Fonseca

Dhafinne Fonseca

Ryan Gallagher

English 12 CP Period 2

5 April 2010

One mans trash is another mans treasure

Vicente Muniz born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, got his nickname “Vik” in New York

(Monteiro par. 1). Vik came to the U.S as a teenager, the only soon of a retired phone

operator, and a retired waiter (Abreu par. 2). Muniz works and a life in New York, the 39

year old artist is a rare example of an artist who invests as much time in the craft of the

object as in its concept (Angeline par. 5). Vik Muniz’s recreations of old master and 19th

century classical paintings, replicated using refuse (Winston par. 1). As a teenager in

New York he started working at a sculpting art firm and there he begun to make unusual

sculptures and from there doors started opening for him (Abreu par. 2).

Vik Muniz’s works are each individually photographed, and are all impressive

and vividly catching the grandiloquence once credited to their originals (Winston par. 4).

“I have always taken humor very seriously” says Vik Muniz, he also aims higher than

merely reaching a wide audience, and he wants to engage art history and theory. For

adults who are art-history neophytes, there is the asy gratification of spotting Leonardo’s

Mona Lisa done by Vik Muniz in peanut butter and jelly (Schwendener par. 3).

Mr. Muniz’s works have won spaces in some of the most well-known museums in

the world such as the Metropolitan, Whitney, MoMA in New York, and the Reina Sofia

in Madrid (Abreu par.1) he can start by completely and meticulously reproducing a work

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of a photograph chosen among selected artist that include Carot, Courbet, Da Vinci,

Caravaggio, Rothko, and Morris. He produces his own manner to the work of “others”

(Amaral par. 5) “the objective is to bring understanding to the observer in a new angle of

analyzing an image and seeing what they already know” says Vik Muniz (Gomes par. 2).

Photography came to symbolize families of objects not by virtue of its simplicity, but

because of its presumed transparence (Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 5).

Muniz’s works are never just normal. For one, his choice of subject matter is

revealing: not all of the models are necessarily easily recognizable (Winston par. 3). “I

have lots of respect for the spectators. The artist does 50% and who sees the art does the

other 50%” says Vik Muniz (Monteiro par. 2). His works were created at a 1:1 scale and

are faithful to the last detail. Faded labels, torn bits of tape, chalk and ink marks, and little

nick in the wood are all present and accounted for (Angeline par. 3).

Using unusual objects such as garbage, chocolate syrup, sugar, dust, caviar,

diamonds and many more are the things that make Vik Muniz’s work so remarkably

different. I believe that by suing objects that others think is worthless is what draws

attention to the others, by making it seems like it could have been done by anybody on

the streets, by doing “art” with the objects that no artist have ever used before, it to

educate the public about art that they already know, but in a twist.

In Vik Muniz’s series “pictures of garbage” is a series that contains seven pieces;

the one that catches my attention the most is called Marat “Sebastiao”. When looking at

this picture is quite interesting that Vik chooses to use garbage as a form of art. In this

picture one can see tennis racquets, shirts, CD’s, jars, tires and anything a person can

think of is possibly in this painting. What is also noticeable in this painting is a man he

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looks as if he were dead, or maybe resting, but he has his eyes closed, and leaning on

what seems to be a broken wall. The thing that is interesting is the reason why he chooses

to use things such as garbage, there is nothing really that could be done with garbage.

These works were created through a collaboration with people working at Jardim

Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest landfill in South America. These workers served

as models for Muniz, who depicted them on a canvas measuring as large as two

basketball courts, and then shot pictures of it. By involving people from all over the

world in his creative process, Muniz continues his tireless progression as an artist. (“”Vik

Muniz” the Beautiful Earth” “”)

This painting suits the saying of “one mans trash, is another mans treasure” some

people think that the beautiful thing about garbage is that it's negative; it's something that

they don't use anymore; it's what you don't want to see. This could have been inspired by

the place where he lives; when one looks at this painting a person thinks of violence,

another thing that one can see in this painting is that the man in the picture has a name,

Sebastiao, it’s quite interesting that Muniz gave this man a name, why did he give him a

name? Could he have been a representation of all the people who are in this position?

