BlogPost#10/Final

Artist: Steward Uoo (b. 1985)

Artwork: Untitled (Versace/ H&M small white), 2015

Artwork: Untitled (Hollister small white), 2015

Materials: Cotton, shopping bags, flies (Calliphora vomitoria), cockroaches (Periplaneta americana), pigeon (Columba livia), feathers, pigment, polyurethane resin, synthetic fibers, dust.

These two works of art display a multiple use of materials that are mixed together using “techniques similar to those of traditional paper fabrication”. The whole display includes two separate pieces that combine to represent one. The artist creates two versions of this type of  artwork both named untitled but with parenthesis around it to describe it better. One set has ‘small white’ after the name of the brands inside the parenthesis while the other says ‘medium black’ and ‘medium gray’ after a different set of brands for the work piece. I liked both but i choose to focus on the white version because the ease in which the materials can be seen. But both include the same materials. I choose this artwork because it deals with a topic i can agree with, which comes from the description in the museum of why the artist made this and how he got inspired. “Uoo first became interested in shopping bags as an artistic material when he observed two female impersonators exiting a taxi, their arms laden with glossy paper bags bearing the logos of various luxury brands. Inspired by the way the shopping bags instantly communicate the desire for a particular lifestyle of indulgence, Uoo repurposes them to invoke an aesthetic closer to what he describes as ‘curbside garbage’”. It is because of his desire to covey a strong message that really captures my attention because it is something that is very relatable and i feel the same towards. Also the use of materials are very unique and intriguing. After taking this class going to a museum feels like a fancy treat. I feel like I have to know what materials were used. And I wonder what their purpose was in doing what they did,which is difficult to figure out sometimes because sometimes the their isn’t a description for the work of art being displayed. Art seems more mysterious and meaningful than simply to be pretty and/ or labeled as weird. During this semester I learned that art is everywhere and not only in museums, but also in almost everything. And that it can carry a purpose behind it or it can be simply done to capture and/ or recreate beauty.