Friday, February 20, 2009

Object of Value (due March 6)

We are going to look at the Objects of Value exhibition at MAM.
http://www.miamiartmuseum.org/exhibitions_objects.asp

Your next project will address one of the questions that the curator asks us to think about:
How is economic value defined and determined? Does it correspond to an object's intrinsic qualities or is it purely a social construction? Fundamentally, what do we say about our culture and our society - about our selves - through the objects that we have chosen to value?
You may use any materials that you feel will communicate your idea. The size should also be appropriate to the idea you want to communicate, but should be no less than 12"x12"x12".

Due 2/27: On the blog, write about one of the pieces in the show. Describe the artwork and tell us how it fit with the theme of the exhibition. Minimum 150 words. Come to class prepared to work on your project. Make 3 preliminary sketches, and bring any materials you might need.

Due 03/06
: Final critique of your projects.

You will be graded on your concept, your use of materials, and the amount of time you put into the project.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Janine Antoni’s “umbilical” is a sculpture of the negative space in the artist mouth with a silver spoon in it and the cast of the negative space in the hand of the artist mother. The concept of this piece comes from the saying you were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. The piece was cast out of silver from the family’s set of silverware. This piece not only shows the expensive material silver but also the most intimate interaction between mother and daughter. This piece also echoes ancestry by using the family’s heirloom that’s supposed to be pasted on to the next generation in her family.

-MAX GONZALEZ :]

Anonymous said...

Wilfredo Prieto's installation piece titled "One" is an interesting piece and I believe it follows the guidelines of the assignment. The piece has no technical value because the mini crystals were fake diamonds but the artist and the public view it as art and art always have a strong level of value. Also, I believe that the artist is sending a message how real value gets lost over time or gets thrown away. He presents this message b placing a real diamond in the pile of genuine diamonds. Scattered away, the real diamond will be lost forever, just like how some objects of sentimental value are lost forever such as a human life. Once it's lost, it's gone forever.

Anonymous said...

The comment above mine posted at 2:33 PM on February 26, 2009 is mine. I forgot to post my name.

-Devin Fernandez

Anonymous said...

All of the sculptures in the exhibition was amazing but the one i really admire the most is "OS Cem" the brazilian hundred dollar bills. This piece was done by Jac Leirner. This piece shows a major group of one hundred dollar bills all lined up in a row. It represents waves of inflation. I really like this piece because it relies a message which is that money takes a big impact on society and in inflation means to rise prices of goods and the lots of money is what people pay to have those goods.That's The value of it not only in Brazil but also in America and money is a big issue now and days. The inflation goes up and then it goes down which makes the piece unique because it is set up in a increasing and decreasing formation or wave. It tells us something about the economy and that's why i like it.

Anonymous said...

For this I assignment the art work that I chose to write about is called “umbilical” and it was created by an artist named Janine Antoni. Looking through the exhibit i wasnt only looking for material value. i wanted to find something with more meaning to the value, it isnt just what is found in a material because a life has value and a quantity has value and those are the things I wanted to look for. The fact that this sculpture was made out of silver just expanded its value. When you look at this sculpture you know instantly why it is an object of value, It is made out of pure silver. It is a mold of her mouth attached to a silver spoon and the negative space of a hand holding the spoon. Not only does the material have value but the meaning behind it has multiple values. The spoon is a family heirloom and the mold of the negative space of a hand is her mothers hand this symbolizes family value. It shows an interaction between mother and child it shows growth of a family. Also implying that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.



Isamar Cardentey.

Anonymous said...

Janine Antoni’s Umbilical is a sculpture of a cast of a spoon. On one end of the spoon is the cast of the artist’s mouth and on the other end is the outside of the artist’s mother’s hand. At first glance, you can see why the sculpture would have economic value and importance. You are able to observe that Antoni used purely sterling silver when making this artwork. Not only does this sculpture show an economic value but also significance with a person more than just how much money it might be worth. Umbilical shows a connection between economy and a cherished relationship between mother and child. The sculpture represents sentimental value as it is an heirloom passing through a family from one generation to the next. The value of the spoon then increases for this family since it causes one to feel a connection between them and their family’s history.

