The Young Family Analysis Essay

Image Analysis

Introduction

For this term, I choice the image above about a sculpture called “The Young Family” by Patricia Piccinini in the Bendigo Art Gallery. This series as her the most famous work have been exhibited in many galleries and museums. The Young Family, which Piccinini created for the 50th Venice Biennale, shows a creature between animal and human that we respect her as something more than just an animal. “Monster” might be the only word that can describe her work. Piccinini states that in her biography “the idea behind this piece is that here is a creature which has been bred to provide replacement organs for humans, an idea that springs
from the very real prospect of doing so using genetically modified pigs.” While the creature is certainly pig-like, instead of the normal form of a pig, it has large, man-like hands and hairy body. There are also three children lying beside her. That warm work called “The Young Family” are not only suitable but also vividly show up the humanistic side of the sculpture.
For the creator of “The Young Family” Patricia Piccinini, an Australia artist born in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone in 1965 and immigrated to Australia in 1972.
Her artistic work involves to paints, photography, sculptures and digital artistic. The center of her creation is all about the human, technology and nature. The evolution and relationship between these three parts exert great influence in her work. She use sculptures to explore the relationship between human and biological genetic. There are full of the fabulation on her objects. It is no doubt that her visual and sculptural art is renowned and
representative.

Analysis

At the first time when “We are family” series appeared in the world, there were a lot of debates on it. They argued this series were exaggerate the facts which means Patricia Piccinini are overanxious. They said that the figure in this series were too ugly and caused the young people to start to have nightmares. Some of them were look like the pig and some of were like the dog. They thought “we are family” series cannot let audience feel warm and happiness of family, instead, it made people feel sick and disgust after watching her objects. Terrible outline just could make people terrifying. Why did the author need to make the artistic works like this? They thought her objects should be more normal and beautiful to look at. Dreadful out appearance could not be recognized. However, more people regarded that Patricia Piccinini use the exaggerate appearance to attract more attention. They opposed to use levity shape because the topic were about the family.

Hall, S.
(1997) mentioned in his book. ‘It is worth emphasizing that there is no single or ‘correct’ answer to the question, ‘What does an image mean?’ or ‘What is this ad saying?’. Since there is no law which can guarantee that things will have ‘one, true meaning’, or that the meaning won’t change over time, work in this area is bound to be interpretative – a debate between, not who is ‘right’ and who is ‘wrong’, but between equally plausible, though sometimes competing and contested, meanings and interpretations. ” Every coins have two sides. On the other hand, some people argued this series were very meaningful work. It leveled a satire at human pay less attention to the harm from the development of biology and evolution of creature. It was widely recognized that the evolution of human beings through about 3 million years from ape man to human. We were a result of evolution by process of natural selection. All the foods we ate are produce by nature. Educationalist and lepidopterist W. H. Dowdeswell (1984) argued “The field of ecological genetics has thrown much new light on the nature of natural selection and the magnitude of selective advantages and disadvantages.” However, nowadays, people start to transgenic foods and through doing many experiments to make different breeds cross-fertilize. What will this foods and technologies affect our daily life? Through this series, Piccinini rouses the human beings pay much more attention to life itself. It indicated that our
next generation need our attention. Do not neglect our offspring again.

This series also shows the danger of the world. Transgenic will brings us many troubles. “We are family” show that humankind will become the shape likes figure in the series. Otherwise maybe it will do harm to our body, human start to variation and our somatic function start to weaken. “To get to Nature's Little Helpers, where I will encounter the intriguing dorsal pouches on a protector species fabulated for gestating the young of an endangered species of wombat, I mentally pass by the colony of humanoid, transgenic, African Meerkat-like beings in The Leather Landscape(2003), exhibited in "We Are Family" at the Venice Biennale but not in the Artium show.” Said by Donna Haraway (2007). It alarms us to consider our life more. We need to focus on our family and offspring. Staying alert to the modern technologies. “There are many concerns about genetic engineering as no one can be completely sure what all the effects might be. There are fears that insects may become pesticide resistant as a result of a constant died of pesticide-forming plants.” It is said by Ann Fullick (2001) Therefore people who think this series are worthiness appeal the others to pay more attention to “We are family”.

Meaning of “The Young family”

With the development of the science and technology, there are hundreds of new technologies include cell research, cloning, bioelectronics and genetic engineering creating our “new world” . Patricia Piccinini’s work are mention that ethical issue. “The Young Family” cause the ethical problem. It also shows the thought of her which means there are not many demands of technologies, especially not for its own progenitors and offspring. The most important things are not find in the opposition of nature and technology. Rather what matters in who and what lives and dies, where, when, and how? What is wild, and what is quiet? What is the heritage for which tech-cultural beings are both accountable and indebted? What must the practices of love look like in this tangled wild country? All of these questions will be answered by human themselves.

Reference

Patricia, P. (2002) Biogrphy: Patricia Piccinini, 3th Edition. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria.

Donna, J. (2007) Speculative Fabulations for Technoculture's Generations. Talk With Patricia Piccinini [Internet]. Available from: [Accessed Nov,2013]

W. H. Dowdeswell. (1984) Evolution: A modern synthesis, 95th Edition. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

Ann, F. (2001) Biology For AQA, 1st Edition. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

The Young Family (2011) Taken from: Sculpture, August issue, p. 86.