Looking at page 138 in the humanities book, the sculpture "Debonaire Apache" by John Chamberlain really caught my eye. My first impression of this sculpture is that it is a piece of junk. Yes, that is a very shallow way of analyzing this "art" but after reading into it a little more, my first opinon of this piece has changed. Chamberlain used the technique called assemblage to create this sculpture. Assemblage is used to bring attention to the "random and violent aspects of contemporary society." By showcasing rusty, twisted automobile parts from a junkyard, he points out the dangers that technology will bring to society if they are misused.
Apparently, Chamblerlain created this sculpture out of automotive parts and paint. In a way, the sculpture looks like it came from a Transformers movie... or maybe not.
Chamberlain's sculptures remind me of the expressionist movement in painting, like "Street, Berlin" by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The dented, sharp, and crushed lines of the metal and bright colors from "Debonaire Apache" resemble the geometric shapes and the uses of color in Kirchner's painting, only Chamberlain created a three-dimensional look.
Another similar artist that Chamberlain reminds me of is Marcel Duchamp and his "readymades." Duchamp took an object (example: urinal) and put it in a completely different environment and with an entirely different purpose/meaning. This is the same thing that Chamberlain does. He takes old car parts and assembles them to create a sculpture--placing the car parts in a new environment with a different purpose/meaning.
While reading Chapter 37, I came across the painting "Double Self Portrait" by Richard Estes. When I first saw this, I thought that it was a photography, not a painting. The painting looks so real! The glare of the light on the glass window, the metallic sheen on the bar stools, the debris littered on the sidewalk, Richard Estes in the reflection of the window, looking like he is taking the picture. All of it is so realistic that I had to look at the painting closer in order to notice that it is not really a photograph.
Apparently he takes photographs of scenes in Manhattan, he goes to his home and rearranges the structure of what he originally sees and records through photographs, which form the basis of the final easel-size paintings, to reconstruct reality. He adds depth and intensity to his paintings, expanding the viewers' sensory field, going beyond the naked eye. In one painting he shows the window, what's beyond the window, what's reflected by the window, and what is behind the reflection on the other side of the street.
Notice the lack of people in the photo, even though the setting is in New York City. It is as if Estes is trying to disguise the city and make it unrecognizable to the viewer because he didn't want to people and landmarks to detract from his art.
Many of his other paintings are created in the same style. Clean, reflective, geometric landscapes and the details that he adds are very meticulous: metallic sheens and backwards stickers and signs in the background in a reflection. He gives us a very realistic "Sunday morning" feel to all of his paintings.
Telephone Booth
Paris Street Scene
