The fallen guardian and the zero-one society (in Greek) – Ο εκπεσών φύλακας και η κοινωνία “μηδέν – ένα”

«Πως εξέπεσεν εκ του ουρανού ο εωσφόρος, ο πρωι ανατέλλων; Συνετρίβη εις την γην ο αποστέλλων προς πάντα τα έθνη. Συ δε είπες εν τη διανοία σου: εις τον ουρανόν αναβήσομαι, επάνω των αστέρων του ουρανού θήσω τον θρόνον μου, καθιω εν όρει υψηλω, επί τα όρη τα υψηλά τα προς Βορράν, αναβήσομαι επάνω των νεφών, έσομαι όμοιος τω Υψίστω…»

Ησαϊας ΙΔ, 12 – 15

Γράφω αυτό το άρθρο την μεθεπομένη της πτώσεως από το βάθρο του, του “Φύλακα” του Παλαιού Φαλήρου, του ερυθρού γλυπτού που είχε εγκατασταθεί την 5η Δεκεμβρίου 2017 στην παραλιακή λεωφόρο Ποσειδώνος.  Το γλυπτό του Κωστή Γεωργίου δώρησε στο Δήμο Παλαιού Φαλήρου ο κ. Μαρτίνος και η σύζυγος του.

Από την πρώτη μέρα της εγκατάστασης του, ο “φύλακας” (PHYLAX) αποτέλεσε “κόκκινο” πανί για ορισμένους πολίτες, που θεώρησαν ότι το γλυπτό απεικονίζει τον Σατανά. Προς αυτή την ερμηνεία συνέτεινε και το ότι το γλυπτό δεν έχει πρόσωπο, όπως επίσης και το κόκκινο χρώμα του.

«Είναι ό,τι καλύτερο υπάρχει στο Παλαιό Φάληρο» δήλωσε στα τέλη Δεκεμβρίου 2017 στο CNN Greece o δήμαρχος Διονύσης Χατζηδάκης, τονίζοντας παράλληλα ότι όσοι θέλουν να το ερμηνεύσουν ως διάβολο κινούνται εκτός των ορίων της λογικής.

«Είμαστε στον 21ο αιώνα και όχι στον Μεσαίωνα. Η τέχνη ερμηνεύεται και εκλαμβάνεται ανάλογα με τις γνώσεις του καθενός»

Οι δηλώσεις του Δημάρχου δεν απέτρεψαν εκείνους που θεωρούσαν το γλυπτό κάτι κακό να το περιλούσουν με άσπρη μπογιά.

Την 3 Ιανουαρίου 2018 ο ιερέας Πατάπιος Αργυρός της Παναγίας Μυρτιδιώτισσας Π. Φαλήρου τέλεσε αγιασμό κάτω από το γλυπτό και “ξόρκισε” το “κακό”.

Ο ιερέας έστειλε και επιστολή στον Δήμαρχο Παλαιού Φαλήρου,με την οποία ζητούσε την κατεδάφιση του αγάλματος.

Την 18 Ιανουαρίου 2018, θυελλώδεις άνεμοι σάρωσαν την παραλιακή λεωφόρο και, σύμφωνα με μάρτυρες, “ξήλωσαν” το γλυπτό.

Όπως όμως αναφέρει ο ιστοχώρος NotosNet , ο δήμαρχος της πόλης, Διονύσης Χατζηδάκης, τόνισε ότι το γλυπτό που έχει προκαλέσει μεγάλες αντιδράσεις, το  έριξαν 15 κουκουλοφόροι με φορτηγό και σχοινιά.

Σύμφωνα με τον κ. Χατζηδάκη «15 κουκουλοφόροι ήρθαν με ένα φορτηγό άσπρο και δύο άλλα τζιπ. Τράβηξαν το γλυπτό με το φορτηγό και το έριξαν κάτω».

