Thursday Salute to Originals: Alternative Media
ARTISTS. Reading this one word can conjure up a number of different thoughts and genres. Some may think in terms of music, others in terms of dance, or even cuisine. But for those of us with design training, we tend to think of artists in the traditional sense, with some of the greats, like Picasso, Pollock, or Warhol, coming to mind.
While these three artists are very different in style and technique, they all share a common bond: choice of medium. These artists (and many others) work[ed] on canvas, paper, and typically with paint, art’s traditional workhorses. However, since art is about expression and pushing a conceived idea to the next level, using alternative mediums can very effectively redefine the meaning of a creation.
Tim Noble and Sue Webster have been working in unique mediums since 1996 when they attended British Rubbish in London. Since then, the couple has been very successfully creating art from what others may refer to as “Rubbish.” But these trash sculptors are exceptional for more than just the fact that they work with garbage. The true beauty of their work is realized in the shadows, with the sculptures casting silhouettes of realistic people, animals, plants, and more. Noble and Webster found a way to take use trash to create sculptures that evoke feeling through the medium alone.
An artist’s ability to control the medium they are working with is vital. This is why Erika Iris Simmons stands out as a one-of-a-kind artist. Simmons, commonly referred to as iri5, is a self-taught artist who has always enjoyed working with “strange experimental materials.” The most prevalent of these materials is cassette and VHS tapes. Iri5 removes the tape from these cassettes and shapes them to resemble relevant characters from bands, movies, and shows. For example, a cassette tape of London Calling by The Clash has been repurposed as a piece of cassette tape art depicting Paul Simonon smashing a bass on the ground. Others included a John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction and John Lennon.
While painting has been widely used in art for thousands of years, painting with light is a relatively new idea. In 2007, artist Janne Parviainen made a discovery that redefined the way he created his art. While working with long exposure photography, Janne happened to bump the camera. A streetlight in the photo created an interesting “brushstroke” and Janne decided to start manipulating and using light as a brush. He now paints by attaching a series of LED lights to his fingertips and painting in front of an open lens. Janne stated that he believes his work is, “in an interesting intersection of photography and painting”. These “light painted” images are not altered through use of computers. They create an eerie and beautiful piece of art that is both unique and effective.
There are many other artists that work in unusual mediums – Dominic Wilcox (tin foil), Scott Wade (dirt on cars), and Maurizio Savini (bubble gum), just to name a few. But while all the artists listed above use unorthodox materials, the effect of their art would not be nearly as compelling if they were unable to harness the unusual medium and use it to its fullest ability.
Whether the chosen medium is typical or off the wall, what truly matters is the manipulation of that material and the quality of the work. And while we’re sure people will continue to ask the difficult question of “What defines art?” even after reading this blog, what we’re hoping to accomplish here is an acknowledgement that the line between art and not is very blurred at best.
So without further ado, we give our most sincere salutes to the artists who dare to distort this line even further, ultimately proving that a change in medium can completely redefine the way art is viewed.
Image credits: Twisted Sifter, Janne Paint, Tim Noble and Sue Webster