Hello Possums - Patricia Piccinini

Patricia Piccinini is well known to be one of Australia's most leading contemporary artists. Piccinini's main inspiration comes from her keen interest in how contemporary ideas of nature , the natural and the artificial are changing our society. Works such as "Hello Possums"  have addressed concerns about biotechnology  such as gene therapy and ongoing research to map the human genome.  Piccinini often creates acutely aesthetic and appealing works as a means of discussing complex ethical issues. 

  

Piccinini enjoys exploring what she calls ‘the often specious distinctions between the artificial and the natural’. The concepts that underpin modern science, such as genetic engineering and other forms of biotechnology, appear to fascinate her.

The main ideas behind Piccinini's work is the fictions and mutability of the ideas of perfection, basically, she plays on peoples common perspective of perfection. Piccininic creates a contrast and relationship between the natural, organic and constructed worlds in order to suggest the potential marriage of human physiology and development.  

My first reaction to "Hello Possums" was that it was quite ugly and very weird, but with more inspection you can more clearly see how Patricia Piccinini has cleverly shown us the distinctions between natural and artificial. Piccinini shows us a mutated version of perfection and it is quite interesting to see. 

The Bird's Nest - Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is one of China's most well known contemporary and independent artists.  Based in Beijing, he is  also a freelance curator, cultural advisor and architect. In 1979 he was one of the founders of the art group "The Stars" and in 1998 Ai Weiwei started the loft-gallery China Art Archive & Warehouse (CAAW) in Beijing, of which he is the artistic director. He collaborates with the Swiss firm Herzog de Meuron as architectural consultant for the Beijing National Stadium project. 

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ai Weiwei was asked to design the National Stadium for it, his design concept came from "a complete emptiness" meaning that Ai Weiwei emptied his mind and made it possible for him to find the best points from aesthetics and practicality. The main aspect that Weiwei wanted to get across was to produce a language that possessed a unique form that was able to support many functional requirements. The process obtained in creating this stadium was carefree and fun, they made it seem clear and obvious, free from any traditional notions.  

However, Ai Weiwei's personal philosiphies were far different from Chinas and even refused to attend the opening ceremony for the Olympics because he thought that it was too far from the spirit of freedom. He always thought of the ceremony as being a product of government bureaucracy, rather than a natural celebration and expression generated among free citizens. He also felt that there were too many regrets in the ceremony which dissappointed him.

Because of this he then renamed the stadium as "Pretend Smile" because he was questioning whether "it’s possible for a society that doesn’t have democracy to excite the joys and celebrations of its people." And whether or not it was possible for such a society to win international recognition and approval when liberty and freedom of expression are lacking.  Ai Weiwei stated "There are all kinds of efforts under way that are means for stricter and tighter control. When these new security rules and restrictions are put in place, how can one smile and perform, cheer and pose?"

In relation the the Chinese government Ai Weiwei believes that the biggest dissappointment is that China has fallen short of its promises to have "One World, One Dream" and to show the world a "New China, New Beijing, New Olympics." He thought that this seemed slightly fake, he didnt believe that anything had changed.  Ai Weiwei said that "What we’re seeing are the deep-rooted lack of courage and confidence, and the want for real happiness and civil participation. Instead, we see more of inept management and a blind sense of self-defense."

The Chinese society is undoubtedly bound for more freedom and democracy, and the Olympics are a great opportunity to show the world our longing for, as well as effort to achieve, democracy and freedom, rather than the opposite.

The Stadium Ai Weiwei helped create: 

Lynette Wallworth's 'Evolution of Fearlessness

In this still filmwork, Lynette Wallworth filmed portraits of 11 women who originated from countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and El Salvad who have lived through wars, survived concentration camps or extreme violence. The main focus of this piece is to show the state of terror and loss. The significance of this work is that these women who have now emigrated to Australia now have a chance at life. They have adapted a feeling of strength and fearlessness.

The piece is built around the importance of gesture, it provides a insight into the lives of the women contained the piece, whose stories we were given glimpses of but whose lips don't speak. The work is an intimate reveal of strength of the human spirit. In the work, the viewer enters a dark room in order to learn about the trials and stories of women who have survived war zones.

Evolution of Fearlessness contains the depth and volume and movement, it is more realistic and relates to the aspects of humanism which came about from the Renaissance, which focuses on the human, realistic aspects of art.

Evolution of Fearlessness is all about connecting with these women who have suffered so much, by viewing this work we are able to see their experiences, faith and strength written on their faces. This is a prime example of humanism, as the whole purpose of humanism is to be able to relate to the viewers, and to be able to spread a message that is relateable to the audience.

For The Love Of God- Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst's recent sculpture "For the Love Of God" is a life size diamond encrusted skull worth over 100 million dollars, making it the most expensive contemporary art work ever made. The sculpture features a human scull covered in a platinum cast and 8,601 diamonds. The sculpture is entirely set with diamonds aside for the human teeth. This theme of death is not rare for Damien Hirst as the majority of his work is related to death. The reason why Hirst wanted to encrust diamonds into a skull is because he thought that it would be a good thing to do, he figured that death is such a heavy subject and so it would be good to make something that laughed in the face of it."

This sculpture is quite controversial as many believe that there is no point of spending that much money on a piece of art, what is the purpose of being that extravagent when you can spend money on so many better things. Another factor that questions the morality of the sculpture is the blood diamond issue, how thousands of people die every month getting these diamonds and the ongoing battle over the African Blood Diamond. Many also accuse Hirst of simply making the diamond encrusted skull for fame and wealth rather than for making art.

Personally I believe that even though the sculpture may look appealing and attractive, the motive behind it doesn't justify the suffering that thousands of people had to suffer just to get the diamonds. Through this piece we are able to see just how far Hirst would go to make some money, especially when he priced the piece for far more than what its even worth. Maybe the work wouldn't be so controversial if diamonds were an easily accessible resource, but they aren't and I don't see the point of spending that much on a piece of art that could've easily been made with another source. If anything, Hirst is almost glorifying death, enriching a human skull in diamonds.