Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is an English multi millionaire artist best known for his controversial preserved dead animals works. He also produces paintings, is internationally renowned and dominated the art scene in Britain during the 90's. What I like to talk about Hirst is the fact that he doesn't actually make his artworks. I've recently read an article about him in CNN and wonder if we can really call Hirst an artist. What actually separates an artist from others?

Daniel Hirst and his  formaldehyde-preserved shark

Some fellow artist, like Lin Hsin Hsin from Singapore argues that if one does not actually creates their own work, hands on, then they can't be called artists. Lin Hsin Hsin founded the first virtual museum in 1994, is a doer and believes that art creation is a holistic process that must be done by the artist themselves from start to finish.

However, let's consider a composer. Is composer an artist? Definitely. What is the art creation process? The artist composes the song, creates the arrangement, and finally comes up with a playable music. This is the holistic art creation, the artwork is a song. However, does it stop here? Does the composer perform the music themselves? Sometimes no. So when the music is never played, is it art? I leave the answer to you. When it is being performed to an audience by a group of other artists, is it still art? Definitely. Is the original composer still an artist? That's the answer.

What is Words Art?

This is my favorite. Words can really be spectacular when combined, intertwined, and enhanced into a Words Art. What do I mean? What is words art? Take a look at the image below.

Credits to st3to on deviantart

The power of this art is in the words themselves, the meanings they carry, and sometimes how the meaning of each word in the art correlates. Of course, the design of the final presentation can separate which art is brilliant and which one is simply just great. Again I emphasize on the meaning, as this was what attracted Conceptual artists in the 1960s to start creating this kind of work. The popular one from 1985 was the neon word art by Bruce Nauman: White Anger/Red Danger/Yellow Peril/Black Death. Notice the words.

White Anger/Red Danger/Yellow Peril/Black Death by Bruce Nauman

Notice what shape does it look like? (Apart from children toy)

Nowadays words art already proliferates online with the even more convenient production process through computers with its dozen of image editing software. It has also gotten more popular to laymen through T-shirt designs, for example. What else could be achieved through words art, I am not sure, maybe you dear experts could leave some comment and enlighten us all?

Finally I would like to close this with paintings from Sean Landers, a New York artist born in 1962, who stands for the a particular group of 90's generation. Which group? It's the slacker one, the ones that's often associated with the circumstances where there's not much to fight for for this generation. But of course it's not entirely true. eh?

 

Happy Chinese New Year 2011!

Xin nian kuai le! Gong xi fa cai! Wan shi ru yi! These three phrases mean "Happy new year", "More prosperity to you", and "Ten thousand matters according to your way". I would like to congratulate all readers a happy year of the rabbit as 2nd/3rd of February marks the beginning of the Chinese rabbit year.

Why rabbit year? Rabbit is one of the twelve animal symbols in Chinese zodiac. Aeons ago legend has it that twelve animals race against each other to reach the gate of the Emperor God's palace. The order in which they arrived was finally used to determine the way the 12 years repeat. The first is rat, while the second is bull and so on. Bull was supposed to finish first, but how cunning and sleazy the rat was, he jumped out of nowhere in the bull's shoulder that it crossed the finish line first.

Credits to azureseilue of deviantart

Why I'm writing all this? Aside from sharing this culture with you, this is also a personal wish since yours truly actually do have some Chinese blood in him :) Happy Chinese new year again; Rabbit is often associated with peace in Chinese culture, so even though you're not celebrating it, enjoy this weekend in peace :) Wan shi ru yi!