Project 5 Art as a commodity

Project 5 Art as a commodity

 Art as a commodity (to be traded – it is sometimes the only way capitalism can own art. Some argue that this is the only way to belittle art by owning it as an investment rather than the joy of looking and enjoying the art.)

Fetishism of Commodities
I think I understand the first principal in the first paragraph i.e.the mention of wood being a commodity that can be used to make another object for use and or pleasure (sometimes equally as beautiful as the structure of the wood itself) but it is still wood whatever it is made into. And that an object or painting cannot produce itself  into something else without the interference of man who then produces something special from the first
object of equal beauty.

At this time I cannot quite get to grips with the connection between the article and work by artists such as Jeff Koons and other artists

Examples of Jeff Koons work--- Rabbit – Naples Italy 2003
Ballon Flower - Polsdamer Platz – Berlin Michael Jackson and Bubbles – Astrup Fearnley Museum of Art Modern.

 Cracked Egg – (blue egg) it is interesting that you can see the reflection of the egg on the egg itself which is high polished (a new birth perhaps)

One of my favourites is called Kiepenkeri 1987 made in stainless steel it is displayed in the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden in the National Mall Washington DC

Koons work often displays layers of clear deliberate Symbolism as in the pristine vacuum cleaners placed in an airtight museum case (more likely to be used for precious objects) 

i.e. Cleaner= phallic (male) + sucking (female) + cleaning (purity or goodness)


Jeff Koons born 21-01-1955 American  Known for his large reproductions of banal (common place)
objects such as balloon animals made of stainless steel with a mirror finish and brightly coloured.

He studied at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and Maryland Collage of Art. He revered Dali and briefly worked as a commodities broker while gaining recognition as an artist which he gained in 1980, and set up a studio in a Soho loft on the corner of Houston and Broadway. Had at least 30 assistance each assigned to a different aspect of producing his work  (similar to Andy Warhol factory). Notable by being produced by a method called Art Fabrication (when artists enlist the help of a Art Fabrication studio which has access to specialised machinery and labour necessary to make a complex project i.e. employing labour to make the project, but claiming the acclaim for the work??

In 1991 Koons married the Italian soft porn movie actress Iiona Staller known as `Cicciolina` and embarked on a series of work that concentrated on recording their ecstatic love-making (why) with no holds barred of these he claimed a religious significance which made them more outrageous to the general public.

Jeff has stated that there is no hidden meaning in his work!!

Similar artists to Jeff Koons are Tracy Emin, Damien Hirst and possibly Duane Hanson.


Note:
Since progressing further in to this course I have been able to understand more on this subject and  looking at objects in different  ways, and appreciating some of what the artists are portraying.