frankie-ecs2-blog

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My work will focus primarily on the impact that prescription drugs have on American people. Through my work I will aim to translate how I personally view pharmaceutical companies looking deeply into how they exploit vulnerable people to make a profit. A billion dollar industry that thrives off of people’s addictions is causing chaos throughout the word but particularly in the USA where prescription drugs are very expensive. There is an epidemic of people who are addicted to Opioids which are drugs that aim to eliminate pain and act as a morphine substitute (Bruce, 2018). My interest came from watching a BBC3 documentary called ‘Addicted: America’s Opioid Crisis’. It was a heavy watch which followed the journey of those who had become addicted and were battling with recovery. It became very clear to me that society does not fully support those with addiction and often the pharmaceutical companies are so rich that it almost appears that they have some power over decision making and government level control. I feel that at present I am gaining artistic inspiration particularly from Ai Weiwei and Rob Pruitt. These are two artists with a political and contemporary approach to their work without a set style. This is the direction I would like to go with my own work.

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Here are some of my initial notes and jottings of what came to my head when i originally had the idea. Alongside this, going to exhibitions including the Olafur Eliasson one allowed me to visualise my idea better. After seeing this exhibition in particular and the unique elements throughout it inspired me to try something different from the norm.

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Literature Artists like Ai Weiwei have helped us to understand the challenges that exist within society. Whilst living in the USA Ai Weiwei witnessed several protests and political debates which he later took back to China to use for inspiration. This inspiration encouraged him to create work that later went on to get him into regular trouble with the authorities (Chiui, 2016). His work was controversial to say the least including work that demonstrated a woman pulling up her skirt to reveal her underwear at Tiananmen Square. In 2001, work of his in an exhibition included corpses as part of the installation. This was soon closed by the police but gained him worldwide artistic publicity (Chiui, 2016). In other work, Ai has used himself to produce work with a message that centres around an existing societal issue. He posed as the young refugee Alan Kurdi who was pictured drowned on a beach back in 2015. This act allowed him to send an important political message to the world. The image allowed him to attempt to represent the thousands of innocent refugees who die every year trying to escape war for a better life. This work gained huge attention and showed the power that political art holds ( Mortensen, 2017). Political art enables people to send messages and raise awareness without words. It ensures that the viewer sees the fundamental message - and in this case the human being enduring the suffering. I too want my exhibition piece to have a significant message surrounding it that focuses on addiction. This is where the inspiration from Rob Pruitt comes in as his work uses his own personal experiences including his experiences with drugs. It is important for those who see my work to leave with a new understanding of how bad the crisis is and the primary cause. We use art as a means of expression. It is important that when necessary, we use art to publicise issues that exist within society (Mieke, 1946). Political art also has the ability to be more long lasting in the memory of those who see it. The message sticks for longer, allowing the individual to go away and reflect on what they have seen long after they have viewed it. It evokes suppressed emotions in people and in some cases it can impact how they go on to proceed in their daily lives (Mieke, 1946)

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"Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one's imagination - perhaps more importantly - creativity is the power to act."

Ai Weiwei is a famous contemporary Chinese activist and artist. He is an activist who uses his art to express his fight for human rights. Coming from a country where free speech is not recognized as a right has resulted in him enduring several attacks and violations by the police in the past due to his work. This is because he is viewed as a threat to China’s “harmonious society.“

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‘Hanging Man in Porcelain’ Ai Weiwei 2009, porcelain in huali wood frame 50 x 44 x 4 in (127 x 111.76 x 10.16 cm) This piece of art known as the ‘Hanging man in porcelain’ by Ai has a minimalist approach which is my intention when I come to creating my own piece. Using materials that can be manipulated into different shapes and being obvious without description.

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Rob Pruitt

Robert Pruitt is an American artist. He works mainly in painting, installation, and sculpture, but he does not he does not have a single style. He describes his work as intensely personal and biographical, often with a political or activist approach.

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‘Cocaine Buffet’

Rob Pruitt 

1990′s

The installation consisted of a 6-foot mirror with a line of real cocaine running down the middle of it which visitors were actively encouraged to consume. This was seen as highly controversial. This was another minimalist sculpture that changed the sensation associated with Rob Pruitt’s name. A self confessed publicity stunt, ‘Cocaine Buffet’ was probably one of his most successful pieces of work. which shows the power of controversy. Similarly to Ai Weiwei, he has a minimalist approach to his art using few materials to create an installation. He also tends to use his own personal experiences to translate into bigger political statements through his art.

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I envision my final piece to be interactive and allow the viewers to consume some of the materials. I have thought about using items that may represent opioids and the ease of obtaining and consuming them. I see the installation mocking a pharmacy and comparing it to a drug house. I thought about cultural references and have decided that the well known idea that shoes being thrown over street cables implies that a drug dealer lives there will feature heavily in my work. So, at this point I imagine using some wire to make a cable, shoes or perhaps a different object instead of shoes, and also some edibles. I will be using materials such as copper wire and cables in my own home as experiments to see the weight capacity in terms of how many things can be hung off of it. I would like the viewers to look up and instantly recognise what they see and associate it with what they may have seen in the media and or films etc.. in the past. They will ideally reach the end of the line and be faced with a pharmacy sign offering the candy. I imagine the work to be above the average person’s height to mimic the real life scenario. My intention is to raise awareness to an ongoing problem that could easily happen in the UK if we lost the NHS. I do see that perhaps my work will have some issues if I am unable to be given the amount space that it may require. Equally, some people may not understand the reference and the point that is being made. Therefore, I intend to accompany my work with a well thought out rationale documenting my influences and my intended political message. I fear my work may be critiqued for being too simplistic but I will argue that my artistic influences such as Ai Weiwei and Pruitt use minimalism successfully to translate the intended message.

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References

Bal, Mieke. Of What One Cannot Speak Doris Salcedo's Political Art. Chicago, [Ill.] ; London: U of Chicago, 2010. Print.

Bruce, R. (2018). Opioid addiction, opioid addiction treatment, and HIV infection. Topics in Antiviral Medicine, 26(3), 89-92.

Chiu, M. (2016). On Ai Weiwei. Social Research, 83(1), 175-177,223.

Mortensen, M. (2017). Constructing, confirming, and contesting icons: The Alan Kurdi imagery appropriated by #humanitywashedashore, Ai Weiwei, and Charlie Hebdo. Media, Culture & Society, 39(8), 1142-1161.