Psychology

"Tears make the world go round"

Louise Bourgeois

During today's lecture we viewed a range of artists who create psychological art. I was captivated by Louis Bourgeois, a insomniac sculpture.

Bourgeois's father was an anglophile, meaning he loved all things English. Lucky or Unlucky for Bourgeois's father, the family nanny was English. Ultimately causing her father to have an affair with her (the nanny).

We are told that this is what caused Bourgeois's Insomnia, the hatred and betrayal she feels about what her father did, leaves her unable to rest.

This however is the cause of her art.

Bourgeois's work explores the psychological concerns of emotions. It almost seems Bourgeois is trying to rid herself of the hatred and betrayal caused by her father, by creating art pieces, which cause the viewer to feel her emotion, and by producing it in a very rough and strong way.

She uses the band saw in a lot of her work, this is because she can be aggressive and it allows her to be in control.

By producing work about her emotional states it is full of meaning and is very symbolic to her. She (Bourgeois) can only trust her unconscious.

By producing work that is highlighting her own psychological concerns and feelings, she is creating a very personal and deep work. That only she can really understand but it open enough for viewers to interpret their own understanding of.

"I'm a wild beast some of the time"

Said by Bourgeois, this shows how she thinks in terms of herself, and how she can create raw emotion through art.

I feel that the reason Bourgeois creates art is too release herself of her hurt and to try get on with things, however when watching the way she lives her life and how shes goes about daily routines, some may think she is happy how she is. She gives off that impression.

She very abrupt and upfront saying what she needs to say to get the job done.

"At this level we are in business. You can talk to me"

Andy Warhol and Multiples

Multiples

Andy Warhol's use of multiples in his work is evident through his silkscreen process. It was his use of multiples that generated most of his income towards the late 1960's.

Andy Warhol's multiples were commodities. Things that were produced, with there sole purpose being, to be either sold or exchanged.

Warhol's 'The Marilyn's' are great examples of multiples. 'The Marilyn's' are silkscreen prints, that are all the same. (Multiples).

Walter Benjamin talked about the aura that one would feel when looking at the original of a piece of art. The aura, referred to as the sense of awe and reverence one would presumably experience when in the presence of a unique piece of art.

So therefore you cannot experience the aura of an art piece if it is a reproduction of itself.

This makes me wonder.

Warhol's work is consider as multiples. But they are still all individual art pieces. So if what Walter Benjamin is saying that you cannot experience the 'aura' of a piece if it is a reproduction, then can you experience the aura of a piece of from Warhol's 'The Marliyns' collection?

They are all individual pieces, all made the same way, printed from the same screen using the same ink, but at individual times. They are not photocopies, scans or photographs of the original. They are all original pieces of art but they just look the same. So can you experience 'aura' from each piece or not?

I think in this case you can. Even though the pieces may look exactly the same. They are not exactly the same. Each piece may have a slight difference from the one before.

So I feel that in this case, Benjamin is wrong. In the case of Warhol's silkscreen prints you can experience an 'aura' from a multiple.