Use of Language in the Contemporary Arts
In contemporary art, the ways and methods of artists in expressing their thought go beyond the mere replica of objects made as subjects for their art works. There are modern artists that explore various modes of expressionism. There are those who use the combination of words and letters in their works to give a message to their audience. Various artists practice the distinct combination of letters and figures and employment of words as part of the features of their practices in art. The use of words and letters in their artworks is also associated with the sense of authorship, where artists signify their inscriptions and signatures. Language has been a common feature in the contemporary arts. For instance, in China, the performance of language in the Chinese artists has been part of the tradition since the early years. There are those artists that practice calligraphy where the writing of the Chinese characters is the considered goal of communication. Many artists employ the use of words and letters in their works as it provides simplicity in the work, while sending a strong message as the readers understand the connection of the words written to the background and the entire art work. Words have direct meanings, thus, it provides strong voice for the artist’s works. There is a highlight of the central theme and purpose of the work as the language itself has the ability to direct the perspectives and perceptions of the viewers. Language being a traditional means of communication, when it is integrated with art, produces a voice that is stronger than ever.
One of the artists that embed the use of language and letters in his work is Ching-Ying Man. He is an artist from Hongkong that practice greatly the use of language as he express his thoughts about the identity of being Chinese under the sovereignty of Great Britain. One of his works, 97 Reunification, I am Very Happy.(1997) is a remarkable piece of art. It features large and spacious canvass using the entire ceiling as well as the wall space of a certain room. He covered them with red Chinese characters spread along the entire space. There are words written in Chinese character that are repeated. This method of using repeated works marks a message about the art, where the repeated word echo the ubiquity of the artist’s sentiments, and his message is sent to the public in the most unique way. This also reveals the identity of the artist, being a nationalist celebrating the grand and glorious days of HongKong during the time of their independence (Leung et al). The title resonates the message of the artist as he spread the message of celebration for the HongKong Chinese people as they unite as one citizen, and finally as been freed from the hands of the White colonizers from the West.
Another remarkable artist that incorporates the use of language is Xu Bing. In his work, A Book from the Sky done in 1987 to 1991, he decorated a room through the installation of printed books along the walls and ceilings of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Accordingly, when he started doing the art work, he was able to develop certain images that were actually closer to the preexisting typographical model. He is not particularly keen into using calligraphy due to its nature of being too self-expressive, emotional, and individualistic. Instead, he employed the use of pages from the books and newspapers as they are less emotional and connotes public messages instead of personal notes from the artist. Evidently, his style that is adapted connotes of him not going into emotional things. As he said, “If I use this public mode of, I don’t want to say writing, because it’s already changed. But is I use this public mode of communication, it already belongs to everybody, not just to me (Leung et al, 89). He is the type of artist that reveal information and messages that concerns the public rather than sending messages coming from his personal life.
Xu Bing also produced another artwork that uses the languages and words in his artwork. His work titled Case Study of Transference don in 1993 to 1995 reveals two mating pigs with their skin filled with words written in pen. The male pig is covered with words that contain fake English words while the female pig contains fake Chinese characters. This work speaks about the controversies of the political and social situation of the Hongkong and Great Britain. He uses the animals to bring out his message about the political aspect of the country. He said that “I work with animals as a way of rethinking human culture, because they offer a vantage point from which to look at culture, as embodied by the dense expression of writing” (Leung et al, p93).
Wenda Gu is another contemporary artist that deal with the use of letters and languages in her works. In her work United Nations- Hongkong Monument: The Historical Clash (1997) is an artwork that is speaks about the history of Hongkong. It portrays the historical event during the handing over of Hongkong to China. It reveals the British part in giving them liberty after a very long time. There is the British hair that appears in the form of the Union Jack as well as the Chinese hair shaped into the Chinese flag containing inscriptions. There is the text that says, “Once upon a time there was an English merchant who said, ’Imagine, if every Chinese wears one more inch of clothing’” (Leung et al, 96). There is a message about the Chinese being an extended market of the Britain. This work implies about the artist being a nationalistic and involved citizen of China.
Another remarkable work of Wenda Gu is the United Nations: The Babel of the Millenium 1999. This modern day art reveals an enormous tower that points its reference to the Tower of Babel where the story is the origin of the various languages that appear in the world. This art reveals the Christian knowledge of the artist and related its story in the world’s condition of having a lot of dialects spoken around the world. Wenda Gu is a patriotic and nationalistic artist with wide knowledge about the world and its foundations.
