Artists Who Inspire Me
Lately I've been asking myself "What do I want my art to do?". I create art because I need to...which is the classic artist answer. It speaks for me when I can't. It shows me what's in me when I don't even know myself. Other times, I know exactly what it is and what I want to express. It's something I have to release. It teaches me. It's my sandbox to process, experiment, and build through. Art and science are understood to opposite sides of the range, but both explore and interpret the world. The modality and approach of each is what is different but both important to the underatanding of humankind. Art can be decor... or it can be therapeutic, tell stories, evoke emotion and inquiry and be political among more possibilities. Art can be whatever we want it to be.
In times of properity, there has been art. In times of dispair, there has been art... and arguably much of the world's most impressionable art has come out of times of unrest. Hence why the 60's, 70's and 80's produced such rich music. Currently, music from Kendrik Lamar and Taylor Swift can be considered political. Ai Weiwe and Marina Abromović are installation and performance artists who create art with strong political and social statements.
I'm going down a rabbit hold here so I'll get to some of the artists I have been thinking about lately...
Meg Ida
Marina Abramović and Ulay
Meg Ida
I've met some artists lately that have been inspiring me. One of these artists is a ceramist I met at the East Van Art Crawl. When I walked into her exhibit, I was delighted to see her pieces. Some of them called to me because they had some elements that rang a chord to some of the art I have been making. But as I toured futher into her show, my eyes were caught by these grotesque but intriguing forms. "What the heck are these?" I wondered. Turns out they were "sperm salt and pepper shakers". I was amused and captivated at the same time. Who would make these? I turned around and spotted a short older asian lady who was clearly the artist. She was looking at me as if she had been watching me for awhile. I walked over to her and shyly said hi. She asked immediately, "You're an artist?". I explained I had just started up art again. She leaned into me as if telling me something sacred. Looking me in the eye with a serious look, she said emphatically " You can do whatever you want to do."..."It's your art.". That struck me. Not that I haven't been doing what I want to do or need permission, but I do find at times that I hold back. Am a bit hesistant to experiment and "ruin" something. But she reminded me...who cares? Here she is selling her gnarly sperm salt and pepper shakers and she really doesn't care at all if anyone likes or buys them. She wanted to make them....so she did.
Meg Ida's sperm salt and pepper shakers
Marina Abramović and Ulay
I finally watched the documentary Marina Abramović & Ulay: No Predicted End on November 30th. Fittingly, November 30th is their birthdates and the date they met. They were lovers and artists like no other. If you want provocative art, they did it. Their art evoked humanity at its most raw and real, and exhibited people's own nature to themselves like no other art has done. They were audacious and poignant in their delivery. Their performance art was challenging, and deathly dangerous at times. Both the art they created independently and together provoked criticism and struck audiences near and far. While their individual works are fascinating, their work as a couple has been unsurpassable in their depth and boldness. Their life together was the art.
Marina Abramović, a Serbian artist, and Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen), a German artist, met in Amsterdam on their birthday, November 30th, while Marina was performing a piece which resulted in her bearing some pretty gory flesh wounds. Ulay, dressed as half man and half woman, approached her as she was bleeding on a piece of ice while being blasted with extreme heat. He tenderly tended to her wounds. What a way to meet.
The art piece that first caught my attention was Rest Energy (1980). For 4:07 minutes, Ulay and Marina held in tension a real bow and arrow which was pointed at Marina's heart. They had two small microphones attached to each person's chest so that they can hear their heartbeats. The piece was intended to last 4 minutes and 10 seconds but they stopped early as the tension was becoming too great to hold and Ulay ended the performance to save his partner's life. The piece was about ultimate trust and vulnerablity, not just bodily but also psychological. The fragility of emotional openness really hit me. Love and trust are the two of strongest elements of the human experience. The breaking of the heart and trust hits harder than any steel or stone.
Rest Energy motivated me to research more about the two artists which is when I came across Marina's performance piece The Artist is Present. By then the two had been separated for a long time and Marina was performing the show solo. In The Artist is Present, Marina sat at one end of a table with an empty chair at the other end, inviting strangers to sit across her for an undefined amount of time and silently gazing at each other. She would close her eyes between the visitors and open them when the visitor was seated. One instance, she opened her eyes and geuinely to her surprise, saw Ulay. Their genuine emotion filled responses were moving and raw. People could relate to the overwhlemingly full and bittersweet feeling of seeing we love and are no longer with. Heartbreak...what is more vulnerable, raw and real than heartbreak? I cried when I watched it. And moreso recently having my own heartbreak, it was cathartic and very relatable to me. I'm sure I am not the only person who thinks about the moment I may see someone who I am no longer with, but is still in my heart. Ouf.
These two pieces aroused my interest in Marina and Ulay and I was looking forward to watch their documentary. It was by fluke I saw it on their birthdays, November 30, which also has a significant role in their initial meeting.
Other pieces I found intriguing and also fun was Imponderabilia (1977) which took place Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna in Bologna, Italy. In this performance piece, the two artists stood naked facing each other in the narrow doorway of the museum, forcing visitors to squeeze between them to enter the museum. They installed a video camera facing the inside of the entrance to capture the way visitors chose to squeeze through the doorway. They noted that women would often choose to face Ulay and men chose to face Marina, but none of the entrants looked at them in the eyes. I appreciated the minimalist but bold execution of this piece. It was simple but reflected how discomfort for the basic human form has been socialized among society. People were uncomfortable to acknowledge the exposed human form on both a physical and psychological level.
Nightsea Crossing (1981-1987) looked and sounded intense, and was proclaimed so by the artists themselves. The performance contributed to the breakdown of the couple's relationship. It involved 22 performances over 6 years, and 19 locations across different continents. In the series of performances, Ulay and Abramović sat silent and motionless at either end of a table facing each other in a meditative state from open to close of whatever establishment they were in. Sometimes that meant 8 hours. Many would think movement and action is what causes conflict, but in actuality, stagnation and non-action is death. At the beginning of this piece, the couple had decided to get married (1980ish) and celebrate their union by walking the ends of the Great Wall of China towards each other to meet for their wedding. By the end of Nightsea Crossing, the couple was separating. The silence across the long table seemed fitting for the state of the couple's relationship.
Their last collaborative piece was The Lovers. Marina and Ulay were finally granted their permission to walk the Great Wall of China, but instead of walking to meet in union, it was a walk to mark the end of their relationship. Each walked 2,500 kilmoeters over 3 months to meet each other for a tearful goodbye. Talk about taking time and space to process!
Well this was more writing than I expected and kinda fun...perahaps I'll post more about artists that inspire me....