How do Artists use Objects to Create Meaning
Objectified.How artists create meaning using objects
Even as early as the 17th century Vanitas still life’s objects have been used in art to create and project meaning – the transience of life. The traditionally realistic style held to this genre has been repeatedly challenged throughout history, by artists like Marcel Duchamp, Kosuth, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne and Tom Wessleman. By pushing and ultimately destroying the regulations and boundaries set by tradition, these artists have transformed the meaning of art and the purpose of objects in art, influencing the artists of past, present and future.
Vanitas, one of the earliest examples of the still life genre in European painting is the essence of tradition with its unbroken rigid rules and regulations which have since been challenged repeatedly by artists. Often appearing in the works of Dutch and Flemish Old Masters of the 17th century, the painted objects are symbolic. The allegorical still lifes carry a philosophy; warning the viewers of the transience of human life, beauty, power, wealth and the insignificance of material achievements. They are often dark in lighting and colour, featuring skulls, burnt candles, decaying flowers, fallen crowns and jewels. In contrast to the calculated layers of symbolisms and meaning of a typical Vanitas, Tom Wesselman’s ‘Still Life #30’(1963) like his other Still Lifes uses everyday objects that are chosen for aesthetic merit rather than a deep and meaningful critique on social and cultural patterns. Composed of a table laden with images of fresh and packaged food, balanced by a pink refrigerator door, replica 7-Up bottles, and a window with a view to the city, ‘Still life #30’ is one out of a series of works featuring magazine cut outs collaged onto the surface of the painting. With a care for composition Wessleman combined objects, colours and textures. The painter, sculptor and printmaker, never embraced the label of pop artist and gradually moved away from the subject
Even as early as the 17th century Vanitas still life’s objects have been used in art to create and project meaning – the transience of life. The traditionally realistic style held to this genre has been repeatedly challenged throughout history, by artists like Marcel Duchamp, Kosuth, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne and Tom Wessleman. By pushing and ultimately destroying the regulations and boundaries set by tradition, these artists have transformed the meaning of art and the purpose of objects in art, influencing the artists of past, present and future.
Vanitas, one of the earliest examples of the still life genre in European painting is the essence of tradition with its unbroken rigid rules and regulations which have since been challenged repeatedly by artists. Often appearing in the works of Dutch and Flemish Old Masters of the 17th century, the painted objects are symbolic. The allegorical still lifes carry a philosophy; warning the viewers of the transience of human life, beauty, power, wealth and the insignificance of material achievements. They are often dark in lighting and colour, featuring skulls, burnt candles, decaying flowers, fallen crowns and jewels. In contrast to the calculated layers of symbolisms and meaning of a typical Vanitas, Tom Wesselman’s ‘Still Life #30’(1963) like his other Still Lifes uses everyday objects that are chosen for aesthetic merit rather than a deep and meaningful critique on social and cultural patterns. Composed of a table laden with images of fresh and packaged food, balanced by a pink refrigerator door, replica 7-Up bottles, and a window with a view to the city, ‘Still life #30’ is one out of a series of works featuring magazine cut outs collaged onto the surface of the painting. With a care for composition Wessleman combined objects, colours and textures. The painter, sculptor and printmaker, never embraced the label of pop artist and gradually moved away from the subject