Contemporary and Modern Art
There are many eras in the art history. In the context of crossing from modern art to the contemporary art, there are historical events that contribute to such phenomena. Modern art is the period in art dominated mostly by the North America and Western Europe culture during the 1860s to 1960s. This art period is characterized mainly by the styles of cubism, impressionism, and abstract expressionism. Due to these features and stylistic approach of art, there is the creation of confusion in the differentiation between contemporary art and modern art. Both periods represent drastic changes from the traditional methods of doing art where the aesthetic limitations have been explored and there were multimedia that are used by the various artists. In the aspect of political, social and philosophical discussions, modern may refer to the start of the enlightenment period. On the other hand, the contemporary period is attributed after the 1970s until the present. Most of the works of the contemporary art have themes and subjects where there are various practical disciplines and expanded range of theories embedded in their works. Contemporary art is mostly driven by ideas and theoretical concepts, where they also serve as expressions for social, political, technological and other societal aspects (IMMA).
The contemporary art paved way as the technology rises and drastically changed the views and lifestyle of humanity. There is the open market that gave the artists more freedom to engage in their innovations and other experimental artworks. The development of Photography and film greatly changed the modes of art. The perspectives of artists became broader and that they explored various medium in expressing and delivering their message to the public. Thus, there is more means for expression aside from sticking into the concept of abstract in canvasses. Avant garde movements pave way to the different developments of the styles of Fausvism, De Stijl, and improvements in impressionism and expressionism.
Contemporary art basically refers to the arts in during twenty-first century. Most of the subjects of the artists during this time are reflections of the contemporary culture and society. The works of artists are dynamic and explore different combinations of medium, methods, materials, concepts, and subject. There is no direct driving principle and philosophy in this art period due to the diversity of ideologies and concepts during the present day.
One of the remarkable artists during the contemporary art period is Jon Burgerman. He is an English artist of the contemporary period that is widely known for the playful artworks that mostly traverse the different disciplines of illustration, design and even entrepreneurism. There is sense of humor in his works portraying a message that exceeds more the aesthetic value.
Burgerman is known for his humor in his sketches and drawings that is situated between mural, fine art, and pop culture. His works have certain beauty that captivates audiences (Randall).
Another remarkable artist is Kour Pour. Pour is known for his popular designs of carpet paintings that is inspire by those traditional carpets coming from Persia. His elaborate paintings mostly are completed in several months as he incorporates variety of techniques such as sanding, silk screen, painting, and do combinations of materials and medium in his works. He divulge in wide variety of subjects that extend to various disciplines (Randall).
Pablo Picasso is another contemporary artist that is considered as influential to the other artists. Basically, he is from the modern era known for his Cubist innovations. As moved to the next era, he made drastic changes to his style that led h to great works. In one of his works, he created a traditional subject incorporated with sexual energy. However, there is still the shadow of cubism in his works, but it has evolved into a more complex form while deepening its message and intensifying its context. He widely use black and white to evoke graphic art (Smith).
Sebastian Velasco is another remarkable artist during the period of contemporary art. He is a Spanish renowned street artist, painter, and graffiti artist. He divulge in a wide range of subjects, themes, and techniques. He is involved in various activist movements in the streets and he portray his messages along the wall streets of the city. He employs different naturalist techniques creating mesmerizing forms of arts that are aesthetically and contextually remarkable (Randall).
William de Kooning is another great artist of contemporary art. He is influenced greatly by Picasso. However, he is not as aggressive as Picasso, but he still applies Cubist framework and penetrates upon breaking apart figures and the spaces around it. The Cubist framework that he implied includes subjects that have dispersive effects of :dispa rate patches of hatched paint” (Smith). He is known for his Woman series. He made various innovation covering the same subject that deals with women and issues about them. Most of his works have hints that come from billboard advertisements, Hollywood stars, and landscapes. Kooning is among the many top artists during the start of the contemporary period that shaped the art history. His styles and techniques serve as influence to the artists of the next generations. These artists of the contemporary period produced visceral excitement in the world of art. They go to broader and stimulate traditional artworks that made the touch greater heights in their output and achievement as an artist.
References:
IMMA. “What is Modern and Contemporary Art?”. Irish Museum of Modern Art. (nd). Web. 2
May 2016
Leung, S., Kaplan, JA., Gu, W., Bing, X., and Hay, J. “Pseudo-Languages: A conversation with
Gu, Xu Bing, and Jonathan Hay”. Art Journal., Vol. 58, No. 3 (1999). Pp 86-99. Web.
Randall, M. “10 Contemporary Artists under 40”. Widewalls. (2016). Web. 1 May 2016
Smith, T. “Contemporary Art: World Currents”. Prentice Hall. (2011). Print
