For Art's Explorer's #3, I went to the A.G.O (Art Gallery of Ontario) with my Creative Art's class. Now, I can finally say that I have attended an art gallery and loved it!
Yes, believe or not, this was the first time that I have ever been to an art gallery and it was honestly an amazing experience. I personally love to draw, color, and trying to learn how to paint. When I was at the A.G.O, it felt like I was in art paradise. Better yet, like a kid in a candy store. I felt that I needed to see as much as I possibly could at the A.G.O. I wanted to see forms of art that I have never personally seen in my life. When I came across artworks that really interested me, I would stare for a long period of time just examining and analyzing as many details that I could intake about the particular piece. I was personally having a difficult time choosing what piece of artwork I wanted to analyze for the art critique because there were just too many that I loved. That is until I found this little guy...
The title of this wonderful piece is: "To Colonize the Moon." The artist of this artwork is known as Shary Boyle and she was born in Scarborough, Ontario on May 26, 1972. So a major round of applause for the Canadian artist! Wooooot!~
Anyways, this piece is a porcelain sculpture. A beautiful one at that. When I first saw this sculpture, it made me completely stop in my tracks and simply made me stare. The first word that popped into my mind was: Contradiction.
Why you might ask?
Well, here is my interpretation of the artwork...
The first thing I noticed was the young looking innocent boy cleaning a blood stained sword. Then I noticed on the left side of the sculpture the representation of Medusa and that everything was dead. There was no sign of life except for the representation of Medusa. This is the major reasons why I found the sculpture very contradicting.
Then my mind began to wonder off to the fact that I thought the artwork looked like two pieces of artwork put together to tell a story. To me, I thought that the story was about the innocent young boy and his relationship to the supernatural being (Medusa), from the world of the dead. It seemed like they were relatively calm and peaceful in each other's presence and had a mutual relationship. Also, it seemed that the young boy just finished killing something and returned to meeting place where he meets the supernatural being. It was like the young boy would take requests from the world of the dead (Medusa) and complete them in the world of the living (the young boy's world). The whole concept of life and death, and good versus evil came into my mind. To me, this sculpture displayed that good cannot exist without evil and vice versa. The same applies for the concept of life and death.
It also made me think about the misconception of the hero and how the hero is not always the "good guy," no matter how innocent looking he/she may be. The hero can at times conduct acts of evil and wrong doings that harm other living beings but then again could benefit other groups of individuals. I believe that the artist is trying to communicate that appearances can be very contradicting and misguiding.
Hmm...What else is the artist possibly communicating to us?....
When I read the title of the artwork (To Colonize the Moon), I immediately thought "impossible..." However, I soon realized that humans have already landed on the moon, so the idea of colonizing it didn't seem too impossible. Then I looked back at the actual sculpture and also thought "impossible" because of the young boy calmly cleaning the blood stained sword and peacefully being in the presence of the representation of Medusa. It was just sooo contradicting. However, reflecting a bit about the harsh happenings in the world such as wars and problems that third world nations encounter, I came to realize how the artwork relates to the present day world. I believe that the artist is trying to communicate how she views the world and how all its problems are affecting young innocent people. For example, the innocent young boy cleaning the blood stained sword could represent all the children that were forced to partake in war. War, being a drastic example, could symbolize Medusa and all the dead beings surrounding the mythological creature. Then the young innocent children potentially become accustomed to war environment where they simply accept it as part of their own lives. They might become at peace with it. Kind of like how calm the young boy from the sculpture looked cleaning the blood off the sword.
Another aspect of the sculpture that captured my attention was the MIRROR. I think this is another way the artist is trying to communicate something to their audience. I think the artist wants people to see the truth in themselves and in the world and become more aware of it.
Anyways, it is time to introduce the...
Art Word of the Week!
This week's lucky art word is Design (or Composition) of an artwork! Design (or composition) is defined as "the overall mark of success, the standard of achievement, and the frosting on the cake" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 364). Basically, the artist is concerned with the final product of their artwork. I chose this art word because it relates to the piece of artwork I chose to critique. Usually, artists who create procelian sculptures tend to stress the importance of detailing in their artwork. When considering the design or composition of an artwork, there needs to be a sense of balance between the shapes, colours, lines, and textures used (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009).
Now how can ALL THIS relate to ECE?
Critiquing artwork and considering the composition of art can help children develop their creative skills. Asking children to offer their interpretations artist's artwork or even their own and allowing them to think about the composition of the art allows children to exercise their reflective and analytical skills. Also, having children consider the composition of their own artwork allows them to evaluate their art.
Well anyways, those were some of many wild thoughts about this piece of work. If I discussed all my thoughts, well, I would be writing a novel. Fun, right? :P Hope to visit the A.G.O many more times!
~Kellz
References:
Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, E. J. (2009). Art & creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Delmar, USA: Cengage Learning.
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