5.11.2009

sculpt ilicious

Balloon Dog (Blue), high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating

Chainlink, polychromed aluminum, galvanized steel

Cracked Egg (Red), high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating

Balloon Dog, oil on canvas

we went to the LACMA yesterday....yes, i am proud to say that my children are officially members of the museum!

the museum is always so inspirational to me. i come back completely revitalised and so eager to keep the creative process moving. i've been thinking about the work of one very iconic american artist jeff koons.

koons' re-creation of very banal objects seems, at first glance, very cynical...especially when koons himself states that his works have 'no hidden meaning'. then what, jeff, are you trying to do by taking this mundane object (we would rather throw away) and monumentalizing it? i came to the realization that in fact his work is full of meaning.

marcel duchamp once stated, "The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."

the meaning in koons' vibrant and gleeming installations are all about the meaning WE as the viewers decide to give it. to me they talk about impact, juxtaposition of unexpected materials, and the risks an artist is willing to take.

i hope you enjoy these pieces as much as i do. and, whether or not you enjoy them, i hope that you will get to experience them in reality...in the way that you choose too.

7 comments:

  1. thank you for this blog!!! it provides a little glimpse into what i have missed the most since i crossed the orange curtain 3 years ago. I almost experienced physical pain of how much i miss it as i read through your descriptions. i think most of that might be the guilt that i deprived Emma of this lifestyle. She and i religiously went to lacma every 'free' thursday night, i dragged her little but to any and all lectures, gallery openings. aah... not to take away from all the fabulicious fun we are having with the fam here, but the overall mall-bound,glossy-lipped,and-talk-about-nothin' culture of orange county is f&#!ng destroying my (for now still in tact) creative brain cells!!!!
    phew, ok that felt good.
    miss you

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  2. thank you vely!! I am glad that at least someone else was inspired also. It is sooooo much fun to take the kids. You should take the kids on the weekend. they will absolutely love it!!!! glad it felt good to get it out ; )xxx

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  3. Wow! LACMA has this? I might take a stroll over there during lunch. My window faces the entrance! Probably a Saturday afternoon would be best served to see it. Which part of the museum is it in?

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  4. is this by jeff koons? that balloon dog is AMAZING.

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  5. whenever the kids and i do the architectural tours with friends or family from out of town, we always stop by Disney Hall, Our Lady of Angels cathedral, the Getty and MOCA. Didn't know that LACMA was so cool! we'll check it out next run.

    Jg.

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  6. Brandon..how lucky to work across the LACMA. My favorite parts of the museum are the ELI BROAD wing (that's where Koons is)...and the AHMANSON building.
    Yasmine..yes, it is Koons and his baloon dogs are amazing!
    JG..definitely go to the LACMA. Take your kids on Sunday between 11 and 3 pm. they have NEXT GEN art projects for children of all ages (up to 17 years old).

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  7. Such a cool post, and I can just picture the girls enjoying all this.
    My sister's comment up there made me laugh. We do need more art and culture here behind the orange curtain ;)

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