Art 21: Art in the 21st Century: Spirituality (2014)
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- Synopsis:
How does contemporary art address the idea of spirituality? How do artists working today reveal and question commonly held assumptions about faith, belief, meditation, and religious symbols? Spirituality explores these questions through the work of the artists Ann Hamilton, John Feodorov, Shahzia Sakinder and James Turrell. Ann Hamilton's sensual installations often combine evocative soundtracks with cloth, filmed footage, organic material, and objects such as tables. She is as interested in verbal and written language as she is in the visual, and sees the two as related and interchangeable. John Feodorov was brought up both in the suburbs of Los Angeles and on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, Feodorov experienced early on the cultural differences between his dual heritages. He also observed the stereotypes present in American culture at large, where Native Americans were idealized as the living embodiment of spirituality by New Age consumerists. His work addresses this clichéd modern archetype through a humorous interjection of sacred items into recognisable consumer products. His kitschy "Totem Teddy" series reveals added masks and totemic markings to stuffed toy bears accompanied by booklets declaring the bears to meet the spiritual needs of consumers of all ages! Shahzia Sikander specialises in Indian and Persian miniature painting, a traditional style that is both highly stylised and disciplined. While becoming an expert in this technique-driven, often impersonal art form, she imbued it with a personal context and history, blending the Eastern focus on precision and methodology with a Western emphasis on creative, subjective expression. James Turrell s work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. Informed by his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusions, Turrell s work allows us to see ourselves seeing. Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience. - Studio:
- Arthaus Musik
- Genres:
- Special Interest, British TV, TV Documentaries