HC blog: Art

Gunther Von Hagens

www.bodyworlds.com

Damien Hirst

www.damienhirst.com

The Anatomy of an Angel, 2008;

"Anatomy of an Angel’ is a marble sculpture originally exhibited as part of the Sotheby’s auction of new Hirst works, ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ in 2008.

The classically posed Carrara marble figure is based on Alfred Boucher’s sculpture ‘L'Hirondelle’ (1920). In Hirst’s version, cross-sections of her body show the anatomical structure beneath the skin, revealing she is human after all."

For the Love of God, 2007;

"“I just thought, ‘What can you pit against death?”
‘For the Love of God’, a platinum skull set with diamonds, is one of Hirst’s most important and widely recognised works. Its raw materials define it as an artwork of unprecedented scale. The 32 platinum plates making up ‘For the Love of God’ are set with 8,601 VVS to flawless pavé-set diamonds, weighing a massive 1,106.18 carats. The teeth inserted into the jaw are real and belong to the original skull.
The skull from which ‘For the Love of God’ was cast, was purchased from a London taxidermist and subsequently subjected to intensive bioarchaeological analysis and radiocarbon dating. This research revealed it dated from around 1720 - 1810, and was likely to be that of a 35-year-old man of European/Mediterranean ancestry. The title originates from exclamations Hirst’s mother would make on hearing plans for new works when he was starting out as an artist. As he explains: “She used to say, ‘For the love of God, what are you going to do next!’”
‘For the Love of God’ acts as a reminder that our existence on earth is transient. Hirst combined the imagery of classic memento mori with inspiration drawn from Aztec skulls and the Mexican love of decoration and attitude towards death. He explains of death: “You don’t like it, so you disguise it or you decorate it to make it look like something bearable – to such an extent that it becomes something else.”"

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991

"‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ has become embedded in popular culture as one of the most iconic images of contemporary art. Conceived by Hirst in 1989 whilst at Goldsmiths, the ‘Natural History’ work consists of a thirteen-foot tiger shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde, weighing a total of 23 tons. The shark is contained within a steel and glass vitrine three times longer than high and divided into three cubes.
According to the artist, the title was, “just a statement that I had used to describe the idea of death to myself”. Thought of prior to the sculpture, it was taken from Hirst’s student thesis on Hyperreality and the work of Robert Longo and Umberto Eco. Hirst recalls liking the title’s poetic clumsiness because of the way it expressed, “something that wasn’t there, or was there”."

Jaime Hayon

www.hayonstudio.com

Testa Mechanica for Glasstress;

"Made in blown murano glass, metal and wooden accessories the TESTA MECHANICA series was Presented as part of Glasstress for Venice Projects at the Venice Biennial 2011 and MAD, New York City in 2012. "

Machine head

Red Machine Head

Yellow Machine Head

The Tournament ;

"Launched at the London Design Festival 2009, The Tournament, an installation created by Hayon consists of a gigantic chess set, with 2m high ceramic chess pieces designed by Hayon on a specially created Bisazza mosaic glass chess board. Each of the 32 chess pieces has been handcrafted by Hayon, working with Bosa, the Italian ceramics experts in Veneto, Italy. Each chess piece is unique, having been hand-painted by Hayon himself. The Tournament was inspired by London and its history and heritage. The Battle of Trafalgar was organized like a chess game of naval strategy. Many of the chess pieces reference specific iconic buildings in London and their domes, towers and spires. Elements of the city of London and its history have been encoded on the pieces using Hayon's very personal style."

Trafalgar

Tournament 1

Tournament 2

Trafalgar 2

Trafalgar 3

Trafalgar 4

Trafalgar 5

Trafalgar 6

Trafalgar 7

Trafalgar 8

Trafalgar 9

Trafalgar 10

Trafalgar 11

Mon Cirque;

"Mon Cirque is Hayon's vision of a large oniric metaphor. A place that symbolizes his hope of artistic freedom, where the designerï¿½s work is free to transcend the frontiers built between design and art. The classical colorfulness of the circus is replaced by a more serious and elegant contrast between black, white and gold: Cirque de lux.Vases become characters, clowns become lamps, plates used as canvas, tables grow legs. A sophisticated ambient replaces the decadent circus. A new world has been born: Mon Cirque. Craftsmanship is a key element to Mon Cirque. Avoiding the use of molds, a return to the hand made object where each piece is unique in its existence, like the characters they represent. Mon Cirque has traveled to Minneapolis, Lisbon, Barcelona, Paris and Cologne. It continues to move on, like a circus should."

Mon Cirque, Barcelona - Good View

Mon Cirque - Clown Lamp

Mon Cirque, Barcelona - Table and Vases

Mon Cirque - Lisbon, 2005

Mon Cirque - Horse Vases

Mon Cirque, Barcelona - Front

Mon Cirque, Barcelona - Rear Vases

Mon Ciqrue - Sitting Clown

Cacts at Mon Cirque, Lisbon

Mon Cirque - Stylepark in Residence, Cologne

Bisazza: Hayon Pixel-Ballet ;

"The Bisazza installation created for the Salone is meant to explore the possibilities of mixing art forms with industrial applications. The concept is to present other than the product itself, but instead, the possibilities of the product. In this case, it is treated as a medium for creation. The elements that make up this large-scale installation are part of my personal cosmology, where intuition alters reality creating a scenario far from conventional. The tables rescue elements from car engines contrasted with chic marble tops. The main piece is a butler presenting trays of new Bisazza elements. Plates will recreate possible faces for the face-less butler using mosaic-graphics. A new typology of vases emerges from the combination of ceramic and mosaic. The entire effect is that of an encounter with my world and dreams."

Mediterrenean Digital Baroque;

"The Mediterranean Digital Baroque exhibit opened at the David Gill Galleries in London in October 2003. The exhibit featured creatures that sign and defend the root of creation. The house. The head. Full of fake and plastic characters. Adult games. A virgin army defended by supersonic pigs. Engulfed in a metamorphic fragile traditional ceramic forest. A vital and ironic manifesto about this artist's personal cosmogony that is devised of mature languages from heterogeneous worlds: his birthplace, Madrid and the Francophone culture from his childhood. Skateboarding from cani suburbs and baja California. Gestuality, surrealism, baroque, density, dynamism, intuition, dementia, risk, tenderness, berreber, mathematical warrior of nature, energetic strength, delirium, histrionic exaggeration, emulation and creativity."

Green chicken;

"The chicken, a rather unexplored shape, found its place amongst my green dreams. I wanted to portray this common bird as a sensational object by amplifying its characteristics and dimensions, turning it into a modern piece, one of great beauty and utility: a rocking chair. The movement, subtle and constant, would give the object a zoom-like trait, a sense of speed and dynamism. My green chicken had taken on a face, a shape, a place and a function. "

Smart Grid Gallery;

"An imaginary world connects the various forms of renewable energy. The pavilion is a luminous grid that constantly transforms, creating an aseptic environment but one that is dynamic and enveloping at the same time. The furnishings inside, heterogeneous in terms of form and function, represent the different energy sources and their concatenation: luminous elements power a table whose top is made with photovoltaic panels (solar energy) that, in turn, is connected by colored wires to a cabinet completely covered with small propellers (wind energy) and rotating vases (nuclear energy), all moving with self-produced energy. In the development of the details of each single work, with great creativity and a very high level of productive quality, Jaime Hayon wants to make the most complex technology more human and comprehensible. "