Birth is a natural occurrence, bringing newborn life to the world. Throughout art this theme has been explored in many different ways, both in human form and animal form
such as a butterfly escaping from its cocoon. Human life is not the only form of life and birth. Flowers are a common subject for artists to explore and express birth through. Georgia O’Keefe is a prime example of this. Her flowers express an erotic nature, suggesting two things. The dawning of life for the flower and the sensual imagery it stands for. Just as a women gives birth, so do flowers. Compared to pieces involving death, birth appears to have a more vivid and capturing aura, suggesting that the new life brings a bright future to the world.
It is via the female that babies are born. Central focus of many women’s lives has led female artists such as Judy Chicago to use their experience to create their work. Chicago’s work features needlework using a rich medium of colour, relating to the idea of life said earlier. Her images often incorporate women in childbirth surrounded by tantalizing patterns. Chicago is quoted for saying that she wanted to challenge ‘female rather than male experience’. These patterns may be looked at my some as a cage for the women giving birth, giving the idea that once a women gives birth to a child they are no longer free, therefore resulting in a lack of freedom, Chicago calls this the ’women’s oppression’.
The White Cube recently held an exhibition titled ‘Evolution’. Here feature Marc Quinn’s work showcasing fleshy pink marble featuring sculptures representing the human foetus and embryo during it’s gestation. There were nine of these, implying the idea that each one represented a month in the nine month life cycle of an embryo. The pieces reflecting the celebration of life have a sinister tone to them, showing just how strange the beginning of our life was. Subjects such as science can be related to the pieces making us think about topical issues such as DNA and genes. This is something which I feel commends of art in the present day is changing and considering topical issues. Quinn is also famous of his portrait named ‘Self’ created by using his own blood. This ongoing project is considered to the be the ultimate self portrait as his collection of his own blood over a period of time is frozen into a mould and shaped. These pieces suggest that he is who he is because of his flesh and blood and the way he was born. Over time the heads lose their rub red colour, turning a darker, mysterious murky colour. Although this may be an effect of the blood being frozen it could also be looked at as a point of view showing how over time Quinn and everyone slowly changes, ultimately leading to death.
An area I was interested into researching life pieces was sculptures as I commonly work with 3D myself. Upon looking I come across Ron Mueck, an Australian sculptor with fascinating lifelike pieces. One of his recent works uses silicone, fibreglass and mixed media to portray a pregnant women - ‘Pregnant Women‘ (2002). Another work named ’Mother and Child’ depicts an unclothed women who has just given birth to her child which is now placed on her stomach with its umbilical cord still attached. This shows labour in a literal state showcasing the birth of life. His human figures are eerily realistic and capture life in different stages. By doing this he infers that we are all individual, yet age and change as we grow up just like everyone else in the world - and that is what life is. His work has featured in various exhibitions and even had a place in the ‘Millennium Dome’ in 2000.
Bill Viola is an artist who explores the medium of video installations and is recognized as a leading artist. His contempory videos are delicately arranged focusing on mise-en-scene and music to make successful films. In ‘Heaven and Earth’ (1992) Viola focuses on birth and death, tying in with the title. Earth is represented by a video of his newborn son, suggesting the celebration of new life on Earth, While death showcases his deceased mother on her deathbed. The two videos are played opposite each other with a gap in between on cathode ray tubes. The Heaven is on top while Earth is at the bottom, fitting in with the title of the piece. Viola’s reason for using cathode ray tubes is as they are a methaphor for the ‘fragile and vulnerable’ human body he quoted in an interview with ‘Tokyo Art Beat’s’ Ashley Rawlings. Looking at the mise-en-scene of this installation allows us to compare the differences between the new born baby and the deceased figure. The crying face of a smooth skinned baby is harshly contrasted with that of a greying, wrinkled lady. One could look at Viola’s piece as a presentation of evolution and that all human life is born the same way and ultimately will end the same way too. This is highlighted by the reflection of the two films slightly shimmering upon each other.
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