Variations on the birth of venus

Bottichelli's The birth of venus has become a worldwide symbol of feminism, representing the purity and beauty of the female form. Something so widely acknowledged is going to initiate imitations and become kitschified. Here are some photographic representations i have collected together and the Botticelli original.

Heike Gallmeier Photograph 

made from discarded plaster board the shell made from an old ikea box. Part set design and part performance part painting part photography. Interesting concept but visually it feels very uncomfortable to me, although the model looks the part i dont think it represents the ideals of the original image.

Niklas Zimmer Photograph

This image has completely removed the purity and beauty from the orignal and turned Venus into an almost selkie like creature. The makeup also only futher deters from the innocent essence of  the image.  

DeviantArt Digital art 

Aesthetically i do like this image i love its dewy kitschy feel but i think the image is overly sexualized and the presence of an extremely muscular god type man gives the image a story that never existed before. 

Anna Utopia Giordano

Apart from highlighting once again the amazing possibilities of digital technologies applied to art, this job from Anna Giordano is indeed a good cue to reconsider both the subjectivity of cultural standards (in facts, ours are so different from the past ones) and the inclination of modern society and advertising companies to edit most images of  feminine body in order to reach a fake perfection, corresponding to an unreachable reality.

The Posing Of Vivette

Ach Ja, Tannenbaum

''In the 60s millions of Americans in the US set up an aluminum tree at Christmas time in their living room.  The artificial tree became an emblem of the Space Age until charlie brown started its downfall. ''

Exhibition photographs from J. Shimon and J. Lindemann's exhibition in 2004 which coincided with their book:

'Season Gleamings: The art of the Aluminium Christmas Tree'

''Our ambivalence towards seasonal decor helped us resist the trees at first. it took us a while to realise that they were a peculiar form of representational sculpture worth dragging back to our studio. we began seeing them as material rather than holiday discards and the thought of making an aluminium forest occurred to us. we decided to buy as many as we could find at reasonable prices and create an environment of gleaming aluminium.'' 

I find the idea of creating a glimmering forest from items that initially meant so much to people on moment, then was nothing but junk the next so romantic. They have been given a new lease of life and have been allowed to bring joy and wonder to a second generation.

Coolsville » Bob Watt with model, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1996

bob ross

Pierre et Gilles in relation to art history.

Pierre et Gilles are renowned in the art world  for their dewy photographic and painted images. Taking direct inspiration from Religion, Politics and Art History they create an illusion of a time and place that may have existed, simply because their photographs are so convincing. They draw you in. The images themselves hold a renaissance glow. I get the feeling that originally the essence was physical but now is just holds a whisper of mortality and is an almost complete dream, a haze or fantasy.

''Taking on Art History''

“Even the Ghost of the Past,”  Marcel Dzama’s elaborate show of drawings, sketchbook pages, sculpture, dioramas and video with live music accompaniment,(specifically his hole in the brick wall  piece entitled Even the Ghost of the Past) seems to “take on” art history.

 

You see a direct relation in Duchamps Étant donnés. It positions the viewer as a peeping tom; only one person at a time can view the diorama. The viewer is confronted with a mannequin of a woman’s body splayed across overgrown grass. The body seems lifeless but it holds up a gas light in the center of the tableau, illuminating an idyllic landscape, replete with Renaissance imagery. 

Dreaming

A dream has the power to unify the body, mind, and spirit. It provides you with insight into your own self and a means for self-exploration. In understanding your dreams, you will gain a better understanding and discovery of your true self.

Rafa Zubiría

With Rafa Zubria it is pretty hit and miss her snap shot content doesnt really have a direction. It just seems to be whatever took her fancy at that moment, which is fine but fairly conflicting and confusing to follow. Some of her images seem like adverts, some other worldly and certain ones could be out of a 1950's LIFE magazine. 

I did however really like her no way home series. It feels like a dream, very relaxed with but an underlying tension something doesnt feel quite right. Its probably something to do with the floating buildings. 

Christopher Patrick Ernst

Ernst' work is vibrant and filled with nostalgia. He brings together ''mundane'' every day situations and stock landscape photographs mixed with his own of a similar style. The images are set in laundromats, diners, on street and community centers, although taken recently they have a certain wishfulness of different time that may or may not have existed.  

magical spectres

Waterfall Inferno - Odani Motohiko

Inferno is a video installation by Japanese artist Odani Motohiko the installation is made up of 8 screens with a waterfall image projected onto the screens with the floor and ceiling made of mirror. this is a clever and well thought out concept and would give an all round experience. for me the image and meaning of water is more than a physical relationship of need, there is something else that is far more core to my persona. I see water as being something that is a part of me and my being. it is core to who I am. being near or in water or hearing it tumbling over rocks brings me great solace. in Motohiko's installation i can see that it would bring me serenity.

Sun Tunnels.

This light installation of Sun Tunnels is amazing and for me compares to a modern stonehenge. the sky is not just a backdrop but an integral part of the installation, how the sun and light at different points of the day and the year gives us a complete different interpretation and view of the landscape. it acts to highlight and accentuate not just the landscape but also the view within the tunnels.  Again it relates back to condensing something so vast, wild and uncontrollable and suggesting a view of it.  

Condensed Space.

Iam beginning to develop a fascination and an understanding with other peoples obsessions in containing the wild or recreating it. Obviously fish tanks are my favourite form of this but there are many other forms from zoos to wave machines.

In the Clouds - In a Gallery - Hansoo Kim.

Experimental Installation Work - 2005.  Hansoo Kim in his video installation is experimenting with perspectiveof a skyscape.by using three walls of a virtual gallery. he uses the walls to project a travelling sky giving the viewer the feeling of walking into the sky space. the use of the perspective gives a a more rounded depth than any one screen could reproduce and you do feel like you could just step out into the sky. I also liked the transition into the night sky but found his other experiemnts into a perspective a little distracting and out of context.    http://vimeo.com/9997571

The fruited plain. Mariah Anne Johnson.

this installation demonstrates beautifully the making of a place from a space. from a glance you can see that a gallery space or room has been brought to life with artist  Maria Anne Johnson vision and recollections of her personal history.

Project Flowx

Project Flowx is an interesting piece, there are many qualities that I like but equally the imagery does nothing for me. I like how the kites and fabrics are being used to harness and visualise the windscape giving further texture to the sky. I also like the filming technique it is probably not sophisticated but it does assist with the over all atmosphere. 

To dream of an ocean

Dreaming about an ocean indicates sentiment and mood. It represents spiritual awakening, peace and revival. Dreaming of traveling in the Ocean represents a state of liberation and self sufficiency. you are displaying strength and bravery in your undertakings.

Water.

Water has a central place in the practices and beliefs of many religions for two main reasons.  Firstly, water cleanses.  Water washes away impurities and pollutants, it can make an object look as good as new and wipe away any signs of previous defilement. Water not only purifies objects for ritual use, but can make a person clean, externally or spiritually, ready to come into the presence of their focus of worship.  Secondly, water is a primary building block of life.  Without water there is no life, yet water has the power to destroy as well as to create.  We are at the mercy of water just as we are at the mercy of our God or gods.  The significance of water manifests itself differently in different religions and beliefs but it is these two qualities of water that underlie its place in our cultures and faiths.