help me to write a better structured thesis.

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Development of Thesis Project

With the help of some new units that where introduced to us during this new semester, I can continue developing my skills, knowledge and ideas for my thesis project. The unit that I believe is the most helpful for my thesis subject is a life case in collaboration with ‘Science in the City’. In this unit, we need to work with the subject of science and develop a project that reflects that subject. My thesis project is concerned with the use of biological fluid to create art, but in itself, biological fluid is a scientific topic. For this unit, I started researching in more detail on biological fluid from a scientific point of view.

I found a very interesting way to tackle this subject. Fluids are contained in our body by different organs and vessels. I wanted to keep this project as simple as possible without eliminating the scientific element of it, so that people from all fields, including non-scientific fields, will be able to understand it. I am going to work with the organs that everyone is most familiar with, such as the heart and lungs. I started exploring and studying more in depth how body fluids are contained in organs and the form and structure of the organs. I am experimenting with different materials to be able to build the organs in large scale. However, I am also trying to ensure that the material doesn’t give more importance to the organ than the fluid. 

For now, as my experimentations are still in their early stages, I am thinking of using metal mesh as it is light to carry and I already have some knowledge and skills with this material from past projects. I am also using the mesh because it is giving me the aesthetic that I want and it is not taking away from the importance of my main subject, body fluids. I am very satisfied with this unit as it is helping me to develop my thesis ideas for the project and I am also pleased with the way how I am exploring other materials.

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Political Art

Many artists have used art as a tool to pass on massages, such as political and religious messages, to the people. In the research that I have done on my thesis subject I found various artists used art as a political campaign. However, the two-art works which I believe had the strongest political massages were ‘Rise Up Thy Young Blood’ by Illma Gore and INDECLINE and ‘Whatever’ by Sarah Levy. For me, these two works were very powerful statements regarding political issues, but I think that the strongest one was ‘Rise Up Thy Young Blood’.

Illma Gore states that It is a message against racism and discrimination, it is “anti-racism, anti-divisiveness, it's anti-bigotry, it's anti-not listening people” (RT America, 2017). For her painting, she made use of real human blood that was specifically donated for the work. When published on social media #, this piece gave rise to a huge controversy. The main reason for this controversy was that a lot of blood was ‘wasted’ to create a painting rather than being used to save lives (Marnie Sehayek, 2017).

I think that people have the right to do whatever they like with their body, and so if a person believes that he/she should give blood for such a painting than no one can say it is wrong. I also think that this painting can in a way, save lives, especially if it stimulates president Trump to re-evaluate and perhaps change his decisions against certain people. When I saw this painting, and realised that it was created in real blood, it left a much stronger impact on me. This makes me believe that if it was done using other materials, the impact it would have left on me and on others would have been much less significant.

 RT America, 2017. Human blood anti-Trump painting unveiled in LA. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb53R3vrGWE> [Accessed 22 Jan. 2017].

Sehayek, M., 2017. This Artist Has a Message for Trump’s America and It’s Painted Entirely in Blood. [online] Available at: <http://www.laweekly.com/arts/this-artist-has-a-message-for-trump-s-america-and-it-s-painted-entirely-in-blood-7826211> [Accessed 22 Jan. 2017].

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‘Piss Christ’ by Andres Serrano

One of the pieces which I believe took controversy to a whole new level is ‘Piss Christ’ by Andres Serrano. He created a piece by photographing a crucifix submerged in his own urine. Personally, I think that he created wonderful and aesthetically pleasing work. While doing my research, I came across a lot of comments and actions that people took against this piece of art. A good example of this is shown in a video where Senator Alfonse D’amato stated that the work is “outrageous, obscene and a disgrace” towards Christianity (Robert Jukes, 2012). I think that misinterpretation of the work was the primary cause for the way people reacted against the piece. Many saw this piece as an offence towards Christ. However, this is was not the motivation behind the ‘Piss Christ’, and Serrano explained that he did this piece as a symbol of his devotion and as a way to aestheticize Christ (Andres Serrano: The Body Politic, 1994). I personally believe that the title of the piece also had a lot to do with the way people reacted to this piece. However, people should keep I mind that just like his Blood and Sand, Blood and Milk, and Frozen Sperm and Blood, Piss Christ is just describing what the piece consists of and is not meant to be disrespectful or offensive in any way.

Researching about this piece made me aware of the affects certain works can have on others, and the social impact it can have. This encourages me to think more about the way people may react when creating my work. This is especially relevant to my thesis project, which will expose many people (i.e. lecturers, students, critics, public, etc.) to art containing body fluid.

 Bibliography

 “Andres Serrano: The Body Politic.” In Andres Serrano: Works

1983-1993. Philadelphia: Institute Contemporary Art, University of

Pennsylvania, 1994; pp. 17-43.

Robert Jukes, 2012.  Andres Serrano documentary 1989. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJIloJiBKE&t=437s> [Accessed 22 Jan. 2017].

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Literature Review Research

In order to write the literature review for my thesis I started researching I started researching my content in more detail, as my initial research provided me with just an overview of the subject. As my subject is focused on the time from 1950 till the present day, I have a good number of primary sources in comparison to secondary ones. My primary sources consist mostly of articles and blogs written by the artist themselves, as most of them are still alive. I had also found very interesting interviews which took place directly with the artists. This allowed me to listen to the artists talking about their work and also see what they think about how people are reacting to their works because of body fluids used as their medium.

Some artists used body fluids as their medium to aesthetically improve their work, a good example of this being the ‘Piss Christ’ by Andres Serrano. The artist himself said “My intent was to aestheticize Christ” (Robert Jukes, 2012).

On the other hand, artists like Illma Gore used body fluids in their works as a protest. As an anti-trump campaign, Gore and INDECLINE collaborated to work on a piece that uses human blood entitled ‘Rise Up Thy Young Blood’. Blood was collected from more than 60 people who offered themselves to be part of this protest (Stephanie Becker, 2017).

Although these art works used body fluids in different contexts, both raised controversies. People found the ‘Piss Christ’ offensive and disrespectful towards Christ (Robert Jukes, 2012). On the other hand, the main issue people had against ‘Rise Up Thy Young Blood’ was that a lot of blood was ‘wasted to create a painting instead of being used to save live through medical transfusions (Stephanie Becker, 2017).

 Bibliography

Becker, S., 2017. Artist protests Trump again -- but with bloody mural. [online] Available at: <http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/18/arts/protesting-trump-illma-gore-blood-mural/index.html> [Accessed 12 Jan. 2017].

Robert Jukes, 2012. Andres Serrano documentary 1989. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJIloJiBKE&t=437s> [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].

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Time Management

Through my scholastic years I had a lot of things to figure out, including how to handle assignments and to learn to use certain equipment and workshops. However, I believe that the most important thing I learned and am still learning is time management. In the first couple of years, when I was not yet aware of how important good time management is, I would end up finishing all my assignments just a few days before the deadline. Although I always managed to hand in the assignments in time, it showed in their quality that they were rushed and this obviously affected my grades. In fact, I had failed and had to repeat a year because of this issue. Eventually I realised that I was not happy with my grades and was determined to improve them by improving my time management skills. I learned that in order to be able to meet the deadlines while providing good quality material I had to break down my assignments into small tasks and then set realistic goals of by when they should be finished. This obviously involves understanding what is required for each assignment and the amount of time that should be dedicated for it. At first, estimating the time a task would take was a bit challenging, and there were times where I ended up taking more time than I had originally planned. However, with practice I became much better at this, and was capable of setting more realistic goals for myself. I also learned that to ensure work of good quality in a timely fashion I had to do some work every day, even if just for an hour or two.