Week 4- Anish Kapoor
Celebrated for his gigantic, stainless steel 'Cloud Gate' sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor is changing the cultural environment with his public works.
1.Research Kapoor's work in order to discuss the ideas behind 3 quite different works from countries outside New Zealand.
'Cloud Gate' is a a piece located in the AT&T Plaza in Millennium park in Chicago. It is a massive highly polished steel structure that reflects the surrounding city scape and is shaped like a bean. The work was inspired by the form of the element mercury in its liquid form (see image). The work speaks of an almost seperate reality in the middle of an urban thoroughfare.
'Svayambh' is a structure made of Vaseline, paint and wax which gives the impression is has flowed on train tracks into the other room of the gallery at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and Munich's Haus der Kunst. The piece has a start contrast to the pure white walls of the gallery, and is quite messy, almost like a stab at the pretentious cleanliness of art galleries.
'Marsyas' is a giant sculpture resembling a big red double ended trumpet that was made for the Turbine Hall. The structure was made so that the entire sculpture cannot be viewed in its entirety from any one position, so the sculpture was made to be experienced as many "discrete encounters". The work is named after Marsyas the satyr from Greek Mythology who was flayed alive by the god Apollo.
2.Discuss the large scale site specific work that has been installed on a private site in New Zealand.
“I am interested in sculpture that manipulates the viewer into a specific relationship with both space and time.” –Anish Kapoor, Tate Magazine, July 2007
Anish Kapoor's "The Farm" is located right here in New Zealand in the Kaipara Bay just north of Auckland. It is designed to reflect and distort the images of the surrounding landscape and to withstand the high winds that blow in from the Tasman Sea. It is made of red polyester fabric and steel. It is shaped quite similarly in my opinion to his work 'Marsyas', but almost looking more rural or wild then its predesessor.
3. Where is the Kapoor's work in New Zealand? What are its form and materials? What are the ideas behind the work?
Most of the answers for this part can be found under question 2. The ideas behind the work are about the viewers perception of space, time and reality. It is designed to make the viewer question their perspectives of these.
4. Comment on which work by Kapoor is your favourite, and why.
4. Comment on which work by Kapoor is your favourite, and why.
I'm going to have to say the cloud gate is my favourite, its so visually appealing, I really want to visit it to run underneath it and see how distorted everything looks in the reflections. I've always loved houses of mirrors and mazes and stuff, so something about it just intrigues me.
Youtube has some excellent footage on Kapoor-take a look at Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy!!
Seemingly wedged into place, the geometry generated by these three rigid steel structures determines the sculpture’s overall form, a shift from vertical to horizontal and back to vertical again. I agree with you, i like the Cloud Gate most. because almost like a giant drop of mercury that fell from the sky. Anish Kapoor intended for this beautiful sculpture to be a fate into Chicago by the city it reflects and thus the title.
ReplyDeleteI found it really hard to write about this artists becuase I really don't like the work ahaha. That's why my post was a little short.
ReplyDeleteBut I did see the cloud gate in the movie 'Make it Happen' lastnight. It was quite fun knowing what it was, what it was called and who created it.
I'm pretty sure i yelled out "OMG thats a sculture by Anish Kapoor!"
haha
The Kapoor (cloud Gate) was my favourite too!! From the first time i saw it on the front cover of our grey ALVC books, i liked it. I think it's so cool how you can walk underneath it and interact with it...It creates a sort of fisheye view of the surroundings behind you which is really different and interesting..i really like fish eye view on cameras, i want to buy one :P
ReplyDeleteA great way for people to interact with the work is to put it in a public space, accessable for the community to finish the vision for themselves. I like how most of his work is made to be a permanent fixture and that he doesn't feel as though he has a point to prove or make in his work, he just lets the creation be.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas about 'Svayambh' – I think the giant train of wax could possibly be an ironic stab at the pretentious cleanliness of art galleries. In a way its like saying an artists been here.