When I think of the term 'surrealistic', Garden of Eden means Djurbergs installation is not real and dreamy. This is her own creation of a hell like version of the garden of eden. She creates things that will get her audience thinking of what and how she is trying to portray etc. She mainly does the oppostie of what people expect.
Djuerberg shows us different complexity or emotions. Her art shows us many topics like sexuality, violence, war and pretty much the deeper and darker side of humantiy. She takes what people expect to see and twists what they expect to torment the emotion of the viewer. In the given image you have the models doing horrific things etc. This is the opposite of what a civilised human being would portray. Djurberg loves to create intense thoughts and portrays what society is most likely not to see.
Djurbergs filsm have many ideas relating to childrens stories. Your everyday child story would have the good angel and the bad angel etc. That is how society views the whole good vs. bad concept. Djurbergs films are the horror versions of these children stories. The first view of her characters are innocent and child-like due to their facial expressions and body postures. Then the narrative twists and becomes a horror filled scene. So it all starts off as a child like environment then twirls into terror and horror.
I think many artists are trying to start using the innocent and sweet turning into something disturbing' concept to attract attention. Viewers find this very attention grabbing. Normally you have the whole 'happily ever after' idea but Djurberg twists that and makes it into something worthwhile and alot of people can relate to it. Djurbergs images of her clay characters leave the viewers mind blown as it is hard to get the image of someone eating their own body parts out of their system. She knows how to keep a audience wound up and making things very intense. She also combines pornography with christianity and by contrasting the two genres.
Her moving image 'The Experiment' is very interesting because it differs from the rest of her work due to it being chosen for the Venice Bienanale. It makes you think twice because of the horror and the disgusting presence it contradicts. It builds up your suspense and is thrilling to watch. It is absolutely perfect for the Venice Biennale.
I admire Djurbergs work as it is very different from many other artists. Her work builds up your suspense and gets the viewer thinking and questioning her work. I love that her work is horrific and thrilling and in a way it is truely disgusting but attractive to the art world.
References:
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg-experiment-at-venice-art-biennale-09.html
http://www.regionmuseet.m.se/english_natalie-djurberg.htm
http://www.zachfeuer.com/artists/nathalie-djurberg/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathalie_Djurberg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWrPZGgudMM
http://artnews.org/artist.php?i=1211
I too admire Djurberg's work. I like the idea of personally creating an environment where people can walk freely, view and think about what is being presented to them. At the same time I also like the idea of creating this environment in a confronting way, where it challenges viewers to think about what scares them and what they know as right and wrong. I think that people like to view art that makes them feel at ease at study typical beauty, but in this modern age I feel people are looking in all directions for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteDjurberg's work to me is very cool to look at as it makes me feel i am in another world i agree how you relate her work to sexuality and other themes that relate to what is happening in the now and creating an environment the confronts us with a lot of ' in the face' issues. I agree with james how it challenges the viewer and what it means. i like how you say that her work builds up suspense because for me as well i feel her work builds up a thrill when viewing her work. she makes the disgusting look attractive and beautiful
ReplyDeletei like the way you have truthfully explained her aims and themes in her videos. She definitely pushes the emotions of the viewer as she sort of throws something peaceful back in their face. I definitely agree with you when you say she does the opposite of what people expect. as when you initially think surrealistic garden of eden you sort of drop surrealistic, as not many people know what it truly means. Garden of eden has a positive connotation which makes you think of a beautiful garden 'This is her own creation of a hell like version of the garden of eden.' Dhuberg creates something that relates to life, as life is never perfect. She is a realistic artist that puts things into perspective a little bit more.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Djurberg's work is disgusting, but is still attractive to the art world, because it is so intriguing and bizarre. I liked your interpretation of the term "surrealistic garden of eden" in that in a way, she has created a more hellish version of the garden of eden instead of the heavenly one that everyone thinks of. I agree that the emotions Djurberg presents to us are quite complex. I feel that the way she presents these emotions is to intense and powerful due to how disturbing her work is.
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