Landscape and the Sublime

'Wanderer in the mists' (1818) Caspar David Friedrich

'Untitled #2" (2002) Richard Misrach

 'Untitled # 394-03' (2003) Richard Misrach 

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that occurred in the 18th century and is commonly referred to as the Age of Reason. It supported a variety of ideas about man, society, and nature, which according Hamilton, P. (1992) "challenged existing conceptions rooted in traditional world-view, dominated by Christianity".

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

The concept of Sublime was one of the most influential philosophies for landscape art. It was defined by Edmund Burke (1729-1797) who believed that "the life of feeling and spirit depended on a harmony within the larger order of the universe. The sublime, therefore, was the ultimate experience of divinity, a mixture of awe, fear, and enlightenment produced by the contemplation of a powerful, terrifying nature; for Burke, the sublime was already connected to landscape." ("A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful", 1757)

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

The Sublime, like the Enlightenment thought, defied traditional and existing conceptions and values of the world. It focused very much on the value of nature as opposed to the traditional value of humanity. From the birth of the Sublime concept, landscape and setting became a newly important focus in traditional art and certain subjects began to require specific outdoor settings to portray their status.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images of his work.

 

Battleground Point #3 (1999)

  

Southeastern Nevada (1992)

Richard Misrach's works are commonly of human intervention in landscapes. It is not difficult to identify the sublime in Southeastern Nevada (1992) and Battleground Point #3 (1999) as nature is the prime focus of these images and it has been depicted so beautifully, it would be considered unnecessary to have the inclusion of a human figure in the photographs. However, human life is visually existent in Misrach's Untitled #2 (2002) and 
Untitled # 394-03 (2003). Where the sublime is concerned in these works is with the scale of land photographed, dominating much of the visuals which consequently portrays humanity as being of very minor value to the artist.

5. Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

William Hodges

A View of Cape Stephens in Cook's Straits New Zealand with Waterspout (1776)

Claude Monet

Poppies Blooming (1873)

Richard Diebenkorn

Cityscape I (1963)

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?
Misrach's photography makes me feel like I have yet to explore so much of the world's beauty. Much like the sense that a travel advertisement tries to create for its viewers. From viewing these images, I personally feel a sense of encouragement to explore and travel. This feeling I believe is provoked by the nature of these images. The fact that they are photographs and not paintings enables me to relate to them more in a sense that I know the image depicted is of a real and imaginable experience. The scale of the area photographed suggests a sense of exploration, and combined with the bright and natural features in the image, a strong depiction of the nature's beauty is created.

7. Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.

Colin McCahon

Maitai Valley (1947)

Reference List:

• Burke, E. (1757). A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the Sublime and beautiful. London, England: T.W. Copeland.
  

• Hamilton, P. (1992). The Enlightenment and the birth of social science, in Hall, S. & Gieben B. (eds.), Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Open University Press (p. 23)

The Social Status of the Artist

Self Portrait in Fur Coat (1500)

Albrecht Durer

Knob (1997) Gavin Turk

Damien Hirst and Maia Norman (1995)

1. Identify aspects of Durer's self portrait that show a changing view of the artist's view of himself as an individual.
From my perspective, this self-portrait has been manipulated to depict Durer, the artist himself, as a man of great importance. The title suggests what he is wearing in the painting is in fact fur, an expensive commodity at the time this work was painted. Its confrontational directness to the viewer is contradictory to any self-portrait before it. In the Renaissance period, the front-on style of portraiture was reserved only for important religious figures. Because of this idea, it is clear that Durer had a very high opinion of himself, as his representation in the self-portrait challenges the importance of dozens of people’s loyalty to their religion and beliefs.

2. Explain how the artist's social status increased during the Renaissance period. Briefly explain why this happened.
The social status of artist’s increased through the Renaissance period as artists started to become freely educated individuals as they separated themselves from other craftsman.
“The renaissance period was the start of a great debate over the social position of the artist”, (Blunt, 1962).
Evidence that certain artists asserted an individual reputation that set them apart from other members of their profession was a letter written in 1470 to the Duke of Ferrara by the Italian painter Francesco del Cossa (c.1436-78) in which the latter complained that all the artists working on a series of fresco paintings for the Duke at the Schiefanoia Palace (plate 3) were being paid by the same rate per square foot of wall regardless of reputation. Late Renaissance, artists had a better name for themselves as they were no longer seen as just skilled workers or craftsmen. Artists were able to prove that their intellectual ability and knowledge exceeded above the usual craftsman and were therefore directly hired by individuals or groups of a high status, consequently raising the status of the artist too in terms of importance and wealth.



