Expanding the Concept of “Art” - A shadow of art’s former self
Posted October 26th, 2007 in All, Expanding the concept of "Art" and Take a look...In keeping with the conviction that art can be created from nearly anything so long as it speaks to its audience, I’m happy today to be able to feature… a pile of trash. Specifically trash arranged to form a shadow which appeals directly to the human brain’s imagery recognition center, despite the fact that the trash itself is reminiscent of nothing more than a back alley during a waste removal company’s union strike. Most beloved Basement dwellers, I give you Shadow Art.
Dirty White Trash (With Gulls)
English artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster are the artists most widely credited with mastering the genre of shadow art, and you can plainly see why. At least, you can if there’s a cleverly placed industrial light bulb in the vicinity. The two artists, who work as a team, create shadow art scenes which have captured the imagination of the art world and resulted in widely critically acclaimed exhibitions at renowned galleries including New York’s Guggenheim Museum. The unlikely selection of refuse as a medium doubtless boosted their sculptures’ artistic (if not olfactory) appeal. The dichotomy created by the use of materials which society has deemed useless and thus thrown away to create images filled with the beauty and fluidity of daily life speaks to the inherent wastefulness of a society obsessed with immediacy and superficiality.
Real Life Rubbish
He/She
Although metal is a more conventional medium for sculpture, Japanese artist Shigeo Fukuda channels his unusual shadow imagery through common flatware. He created his shadow art piece Lunch With A Helmet On, a detailed depiction of an upright motorcycle, with the help of exactly 848 forks, knives, and spoons.
Lunch With A Helmet On
Now that you’ve seen a little of what can be done with a lot of imagination and a few well placed lights, put your inner art critic to the test. The following piece is uncredited. What imagery or emotion does the shadow elicit in you? What materials do you see in the sculpture, and how do you think the selection of materials reflects the artist’s intentions for the piece?
Uncredited
If you would like to see more shadow art and live in the Northern United States, check out the 2007 Shadow Art Fair on December 1 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. With the tagline “One Day, 40+ Artists, 9000 Gallons of Beer,” how far wrong could you go?