Portraits of these people who earn their living by scavenging recyclables, the people

portrayed seem to be stepping forward from the chaos of the garbage and leaving it

behind them. Viewed from a distance, the illusionistic effect and the resemblance of his

works to the original pictures are striking. However, when seen up close the images

dissolve into a chaotic array of materials, so turning the attention of the viewer to the

symbolic meaning and the formal characteristics of the substances as well as to the

elaborate production process. In Vik Muniz’s series “pictures of chocolate” there is

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photograph that catches my attention, and it’s Sigmund Freud the father of

psychoanalysis. In this photograph you can see the details in his face, the bags under his

eyes, the shadows on his face, his fading hairline.

In Vik Muniz’s series “pictures of chocolate” done in 1997. One photograph that

easily catvhes my attention is the photograph of Sigmund Freud the father of

psychoanalysis. Sigmund 1997 is a five by foot color photograph of a drawing made with

chocolate syrup on a five by four piece of white plastic (Grundberg par 1). Vik Muniz

taught himself how to draw with chocolate syrup not long after mastering the process of

drawing with sugar. “Psychoanalysis was set up to tackle problems of this nature, to give

a meaning to emotions, instincts, and sensations” says Vik Muniz, a portrait of the

founder of psychoanalysis, whose distinctive visage is not only readily recognizable but

immediately conjures the whole history of this century-defining discovery (Grundberg

par. 6).

In Muniz’s series “pictures of ink” there is a certain something that catches

attention like the photograph called Monster from what it looks like a sea monsters head

coming out of the water. In this series picture of ink Vik Muniz tries to make views aware

of the materiality of the printed medium by blowing up a hand rendering of a well known

image (Muniz “ Pictures of Ink par.1). However this pictures doesn’t really look like a

painting it looks more like dots splattered on paper, when seen up-close it doesn’t have a

form of anything, all you can see it dots. The result is a confusing moray of conflicting

information. Both the photographed ink and the recognizable image playing against each

other, making it hard for the viewer to simply recognize something unless he or she

thinks a bit more (Muniz “Pictures of Ink” par. 2

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The dot matrix was used to accelerate the dissemination of images through the

printed media. Reproducing it dot by dot by hand, he turns the technique into a subject

itself. This negotiation of attention is controlled by walking closer or away from the

picture, in the case of a relatively narrow corridor, the of game of finding who is in the

picture become intense, not to mention that the dots will infinitely be multiplied of the

picture in front (Muniz “ Pictures of Ink par. 3). The dots are so detailed and in the right

place, even though the caption of the painting is “monster” it doesn’t look like a monster,

it looks like a long finger coming out of something once you look closely, but when

looking at it from far it looks exactly like the lockness monster, the work of a true artist.

Muniz explores the relationship between the printed dot or TV pixilation and the

construction of an image. The work further examines the connection between the

materialization of that image and its historical reading. (Muniz “Pictures of Ink” par. 3).

In Muniz’s series “Pictures of Junk” the photograph Narcissus, after Caravaggio.

The myth of Narcissus is a one of Greek’s mythology well known myth. in Greek

mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Leiriope. His mother was

told that he would have a long life, provided he never looked upon his own features. His

rejection, however, of the love of the nymph Echo or of his lover Ameinias drew upon

him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a

spring and pined away (or killed himself); the flower that bears his name sprang up where

he died. (“” Narcissus””). Working outside Rio, in a space the size of a basketball court,

Muniz collaborated with art students from the favela (slumps). Each image was done one

at a time over a period of month and a half. Only a basic outline of an image could be

done in advance. The body of the work was composed by Muniz, directing his crew with

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a laser pointer from a scaffold high above. Muniz captures the image from this vantage

point using a large-format camera. This angle creates puzzling discrepancies of scale.

