Exploration of Contemporary Identity through 21st Century Art

8/2/2019 Exploration of Contemporary Identity through 21st Century Art

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CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Humanities

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

To be attached to all assignments

(ALL SECTIONS MUST BE COMPLETED)

STUDENT NAME: Miguel Sergio Ferreira

STUDENT ID: 15378187

UNIT NAME AND NUMBER: Engaging in the Humanities311922DUE DATE: 27/05/2011 (4pm)

WORD COUNT: 1506 (excl. references and titles)

TUTORIAL DAY AND TIME: Tutorial (25) Monday 12pm

TUTORS NAME:Huilin Sun Mrs,

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR TUTORS NAME IS ON ALL SUBMITTED ASSIGNMENTS

DECLARATION:

I declare that I have retained a copy of this assignment.

I have read and understood Curtin University policies on Plagiarism andCopyright and declare that this assignment complies with these policies.

I declare that this assignment is my own work and has not beensubmitted previously in any form for assessment.

Signature: Date: 26/03/2011


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Assignment 2.1: Short Research Essay

Exploration of Contemporary Identity through 21st Century

Art

Through the ages man has always felt the compulsion to set itself apart from the apparentchaos of nature. To define an identity different to that of mans instinct driven surroundings.

Art has come to be the outlet for this desire. Over thousands of years the narrative of art has

moved from being a reflection of the holy and superstitious as in Ancient Greek, Egyptian

and Medieval Art, to rather a reflection of the unholy and flawed self, as demonstrated in the

art of the 21st

Century (Wilson 1999, 65). Today we see a constant struggle to move art to its

basal level. Art now strips away superficial levels of embellishment and actively condemn

false constructs of reality. The art of yesterday, with its Romanticised elevation of human

existence no longer holds true to our modern context were everything is questionable and

beliefs are subject to trend (Wilson 1999, 65). Instead art today constantly tries to explore and

define our identity, under the pressure of modern cultural, consumerist and ethical

constraints. In this essay I will analyse how artists of the 21st century have tried to express,

explore and define their own understanding of contemporary identity. Each has arrived at a

unique philosophical insight into the human psyche, together which can abridge a clearer

understanding of our modern identity in a lifestyle of uncertainty.

We are modern materialists, we've learned to get happiness from the urban environment and

delight in its elegance and shimmer. But at the same time we're uncertain because we

understand there's a deeper moral need that isn't catered for by our modern afflictions. The art

of Piet Mondrian, seeks to address this ancient need for a feeling of balance, perfection and

order. Piet Mondrian, a modernist abstract artist took inspiration from the grid lined

skyscrapers of New York (Wijsenbeek 1968, 124). He takes that feeling of awe, irregularity

and endless mathematical order and applies it to his work (Wijsenbeek 1968, 216). His

paintings are mere abstract balances of form and colour, but they experiment in addressing

that which we lack in our modern lives, balance and perfection. Previously, religious orders

were established to sustain those needs, but in our modern condition we can no longer accept

the foundation of logic which religions rest on. Instead we can look to the art of Mondrian

and engage in a attempt at perfection and order (Wijsenbeek 1968, 225). This is Mondrian's

experiment in defining our modern identity. We have moved on from our past and yet we still


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carry the desires of previous times. Mondrian proposes a new antidote to these needs and in

fact by doing so questions or identity's development to a perfect state.

The Abstract Expressionists were a small group of artists, frustrated with the consumerist

lifestyle of post-war America. Their art was an effort to confront our human dark side. These

artists were outcasts for not giving into their consumerist surroundings (Seitz 1983, 19). Their

art comprised of lines and edges and negative and positive space but refused to show

anything representational. It compounded the attributes of abstract art, everythings bigger,

narrower, more urgent, more morally challenging (Seitz 1983, 23). The viewer is drawn into

an image of visual purity, where the baron moral landscape of contemporary society is left

behind. Jackson PollocksNumber 31 painted 1950 is a balance of marks in space. The work

is in a constant shift with all elements in a delicate weightless dance. He can never know

exactly where the paint will land. He never knows if hell keep that balance going or if it will

all fall into chaos. But he keeps going undirected and relentless (Seitz 1983, 19). Is that not a

process we all experience daily? Do we not long for a guideline to moral living? To be told

what to believe instead of making it up as we go along. We have no direction but we know

we must carry on. This is the artists truth to our identity. He has explored our vulnerable,

misguided and doubting selves. Our uncertainty is our identity.