Ο ίδιος κατήγγειλε ότι οι άγνωστοι απείλησαν τον ιδιοκτήτη καντίνας που είναι κοντά στο σημείο λέγοντας του «αν ειδοποιήσεις την αστυνομία θα σου σπάσουμε το μαγαζί».

«Ξεφύγαμε από τις γραφικότητες και μιλάμε για παρακράτος» κατέληξε ο δήμαρχος Παλαιού Φαλήρου μιλώντας στο ΣΚΑΪ.

Η “αποκεφαλισμένη” Βόρεια Ήπειρος στην οδό Στουρνάρη

Η εικαστικός Αιμιλία Παπαφιλίππου δίνει μια άλλη διάσταση στο φαινόμενο (Liberal).

«Σκοπός του έργου τέχνης είναι να διαμορφώνει συνείδηση, είτε βρίσκεται στον ιδιωτικό είτε βρίσκεται στο δημόσιο χώρο. Από τη στιγμή που ένας καλλιτέχνης εκθέτει το έργο του, πόσο μάλλον στο δημόσιο χώρο, είναι ενήμερος ότι θα υποστεί κριτική. Κριτική, όμως, δεν αποτελεί ο βανδαλισμός, ο οποίος έχει γίνει τρόπος ζωής στην ελληνική πραγματικότητα! Από φοιτήτρια στην Ανωτάτη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών θυμάμαι να βγαίνω από τα εργαστήρια όπου δουλεύαμε και να παρατηρώ πώς βανδάλιζαν συστηματικά, με σεξουαλικού περιεχομένου συμβολισμούς μάλιστα, το άγαλμα και της Λέλας Καραγιάννη που κατέληξε αποκεφαλισμένο, αλλά και της “Βορείου Ηπείρου” που ήταν έξω από τη σχολή, και τα δύο στην Τοσίτσα. Συνεπώς, αναρωτιέμαι γιατί ασχολούμαστε τώρα μόνο με αυτό, όταν θα πρέπει να μιλήσουμε γενικά για την έλλειψη σεβασμού και όλους τους βανδαλισμούς που γίνονται συστηματικά χρόνια τώρα σε αγάλματα, δημόσια κτίρια και δημόσιους χώρους.»

Τον Μάρτιο 2015 άγνωστοι έβαψαν με σπρέϋ το άγαλμα του Κωστή Παλαμά έξω από το Πνευματικό Κέντρο του Δήμου Αθηναίων, τον ναό της Παναγίας στην Καπνικαρέα και άλλα μνημεία.

Τα επεισόδια είναι διαφορετικά μεταξύ τους ως προς τον συμβολισμό των στόχων.

Στην περίπτωση του “φύλακα” έχουμε να κάνουμε με την αντίδραση των ανθρώπων που βλέπουν τον Εωσφόρο στο συγκεκριμένο έργο και για τον λόγο αυτό το απομακρύνουν.

Στην περίπτωση των βανδαλισμών του 2015 έχουμε να κάνουμε με αυτό που αποκαλείται “αντισυστημική” συμπεριφορά, όπου η επίθεση στο μνημείο ή το κτήριο είναι επίθεση σε ένα σύμβολο της καθεστηκυίας τάξης. Εξ ου και η καθολικότητα των επιθέσεων.

Η άσκηση βίας σε όλες τις παραπάνω περιπτώσεις αλλά και το ξερίζωμα του “φύλακα” δεν έχει σχέση με την τέχνη, είναι πράξεις πολιτικές. Το αντικείμενο τέχνης ή το μνημείο αποτελούν απλά ένα εύκολο στόχο επειδή μπορεί να αποκτήσουν – και σχετικά εύκολα – συμβολικό περιεχόμενο.

