Fine Artists - Cornelia Parker, Annette Messager and Hew Locke

Cornelia Parker

 

In this piece 'Thirty Pieces of Silver', Cornelia Parker has flattened silver objects such as plates, cutlery and candlesticks then arranged them into disc shaped compositions and hung them slightly off the ground. Cornelia flattened these objects in order to transform their meaning and worth. I think this is a particularly successful way to do this because to me, I know what the objects are but because they are no longer usable it changes how I look at them. I see the shapes that create them and what they're made of rather than just an average object. This makes me realise how they're worth more than I would initially expect because of the materials in them and how they're made. Having so many pieces displayed in the room like that makes me think about how many valuable things there are in the world. Although this piece makes it look like Cornelia has collected a lot in relation to the room, actually in relation to the world she has only collected a tiny fragment. This leads me to think about the amount of valuable items some people own and take for granted yet there are still so many people with nothing.

 

 

Annette Messager

 

Annette Messager has created stuffed fabric pieces in the shape of different body parts and displayed them by hanging them down. This whole piece seems to me very childish because of the soft pieces made like stuffed toys and the bright unrealistic colours often used on children's toys or in books but also because of the way she has separated out the pieces like she is trying to teach children the different body parts. Having the space between all the pieces makes me want to go into this room and explore all around the body parts looking at them from all the available angles and taking in the finer details. I also feel that going into that room would be exciting for a child because of all the pieces dangling so high above their heads and some coming down low so they could weave in and out of them and get lost in amongst these internal body parts. However, I do think that even though it is very bright and childish, Annette has tried to hide a more serious point about the body behind the initial excitement of seeing all the pieces.

 





Hew Locke

 

After creating an initial piece of art that the public didn't particularly understand or take the way that Hew Locke expected them to take it, I find it interesting that he then decided to respond to these comments by developing and changing the piece. I like the way he isn't afraid to completely re-work his piece to challenge the thoughts of the people viewing it. Looking at this piece alone, without having seen the previous pieces, I think it is immediately very intriguing. This is because it's obvious it's a package but the unusual shape and the way it's wrapped with string make it something different to a normal package. As you look more closely at it and see the sections of colour inside and the words cut into the package I think it becomes more clear that the piece is about foreign cultures and their traditions being sent over to us to buy and try to experience. I think the way Hew Locke has designed the piece is successful because the unnatural angles and way it's placed and set up make it inviting for me to go and look closely at it. The small glimpses you get of the colour inside are clever as they allow you to see enough to understand the piece yet it isn't glaringly obvious and remains fairly subtle.