Marcel Duchamp- Fountain 1917
A couple days ago a colleague and I were talking about Damien Hirst and other Turner Prize winners. The Turner Prize is a prestigious British title that has been awarded yearly for the past 20 years to an artist who has made waves with their Avant Garde conceptual art. The award has been named in honor of J.M.W Turner the exquisite 18th-19th century British painter. The nominated Turner Prize artists are exhibited yearly at the Tate Britain with hype felt from art enthusiasts all over the world.
Venice Canal JMW Turner 1835
In 1995 Damien Hirst was the Turner Prize recipient for Mother and Child. I had the great pleasure of seeing this work at the Turner Prize retrospective which was held in 2007 in London, this exhibition showcased prize winners from the past 20 years. Mother and child was one of the most fascinating works I had seen and before you make judgement about this type of conceptual work please read my experience.
What makes suspending a cow and her calf in formaldehyde so special? I would agree the thought of this chemistry like experiment doesn’t exactly conjure up thoughts of artistic fanfare and yet its one of the most poetic and powerful pieces I have yet to experience. There stood a cow and her calf gently cut in half in the Tate Britain, presented in 4 separate containers strategically positioned a few feet apart. I was able to walk on every side of the two animals; incredibly eerie.
There I pondered a young artist, studying a Turner Prize recipient with tourists from all over the world walking nonchalantly beside a severed cow and calf. My initial reaction was a feeling of anxiety as I saw the mother cow; she was statuesque, poised and confident. The preservation of both the animals was grotesque yet delicate. Walking along side the containers gave me the ability to see every interior detail which left the cow exposed, vulnerable and defenceless. Near her was the calf who appeared unsure and youthful. I felt quite nauseous as I cautiously examined the calf, it seemed exploited, it was unusual and uncomfortable. Just as I started to think this was the most horrifying artwork I had seen, a miraculous emotion fell upon me.
There was a moment in this piece while walking in between the mother and child where I finally understood what was going on. There I was; breathing, alive, calm and warm as if to be the connection and life that had been taken from the two animals. The viewer became the missing link in this circuit which appeared to be broken. We the viewers were the connection that so easily gave life back to the animals. The mere acknowledgement of their misfortune and being alive in their presence was what made the work so evocative. Hirst is by no means one of my favorite artists and yet this piece allowed me to really understand conceptual art and respect the processes involved in creating works like Mother and Child. Until you have actually experienced conceptual art you cannot make a sound judgement on its artistic air, you need to be placed in front of it and then decide.