Pop Art, a movement created in the lead up to the sixties, retorted to the morally heavy,

unrelenting criticism presented by the Abstract Expressionists. Yes, we have no direction.

Yes, we take comfort in our consumerist ambitions. But is that really a bad thing? Why not

accept that we dont really believe in anything anymore? Instead of art attacking

consumerism as humanitys low motivation, it should instead become a part of arts narrative

(Berg 2002, 225). Consumer goods, advertising and pop culture are the art of today. In Roy

LichtensteinDrowning Girl (1963) we the viewers are presented with a comic strip excerpt

appropriated from a DC Comic series. The image addresses the moral values of today. Is

anything really important anymore? Our circumstances change every day and with that

change our values. The important in one instance become the insignificant in another. Pop art

wants to cruise through life in a new elegant discombobulated fragmented forgetfulness (Berg

2002, 227). We may not like that in art, but is that not really us. Pop art asserts the value in

our consumerist identity and asserts that since we can no longer know thyself as everything

is questionable, we have no choice but to numb thyself


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In our own time art has taken on all the lessons presented before. We have accepted that we

cannot believe in anything and we now allow art to demonstrate this randomness of

existence. This new consciousness is exemplified in the art of the Young British Artists.

Frozen heads of blood and sharks preserved in formaldehyde present a new formula to

exploring our uncertain selves (Adams 1997, 37). In 2005 the artist Mark Quinns statue

Allison Lapper was erected on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. The statue shows a

woman afflicted with the condition Phocomelia. All the other plinths show traditional heroes

of the past. This is an ironic comment on established values. Values we can no longer believe

in. The slender marble invokes a sense of old world beauty. We expect to see a perfection of

human form, like ancient Greek sculptures (Adams 1997, 40). Instead theres imperfection.

The piece no longer fits the old moral framework. It calls us to be more accepting of those on

societys fringes. By putting the right questions together he has actually mirrored our

confused modern sense of right. This mix of sensationalism with moral questioning is the

style of the YBA (Adams 1997, 45). Instead of art that shows an aspiration of ourselves we

find art at the level were already at. That level is subject to impulse and whim.

Where do we go from here? The art of today now stands to confirm our uncertain lifestyles

and beliefs, but to where will art direct us in the future. To see a glimpse of what art's role

may be in future years we can turn to the contemporary art of China. Breaking free from

communist constraints, Chinese contemporary art has come to bear witness to our future

globalized and unified identity. No more is this evident than in the work of Wong Qingsong.

His subject is the human mind. His a photographer, his images echo western civilisation.

They gesture to the great noble things that the West has been, but their being restaged to

express new global conditions. As China responds to Western civilisation, the Chinese

experience a loss of identity, life becomes a hybrid of different cultures (Qingsong 2006, 28).

Neither truly west of holy east. This is the ironic subject matter of Qingsong's digitalised

photos, artificial worlds of staged uncertainty. Iconic paintings and news photos have been

deliberately drained of their original idealism and heroism. He is questioning modern

yearnings, modern dreams of safety, what we think we want compared to what we really are

(Qingsong 2006, 41). Its shows that when we put back traditional style into art, instead of

disturbing abstractions, it's just as disturbing. He asserts our identity no longer can fit the

framework of the past but is equally disadvantaged in being based on globalized uncertainty

(Qingsong 2006, 45). We no longer can know ourselves and instead turn to consumerist trends

in a desperate attempt to substantiate an idea of self.


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Through the years art has come to be the outlet for humanities desire for identity. In the past

we held aspirations to better ourselves, and this was reflected accordingly in art. But these no

longer hold true in our current human existence. Weve moved away from the superficial and

instead aspire to know ourselves through acceptance of our consumerist habits. Art today

now illustrates this move to higher consciousness. It explores the recesses of our psyche to

discover what we hold important. Although different styles of art have interpreted these

findings differently, there is a common agreeance. We as a contemporary society must accept

we have left our stagnant superstitious beliefs and come to terms with our uncertain

existence. This is our contemporary identity.

