Plaster, digital images, performances, photographs, marker pens, projection / 2021
Davids – Transformation Study 1 / Photograph, video, performance, plaster / 2021
Davids – Transformation Study 2 / Photograph, plaster / 2021
Davids – Transformation Study 3 / Photograph, digital images, projection, plaster/ 2021
Davids – In Museum/ Photograph, plaster / 2021
Davids – On Street / Photograph, plaster / 2021
This installation project explores the relationship between “high art” and “low art” by recontextualizing the head of David statue by Michelangelo in different situations and forms. As an iconic Renaissance sculpture, the David statue represents the notion of “high art” as it is considered to achieve an exceptional atheistic and humanity value. I want my audiences to recognize this symbolic visual reference and the art category it implicated to when they see my work. Then by deconstructing the statue and putting it in different mundane scenes, I hope to challenge the audiences with the question of how we should evaluate an artwork’s value in the contemporary world.
To connect and blend the notion of “high art” and “low art” in my works, I used “low materials” such as chewing gum and plastic bags as props to “adjust” David’s head. I also included a performance of breaking the statue in the series to further questioning the “proper ways” that art should be appreciated. The works also contained a series of photographs of David be in different environments such as museums, on the street, in the toilet, etc. I hope to make my audiences aware of how the external settings might reinforce the hierarchy between “high art” and “low art” and influence our understandings and evaluations of the works themselves.
The final project will be presented both in-person and online. While looking at the work in person will give the audiences a first-hand experience of the work, exhibiting them online also allows me to reach out to a broader public and engage more people in the conversations.
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