Talk about art and artists:
Have you ever heard of Barbara Kruger ?
Do you like the images below? Why? / Why not?
What do the words mean to you?
Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist who is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captions. The phrases in her works often include pronouns such as “you”, “your”, “I”, “we”, and “they”, addressing cultural constructions of power, identity, consumerism, and sexuality. Kruger’s artistic mediums include photography, sculpture, graphic design, architecture, as well as video and audio installations.
Kruger lives and works in New York and Los Angeles
At the Venice Biennale, Kruger’s immersive installation, Untitled (Beginning/Middle/End), 2022, was meticulously configured and printed on durable substrate to cover all visible surfaces—floor, walls, and columns—with disembodied black-and-white commands that implore the viewer to consider the fragility of their own physicality.
In the artists own words:
“Architectures, the built environment, and shelter—or the lack of it—have always been areas of engagement for me. After many years of producing images and words, the possibility of “spatializing” these works was a tremendous opportunity: one that enabled meanings that were scalable from close reading to long-shot exteriors. This allowed for varying receptions of the ideas and images I work with”.
“I am an internet user and that usage is both a pleasure, a punishment, and perhaps most importantly a resource. While our online lives might too often work to fortify our silos and construct sometimes unexamined notions of what we mean by “community,” this access can force us to face what is truly looming. It is a measure of the connected world’s desires and fears. It eradicates distance and magnifies the immediacy of intimacy and the velocity of threat”.
“As time goes by, I’ve been increasingly engaged with spatializing my ideas: working with architecture and the built environment to upscale (or downscale) the meanings I’m trying to make with pictures and words—both moving and still. This has increasingly involved the use of sonics and their abilities to build resonant moments. My biggest risk has been to try to call myself an artist. Without any undergraduate or graduate degrees, my ability to define myself through my work was incremental and marked by both doubt and surety. A very different kind of approach compared to the current professionalization of the arts with its menu of stylistic choices and skillsets. My work is, at times, detonated by taking another breath, by the repetitions of the everyday and how that everyday is constructed by both the brutal hierarchies and punishments of global events and the more localized tenderness and kindnesses that are either offered or denied. I try to make work about how we are to one another.”
Vocabulary:
- Substrate
- Definition: The underlying layer or surface on which something is placed or operates.
- Grammar: Noun
- Example: In her installation, Kruger printed her work on a durable substrate to ensure it covered all surfaces without damage.
- Explanation: A substrate refers to the base material or surface that supports another layer, commonly used in both biological and artistic contexts.
- Spatializing
- Definition: The act of giving spatial form or arrangement to something, often used in the context of architecture or art.
- Grammar: Verb
- Example: Kruger discusses how her recent works involve spatializing her ideas, integrating them into physical spaces to create a new form of interaction.
- Explanation: “Spatializing” refers to organizing or giving structure to something within a physical space, often allowing it to be experienced in three dimensions.
- Velocity
- Definition: Speed in a given direction, often used to describe how quickly something moves or changes.
- Grammar: Noun
- Example: Kruger talks about the “velocity of threat” to describe how quickly dangers in the connected world can appear and grow.
- Explanation: “Velocity” refers to the speed of something’s movement or change, often emphasizing rapid or dynamic processes.
- Professionalisation
- Definition: The process of becoming more formal, specialized, or organized in a specific field of work.
- Grammar: Noun
- Example: Kruger contrasts her self-taught path with the professionalization of the arts, noting the shift in how artists are now trained.
- Explanation: “Professionalization” refers to the formal development of a field, where skills, training, and standards are increasingly defined and required.
- Hierarchies
- Definition: A system in which people or things are arranged in levels of importance, power, or status.
- Grammar: Noun
- Example: Kruger’s work frequently addresses the brutal hierarchies present in global society, revealing the inequalities in power and privilege.
- Explanation: “Hierarchies” describe systems of ranking or organizing things or people in order of importance, often highlighting issues of power, authority, or control.
Adjectives:
Immersive
- Definition: Providing a completely enveloping or absorbing experience.
- Example: Kruger’s immersive installations allow viewers to feel surrounded by her messages, creating an emotional connection with the work.
- Explanation: “Immersive” refers to art or experiences that engage the audience deeply, often making them feel as though they are part of the scene or narrative.
Declarative
- Definition: Making a statement in a forceful or confident way, often used to express ideas or claims.
- Example: Her work is filled with declarative captions that confront viewers with bold statements on power and identity.
- Explanation: “Declarative” refers to something that clearly expresses an idea, often in a way that is intended to make a point or declaration.
Disembodied
- Definition: Separated from a physical form; existing without a body.
- Example: The disembodied commands in her artwork seem to speak directly to the viewer, without needing a physical presence.
- Explanation: “Disembodied” is used to describe voices or actions that appear detached from a person or physical entity, often creating an abstract or otherworldly effect.
Fragile
- Definition: Easily broken, damaged, or destroyed; delicate.
- Example: Kruger’s work asks viewers to consider the fragility of their own bodies, emphasizing how temporary and vulnerable human life is.
- Explanation: “Fragile” refers to something delicate and vulnerable, which can be easily harmed or affected.
Engaged
- Definition: Involved or interested in something; taking part in an activity or discussion.
- Example: Kruger has always been engaged with the issues of architecture and shelter, using them as central themes in her work.
- Explanation: “Engaged” is used to describe someone who is actively participating in or deeply interested in a particular activity, idea, or issue.
