NSC Visual Arts Making of Artworks: 5.1 With reference to the above

Question

5.1 With reference to the above statement and visual source FIGURE 5a, write a paragraph (at least ½ page) in which you discuss the artwork considering the following:

- The medium used
- The message of the artwork

FIGURE 5a was made using the following medium: glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark and formaldehyde solution. The fact that the main focal point of observation is the shark naturally created and that all Damien had to do was to find a way of creating an illusion of it being alive expressing a life-threatening attack appearance, invited critics to reintroduce the question raised during Duchamp's times of whether ready-mades should be considered as art and resulted in comments being made to suggest that it was not art as anyone could have done it. Hirst responded, 'But I did it. It didn't exist until I did it.'

The message of the artwork hooks more into the interpretation of the title within the context of the art object – the shark in the tank. The piece consists of a dead tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde, creating a stark contrast to the eeriness of its death. The meaning that it conveys reflects on the idea of death and the mind’s interpretation of it. Even though the shark is dead, it resides within its own psychological narrative in the mind. Life after death remains an illusion in the mind where the body is preserved as the viewer is shown the paradox of death whilst being able to actively engage with the living organisms around it.

Once the initial shock of the shark's presence subsides, you can engage with deeper conceptual layers of the art forms.

This carcass is a raw encounter with nature, and yet there is something where the psychology of the shark's natural habitat – which makes for a startling juxtaposition in the environment of an art museum. The shark is surrounded by undulating schools of fish, but rather, by museum patrons leisurely strolling around it with audio guides in hand. It puts your senses on edge, and you begin to wonder: is it museum-quiet at the bottom of the ocean? Inside the tank? On the other side of death?

The shark is both ghostly and ghastly. Its glowing whitish pallor grants it an ethereal presence in the murky formaldehyde, and yet it is in a visible state of decay. The shark tank functions as both a casket and artistic pedestal. The artwork constantly reminds you of two simple facts: This thing is dead. And when it was alive, it could have killed.

5.2 Also with reference to the above statement analyse and discuss FIGURE 5b in essay format (at least ¾ page). Consider the following:

- Application of art elements and principles
- Mediums relevant to the concept
- Meaning or message

The Love of God is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of an 18th-century human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, the cost of which rivals that of the diamond known as the Skull Star Diamond. Basically, the skull, for the purpose of this discussion, becomes the main notion of the artist’s output – at the very least and as an idea, it is the artist’s designation of the subject as art – which is nearly always reinforced with a title. There is usually some degree of modification of the found object, although not always in your face, as is the case with ready-mades. In this case there is discernible modification which in spite of the fact that the title was just coined and says little about it, the work remains Hirst’s artwork.

The artwork is a Memento mori, or reminder of the mortality of the viewer. The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. It proclaims victory over decay. At the same time it represents death as something hollow and lifeless. Compared to the tearful sadness of a vanitas scene, the diamond skull is glory itself. What looks ornamental, precious and long-lasting carries death beneath it.

Accept any other logical interpretation with substantiation.

5.3 For this question, you may not use a work which appears in this question paper. However, you may use a different work by one of the artists used in this paper.

In essay format, of at least ONE page, recall, discuss and compare at least TWO works in multimedia which you have studied, substantiating each of the following:

- Name the work(s) as well as the artist
- Media
- Messages and/or meanings
- Influence by which style of art
- Presentation

With reference to the above statement and visual source FIGURE 5a, write a paragraph (at least ½ page) in which you discuss the artwork considering the following: - The medium used - The message of the artwork

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