Part 1 Exercise 5- Finding out More

Exercise 5- Finding Out More

‘Still life paintings over the centuries would often include decaying food, such as fish, grapes, pheasants and fruit. Another term used for still life is ‘nature morte’, which literally means ‘dead nature’. Find two examples of still life work which includes fish and in each case note the title, artist and date. Make a quick sketch of the pieces in your learning log. This can just be a line drawing with notes on the image or down the side. This is a useful skill to develop even if you’re not very confident about drawing as it acts as a quick reminder of the piece’s content and composition.’

‘Still life with smoked fish and garlic’, Vincent Van Gogh 1887

‘Still life - fish on a pedestal’ by Robert MacBryde, 1946

The Khan Academy Video Discussion Notes: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/beginners-guide-contemporaryart1/v/hirst-s-shark-interpreting-contemporary-art

Hirst • The piece • Hirst’s other work • Information on other artists whose work is concerned with mortality • References to ‘time’:

Hirst may have been deliberate in trying to preserve something alive for the purpose of the piece. 

He chose a shark as opposed to representing it in another way for the purpose of the piece, as a ‘vain attempt to have it outlive us’. 

The fact that Hirst persevered with the piece using a second shark to continue the work may have also been a deliberate choice as a demonstration towards our attempts at preventing death and decay.

The piece is a real shark, caught and killed. It is positioned to look like it is in motion within a tank, by being suspended in formaldehyde. 

This is actually a second shark because the first one, despite the attempts to preserve it, decayed and dissolved.

The choice of a real shark as opposed to representing it is significant because it’s more frightening. It’s a real animal that would have been capable of killing us.

It's compared to a piece from a natural history museum, displaying what a shark looks like in the way stuffed animals in museums are.

The viewers can openly interpret it, and the discussion points out the back and forth dialogue between what is the real fear, the animal or the concept of death.

The title itself is poetic and it created complexity when clashed with the physical piece. It's a statement that challenges the viewer by telling them ‘you can't process death’.

Hirst has used other animals in his work, including a collection that displayed lambs being preserved and displayed after being dissected from head to tail. 

Hirst is untraditional in his work, not using paint or marble but using real animals.

Modern art is more philosophical and more open to interpretation. It is also more about aesthetics, nothing is off limits and often perceived as some kind of ‘grand joke’. The discussion mentioned a quote from Duchamp; ‘an artwork is completed by the viewer’.

The piece is compared to historical artworks that concern religion, transcendence of the body, an afterlife etc. 

It is also considered with other forms of preservation from ancient mummification, to modern day plastic surgery and chemical attempts to vainly preserve youth.

It's also stated in the discussion that 20th century artists are well versed in the impermanence of art.

Art can be seen as a way to outlive us and be transgenerational. In many ways we are all trying to ‘stop time’ with preservation techniques. Even in ancient times. The concept of time takes the piece to another level of interpretation, that may not have originally been considered.