Survival of the Fittest

Survival of the fittest is a phrase used to describe the idea that species adapt and change due to natural selection. Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer had much to do with the realisation of this theory, going into detail in their books, 'Origin of Species' by Charles Darwin, and 'The Principals of Biology' by Herbert Spencer. It is principally stating that the most physically apt and suited to the environment of which it occupies will survive.

This theory is very relevant to the theme of 'nature versus nurture' that I am exploring as it is the reason behind the innate behaviour of humans that I have temporarily adopted for the purpose of this assignment. This hereditary nature is that of competitiveness, aggression, violence, and other similar traits that are seen in society as deplorable. It related to the idea of survival of the fittest because these characteristics were (and, in some cases, are) the way species were able to survive. I relate my concept heavily to the novel by Sir William Golding, 'Lord of the Flies' where the children revert back to their primeval behaviour in order to survive in the wild. Nowadays, these traits aren't needed to the extent they are in the wild, but I am arguing, or suggesting, through my body of work that humans are still born with these traits.

Peter Alexander

John McCracken

'My works are minimal and reduced, but also maximal. I try to make them concise, clear statements in three-dimensional form,
and also to take them to a breathtaking level of beauty.'

–John McCracken

Christopher Wool

'In a fugue of gestural restraint and release, Wool filters the fundaments of abstract painting through the gritty syntax of urban reality. By painting layer upon layer of whites and off-whites over silkscreened elements used in previous works -- monochrome forms taken from reproductions, enlargements of details of photographs, screens, and polaroids of his own paintings -- he accretes the surface of his pressurized paintings while apparently voiding their very substance.' (http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-05-25_christopher-wool/)

APT6 (2010)

Just some photographs from the excursion to GOMA to see APT6 at the beginning of the year.

Forgot to upload them earlier.

afterthought

Thought I should post a photograph of my final necklace, so I posted 2!
Thanks Katy <3



And this one (below) is my other one that I made first. I like it.
anddd thanks Erica <3

Exploring one view of 'nature versus nurture'

An interesting point of debate within the nature versus nurture argument is that nurture supresses the true nature of a being. The nature is something that encompasses evil and therefore needs to be supressed, making it essential that one is nurtured well.

This idea has lead me to a series revolving around this idea.
I have decided to use boxes in order to symbolise nurture, but the series shows the emergence of nature as the nurture is gradually removed.

Inside the box is an object that represents the true nature, and as each box becomes less closed and secure, this nature overflows, or emerges.

To symbolise nature, I have decided to use fabric, basic calico or muslin dyed and printed on, to represent the overpowering nature that envelopes the boxes as they open.

hoorah! :D

Nature versus Nurture

The concept of nature versus nurture is the debate of whether human behaviour and characteristics are hereditary or a result of the surrounding environment shaping and moulding one's being.

Some scientists believe that people behave according to their genetic predispositions or even 'animal instincts' and these govern their personality and behaviour, even their moral code, this is the nature side of the argument.

On the other hand, some scientists believe that we behave according to the way they're taught to behave, which is the argument that nurture prevails.

There is a third argument revolving around the, now moderately established view, that they are both important in the way people behave. But the debate is which one has more imact, nature or nurture?

Emergence

Emergence is about coming into view, coming out of, or becoming known. It is a transformation to what one is from what they were.
In art, the concept of emergence can encompass many different ideas, a physical emergence, a spiritual emergence, or a psychological emergence.
An exploration of the way something can change from one thing to another, and art is a way that this change can be captured.

"[Art] can reveal what language must leave virtually unspoken..." Marc Mayer, Curator Albright-Knox Art Gallery
"Painting is a state of being...self-discovery. Every good artists paints what he is." Jackson Pollock

Fernando and Humberto Campana

These brothers - Humberto (1953-) and Fernando (1961-) Campana - are alchemists creating jewels from rubbish. They combine found objects and scraps to create vibrant and innovative design. These brothers transform modest materials into objects that celebrate the discarded and mundane...
The Campana brothers have a goal with each of their designs to transform something poor into something 'decadent and opulent'

Ingo Maurer

Ingo Maurer uses found objects and other unexpected materials to create beautiful lights.
Maurer is fascinated by the idea of creating the 'magical and mystical' properties of light. He plays with colour, brightness, and shadow to create luminous atmospheres.

Waste

It is the possibility of transformation and misuse that makes waste available to other systems of objectification. But you have to be willing to see and feel this. Inventing a new materialism involves a responsiveness to objects that is mutually transformative of both people and things. Waste captures the attention not simply of those in desperate need but also of those able to imagine different uses, able to reanimate it. This is where necessity meets creativity and where ethics meet imagination.
Hawkins. G., The Ethics of Waste: How we relate to rubbish

This extract from Hawkins' book is a concise explanation of the way rubbish has many possibilities for what it could become and it is not simply a dead matter. The transformation, or alchemy, of rubbish is limited to the creativity in the one who re-animates it. It can change when placed in the hands of someone who can see a new use for something that is regarded by society as waste.