-Megan Perritt

Anonymous said...

There was a piece that brought my attention the most, and this was Wilfredo Prieto's "One" installation. Even thought this piece can be seen as a fairly easy sculpture to make, it has a deep significance that many people won't see in first glance. What they dont know is that there somewere in that huge pile of fake crystals, there is something so beautiful and valuable as a diamond. When i began to read the information of this piece, it was as if a whole new way of viewing art opened, and i found it so intriguing that i could be so close to a diamond but know that i can't ever get to it. The diamond represents something that is lost and this shows that sometimes, there might not be the second chance of gaining what was lost but it's not impossible either.

-->PAULA :D

Anonymous said...

one work the really inspired me was that of jac leirner, a brazilian a n artis and her piece os cem. the reason y i like her work is because she uses something that for any other culture means alot, money. but in brazil there money has deflated therefore people must have alot of bills to equal a decent amount of money. i like how she uses this money to create a shape and draw the viewers attention with her material.

carlos m. ortiz

Anonymous said...

Jessica Suhr,
Out of the many sculptures exhibited at MAM's Objects of Value exhibition I believe that Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Untittled (Portrait of Dad) was intricately connected to the concept of what makes an object valuable. It consists of a pile of candy weighting approximately 175 pounds which can be freely taken by the viewer and is replenished by the artist when it runs out. The concept of the sculpture is that the pile of candy which is representative of the artist's father, deals with the idea of rebirth and decay. The lifetime of the artist's father is represented by the dwindling amount of candy over time. At one point the candy runs out and this becomes a metaphor for the death of his father. Rebirth is in turn acknowledged by the replenishing of the candy's stock, perhaps suggesting that nothing can ever truly die or that his father is preserved and alive in the artist's memory r in spirit. Although the candy is relatively unexpensive for the artist to restock and free for the viewer's taking this could be considered an object of value due to it being representative of a human being and such important ideas such as life and death.

Anonymous said...

Sage Roatta

In the museum I gave this alot of thought. I walked around and looked at all the pieces a few times until it was time to go. Then, at the last moment i ran back in and read about a piece by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. It was called "white candies". At first I was having trouble understanding how it was related to economic value, but then i read the message hidden beneath the candies. According to the passage, the artists father died and he felt a great loss. So the candies symbolize his father, and every time someone takes a candy its like their taking a part of him. Felix can replenish this loss with more candy, which is why he can offer it freely to others. It is the cycle of death and rebirth. It is the kind of value that is not found in money, dimonds or gold. But it is found in the heart, where value matters most.

Anonymous said...

in the museum the pieces i like the most was a photograph of two actress shoot in a sillotte with diamond as the highlights. The face was an area of pure black and diamonds around the lighter parts of the eye. The hair difference the highlight with areas of black to show the value. Their profiles was completed by a line of diamond and an area of black,the cheeks were highlighted to show the lift in their smiles and the more of a shine on the lips for the lip gloss.The artist sees how in our society compares super model famous celebrities and the wealthy to diamonds and gold. They praise them as we do the firefighters and policeman for doing a good job. The silver and gold backs the money we have in the usa but we symbolize celebrities as riches. We charies them and keep them well maintain with our money to see them in concerts shows and movies. Al
though in todays society we do not understand the value of a dollar. We view celebrities as precious jewels.

frederick little

Anonymous said...

hi
-nicole

Anonymous said...

Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Wooden Buddhas involve the installation of a corner shelf containing several rows of miniature wooden buddhas. This sculpture was done after the constant act of stealing in a sacred cave in Laos. It was overrun by western tourists taking them as souvenirs. Her way of conveying religious values is very unique because she tries to send the audience the idea that simple spiritual figures can mean a lot to certain people, especially when it involves their religion. It is valuable to the people following the religion, however, others fail to comprehend what this means to others and disrespect its value. The artist contributed by replacing the stolen buddhas and supporting the sacred cave. She also illustrated a strong massage by installing the shelf high up on the wall to prevent people from reaching it easily. In other words, it was another method to solve the problem of thieves. She also gives the idea that simple objects like that can contain such spiritual value in it that means a lot to many followers in Laos.

Angelica Yudasto