What I find compelling is the way in which she uses materials that are discarded and sees them in new combinations. In her artist's statement, she expresses the idea that these objects have a spirit, a history. "I was taught in kindergarten that objects that are discarded before their time weep at night inside the trash bin." I'm not a tremendous fan of the standard readymade--I tend to think that once you've looked at the object not as a urinal but as a fountain or the bottle rack as a sculpture--there's a limit to where the discussion goes. Yes, you can talk about design, about lines, color, shape, material. Marcel Duchamp started it off by getting us to think about the transgressive nature of all objects, that anything CAN be art; it's a tremendously powerful message for modern and contemporary art (and one which restructures the modern idea of WHAT IS ART?). But I'm looking for ways that this dialogue can go further. I think Sayaka Ganz has a strong message of beauty and structure in the creation of these works that strengthens that message of reuse/reimagining of the old object.
No comments:
Post a Comment