Ενώ το συμβολικό περιεχόμενο μπορεί να διαφέρει, η βία που ασκείται στους στόχους είναι κοινή. Εκεί βρίσκεται και το μεγάλο ζήτημα. Τα ζητήματα που προκύπτουν στις ανοικτές κοινωνίες αντιμετωπίζονται με συζήτηση, κριτική, διάλογο, ανάμεσα στους εμπλεκόμενους. Όλα συζητούνται, όλα μπορεί να συμβούν, όχι όμως σαν αποτέλεσμα επιβολής βίας από την μία ή την άλλη πλευρά. Η προσφυγή στην βία  υποδηλώνει αδιέξοδο, οπισθοδρόμηση και θεσμική ανεπάρκεια.

Δεν είναι άσχετο το ότι ένας στους δύο Έλληνες – Ελληνίδες δεν θα διαβάσει ποτέ στη ζωή του ούτε ένα βιβλίο. Ούτε και το ότι η βασική παιδεία στην Ελλάδα έχει καταστεί ένα διαδικαστικό θέμα εκπλήρωσης μιας υποχρέωσης παρά μια διαδικασία εκπαίδευσης των νέων ανθρώπων.

Εκείνο όμως που εκδηλώνεται με αυτές τις επιθέσεις είτε εναντίον του Σατανά είτε εναντίον της άρχουσας τάξης, και λοιπών στόχων, είναι η ανικανότητα να υπάρξουν και λειτουργήσουν οι βιαιοπραγούντες μέσα στο κοινωνικό σύνολο του μη καταστροφικού διαλόγου και της έντονης μεν, δημιουργικής δε, ανταλλαγής απόψεων.

Ο εκθρονίζων τον “φύλακα”, ο ρυπαίνων τον πάλλευκο ανδριάντα του Κωστή Παλαμά,  ο αποκεφαλίζων την Βόρεια Ήπειρο, υπάρχει σε ένα κόσμο βουβό, εχθρικό και ολοκληρωτικό, με δύο τιμές και μόνο, το ένα και το μηδέν, χωρίς τίποτε άλλο.  Άν δεν είσαι “ένα”, τότε είσαι “μηδέν”. Τελεία και παύλα. Όταν εγώ βλέπω στον “φύλακα” τον Σατανά, κι εσύ δεν τον βλέπεις, όταν εγώ θεωρώ ξωφλημένη και προδοτική την άρχουσα τάξη κι εσύ την γλείφεις για ένα ξεροκόμματο, όταν εγώ είμαι πατριώτης αγωνιστής κι εσύ είσαι γερμανοτσολιάς, παίζουμε το παιχνίδι “μηδέν – ένα”. Αυτή η τάση είναι έμφυτη και πρωτόγονη. Πάνω σε αυτήν χτίστηκε κι ένα σύστημα ηθικών αξιών που απαξιώνει την ανθρώπινη ζωή, τον πολιτισμό, την διαφορετικότητα, γιατί όλα αυτά είναι πηγές δημιουργίας και εξέλιξης και ανάτασης.

Για λόγους απλότητας στην αναφορά, όλοι όσοι στηρίζουν και εφαρμόζουν το σύστημα “μηδέν – ένα” θα αποκαλούνται έτσι, σε αντίθεση με εκείνους που πιστεύουν και εφαρμόζουν ένα σύστημα με πολλές απόψεις και εναλλαγές στην κοινωνία των πολιτών. Γιατί τελικά το ζήτημα καταλήγει στην πολιτική ζωή του κοινωνικού συνόλου. Την ζωή εκείνη δηλαδή που καθορίζει με ποιους κανόνες και ποιες διαδικασίες διοικείται και ελέγχεται η κοινωνία των πολιτών.

Οι κρατικοί μηχανισμοί δεν μπορούν να  προστατέψουν την κοινωνία από την παρουσία και επιβουλή των “μηδέν – ένα”. Η μοναδική προστασία από την τεράστια απειλή του ολοκληρωτισμού μπορεί να προέλθει από τους θεσμούς της κοινωνίας. Όσο πιο ισχυροί οι θεσμοί, τόσο πιο αδύναμοι οι “μηδέν – ένα”.