(Muniz “The Impossible Objects” par. 3). Drawing is the basis of Muniz's work. Here it

is done so well and with such unconventional means, that it frees the viewer from

thinking about the subject matter. The work forces one to consider the act of drawing

itself. "Muniz changes materials, medium and methods the way Picasso changes styles: to

make things new, to see with new eyes". (Grundberg par. 16).

“The Impossible object” is an article written by Vik Muniz explaining the

different objects his uses in his photographs. The end of the art-object articulated as an

object coincides with the reign of objects of values. The individualized and

individualizing object, when submitted to a process of patterned repetition in an endless

series, is entirely dependent on factors which are of a technical and sensorial order,

inscribed into the social, intellectual and material characteristics of a society. The object

will always be a distinct element in the context of the real, and the regression of the

object to thing acting as an indistinct condition reduces space to the notion of ambient.

(Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 1”). To photograph an object is to transform it into

mental substance, to map its regress into a state that predates its own existence, its return

to an archetypal stage. To photograph a drawing is to forge a link between parallel forms

of representation, to contextualize its synthetic message within the complexities of time

and space. (Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 7).

Perhaps the photograph of the Kritios Boy was better than its prototype, because it

could be perceived in a way more appropriate to its origin in Pericle's Greece, where the

factual was often disregarded in face of the ideal. However, while the photograph

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narrows the spatial perception of the object, it paradoxically enhances its potential to

stimulate wonder. It creates a side of the object that will always remain impenetrable to

the human gaze; what lies behind the object, its occult aspect, will be forever hidden from

the viewer's eyes. (Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 8). “I usually pick materials

based on the potential for association they offer. I could do still lifes with wire, but I

needed thread to do landscape and powder to do portraits. I guess that since I had covered

most of the genres of Western art I started to explore different ways of rendering them”

says Vik Muniz (Grundberg par. 17). Cups would be cups, regardless of their shape and

ultimate use. In the universe of mass produced things the need for an idealized

representation triggered a process in which the things themselves became less important

than their images. Consumer culture faced the task of systematically minimizing the

organic complexities of material things by divesting them of symbolic volume, by

flattening their substance into the unassuming transparency of signs, by narrowing the

gap that separates the object from its archetype. Making it universal in its perceived form

and yet unique in its character and relationship to the user. By transforming food and

other essential goods into objects of culture, man continuously reinvent the order that

binds objects to their images; a young kid will call an LP record a bid "CD," while a

Frenchman will call a pickle a small cornichon.( Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 2).

If photographs have such a powerful effect at the personal level, what impact does the

photographic image have upon collective perception of things and how, consequently,

does it affect language itself? Through the image, the object transcends its own life span,

its perishable self. We know from experience that everything decays and changes, yet we

fail to recognize this in images. (Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 5). For Muniz,

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drawing and painting are allied but syntactically different means of imagemaking:

drawing is closer to language and more numeric, Muniz declares, while painting is

“totally analog.” (Grundberg par. 21). Does it affect language itself? Through the image,

the object transcends its own life span, its perishable self. We know from experience that

everything decays and changes, yet we fail to recognize this in images (Muniz “The

impossible Object” par. 5). For Muniz, drawing and painting are allied but syntactically

different meanings of image making: drawing is closer to language and more numeric,

Muniz declares, while painting is “totally analog” (Grundberg par. 21). You know how

some people just can’t seem to throw anything away? Well, Vik Muniz is one of those

people and he has amassed a collection of junk that would make any pack rat jealous.

