February, 2012
Patricia Piccinini's bizzare world
The Lovers
THE LOVERS:
Ms Piccinini imagines a world where machines can behave like living beings. Here, a pair of scooters is made to look like wild deer. You can see how she has fashioned the rear-view mirrors of the bigger scooter to look like a stag's antlers. The artist wants us to think about the role of technology in our lives. As machines become more capable of doing our jobs, would there come a day when they become powerful enough to exist without us? What would it be like if machines were able to have a life of their own, with families and friends, like we have?
The young boy in the artwork seems to be in a rather precarious position. The stack of chairs that he is balancing on is rather unsteady and it looks as if it might collapse under him at any moment. Ms Piccinini wonders if this is the kind of world that we are building for the coming generations. Will our present-day actions create a future that is as unstable as these chairs? And, when our children and granchildren look back at history, what will they think of us?
Ms Piccinini was inspired to create this when she heard about how children with disabilities are sometimes abandoned because their parents are unable to look after them. She asks if the world really has no place for such kids. "The somewhat grotesque baby in 'The Foundling' also does not quite fit into the car seat that it has been left in," explains the artist. "Perhaps it is a genetically engineered creature that has been deemed a failure. The work poses the question of who should be responsible for providing it with a loving home."
A eulogy is a speech praising someone who has recently died. Ms Piccinini chose this as the title of her sculpture as a way of remembering a fish that might soon disappear from our planet. The bizzare creature that the man in the artwork is holding is based on a real aquatic animal called the blobfish. Unfortunately, the blobfish is highly endangered because of overfishing. But, not many people seem to know about the fate of the blobfish or really care. This could be because it is not 'pretty' or 'cute' enough to get our attention. Ms Piccinini, however, thinks that this creature is still extraordinary. "This sculpture is a celebration of the simple, gormless, wonderful existence of the blobfish'" she says.
Ms Piccinini imagines a world where machines can behave like living beings. Here, a pair of scooters is made to look like wild deer. You can see how she has fashioned the rear-view mirrors of the bigger scooter to look like a stag's antlers. The artist wants us to think about the role of technology in our lives. As machines become more capable of doing our jobs, would there come a day when they become powerful enough to exist without us? What would it be like if machines were able to have a life of their own, with families and friends, like we have?
The Observer
THE OBSERVER: The young boy in the artwork seems to be in a rather precarious position. The stack of chairs that he is balancing on is rather unsteady and it looks as if it might collapse under him at any moment. Ms Piccinini wonders if this is the kind of world that we are building for the coming generations. Will our present-day actions create a future that is as unstable as these chairs? And, when our children and granchildren look back at history, what will they think of us?
Foundling
FOUNDLING:Ms Piccinini was inspired to create this when she heard about how children with disabilities are sometimes abandoned because their parents are unable to look after them. She asks if the world really has no place for such kids. "The somewhat grotesque baby in 'The Foundling' also does not quite fit into the car seat that it has been left in," explains the artist. "Perhaps it is a genetically engineered creature that has been deemed a failure. The work poses the question of who should be responsible for providing it with a loving home."
Eulogy
EULOGY:A eulogy is a speech praising someone who has recently died. Ms Piccinini chose this as the title of her sculpture as a way of remembering a fish that might soon disappear from our planet. The bizzare creature that the man in the artwork is holding is based on a real aquatic animal called the blobfish. Unfortunately, the blobfish is highly endangered because of overfishing. But, not many people seem to know about the fate of the blobfish or really care. This could be because it is not 'pretty' or 'cute' enough to get our attention. Ms Piccinini, however, thinks that this creature is still extraordinary. "This sculpture is a celebration of the simple, gormless, wonderful existence of the blobfish'" she says.