 

 

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Bill Woodrow’s “English Heritage – Humpty Fucking Dumpty”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

(Humpty Dumpty, English nursery rhyme)

Denslow's Humpty Dumpty
Denslow’s Humpty Dumpty

Is it an egg, or is it a man?

This is a reasonable question when it comes to Humpty Dumpty.

Bill Woodrow is an English sculptor who gave his own answer to the question, by creating in 1987 the work “English Heritage – Humpty Fucking Dumpty”.

I saw Woodrow’s work at London’s London Royal Academy of Arts in January 2014. I was impressed by his ability to play with and transform everyday life objects into a contemplative story. This is why I write this note to present and discuss “Humpty Fucking Dumpty”. In what follows I have drawn heavily form the Tate curator’s notes (1).

 

Humpty Fucking Dumpty 1987 Bill Woodrow born 1948 Purchased 1987
Humpty Fucking Dumpty 1987 Bill Woodrow born 1948 Tate Gallery, London Purchased 1987

Woodrow attended St Martin’s School of Art (1968-71) and Chelsea School of Art (1971-2) in London where he rebelled against the formalist abstraction prevalent in sculpture at that time. At the end of the 1970s he began working with discarded household furniture and other objects to create incongruous juxtapositions often giving rise to allegorical or metaphorical readings. (1)

The sculpture should be seen in the context of the elevation of history and ‘heritage’ as a political value in Britain. (2)

Bill Woodrow
Bill Woodrow

This work consists of a wooden vaulting box that has been pulled apart like a concertina. Each constituent piece of wood is propped open at alternate ends by the insertion of a small object, most of which were made by the artist. The objects are intended to symbolize human progress, creating what Woodrow calls ‘a section through history’. (1)

 

Plough
Plough

Starting from the bottom, the lowest object represents a wheeled plough which denotes both the invention of the wheel and the early importance of agriculture. In conversation with a Tate curator in March 1992, Woodrow explained that, although ‘farming was probably invented a long time before the wheel; the two together seemed to be a very significant starting point for the development of the human race’. (1)

 

Book
Book

 

The second object used to wedge open the vaulting box is the representation of a book. (1)

The artist has described this as a leap forward in history, signifying ‘the dissemination of knowledge or development of the intellect … It was the beginning of some network of communication and knowledge’ (quoted in Tate Gallery: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions 1986-88, Tate Gallery, London 1996, p.517). (1)

Woodrow is very keen to use books in his works. The book I recall most vividly is the bench in “Sitting on History”.

Bill Woodrow: Sitting on History
Bill Woodrow: Sitting on History

‘Sitting on History,’ with its ball and chain, refers to the book as a receptacle of information. History is filtered through millions of pages of writing, making the book the major vehicle for research and study. Woodrow proposes that although one absorbs knowledge, one appears to have great difficulty in changing one’s behaviour as a result. (3)

Clocking-in machine
Clocking-in machine

The third motif is a clocking-in machine which is intended to invoke the industrial revolution. (1)

Bill Woodrow, Elephant, 1984, Tate Galley
Bill Woodrow, Elephant, 1984, Tate Galley

Woodrow is not soft on industrialisation. In his 1984 “Elephant”, we can see the relics of industrialisation forming a deadly circle around the gun carrying elephant.

Radiation box
Radiation box

The fourth object, and the only one not made by the artist, is a box which he painted yellow and black with radiation hazard markings to ‘signify the nuclear era’, which makes reference to both nuclear power and nuclear war. Woodrow has commented that he was also thinking about the damage to the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, then part of the Soviet Union, which occurred the year before in 1986. (1)

This radiation box is the agent of instability and destruction. What up to this level has been benign, stable, and controllable, now assumes uncontrollable dimensions and has a clear touch of evil.

The Iran P5+1 negotiations on Iran’s nuclear weapons program testify to the evil factor that has been unleashed by the WWII victors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Bill Woodrow: Endeavour: Cannon dredged from the first wreck of the Ship of Fools, 1995
Bill Woodrow: Endeavour: Cannon dredged from the first wreck of the Ship of Fools, 1995

Weapons of destruction appear often in Woodrow’s work. In 1995 Woodrow sculpted a cannon dredged from the first wreck of the ship of fools.

This is the tenth sculpture in Woodrow’s series devoted to the theme of the ‘Ship of Fools’, a commentary on the foolishness of mankind, wrapped in wry humour. ‘Endeavour’ comprises uncomfortably penetrating insights into human nature, particularly, mankind’s seeming inability to learn from experience. (4) 

Bill Woodrow, The Swallow, 1984
Bill Woodrow, The Swallow, 1984

Back in 1984, Woodrow sculpted “The Swallow”, a rather ambivalent work, in the sense that there may still be the possibility of escape from the inevitability of massive destruction.

 

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty

 

The figure of Humpty Dumpty was placed on top of the structure to further add to the sense of its precariousness. With this addition of Humpty Dumpty, Woodrow accepted that the sculpture had specifically English connotations. For him, it ‘seemed to signify, or to be a very appropriate symbol in a way for my notions about this country and the western world in general and its idea of progress, getting better and better and yet being very unstable’ (quoted in Tate Gallery: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions 1986-88, p.518). (1)

 Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Woodrow seems to contemplate this great fall, and anticipates it. But he is not a doom and gloom prophet, he is simply a realist.

It is in this context that “English Heritage” comes into play.

Woodrow sounds sarcastic when he uses the word “fucking” in the title. Making a play with words, he appears to denigrate Humpty Dumpty, when in fact he does so to the prevalent notion of “English Heritage”.

Moreover, by using the words ‘English Heritage’ in the title, Woodrow refers not to the institution of the same name, but to the concept of his own heritage. He has commented on the way in which references to ‘Britain’s glorious past are used to take your mind off present difficulties and hardships. It is an escapist device and there seemed to be a lot of it around at the time’ (quoted in Tate Gallery: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions 1986-88, p.518). Woodrow felt that nostalgic jingoism was particularly prevalent in the 1980s, prompted in part by the Falklands War in 1982. By employing the word ‘fucking’ in the title, the artist is being openly critical of this attitude. The word is used to denote a sense of anger and despair at the state of the nation. It was also a reaction against what he saw as the moralistic atmosphere of the period. (1)

Bill Woodrow at the RA in London
Bill Woodrow at the RA in London

Sources

(1) English Heritage – Humpty Fucking Dumpty 1987, Tate Gallery 

(2) The Oxford Index

(3) Bill Woodrow: Sitting on History

(4) Endeavour: Cannon dredged from the first wreck of the Ship of Fools

Eduardo Chillida: Comb of the Winds, La Concha Bay, San Sebastian, Basque Country

I wrote about the Basque Sculptor Eduardo Chillida some time ago.

Eduardo Chillida working on the terrace of Mas Bernhard painting his fired sculptures. St Paul de Vence 1973.
Eduardo Chillida working on the terrace of Mas Bernhard painting his fired sculptures. St Paul de Vence 1973.

The first time was on freedom, quoting what my friend Manolis wrote commenting on a photograph I took when I visited the Museum – Estate Chillida near San Sebastian.

The second time it was in reference to his homage to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger.

Eduardo Chillida in the Comb of the Winds
Eduardo Chillida in the Comb of the Winds

Today, after my second visit to the monumental installation “Comb of the Winds”, I want to write about it. This was my second visit, the first being in 2010. The weather was windy and cloudy both times. The sea was rough, foamy waves all over. Something tells me this is the best weather to appreciate the installation.

Map of San Sebastian
Map of San Sebastian

Before I proceed, it is important that we look at the map and locate the installation in the San Sebastian area. You can see the installation on the left hand side, inside the red ellipse, which is the western edge of the bay, the foot of Igueldo hill. The Santa Clara island is in the middle, and the Urgull hill on the right, the eastern side.  Visitors will need to follow the signs to “Ondarreta Beach”. Interestingly enough, there are no public signs for “El Peine del Viento”.

