Week 5

Tony Oursler's 'Projeciton Works' began in 1991 when he began dabbling with LCD video projectors, which lead him to create a number of brilliant and controversial works using materials such as hand made cloth figures and animated video projection. His works have a tendency to operate with the viewers empathy/feelings. He projects alot of emotions and expressions onto his works.

Oursler's work can be applied to the enlightenment concepts of Reason, Empiricism, Science, Universalism, Progress, Freedom and Secularism in a number of ways, such as the way he uses projected faces holding alot of emotion to interact with the way people feel about that work (empiricism), i.e. the viewers see the emotions and they feel a sense of empathy for the expression of the projected face.

He also creates work which further the idea that the natural and social condition of human beings could be improved, resulting in an ever increasing level of happiness and well-being, (progress), we see this when Oursler constructed the 'influence machine' in 2000 in Madison Park, NYC and Soho Square, London. This marked his first major outdoor using communication devices such as telegraph to the personal computer as way of speaking with the dead, he used smoke, trees and buildings as projection screens.

References:

http://www.tonyoursler.com/text.php?navItem=text&subsection=All%20Text&page=1

http://images.google.co.nz/images?

Week 3

Mercantilism is the system for the major nations that traded goods (e.g. precious metals, gold etc ) during the 16th, 17th and 18th century. This was because national wealth/power was best seen by increasing exports and recieving precious materials, i.e. metals in return.

This has developed since the renaissance by the trade system becoming worldwide and much more common/frequent and much more goods are being exported and recieved rather than precious metals etc.

Fiona Hall's work, 'Tender' (2003-2005) relates to the renaissance concept of mercantilism with a number of reasons, firstly being that it represents other cultures of the west in which the australians traded with regularly during the renaissance time period, and with the sculpture consisting of one dollar bills represents the wealth gained within these trades. Secondly, it relates to this renaissance concept of mercantilism because she has grown more wealthier by using money as the sole material for her work, this relates because the in the renaissance era they mainly needed money to become wealthy, but here, she doesnt use it for trading, instead she using it to make art but in return, recieving the same outcome. They sculptures are shaped like the native birds nests of Australian wildlife, this represents the travel/amount of travel that was taken place within trading goods. The money used to make these also symbolise the good/wealth that was accumulated within the renaissance trading period.

The work 'Leaf Litter' (1993-2003) relates to the renaissance concept of mercantilism because the direction of the piece above the notes represents the trading business moving forward and progressing, This relates because the renaissance concept of mercantilism was constantly progressing and furthering their wealth and power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism