A Critical Exploration of Anya Gallaccio and Keith Arnatt
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The Transformation of Objects and Materials: A Critical Exploration of Anya Gallaccio and Keith Arnatt. BA Art and Design 2019/20 Birmingham City University by Polly Brant. Word Count 4211 Introduction Transformation is defined as “the action of changing in form, shape, or appearance” (Oxford University Press, 2019). But how is something transformed? It could be a gradual process that happens over time, in which a dialogue is created between the organic state of an object and the developments it endures over its lifetime, causing its appearance to change. It could also be the perception of how something is viewed. The object in different situations can alter its value, or how it’s displayed could alter viewer engagement. The material substances could also cause transformation due to how they react and are formed. Whether they are manmade, or natural leads to different pathways of transformation. Through this exploration the way artists transform materials and objects using their practice will be investigated. This body of research will unpick how process, natural or constructed, can cause transformation, allowing the form and materiality of the object to shift into artistic imagery. There will be case studies of art practices from Anya Gallaccio and Keith Arnatt, who both in different ways transform objects and their context within their practice. Gallaccio and Arnatt both reference the concept of still life in their work through focusing on the commonplace objects. This use of the ordinary allows for transformations to be created, taking an object out of its usual context and allowing it to become something more. Gallaccio uses flowers and their lifecycle to capture the transformation of life, so concepts of time are embedded within her work. While, Arnatt focuses on how perception of an ordinary, discarded object can be transformed into something almost unrecognisable and away from its original context. Both artists allow ‘transformation’ to be broken down into different concepts from the process of making, to the objects themselves and their journey. This research will explore concepts that are significant within both Gallaccio’s and Arnatt’s work that allow for the objects used to be transformed. Beginning with impermanence, there will be an exploration into how time, especially its effect on objects is meaningful. It will then progress into art history and connections to the traditional; exploring how 1 tradition, such as still life has been transformed through the contemporary. Finally, I will unravel their practices to explore the materials they use, investigating how they are used in relation to transformation. 2 Beauty of Impermanence Impermanence, the state of existing for a limited amount of time, is constantly affecting everything from the living to inanimate, there is no avoiding time. This concept of life being in constant flux allows for change and affects what is around us. Through the work of Gallaccio and Arnatt there is appreciation for deterioration and brevity which can be explored as a process of transformation. Both artists explore the concept of decay and deterioration; Arnatt focuses on capturing moments in time where beauty and ordinary come together (Caiger-Smith, 1989) and how perspective of the discarded can be uplifted. It becomes a “question of representation” (Caiger-Smith,1989:33) and how the perception of the object is altered. While Gallaccio documents the transience of nature. She explores preservation, growth and decay through capturing the progress of disintegration. Gallaccio’s work conveys “the balance of life struck between growth and decay” (Watkins,2003: 3). Through analysing the works of Gallaccio and Arnatt, impermanence will be investigated into how it can be experienced and viewed as a transformation. Figure 1, Gallaccio’s work preserve ‘beauty’, is a collection of cut Gerberas pressed between glass, composed in a single layer. They all face outwards with their stems facing down, in a united form. Within the gallery the process of decay progressively takes place, effecting the colour, smell and size of the flowers as they gradually wither. Her work documents the narratives of impermanence perfectly; using the physical forms of flowers to show Fig.1 how their lifecycle has different 3 points to be valued. The end of their life becomes particularly intriguing as the flowers begin to take on new qualities; from vibrant to deathly as they begin to rot and ooze. Time is something that is broken down into single moments but is also this constant flux which is passing by nonstop. The experience of progressive existence takes its toll on everything whether living or inanimate and can be arguably something beautiful. Documentation and visual evidence of objects over time pulls together their characteristics right from the bright beginning to deterioration and death. This capturing of impermanence allows for development of form and narrative to be celebrated, as each moment Fig.2 can be appreciated for its character but the essence of movement within time is still evident. But each stage is significant as they document the changes that come with temporariness and how life is a fleeting experience. Decay can be admired for the changes it makes; it introduces new characteristics, but rather than beauty happening through process we can see it occurs through being revealed to us (Greg WR, 1872). For example, figure 2 from Gallaccio’s 2003 show at Ikon gallery, captures a point in the exhibition where the flowers have aged, and new details have become apparent. From how their colour darkens to how they are bleeding out onto the walls, their decay has allowed for the progression of characteristics. However, “the source of whose beauty there can be no controversy” (Greg WR, 1872:679) demonstrates that within preserve ‘beauty’ the flowers evidently supply the beauty, just with new qualities which have come to light. So, to understand the work, viewers must recognise that one must project backwards and forwards to fully appreciate the flowers full potential (Gallaccio, cited in Garavelli, 2003). 4 Within Gallaccio’s work the story balances between life and death, it exposes the storyline of the flowers by exhibiting their existence in real time and the reality of nature changing. The change is fundamental to the meaning of the work and displaying the ongoing breakdown of natural forms is what gives the work it’s effect of representing the transience of life (Watney,2003: 4). This phenomenon of disappearance happening within the gallery sums up how fragile life is, in reference to time. When visiting the gallery, especially seeing the installation at different stages, beauty in terms of time is valued. Within this there are emotional reactions caused by the display of the flower’s lifespan. This suggests that “wonder is present in the beauty of impermanence” (Plumb,2010: 81), for example a selection of viewers responded to Cheerfulness , Gallaccio’s work using daffodils, in a manner that demonstrated curiosity towards the flower’s deterioration, asking questions such as, how could Gallaccio take all these daffodils and leave them to die? (Gallaccio, cited in Garavelli, 2003). This leads back to life’s fragility and that time can reveal more beauty than just flowers freshly in bloom; it is about appreciating life whether at first beauty or the final stage of decay. While Gallaccio looks at the life of the object, Arnatt looks more closely at single instants. His work, Pictures from a Rubbish Tip, focuses on discarded objects. Figure 3 is from Arnatt’s Pictures from a Rubbish Tip collection; The works are 506 x 608 mm C- prints and form a part of the Tate collection. Arnatt photographs the rubbish with shallow depth of field and uses natural daylight. Fig.3 This is diffused around the image by the surrounding plastic and highlights the different colours within the objects (Michal Goldschmidt, 2014). In figure 3 there is an “attempt to conceal the image’s context so that its subject is initially unidentifiable as such” (Michal Goldschmidt, 2014) which has been done to allow the viewer to understand something outside of its normal context. Picking 5 up on the abstracted beauties of discarded items, he raises questions about representation and toys with the viewers experience of the object within the image through changing their perspective of the waste. The objects are equally balanced between their uselessness and how the artist wants them to be conveyed which pulls ordinariness and beauty together, causing a collision that captures that transformation in time (Caiger-Smith,1989). Arnatt works within the concept of the picturesque, exploring decay as something to be appreciated, mimicking the picturesque taste for ruins (Caiger-Smith,1989). This plays with our experience of time; we understand what was once new and fresh, but now within it we uncover the “obvious signs of wear and irregularity” (Kemp and Rheuban,1990: 104). By giving us chance to focus on singular moments of deterioration Arnatt reveals the unappreciated and ignored aspects of life: the wear and tear; damaged and thrown away. Each object has had its biological clock paused which captures the melancholic transformation within evanescence and allows decay to be elevated from this ignored stage of life. It is evident from both artists work that time’s effect on the subject is a key aspect within its context. Without the deterioration that comes with impermanence the objects would not have the same significance within the artist’s practice. There would not be the defining feature, that is impermanence, which gives them the need to be seen in that context, allowing for decay to be appreciated. Time’s effect on the objects leads to questions of materials and themes, for example their value and how they have been referenced throughout art history. It is giving context to the materiality of both artist’s practices.