Joseph Nechvatal - Orgiastic Abattoir

Orgiastic Abottoir,
2004, computer-robotic assisted
acrylic on canvas
224x168cm

Joseph Nechvatal (born 1951 in Chicago, USA) lives and resides within Paris, France and New York, USA for teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York City (SVA) and Stevens Institute of Technology.
During 1991 and 1993 he was a resident artist at the Louis Pasteur Atelier along with the Saline Royale/Leodoux Foundation's computer lab in Arbois, France. Some years later Nechvatal collaborated with programmer Stéphane Sikora in a delve into viral artifical life drawing inspiration on his time in France on the Computer Virus Project (using computer viruses as a creative strategem) he took part in.

A painting of his I have chosen to analyse is the Orgiastic Abattoir which like many of his works was created using the assistance of computers and computer-robotics.
If I were to hazzard a guess at the painting's production I would assume that he used a robotic arm (possibly attached to his in turn and acts similar to a stylus) to replicate his brush strokes as he made certain hand motions.This is similar in method to the performance artist Stelarc who also used a prosthetic arm made of latex and other materials, it was used in a variety of his performances during the 1980s to 1998. Although I could be mistaken about this assumption I consider it to be the most relatable to the past history of computer-robotics.

This piece frustrates me because it strikes me as a painting and not a work of computer-robotics art (i.e. because of its cybernetic ties I would assume it to look more 'mathematical' or have a more digital approach) but this plays more to a subtlety within the painting. However I do like the 'patchy' effect on the work as I think it makes it seem as if it is deteriorating in an organic manner.
I also think this piece is near impossible to reproduce because although it uses the assistance of computers it is still a physical painting and not a file saved to a computer or portable device therefore making it a unique work of art for the area its tied to.

Stelarc displaying his robotic arm.

A. Michael Noll,

“Computer Composition With Lines”,1964.

This is the outcome I would expect Nechvatal's

 to be similar to, an entirely digital art composition

completely  constructed using a computer as a

processing tool to create an image.  

Information/image source (Joseph Nechvatal): http://artnews.org/artist.php?i=597
Information/image source (Stelarc): http://stelarc.org/?catID=20265
Information/image soucre (A. Michael Noll): http://noll.uscannenberg.org/

The Venus of Willendorf

Just thought I'd share one of my Contextual Studies 100-200 word analysis pieces for college. Each week we do a written word piece on an image of an artwork by an artist to improve our technical word skills.

Analysis:

The Venus of Willendorf is a sculpture of a human female at a relatively small 4 1/2 inches in size and assumed to be produced by hunter-gatherers (a term used to decribe the life all humans lived until roughly 8,000 years ago who hunted game and collected plant food - 'foraging'). The purose behind this work is a fertility figure (expression of desire to have children and used a s a form of promotion for fertility).

Carved possibly by flint tools and from a type of oolitic limestone not of the area where it was found (Anube River, Austria). The time period is thought to be around 24,000-22,000 B.C.E and of the Upper Paleolithic time frame.

The form is a figure but is an abstract representation of a female as it is not a general perception but an artist's vision of their appearance.

I like the unusal shapes of the figure and its different style of 3D rendering (the proportions are warped/out of shape), these make the sculpture unique in quality.

Information Sources:
http://archaeology.about.com/od/hterms/g/hunter_gather.htm - Hunter-gatherer definition.
http://www.asu.edu/cfa/wwwcourses/art/SOACore/Willendorf_portfolio.htm - Venus of Willendorf information.
http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/episodes/human/venus/ - Venus of Willendorf information.
http://clevelandart.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/collection-highlight-fertility-figure/ - Fertility figure information.

http://tomreeder.wordpress.com/2009/03/ -Image source.

Random Shot...

Ok this is a random shot that I took while I was on holiday in the Canary Islands and re-used as part of my college work under image manipulation. I thought the composition of the image is quite eery and resonates a secluded environment. The effect created on this image is HDR (High Dynamic Range) and throws high image noise into the equation.

Perfectionist...



(Front).

This is a CD cover (the back of which can be seen below) of the performer Natalia Kill's debut album 'Perfectionist' which is solely my own work. I created this final piece for the last unit of my BTEC 1st Diploma for which I had creative control over and realised this took more of a product design route. Hope you like this piece as much as I liked making it!

(Back).

Front cover original dimensions: 12cm x 12cm.
Back cover origdimensions: