Anish Kapoor Sculpture

Celebrated for his gigantic, stainless steel Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor is changing the cultural environment with his public works.

1.Research Kapoor's work in order to discuss whether it is conceptual art or not. Explain your answer, using a definition of conceptual art.

“Conceptual art had been used in the early 1960.” (Reise) Kapoor is one of the conceptual artists I know. Conceptual art is “art in which the concepts or ideas involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns.” (Conceptual art) and it is “art in which the idea behind a particular work, and the means of producing it, are more important than the finished work.” (Collins English Dictionary) Art is closely linked by beauty in traditional aesthetic but his works lead to thinking more about spiritual ideas than traditional aesthetic. Moreover, his diverse works seem to be made over material concern “because it(Cloud Gate) leads us to wonder: “how could this mass have been made, come here, be?” (Anish Kapoor, 2008) I would like to say it represents a transition from material concern to conceptual art.

2. Research 3 quite different works by Kapoor from countries outside New Zealand to discuss the ideas behind the work. Include images of each work on your blog.

Anish Kapoor 1000 Name 1982 Via Guggenheim Bilbao

Firstly, I choose this is one of 1980’s decade works because it appears strongly to his cultural background that is a Buda in the temple but the wall is not clean than his other works. I think there is something beyond his idea but my view is very different with the next. ”The works on display are not exclusive to Kapoor’s recent pieces. White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers was created in 1982 and features four small-scale elements that can be interpreted as being larger. Millet is generally a small seed; the red millet is likely the triangular structure in the center of the work. It is easy to imagine these small shapes as being larger; it’s easy to see the millet as a mountain and the “white sand” as two brightly colored rocks. This is one of Kapoor’s early pigment pieces, which are set next to later sculpture pieces in the exhibit at the Guggenheim.” (Art Observed, 2010)

Anish Kapoor

My Body Your Body, 1993

Secondly, I chose this one of 1990’s decade works because it “appears at first to be a flat plane on the wall until we realize that the space of the work is beyond the wall, creating an intensely blue “void” whose dimension and extension evade certain observation.” (Anish Kapoor, 2008) It seems very simple to design a photo in the book before reading the art review of The New York Times “In My Body Your Body a rectangular cavity set in a wall with an indeterminate interior coated in deep blue pigment confronts us like an upright coffin, but also like a doorway to another world. In “Marsupial” a large slab of dappled lavender resin angles out from the wall, not unlike an eccentric collaboration between Richard Serra and John McCracken; but it also has anthropomorphic aspects. One side presents a slanted pouch but also a wormhole of space; the other bulges toward the wall, like the head or ear of someone straining to eavesdrop on a conversation in the next room.” (The New York Times, 2006) It is a very abstract type of art so I am curiously interested in the cultural meaning and what the conceptual method is. The color is very dark so it leads to an optical illusion that is plate.

Anish Kapoor Untitled, 2007

Finally, I chose this one of the 2000’s decade works because it does not have a strong image or color and I can see it with other cube that Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube. “He is also inclined to work serially, developing variations on one idea, form, or material, bringing it to new levels of complexity and elaboration. Thus we might compare ….or the capture of a natural element in Untitled, 2007, to Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube, 1963-65… Kapoor has absorbed the strategies of noncomposition and embraced its ethos of self-erasure.” (Anish Kapoor, 2008) I like the color and size but I am curious it capture’s that moment of a natural phenomena.

Condensation Cube, 1963-65 by Hans Haacke

3.Discuss the large scale 'site specific' work that has been installed on a private site in New Zealand.

“The Farm”. it is Alan Gibbs' farm near Kaukapakapa, in the southern part of the Kaipara harbour region. It is famous for its sculpture park. It is located 30 miles north of Auckland. He has commissioned a few massive sculptures for his property over the past decade.

“Seeing him here, traversing the rolling landscape of his 1000 acre New Zealand property, talking about one sculpture after another, is to feel Gibbs’ excitement for the place and the art. He is as enthusiastic as a boy in a toy store; and with good reason. When he bought the land now laconically known as The Farm, in 1991, he already had three decades of significant art collecting behind him. Commissioning art works was in the back of his mind “but not the major purpose” of searching for a rural retreat. Looking back, it is clear now that 1991 marked the beginning of a whole new art collecting adventure for Gibbs. He is a rare breed for several reasons. He has made a total commitment to open-brief commissioning of major site specific works from key artists. He is forming a collection of permanent private commissions of the scale that nowadays are more often temporary and the province of public institutions. And he has adopted an expanded role as collector. By rolling up his sleeves alongside the artists, he too faces the boundary-pushing challenges that come with an open brief: to play, puzzle and solve. Gibbs has become the artists’ accomplice and is often, as a consequence, the art producer.” (RGCFA)

Andy Goldsworthy, Arches 2005, pink leadhill sandstone blocks stacked into 11 freestanding arches, each arch 7m long, photo by Rob Garrett

 

Richard Serra, Te Tuhirangi Contour 1999-2001, weatherproof steel, 6m x 257m x 5cm, photo by Rob Garrett

George Rickey, Two Rectangles, Vertical Gyratory (III), 1990-95, stainless steel, 12.14m x 3.5m x 8.13m, photo by Rob

4. Where is the Kapoor's work in New Zealand? What are its form and materials? What are the ideas behind the work?

Kapoor's work is located in “The Farm” that is commented above. It is 8-storeys high work with Composed of a vast PVC membrane stretched between the two giant steel ellipses. I think he has described an open mind towards the sky over a huge terrain typical of New Zealand. He has realized his superior within a large sculptural object in New Zealand too.

Anish Kapoor, Untitled 2009, mild steel tube, tensioned fabric, west end: 25m x 8m, east end: 8m x 25m, photo by Rob Garrett

5. Comment on which work by Kapoor is your favourite, and explain why. Are you personally attracted more by the ideas or the aesthetics of the work? I like his Red for his projects; I feel the special sympathy by the color aesthetics of the work. The color leads to a conjecture that Indian has suffering by religious and Caste. Moreover, this train seems that the life cannot think separate from their religious. They cannot get off from the train in their life until the finish. His impassion of this work gave directly an odd image. May he have pride in his cultural background but I think anyone could not say my view is good or wrong. Youtube has some excellent footage on Kapoor-take a look at Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy. www.royalacademy.org.uk ›  http://www.robgarrettcfa.com/thefarm.htm http://www.billslater.com/cloudgate/

References:

Art Observed. (2010)

http://artobserved.com/2010/07/go-see-bilbao-anish-kapoor-at-guggenheim-bilbao-through-october-12-2010/

Collins English Dictionary, 1988, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Conceptual art

http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/conceptual-art.pdf

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/arts/design/30kapo.html

RGCFA

http://www.robgarrettcfa.com/thefarm.htm