Looking east: Santa Clara island
Looking east: Santa Clara island – January 2015. Photo NM.

I call the “Comb of the Winds” an installation, because it comprises three sculptures mounted on rocks.

Formally, it is more than that, it is a project, comprising the installation and the plaza (square) in front.

The plaza
The plaza before the installation was called “Paseo del Tenis”

The plaza in front of the installation was designed by the architect Luis Peña Ganchegui, who worked with Chillida for the first time in this project.

The project started in 1966 and took eleven years to complete in 1976.

The main rock before the installation
The main rock before the installation

The initial idea was to place one sculpture on the main rock.

But soon after they started working on the designs, Chillida realized that the sculpture was going to attract all the attention, and this was contrary to what he wanted to achieve, which was to use the sculpture as a means to highlight the space around it and the environment.

08_peine_viento_07

Chillida loved this edge of the San Sebastian coastline, at the foot of the Igueldo hill. He retreated there often, to enjoy the sea, the wind, the rocks. It was this atmosphere that he wanted to enhance and promote with his work, rather than have his work dominate the natural setting and in this sense, distort it.

The Comb of the Winds - January 2015
The Comb of the Winds – January 2015. Photo NM.

This is why he came up with the idea of three sculptures instead of one.

Luis Chillida, son of sculptor Eduardo Chillida, suggested in an interview (1) that the three sculptures represent the three domains of time: past, present, future.

The Comb of the Winds - January 2015. Photo NM.
The Comb of the Winds – January 2015. Photo NM.

The sculptor’s son claims that the sculpture mounted on the left side and the one on the rock right opposite to it are the past and the present, whereas the thirs sculpture that appears to be far away is the future, a future that blends in the horizon.

The  sculpture at the foot of the Igueldo Hill
The sculpture at the foot of the Igueldo Hill. Photo NM.

In his writings, the sculptor speaks for himself (2, p.61):

“I want for the space in my work to be like the grease that allows a machine to function properly. Masses that slip and engage with each other, but I do not want to start any machine. I want my pieces to be quiet and silent, the only way to partially escape the influence of time.”

The sculpture on the eastern rock - January 2015. Photo NM
The sculpture on the eastern rock – January 2015. Photo NM.

All three sculptures are made of steel.  Each weighs approximately 13 tonnes and is anchored to the rock in two pIaces. They were made at Patricio Echeverria’s industrial forge in Legazpia.

The northern sculpture - January 2015. Photo NM.
The northern sculpture – January 2015. Photo NM.

Chillida “worked” the material directly, he did not use a model or a mold. As the sculptures were big and complex, he built them in two parts each, and then connected the pieces.  Chillida learned from a local blacksmith the demanding labour of the forge, from stoking a fire and handling a bellows to pounding the malleable metal to achieve a desired form. “A piece of iron is an idea itself,” he said. “I must gain complete mastery over it and force it to take on the tension which I feel within myself.” (3)

Interestingly, after the mid 1960’s Chillida transitioned from working with steel to working with marble.

Moving the sculptures
Moving the sculptures

Moving the sculptures and installing them was not an easy operation.  They had to set up supporting structures for moving and lifting the heavy sculptures. One must note that the cranes of today were not available back then.

08_peine_viento_06

Today the three sculptures occupy their place anchored on the three rocks, day and night, be it sunny or rainy. The people of San Sebastian visit the Comb of the Winds on every possible occasion and they love it. There is something deeply egalitarian about the installation. It brings all people together to enjoy the sea landscape and their heritage. It is like part of this heritage are the strange metal structures hanging from the rocks.

Comb of the Winds - January 2015. Photo NM.
Comb of the Winds – January 2015. Photo NM.

Are they anchors?

Are they letters?

We do not know, and we do not need to know.

