Pee-yew, I Think I Arted
As I walked through the CAM, I saw many things that interested me. There was an incredulously lengthy video of a man painting. There was a similar video of a woman washing paint away. There was a blurry black and white photograph of a city taken from above. There was a collection of photographs that contained presumed maids in the background. But, the piece of art that resonated with me the most was some bells hung from a ceiling.
Name: Temple of One Thousand Bells
Artist: Laura Belém
Date: 2010
Medium: Hand-blown glass bells and audio accompaniment
Size: About a normal room size
Context: This piece was originally exhibited in the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, England for the 10th Liverpool Biennial, an art festival in the U.K. It has been hung in many places since.
Subject: Many things are represented with this piece of art. One thing is that the bells are glass and have no clapper. In the auditory piece, a story is told of bells that have been swallowed by the sea, however some continue to hear the bells. This coincides with the actual bells, as they can no longer make noise, and yet the viewer continues to hear the clinking of bells due to the auditory piece. The bells represent the fragility of an object or an idea. Once that object is taken away — once the clapper is removed, once the dream is deferred — it should cease to resonate. However, to some, even a lost bell continues to ring, either solemnly or inspirationally.
Style: The fragility of the glass bells, the lack of the clappers, and the accompaniment of the auditory piece form a cohesive story that represents the art affectively to the viewer. Without the auditory accompaniment, it would be a message of fragility, uselessness, and transparency. However, the clinking of bells and accompanying story transform the piece into one of resonation. Suspending glass bells just out of the reach of the viewer and then making them come to life with the recorded sounds of bells truely gave the piece a submersion quality to the viewer.
Purpose: I found this piece to be as relaxing as it was refreshing. I prefer an art piece that makes statements about one's self rather than Geopolitical Relations. Telling a visual, auditory, and mental story to the viewer and allowing them to use it to reflect on their own life — the fragility, the purpose, the transparency, loss — provides a personal aspect to the art which I enjoy.
Name: Temple of Eighteen Bells
Artist: Cole Buckalew
Date: 2014
Medium: Mechanical pencil and computer paper
Size: 11"x8.5"
1. Why the story that the artist selected to have playing?
ReplyDelete2. Would your art still be art if you had used a regular pencil instead of a mechanical one?
Lovely replica you created, How do you think the vocal story told while looking at the glass bells added to the artistic effect? Why do you prefer this art to any containing geopolitical connections? interesting post overall and again, love your replica.
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