Naum Gabo: Constructions for Life
10
Damien Hurst hit the nail smack on the head when he took a chainsaw and cut a cow in half. Butchery and the macabre have always had a place in art. As well as causing a shock he was making a statement of the time. This was the period when CJD was a big fear. It was closely followed by a devastating outbreak of Foot and Mouth in cattle. His art asked more questions than provides answers: what were we doing feeding vegetarian cows ground up animal remains; how did cheap imports from Asia break through our bio-security defences; where was all this leading and how could the problems be solved? It is only in retrospect that the relevance of such a piece of art becomes so telling. I wouldn’t like a tank of formaldehyde in my living room or my garden, for that matter, but I can still appreciate it as good art.
Written by Michael Joseph
Thinking Inside the Box by Michael Joseph
In the middle of Covid, I offered to give a webinar to the Society on the subject of Innovation, Inspiration and Creativity. For this I ordered myself a new webcam. The empty box sat around for a while “in case it had to go back.” Eventually my wife came to me and said “why don’t you throw things away when you have finished with them?” I unfolded the box to slip it into the other paper recycling, and here it was, my “now” moment. I was thinking: white van man; Amazon; packaging; waste . . . .
Shockwave - Michael Joseph