But what I know is that like the temples in the valley of Paestum in Italy, they exist in harmony with the landscape. It is like they belong there, like the landscape cannot exist without them and they cannot exist without the landscape.

Whereas in Paestum the temples are in a valley, in the Comb of the Winds is literally submerged in the foam of the sea waves. But in both cases the resplendent harmony is there.

Like the temples of Ancient Greece, Chillida’s sculptures are open. Space makes sense only when you make sense of the vacuum, of emptiness.

The analogy with temples is not limited to the harmony and the integration with the landscape, or the use of emptiness to denote space.

In a sense the “Comb of the Winds” is an open temple where you can pray to whoever and whatever you believe in, or contemplate life, or…

Concha Bay, San Sebastian. Photo NM.
Concha Bay, San Sebastian. Photo NM.

“In a certain way I am a disciple of the sea and, consequently, also of Bach because Bach is very similar to the sea. I do not know if Bach ever saw the ocean, but his work has a very impressive relationship to it. And he is among my mentors.” Eduardo Chillida (2, pg.30)

Eduardo Chillida at work
Eduardo Chillida at work

“…I have found that time exists in my sculpture. It exists in a version that is not the standard temporal one. Rather, this version is time’s brother: space. Space is the twin brother of time. They are two concepts that are absolutely parallel and similar. And because I am so conditioned by space, I have always been interested in time. In fact, my time is very slow:traditional time – that of the clock – does not interest me. I am interested in a concept of time that is about harmony, rythm and dimensions.” Eduardo Chillida (2, pg. 32)

Sources

1. El Peine del Viento. Mas Context.

2. Eduardo Chillida, Writings. Richter Verlag, 2009.

3. Eduardo Chillida. Obituary. The Telegraph.

Nutcracker: by Jennifer Rubell

2200-gf12540_nocetto_nutcracker

nutcracker: a device for cracking nuts (Oxford Dictionaries).

Jeniffer Rubell: Portrait of the artist
Jennifer Rubell: Portrait of the artist

New York based artist Jennifer Rubell has created her own nutcrackers.

In doing so, she objectified a metaphor of the female body.

Dal Shabet Merilis Foto Teaser “Look At My Legs”
Dal Shabet Merilis Foto Teaser “Look At My Legs”

A 2007 review of studies examining depictions of women in the media including commercials  prime-time television programs, movies, music lyrics and videos, magazines advertising, sports media, video games, and Internet sites revealed that women more often than men are depicted in sexualizing and objectified mannerrs (e.g., wearing revealing and provocative clothing, portrayed in ways that emphasize their body parts and sexual readiness, serving as decorative objects). (Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research)

Rubell builds dramatically on the SO metaphor, and turns the female body into a nutcracker.

The Nutcrackers Project in Dallas Texas, 2011
The Nutcrackers Project in Dallas Texas, 2011

In the artist’s website, we read the following introduction to her “nutcracker” project:

“In the Dallas Contemporary’s largest gallery space, Nutcrackers consists of 18 life-size interactive sculptures of women surrounding a pedestal holding one ton of Texas pecans. Each prefabricated female mannequin is mounted on her side in an odalisque position and has been retooled to function as a nutcracker. Visitors interact with each sculpture by placing a pecan in the mannequin’s inner thigh, then pushing down the upper leg to crack open the nut so they may eat it in the gallery. Inspired by nutcrackers depicting female figures – especially one of Hillary Clinton – these interactive sculptures embody the two polar stereotypes of female power: the idealized, sexualized nude female form; and the too-powerful, nut-busting überwoman.”

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“Lea L” Nutcraker, by Jennifer Rubell. New York Frieze Art Fair 2012

One cannot resist but consider the artful play with words.

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Nutcraker, by Jennifer Rubell

A nut-busting woman is a stereotype in a man’s world.

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Rubell is explicit. The nut is broken high up, between the thighs.

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Nutcraker, by Jennifer Rubell

What can be the source of life (Courbet) can also break one or more nuts.

