WEEK 1- Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'

Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'.

Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg's intricately constructed claymation films are both terrifyingly
disturbing and artlessly sweet.

The new works created for the Venice Biennale explore a surrealistic Garden of Eden in which all that is natural goes awry.

She exposes the innate fear of what is not understood and confronts viewers with the complexity of emotions.

Nathalie Djurberg was awarded the silver lion for a promising young artist at the Venice
Art Biennale 09.

(http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg)

Research Djurberg's work in order to answer the following questions;

1. What do you understand by the word 'claymation'?

A: Claymation is the generalized term for clay animation, a form of stop animation using clay. The term claymation was coined by its creator, Will Vinton, owner of an animation studio that worked with clay artists to create clay animation. Claymation involves using objects or characters sculpted from clay or other moldable material, and then taking a series of still pictures that are replayed in rapid succession to create the illusion of movement. Some of the more famous claymation characters in history include Gumby and Pokey, Wallace and Gromit, and the California Raisins.(J. Beam, 2011)

The claymation is a film, which is made by the clay models and take photos after moved them or change the pose of the clay, and use the photos to make a film. In my opinion, most of the claymations are cartoons.

 

2. What is meant by the term 'surrealistic Garden of Eden'? and 'all that is natural goes awry'?

A: First, 'surrealistic' means "having a strange dreamlike atmosphere or quality like that of a surrealist painting "(Merriam- Webster).
For surrealism, means the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations.(Merriam- Webster)

In my opinion, "Surrealistic Garden of Eden" means that, the eden she made was not what people can imagine which is normal, same as the defination of 'surrealism' , the eden is unnatural and irrational. And goes awary means that the things are going wrong and amiss. The people and the background she made are shocked, and not like the normal people and the space that surround us or in our daily lives.

Also same as the defination of 'surrealistic', 'all that is natural goes awry', which is same as unnatural and irrational. meas that it is not ordinary that every one can imagine or create it.

 

3. What are the 'complexity of emotions' that Djurberg confronts us with?

A: After I saw the video about the exhibition from Venice Biennale, I can tell that most of people will have many emotions after watching it. The emotions are mixed by amazing, shoked and maybe some people will feel scared, especially when the women 'take off' her skin and eat another woman. Every body will think deeply about the meaning of the work.
Also, because her work is realte to the surrealism, the shape of people and enveroment was different from our understanding. People could hardly understand her mening and the story.

4. How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children's stories, and innocence in some of her work?

A: I think, she use the children's stories as her work's background. However, she make the stories from children, but most of the colours she used  are dark and strong, and after mixed them together, they are not innocence any more. She use the strong colour and the bloody strange shape to overthrow the stories of children and their innocente imagination. She distroy the stroy by making the work bloody and dark. Surrealism means not real and unnatural, she play with  innocence and make the shape into a amiss way.

5. There is a current fascination by some designers with turning the innocent and sweet into something disturbing. Why do you think this has come about?

A:Because durning the modernism period, some artist  prefer to think like a child, and use the children's mind. I think, so does Djurberg. After children became adults, most of the woderful imaginations were lost as the time goes by, artist tried to create the works by using 'children's mind' because of their 'fresh' and interesting creativity. Some artists like Jake and Dinos Chapman,  they made a bloody Mcdonald's. They make works into disturbing because they were fashionable at that time.

 

6. In your opinion, why do you think Djurberg's work is so interesting that it was chosen for the Venice Biennale?

A: I think, because of she chose the different point of view from other artist, and the eden she created was overthrow from the normal one which most of people can imagine. The style was called surrealistic. Her work is representativeness from surrealism and fashionable. She also choose the children's stories as the background for her work, however, it was unnatural, just because of this, her works are different from others. When artist was making works like a child, like children's mind, she turnned the innocent and sweet into something distrubing. As a result, Venice Biennale chose her work.

7. Add some of your own personal comments on her work.

A: I have seen some of her claymations, accturally they scared me. However, the stories are interesting, and I am interested in understanding what she wanted to show us. All her works were using the low pitch sound without dubing by people. Just like the answers above, her works are overthrow the nature and the children's stories and innocent. Some of her works make me think about Jake and Dinos Chapman's work. They are all making bloody and distrubing works, such as "Token pole" and the Mcdonald's. It is hard to understand their works.  Their works are open and has visual impact by using the drak backbroud and bloody shapes.

'Experiment' (2009) Venice Biennale

Reference List:

J. Beam, 2011, What is Claymation?
         http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-claymation.htm

Merriam-Webster
         http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surrealism