Muniz filled a large warehouse in his native Sao Paulo with garbage and discarded

industrial materials he collected over time; everything from coils and wire to car doors

and old pianos. He then installed a camera high above on a catwalk and hired an army of

assistants to arrange this massive amount of materials into recreations of his famous

paintings (“”One man’s trash is another man’s Titian”” par. 2).  When interacting face to

face with large scale photographs that look more like drawings of old master's paintings

than artfully arranged junk. That is, until you get up close and see that Muniz's Narcissus,

after Caravaggio has hair made out of hubcaps and pursed lips of old bottlecaps. Looking

at some of these photographs, we were reminded of those 3D stereograms that were all

the rage back in the 90s , up close you focus on the individual pieces of refuse, it's only

when you take a step back that you finally see the full image emerge , except we didn't

have a headache and eye strain afterward. Muniz even inserts his own humor into the

pieces if you’re clever enough to notice; his Bacchus Astride a Barrel, After Rubens

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includes a refrigerator full of empty wine bottles.(“” One Man’s trash is another man’s

Titian”” par. 3).

            “I photograph what I can paint and I paint what I can photograph.” Says Muniz

Some people may find it hard to call Muniz’s works photography, but he’s not so very

distant from the wedding photographer who asks people to smile before he takes his shot.

Muniz usually chooses to work with perishable or unstable materials because he wants to

emphasize the temporal element in every picture. They are records of short performances,

about a second long, enacted exclusively for the lenses of my camera, but they are

nevertheless photographs of something that happened in time, like in any other

photograph. (Galassi par. 5). In one way or another Muniz’s work aims at meeting the

viewer half-way by betting on the assumption that the viewer will already have a

preconception of what he is about to show him or her. “Unlike the real thing, the object in

the picture produced in my mind no feelings about time, memory or oblivion; no history

emanated from the picture, only a sense of form, youthful form, perfect in detail and

texture.” Declares Muniz (Muniz “The Impossible Object” par. 7). In reviewing Muniz’s

work, one can admire what he does, and how he does it. As, recently, modern design has

begun to take place at a molecular level, so does serious artistic inquiry operate at the

thinnest crust of its perceptible environment. Art has always been superficial. Using the

vicissitudes and ambiguities of visual ideas to probe their structure, the artist evokes

superficial abysses - for whatever lies behind what we see and perceive can only be

created. (Amaral par. 3).

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Works cited

Abreu, Carmosa. “Vik Muniz.” Obvious 17 July 2009: 26 March 26, 2010.

http://obviousmag.org/archives/2009/07/vik_muniz.html

This article is from a Brazilian magazine, which talks about his life. His mother

who was a phone operator, and his father a waiter, he came to the U.S as teen he

started working at a sculpting art firm and he began to make unusual sculptures,

and from there he developed his talent.

Amaral, Aracy. “vik muniz:illusionism beyond specular appearance.”: March 16,2010

<vikmuniz.net>

This article is about Aracy Amaral’s point of view on Muniz’s art and about the

time he met Vik Muniz. He talks about Muniz’s work and how amazing it is to

witness Mr. Muniz at work.

Angeline, John. “Vik Muniz.” Art Nexus 7no 71 136-7 D2008/F2009.: March 19, 2010

This article is about Vik Muniz’s exhibition at Sikkema Jnekins & Company. It

explains how Muniz’s paints on the backs of other famous paintings. Muniz is a

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rare example of an artist who invests as much time in the craft of the objects as in

its concept.

Galassi, Peter.” Natura Prictix.” The education of a photographer. All worth press, NY,

2006: March 26, 2010 <vikmuniz.net>

This in an interview with Mr. Muniz and what he did before he started making the

work for which he has become famous for. He has studied media with the

emphasis of advertising. He tries to make drawings that looks likes anyone

could’ve done them. They talk a bout his piece of art works, and if he ever hated

any of his art work.

Gomes, Almis S. “Vik Muniz-Museu Inima de Paula.” 7 sep. 2009: March 17, 2010

Vik Muniz’s exhibition in the museum “ Inima de Paula” at his hometown Sao

Paulo. The objective is to bring understanding to the observers in a new angle.

Analyzing an image and seeing what they already know, but in twist.