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The Nutcrackers Project in Dallas Texas, 2011

I must confess that the close ups reminded me of Jeff Koons. Although totally irrelevant, Rubell’s parents are art collectors and their collection includes some of Koon’s works.

Having seen pictures from Dallas and New York, I prefer the “factory-like” arrangement of Dallas to the solitary and rather depressing “solo” of New York.

The “contingent” of the factory gives a totally different meaning tot he work.

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I think I will return to the work of Jennifer Rubell.

P.S. What is the relationship between sexual objectification and heartbeats?

P.S. 2 Here is the answer.

The Sum of all Evil (2012-13), an installation by the Chapman Brothers

In London’s idyllic Sackler Gallery one can see on display the Chapman Brothers’ masterpiece “The Sum of all Evil” (December 2013).

A word of caution is in order before I proceed. This post is potentially harmful to people without an acute and tragic sense of humour, to people who think that extreme things do not happen, to people who think that Mars is only a planet, to people who …

Francisco de Goya, Atropos, or the Fates, técnica mixta sobre revestimiento mural, 123 x 266 cm. Museo del Prado (Madrid, España)
Francisco de Goya, Atropos, or the Fates, técnica mixta sobre revestimiento mural, 123 x 266 cm. Museo del Prado (Madrid, España)

In one of Goya’s 14 black paintings, Atropos, the Goddess of Death is leading the Fates.

War brings massive death. Goya’s etchings  ‘Disasters Of War’ has been a theme of constant interest to the Chapman Brothers.

Disasters of War No.72 2000 Hand-coloured etching 24.5 x 34.5 cm    9½ x 13½"
Chapman Brothers. Disasters of War No.72 2000 Hand-coloured etching 24.5 x 34.5 cm 9½ x 13½” (Saatchi Gallery, London)

Carl von Clausewitz’s dictum “War is the continuation of politics by other means” is a total understatement in view of Goya’s etchings.

Goya, Disasters of War No. 72 (1810-1820)
Francisco de Goya, Disasters of War No. 72 (1810-1820)

‘War is Hell’ William Sherman, Union General, American Civil War.

Chapman Brothers
Chapman Brothers

In ‘The Sum of all Evil’ the protagonist is Evil, not just War.

Lets go for a boat ride.

Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

In the path that takes us to evil, inevitably we pass through Colonel Kurtz.

Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

White Cube reports from the Hong Kong exhibition of the work. ‘Monumental in scope and minute in detail, The Sum of all Evil (2012-13) occupies the entire ground floor of the gallery and is the most densely imagined diorama installation that the artists have produced to date.’

Chapman Brothers.
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

The fourth in a series of Hell landscapes the work features a multitude of intricately modelled Nazi soldiers, along with various characters from the fast food chain McDonald’s, committing violent, abhorrent acts set amid an apocalyptic landscape within four glass vitrines. Darkly humorous, The Sum of all Evil, as its title suggests, is imaginative rather than descriptive: a summation of all the worst possible ‘evils’, violence runs amok in a trans-historical and a-temporal arena. (White Cube).

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Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

‘The Sum of All Evil’ (2012-2013) features cabinets filled with tableaux of detailed depravity in the manner of ‘Hell’ (2000), which was destroyed in the 2004 Momart warehouse fire. In one glass tank, dozens of Ronald McDonalds are crucified by Nazis. In another, Ronald turns torturer. (Time Out London).

Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

Once evil has been unleashed, there is no stopping it.

Evil is something that makes me feel impotent. Not because of evil itself, but because of the way ‘ordinary’ people can commit evil acts (see my relevant post ‘action against evil acts’).

Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

Massive carnage, death, everywhere.

Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).
Chapman Brothers.The Sum of all Evil (2012-13).

Only in one serene remote spot, Adolph flies his multi coloured balloons.

Sources

1. White Cube. Jake & Dinos Chapman.

2. Time Out London. Jake and Dinos Chapman: Come and See