So after Trafalgar Square on the 9th, we went to ICE, this gallery that was showing an exhibition of contemporary art, a portion being student work. I wasn’t’ impressed by it really. I really liked this sculpture called Narcissus. It was a wax cast of a male torso, with a broken head, reaching to pick out among a bunch of nose casts on a mirror pool. It was a bit literal and not mysterious as I would have liked, but I liked the way wax works with mirror as material.
There was one work that stood out to me above all rest. This animation of a black outline male figure against a white background. It was a loop of clips of him mutilating himself in a number of ways. I was struck by it, and actually had a flashback to bad times. I came back and was like shiitttt I’m still fucking watching this thing. The rest of the time in the gallery, I felt like crying or throwing up. I wished to forget the piece, but I cant. It was much like my own freshman foundation animation. I plan on maybe using this work to spark my assignment. The contemporary trend in which current figure studies involve a level of destruction to them. It contrasts with the classical glorification of the human body, but also parallels with the early grotesque Christian art…. I gotta think more, but I think I’m on to something.
We headed over to the National Gallery afterwards. I appreciated the paintings and the space and the frames, but I felt like I couldn’t truly experience it. I did love the Turner paintings, but the crowds and the noise was too much. I couldn’t just be with a painting. So I scooted out pretty quickly. It makes me think about Benjamin’s essay about the “aura.” Because I honestly feel I could get more out of some of these paintings by having the copy in a textbook to myself… So honestly, I have no idea what my opinion is about the copy vs original, because I’ve experienced an aura in both.
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