Images:

2. Jackson PolloockAutumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950Medium Enamel on canvas (266.7 x 525.8 cm)

META America (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2010)

3. Roy Lichtenstein,Drowning Girl, 1963. Oil

and synthetic polymer paint on canvas,

(171.6 x 169.5 cm). MoMA, New York

(Simply Art Fine Artist 2009)

1. Piet Mondrian, Composition with Yellow,

Blue, and Red, 193742, oil on canvas, 72.5 x69 cm, Tate Gallery. London (ArtNews 2011)
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3542http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3542


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Assignment 2.2: Essay Reflection

What strengths and weaknesses did you identify in your Short Research Essay?I feel me essay was well constructed and utilised appropriate evidence to substantiate and

credit my ideas and concepts. I feel I drew on a proficient number of academic sources toagain make credible my arguments. I also included visual aids, with which to better illustrate

my analyses. I should have tried to make my thesis statement clearer and more obvious. My

bibliography must also be consulted to address its conformity to Chicago Author Date

Referencing standards.

How did you use the tutors feedbackto improve your work for the MajorEssay?

I went through my essay and resized all in-text referencing so as to conform with Chicago

Author Date Referencing standards. I corrected all syntax and wording errors. I composed a

clear thesis statement, which clearly outlined what I set out to achieve in my essay. I sourced

more academic references to substantiate two additional arguments in my essay. I attempted

to better illustrate the conditions of contemporary life and how 21st century artists have

responded in those environments. I edited the images' captions so as to include the medium of

the artworks shown. I also displayed all the images in colour so as not to compromise the

integrity of the original artworks represented. I also amended my final bibliography which

originally contained a few layout errors.

4. Mark QuinnAllison Lapper 2005-2007

marble stone, 3.6m Trafalgar Square(If It's Hip, It's Here 2009)

5. Wang Qingsong China Mansion (excerpt) 2003

Digitally manipulated c-print., 127x1213.5cm

Phillips de Pury and Company, London(If It's Hip, It's Here 2009)


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Reference List

"Art News | Museum Ludwig Celebrates Piet Mondrian | Art Knowledge News." Art Knowledge

News | Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art....

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Piet_Mondrian.html (accessed May 26, 2011).

"International Center of Photography Presents Wang Qingsong When Worlds Collide."

MuseumPublicity.com Museum Publicity Announcements News and Information.

http://museumpublicity.com/2011/01/24/international-center-of-photography-presents-wang-

qingsong-when-worlds-collide/ (accessed May 26, 2011).

Adams, B. Sensation: young British artists of the Saatchi Collection. London: Thames And Hudson,

1997.

Arnold , M . "Roy Lichtenstein Simply Art Fine Artist ." Simply Art: Simply art at its best! .

http://www.simplyartonline.net/Roy_Lichtenstein.htm (accessed March 26, 2011).

Berg, P. "Pop Art."In Style 9, no. 7 (2002): p.222+.

http://catalogue.curtin.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?menuitem=0&fromTop

=true&fromPreferences=false&fromEshelf=false&vid=CUR (accessed March 26, 2011).

Jaffe, H.L, 1970. Piet Mondrian . London: Thames & Hudson.

Period, T. "Jackson Pollock: Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) (57.92) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art

History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:

metmuseum.org. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works (accessed March 26,2011).


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Qingsong, W, 2006 Wang Qingsong . London: Albion.

Seitz., W.Abstract expressionist painting in America. Washington: Harvard University Press, 1983.

Sweet, L. "If It's Hip, It's Here: Golden Girl: Artist Marc Quinn Unveils 18k Gold Statue of Kate

Moss." If It's Hip, It's Here. http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2008/10/golden-girl-artist-

marc-quinn-unveils.html (accessed March 26, 2011).

Wilson, S. "ART and IDENTITY." Publishers Weekly 246, no. 26 (1999): p.69.

http://catalogue.curtin.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?menuitem=0&fromTop

=true&fromPreferences=false&fromEshelf=false&vid=CUR (accessed March 26, 2011).

Wijsenbeek, L. J. F. and Piet Mondrian, 1968 Piet Mondrian, . Greenwich, Conn.: New York

Graphic Society.

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Exploration of Contemporary Identity through 21st Century Art