3. Comment on Gavin Turk's work in relation to individualism, status of the artist and egotism.

Gavin Turk has displayed a sense of Individualism in his work “Knob” (1997) by using his own name as the center focus. I believe the autograph style he has used to produce his name suggests he is labeling himself as an artist before considering the opinion of the viewer. This idea may give the viewer the impression that Turk shapes his own status in society without valuing the opinion of others. The title “Knob” could possibly refer to the critical idea viewers may have of Turk when they view this work, as the piece strongly suggests Turk has an egotistic and self-obsessed personality.

4. Comment on Damien Hirst's use of his work and the media for self promotion.
Damien Hirst is believed to be one of the most commercially successful contemporary artists in the world (Art Encyclopedia, 2011). But behind his artistic reputation is an intelligent businessman who knows how to capture the public eye. Aware of the global attention he acquires, Hirst can take advantage of the media at any time for self-promotion. In his work “Damien Hirst and Maia Norman" (1995), Hirst has displayed himself in a photograph embracing his beautiful young partner. I believe the image suggests a connection between his work and his personal life as his partner in the photo is wearing clothing that identically matches the wall pattern behind them. Hirst however, is wearing dark clothing which draws focus towards him as he stands in front of the bright wall. The idea behind this composition could possibly be that of an attempt of self-promotion. My first impression of this image was that Hirst is depicting the result of all his work (the result being his beautifully portrayed partner). But at the same time, it tells me “It wasn’t all that hard to achieve”, with the use of simple patterning making the connection between his work (the background) and his personal life (his partner). Being the wealthy man Hirst is, the simplicity of the pattern may be symbolism to suggest he regards his work as effortless. This idea has concerns of egotism, as people who are familiar with his work would be well aware that what he produces is far from effortless.

5. Find 2 images of work by artists or designers that reflects some of the ideas of individualism, self promotion or egotism that have been discussed on this blog. Upload images to your blog, title and date the work, identify the artist/designer and comment on the work in relation to the question.

Jasper Johns - Flag (1954–55)
Jasper Johns was born in the United States and claimed to have painted Flag (1954–55) after he had a dream of the American flag. It was only a couple of years after World War II and during the beginning of the Cold War when this Flag was painted. There is no doubt that it would have been common for a lot of Americans to have felt patriotic at this period of time which may have opened an opportunity for Jasper Johns to use the American flag for self-promotion and win the hearts of many Americans.

Colin McCahon - Six days in Nelson and Canterbury (1950)
Colin McCahon (born in New Zealand) has expressed a sense of individualism in this painting as he has represented his identity with the portrayal of the landscape that surrounds the region of New Zealand from where he was born.

6. How do you think artists and designers are viewed in Western society today?
I believe the media is responsible for the view Western society has on artists and designers of today. Depending on how the artist is portrayed, some artists who gather media attention will often obtain a reputation as being successful. This can separate them from other artists, solely based on the way they are publicised as an individual.

Reference List:

- Art Encyclopedia (2011) Damien Hirst. Retrieved May 2011 from 
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/damien-hirst.htm

- Blunt, A. (1962). Artistic Theory in Italy 1450-1600. Oxford; Oxford University Press.

Ron Mueck's sculpture and Humanism

Mask II (2002) Ron Mueck

A girl (2006) Ron Mueck

1. Mueck's sculpture is described as 'hyper-real'. Define the meaning of this term and apply it to his work.

The term Hyper-real has been used to describe artists who attempt to create an extreme sense of visual similarity between a subject or model, and their work. Hyper-real derives from the genre of Hyperrealism which is using the method of painting or sculpture to resemble something of a similar class to a high-resolution photograph.

Mueck’s Mask II (2002) and A girl (2006) would both be described as hyper-real because with the very technical skill he acquires, Mueck has applied accurate detail and physicality to the sculptures, and as a result, they successfully resembled very life-like human figures.

2. Mueck is not interested in making life size sculpture. Find out why he is more interested in working with the scale of the figure which is not life size, and mention 2 works which use scale that is either larger or smaller than life.
Mueck separates himself from other realists by often working in a scale which is abnormal and not of life size. This method interests him because he believes working in a life size scale would take away the psychological experience of his some unique sculptures. The scale of his work alters between being undersized or oversized. This manipulation with scale is an intentional attempt to startle viewers.

Boy (2000), a five meter high sculpture of a young boy crouching. There are a few attributes of this sculpture that would startle and/or intrigue viewers. One being Mueck’s use of abnormal scale, but another being the subject - a young boy characterized to be much larger than your average adult, and another aspect being the thought of the size of the sculpture if the boy wasn’t crouching.

A New York Times article describes In Bed (2005) as a 21 foot long “colossal tableau” and goes on to explain “its size distracts from its emotional intensity”.