Loving Care by Janine Antoni 1993.
From my point of view, conceptual art is totally different from traditional art work. I don't think there a particular standard definition because it depends on the viewer's concept and interpretation of the work they are looking at. There are times when conceptual art works defies the "very nature" of what is considered art. Now the question is, whether the work is considered "art" because someone famous had done it?
Conceptual art is new to me but from what I have read and saw, it's a very diffrent way for artists to express themselves and usually in an "untraditional way". It can very creative, bizarre and quite crazy at times. It's like a new way to view "art" and the viewer has to interpret it and the meaning will vary depending on the individual's imagination and maybe even background.
After reading Chapter 14, I wasn't very inspired by the conceptual art work but after reading about Janine Antoni, I changed my mind. I really liked her work even if it's not conventional at all. I think she is so creative and "out there" but at the same time, she is unique. I think that it takes courage to do what she does, if I would be an artist, I would picture myself more traditional.
Janine Antoni was born and raised in Freeport, Bahamas in 1964. (By the way, Freeport is a small but beautiful Caribbean Island). She loves to leave an impression on the viewer and more often than not, she uses her own body such as her mouth, hair, eyelashes, and brain as tools and with them she perfroms everyday activities to create her "artwork". In the picture above, she is using her hair as a paintbrush and "Loving Care" hair dye as her paint. She dipped her hair in a bucket of hair dye and mopped the gallery floor on her hands and knees. She is imitating the domestic chore of mopping and exaggerating it. In this process, the viewers were pushed out of the gallery space as they were watching her. She likes to explore the body, as well as themes of power, femininity, and the style of abstract expressionism. http://www.artnet.com/awc/janine-antoni.html
2038 by Janine Antoni, 2000.She likes to challenge the art world's rules and the "status quo" of the art by using "feminine" mediums.
Nurturing is also a theme in this photograph 2038, in which Janine herself, in an old-fashioned bathtub, appears to be nursing a cow identified as #2038 by the metal tag in its ear. "Here Antoni conflates the nurturing roles of woman and cow, contrasting the tenderness of this encounter with the reality of the cow’s existence as milk, meat, and hide for human use".
- Jennifer Bayles, Educator for Special Projects
3 comments:
Cynthia, this is an excellent post! THanks for sharing more of Antoni's work with us. Her "Loving Care" piece played a very pivotal role in the 1970s feminist art movement. Great job! I'm glad you found an artist in this unit that inspires you. -Michelle
I have a very similar definition of conceptual art. Way different from that of traditional pieces! At first it was a little hard for me to understand because it truly is based upon the artist and the viewer. I thought you brought up an excellent question in your blog post, is it only "art" because somebody well known made it? I definitely think that if someone random made something by swirling their hair in paint on the floor, people would probably think they were crazy.
Don't you love how crazy conceptual art seems to be? It is so much fun to interact with and ponder! I'm reminded of Mona Lisa Smile... what is art? And who determines what qualifies as art? It's Art!!!
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