Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp a very vivid DADA artist. I really don't understand a how in the world a urninal is a piece of art, but who knew? Or you can paint a mustache on a copied print of Leonardo Davincis Mona Lisa.  I am amazed by his scandals and DADAs overall of how the artists try to reform art. Since the World War, art has always been opaque in classical, romantic, renassiance, and buroque meanings and never experimental to something otuside the box. Now that DADA has rised up and took a stand to rebel the meaning of art. It has open doors to the meaning "Art is in the eye of the beholder" , and that anyone can create art.

Yves Klein

Yves Kleins work was indeed interesting. I first saw the inkblot like pictures (really I thought they were ink blots) and though they were to pregnant females standing back to back. I had no idea it was of a single female revealing her frontal naked area.

I have to admire his use of blue in his paintings. The blue imprints really add a interesting texture.

Orlan: "le tiers instruit"

Orlan is indeed an interesting artist. Amazing of how she making plastic surgery into an art piece. Broadcasting the surgery and reciting literature writings. Her work is indeed amazing. I love how she used her portraits of herself into other humanistic forms. I may not be too keen of some of her more powerful works of being more organic, but still. I admire how she wanted a complex surgery to make herself a sculpture with the horns and be able to do abstract sculptures, paintings, and vocal pieces.

Her book is quoting references to transformation and becoming something new. This act is occuring while she undergoing surgery.

Klaus Nomi

Now this artist was something special. When I first saw him and Leigh Bowery, I just thought of a duo pair of costume performers. Boy was I wrong!  Leigh Bowery and Klaus Nomi were different because of their uniqueness. Leigh Bowery did stunts and did crossdressing skits to represent freedom of expressing one self, and to reveal what is going on with the homosexual community.

Klaus Nomi however was the same in performing with different unique clothing, but his talent lied with hm singing. He was a perfect opera singer.  Not only did he preform perfectly with his voice but the abstract costumes with mime like makeup, added a unique form to him. When I saw his performance on the documentary,  it gave me a feeling of two different personalitys in art appearance and art voice. This probably wouldn't match well with the norms, but added applause for the arts.

It was sad however that he kept secret of being HIV positive and later dying from it, but with his efforts, along with Leigh Bowery. They added hope and embrace to the multisexual communities in being aware of what is going on and be not afraid to express it.

Stelarc

Stelarc believes that technology is an extension of the human body today, and that they human body is becoming more and more machine than every before.  6 million dollar man here we come!

I was also amazed by his performances with flesh hook suspension. I have seen it before , but the way Stelarc adds power to it, with the rock weights, this adds more abstraction to the piece.

Amazing! Stelarc using the power of the fluids in his body to allow the hand to write, not perfect but still "Evolution" The Ear in the arm was a little freaky, especially it being home grown in his arm, but with the experiments of gene splicing, plastic surgery, and transplants, who knows. I am amazed by the risk he used to put the ear in his arm, and how it actually affects his body somewhat.

I am also amazed by the spider like stands that Stelar controls. Like the arm uses fluid or humanistic body functions to move and operate.

To sum up, his work is indeed something to see, ravel, and invision for human technology and futuristic art expression. Interesting how the movies already thought of it and are using it in their films. With the power of evolution, maybe we wil have our own Surrogates or little Wally's to control. We should explore the possible this could benefit science and medicine but also be weary of how technology can become a obession and possible a disastor like in the movies Surrogates and Wally.

Gilbert and George

I was amazed by the performance of Gilbert and George from the short documentary we saw in class. I am not sure if it was because of their age or their passionate ability of expression. The dances, music, and sculpture pieces displaying the two were fabulous.

 I really enjoyed the singing sculpture. Very ingenius of using kenitic motion and ryhtmn with a little touch of metallic powder to renact the Tinman or Robot motions. I also admired how Gilbert and George work well together since they are of different origin. George from England and Gilbert from Italy. Amazing how the pai came close and bonded to perform in the arts. 

I really like the portraits I've seen in class and online of Gilbert/George displaying the wonders of a free life with expression. You have to admire the bright colors in foreground/backgrounds in their art works.  

Alot of their pictures I envison could be stain glass in a chapel or some mystical place in the near future. I am amazed also by the serious and humorous attitude approach the duo use. It works well in their performances. I hope to someday see them live.

Joseph Beuys

I really admired this guy for his passion of being who he is within the time of the 2nd World War. Changing himself from the praising experience of an evil tyrant during Hitler Youth, to his field activities within the war front, to finally becoming an artist.

I never heard of Joseph Beuys, but am interested in his emotional persona for the art. His fabric sculpture of the piano was amzing in detail of his emotional experience of the war and an abstraction of art.