Stuart Haygarth

Haygarth creates 'magical and evocative stories through objects central to [his] work.'





This chandelier style light installment has been compliled with 'hundreds of pairs of prescription spectacles'.
The artist's design 'draws an elegant and analogous line between the glasses' old and new purposes- from mundane objects which improved sight to a spectacular installation...'


These lighting fixtures are created from unconventional materials complied together in a way which creates something beautiful, and even practical. The way such unwanted materials can be arranged together to create an item which people will pay to own, or even see, is alchemic.

It is interesting to explore the way people pay for items they will eventually discard, and then see the way inventive and creative people can change this.

This chandelier is created with bottle ends, clearly giving such materials which are identified by people as ugly, a beauty..

Claes Oldenburg

Jewellery

In history, jewellery was made for people with a very high rank or important role in society to display their status.

Christo & Jeanne Claude

Christo (and the late Jeanne Claude) create temporary, large scale sculptures.

What really caught my attention was this statement
'Nobody discusses a painting before it has been painted.
But architechture and urban planning are always discussed before completion.'

Like the alchemic process, these works are established before they are created. The chemistry of alchemy is planned before carried out.

Fashion Comparison

Through my work, on one level (and unintentionally) I am illustrating and exploring the difference (or similarity) between what is considered worthwhile fashion (such as the labels on the runway) with my trash jewellery. Still in a 'trash to treasure' concept, the treasure is not only the outcome of the jewellery, but the similarites between the treasured fashion. Cheap vs expensive.

To create the comparison, items as follows will be incorporated into the final body of work as illustrations.

Chris Jordan

Chris Jordans works are based on the topic of consumerism. He finds his inspiration and materials from shipping ports and industrial yards where the detritus of consumers accumilates. He is intrigued by the 'staggaring comlexity' of the 'immense scale' of American's consumption.

He states that 'collectively we are commiting a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences.'

He realises that as an American consumer he would be being hypocritical to blame or preach so his photographs have a purpose to simply inspire self inquiry in others as a way for people to think of a possible action to solve the problem.

Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan

Husband and wife, Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan create works which are based upon the principals of collecting and collaborating based on the themes of migration, family, and memory focussing on dislocation and change.Through installations created with personal items, the artists reflect the dislocation and change.

At the APT6, the Aquilizans created a large installation called 'In Flight' The work takes the shape of a giant aeroplane composed from many small planes. These small planes were created by both children and adults. The '...work reflects personal experience, while conveying points of exchange and communication that extend beyond borders.'

Slim Barrett

Slim Barrett is a jewellery designer. I am not sure what other jewellery designs he does, but I am fascinated by his style of mesh-like jewellery like this one. For my idea of creating rubbish jewellery, I want it to appear similarly to the mesh like look by Slim Barrett.

Kate Durham

'Kate Durham finds both the materials and the inspiration for her art on beaches and the building sites of inner city Melbourne. Bits of metal, old plates, beer cans, and glass bottles are metamorphosed into jewellery. Describing the materials and her creations as "nothing special", Kate sees her pieces as strong statements against the transitory nature of objects in this society. She likes "the approach of African tribes who look at objects in new ways and turn them into decorative things when we are ready to discard them".'

Subodh Gupta Images

'Line of Control' (1964)


'Spill' (2007) Made with stainless steel utensils

Minam Apang

Works by Minam Apang:

(click to enlarge)

Botanical Illustration

Botanical illustration is more scientific than artistic. It must illustrate a plant in great detail and precision. Accuracy is an important theme when it comes to botanical illustration rather than aesthetics. However, the result is visually pleasing at the same time as being scientifically valuable and precise. The history of this art is a development of a relationship between art and science.

Irving Penn

>American portrait and fashion photographer.
>'Signature blend of classical elegance and cool minimalism' (Grundberg. A.)
> Merry A. Foresta, co-organiser of a 1990 retrospective of his work at the National Portrait Gallery and what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum, wrote that his pictures exhibited "the control of an art director fused with the process of an artist."

> Penn printed his own pictures using Platinum rather than Silver. This produced 'velvety tones' and is very permanent. However, it is very time consumuing, requiring precise control and impecable preparation.

>Penn acknowledged decay by photographing street debris such as chewing gum, cigarette butts, and later, animal skulls.

> John Szarkowski, Museum of Modern Art's director of photography wrote, "The grace, wit, and inventiveness of his pattern making, the lively and surprising elegance of his line, and his sensitivity to the character, the idiosyncratic humours, of light make Penn's pictures, even the slighter ones, a pleasure for our eyes."

In this quote I feel that when Szarkowski states that 'even the slighter ones, [are] a pleasure for our eyes' I think that this relates to my perception of Alchemy (the transformation of ugliness to beauty or ordinary to extraordinary) as Penn manages to turn simple images, and sometimes ugly item such as the cigarette butts, into wonderful, meaningful photographs.

Alchemy

> A form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practised in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.

> Any magical power of process of transmuting a common substance, usually of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.