Grundberg, Andy.”Sweet Illusion.” Artforum International Magazine, Inc. sep. 1997 v36

n1 pg. 102(4): March 17, 2010

One of Vik Muniz’s work called Sigmund. 1997. which was photographed using

chocolate syrup as a medium and while plastic as the paper. In his series “pictures

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of chocolate” 1997 shows a good portrait of the father of psychoanalysis,

Sigmund Freud.

Monteiro, Mariana. “Receita de Artista.” Marie Claire: March 17, 2010<

http://marieclaire.globo/edic/ed122/receita.html>

Vik Muniz’s personal life as an 18 year old sculpting artist in New York City, His

works have won spaces in some of the most well known museums in the world.

Muniz, Vik. “The Impossible Object.” : March 26, 2010

http://vikmuniz.net/www/doctools/pintable.php?pg=vikImpossoble

Object transcends its own life span, its perishable self. Photography came to

symbolize families of objects not by virtue of its simplicity but because of its

presumed transparency. The individualized and individualizing object, the object

---“Pictures of ink” April 18, 2002: March 26, 2010 <vikmuniz.net>

Vik Muniz talks about his process of making “pictures of ink” he tries to make the

viewer aware of the materiality of the printed medium by blowing up a hand

rendering of a well known image.

Schwender, Martha. “Smile and Say ‘Peanut Butter’ Mona Lisa.” The New York Times

2 Mar. 2007: March 26, 2010

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Vik Muniz takes well known famous artists, and remakes them in peanut butter

and jelly, spaghetti, caviar, junk, diamonds, e.t.c. this article is about how he

remade the Mona Lisa in peanut butter and jelly. Vik Muniz engages art history

and theory to please different crowds. Vik Muniz series “individuals” describe his

great breakthrough with unique sculptures out of plasticene modeling clay.

Winston, Helena. “Vik Muniz.” Art US no. 16 Jan. /Feb. 2007 PG. 61: March 16, 2010

VIK Muniz’s recreation of old master and 19th century classical paintings,

replicated using refuse. The photographs were individually photographed; the

photos are impressive vividly catching the grandiloquence once credited to their

originals. By retracing ancient deeds in junk, Muniz says the past myths might be

hidden in the present ready to emerge again at any moment.

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Works consulted

Schwender, Martha. “Brent Sikkema” Artforum International Magazine, Inc. 2002 v40

i10 pg. 177(2): March 15, 2010

Recent photographs of his large earth drawings add another volume to the genre

of alien art. Muniz’s photographs share the format of 60s and 70s Earthworks,

Muniz’s earthwork lean heavily, toward the cultural, the unmistakably human

imprint on nature.

Muniz, Vik. “Reflex: A Vik Muniz Primer. “ Publisher weekly 252.30 (2005): 60.

Expanded Academic ASAP: Web 26 Mar. 2010

Since the early 1990s Muniz has created densely referential photographs of his

own drawings and collages, these generally involve some kind of conceptual

trickiness about representations. His book is a mini-museum of the wide-ranging

obsessions that fuel his work, with images drawn from art and science and quirky

sidebar quotations from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Henry David, Thoreau and

of course Vik Muniz.

Turvey, Lisa. “ Vik Muniz: Sikkema, Jenkins & Co.” Artforum International 474(2008):

298. Expanded Academic ASA: March 15, 2010

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Art show at Sikkema, Jenkins &Co. he collaborated for six years with curators

and Guggenheim in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago as well as a caddie

of artisans and forgers.

Vogel, Carol. “Academy of Music in the Land of Sweets.” The New York Times 30 sep.

2002: March 15, 2010

Vik Muniz did a public art work for the Brooklyn Academy of music. He made a

300 feet wide and 60 feet high drawings of brightly colored melted sugar, with

giant jelly beans and slithering gummy worms. With names of composers like

Haydn, Wagner, Brahms, and Mozart.

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