WEEK 2 - BODY & OBJECT
Reading Notes: The Absent Body/The Body Everywhere
(Excerpt from) Katrib, R. (2016). It feels like ... flesh. In How Does It Feel?
Inquiries into contemporary sculpture (pp. 28-32). Black Dog Publishing
Swiss artist, Pamela Rosenkranz highlights the quality/attributes
associated with the skins surface as opposed to the objective representation.
In acquiring a silicon material (‘DragonSkin’ prosthetics)
the tones and texture of human skin is mimicked – without the physical traits
of the human body, this art relied solely on familiarity.
Plastic bottles and sneakers held the artificial skin contents
– this connects to bodily autonomy without directly addressing it.
Additionally, the work ‘Our Product’ follows this same process,
with the exception of confines – it has freed itself from the ubiquitous
commodities that regularly contain the skin puddles.
Personal observations:
To carry from this thought there is a notion that one can
explore new bounds to present the idea of something without showcasing its
generic form. In this week’s (2) studio experimentation we dive into alternative
ways of expressing biomorphic features or bodily autonomy that can be revealed
or identified on the basis of one’s senses or familiarity. What does the object
call upon – how as human beings do we make these subconscious connections to
form to make the assumption.
Studio Process – Week 2
The focus set was in regard to Body as object:
In session I focused on shape to convey this message – a consistent
and reliable idea to build upon. Female anatomy is curvaceous, round and can be
recognised as hourglass in silhouette – so this was the foundation of my design.
I wanted to maintain quite an abstracted view of the body –
in doing so I allowed flow to be the guidance for developing shapes with the
set material (wood). It’s important to note how diverging the idea is from the
quality of the wood, being robust, firm, straight in comparison to what is the
aim – soft, delicate, round. The best practice therefore was to keep the shapes
carved out simplistic – it out allows the shape to be the hero.
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| The Assemblage of all 'bodily' parts - a collaboration |
Design Ideas:
Artist Review: Sanné Mestrom
“30 Fistfuls of Love is a bronze sculpture I
made specifically for the Ace Hotel building. I threw three handfuls of clay at
a makeshift pillar I’d reconstructed in the foundry. Each handful of clay holds
an impression of both my hands and the architecture of the site—in the specific
way it splattered across the pillar. I then cast this collection of impressions
in bronze. The resulting bronze sculpture became the shimmer of space between
my body and the world it inhabits” (Ace Hotel, 2024).
“In my art I’m interested in the membrane between body
and world—the ways that architecture and the built environment informs, frames,
limits and expands the ways we move through it with our bodies” (Ace Hotel,
2024).
Sanné Mestrom
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Ace Hotel, Sydney. Photo by Ace Hotel. Artwork Review: Ana MendietaSilueta Series - 1973-80 Siluetas comprises more than 200 earth-body
works, that encapsulates a mould of her silhouette into the landscape. Ana
Mendieta photographed her silhouettes for a series that she formed over time from the earth - documenting their ephemerality essence of the imprints. Mendieta utilised her own body as a vessel or rather insturment for design - the weight of her body nesseled in the land communicates human presence or the exsitance of life by merely an outlline of figure. So forth, shape holds significant connotations and associations to the body when we percieve it in differing enviorments. Mendieta said that she was “overwhelmed by the feeling of
having been cast from the womb (nature)” (Brough, 2020).
In a sense, Mendieta viewed these works as a “return to the maternal source” (Brough, 2020). Seeking to “become one with the earth” (Brough, 2020). More so, she expanded on this concept relaying her attempts to fuse her native land with her new home as well as the fusing of body with the natural. Ana Mendieta Unitled, Silueta Series, 1973-80 Site: Landscape — mountain — Mountain of San Felipe Dimensions: sight 38 3⁄4 x 52 1⁄2 in. (98.4 x 133.4 cm.) |
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| Mendieta, A. (1980). Untitled, Silueta Series [gelatin silver print, photogragh of installation]. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photo by Ana Mendieta. |
Reference List:
Ace Hotel. (2024, September 24). Sydney Art Program - Curated by Flack Studio. Sydney. https://acehotel.com/sydney/art-program/
Brough, J. (2020, September 1). Ana Mendieta’s “Siluetas” Helped Me
Come to Terms with My Chronic Pain. Artsy. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artwork-changed-life-ana-mendietas-silueta-series
Katrib, R. (2016). It feels like ... flesh. In How Does It Feel? Inquiries into contemporary sculpture (pp. 28-32). Black Dog Publishing
Mendieta, A. (1973). Silueta Series [Photograph, colour on
paper]. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mendieta-untitled-silueta-series-mexico-t13357
Mestrom, S. (2014). Sanné Mestrom – Artist. Mestrom.org. https://mestrom.org/
Smithsonian American Art Museum. (n.d.). Untitled, from the Silueta
series | Smithsonian American Art Museum. Americanart.si.edu. https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/untitled-silueta-series-34658
Sullivan Strumpf. (2024). Sanné Mestrom. Sullivan Strumpf. https://www.sullivanstrumpf.com/artists/sanne-mestrom
Teffer, D. N. (n.d.). Know my name | Sanné Mestrom (National
Gallery of Australia, Ed.). National Gallery of Australia. https://nga.gov.au/knowmyname/artists/sanne-mestrom/
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