WEEK 1- Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'

Nathalie Djurberg, The Experiment, 2009

Nathalie Djurberg, Turn into me, 2008

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

The first meaning that hit my head when I see the word "claymation" is something that's got to do with clays. Like clay models, clay sculpture and clay figures. I immediately thought of some animations which uses the claymation techniques, such as, William Wallace and Gromit  and Pingu.

Pingu

William Wallace and Gromit

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

Nathalie's artwork "The experiment" is a surrealistic Garden of Eden. Surrealistic comes from the word surrealism. Surrealism is a style which uses our visual imagery  from the subconscious mind to create art without using the logical comprehensibility. To me, the garden of Eden describes the art piece as the clay figures are mostly flowers and its surrealistic because of the style which is unrealistic looking but yet in a recognizable shape so I can figure out what it is. All that is natural goes awry also is a sentence that describes her surrealistic art work. It is describing the shape of the flowers and that it is "awry"(something that is crooked and twisted). I think she is trying to say that all natural things have their life time and when it ends, no matter how beautiful it was or how strong it is, will become old and weak. Therefore, awry.

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

I don't really agree with Djurberg's work gives us a complexity of emotions through her art work. The only complex thinking about her work is a big, fat "why". Why is she doing this? and why is she changing something that is good into something that is so sexual and disturbing. i guess this is just her style and is because of that, grabs her viewers attention. I bet if I was surfing through the net or walking through a gallery and randomly came across her work. I would definitely stop and look.

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

As I said above, her works are heavily involved with nudity and disturbing scenes and it gets me wonder why? or maybe she just simply have a sick mind. But as I research her articles and interviews. She said, "You have to have a disciplined mind to handle the ideas". Therefore, I can tell that her disturbing ideas isn't who she is but her style which allows her to create the most extraordinary and unique work where she twists the idea of children's stories and innocence into something that is disturbing and wrong. She also said that, "but when I leave the studio, my mind isn’t disciplined." Which I think it means that she has the mind just like us and when she leaves her work place where all the magic happens, Djurberg will turn back and have a normal mind where when she sees her work, she will think and sees the same to what her viewers think and sees. 

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?

In one of the ALVC classes, we were talking about how little kids are not like adults, their imagination is not limited nor stopped. So the work they produced are perfect. Lots of artists in Spain and France wanted to learn and change back little kids drawing skills, that unlimited and full imagination. "They destroyed history in order to create their own history." I think that is why the designers now what to turn the sweet and innocent things into something that is very disturbing because they want to create something new and fresh to break the old designs "rules" and how people are thinking. 

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

It is a very obvious answer. Djurberg's work is different from other artists. It reached people's heart in a different way, a more abnormal and disturbing way but because of that which made her work so recognizable and interesting. Because its unique and different from normal art pieces, therefore, they chose her work.

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

I think her work is really interesting and that she has the guts and courage to make something that is sexual and disturbing make me admire her very much. Also her creativity of making everything possible into a disturbing work.Especially this work below. It's like how did she think of that!?

Kreis, S.(2000) Nietsche, Freud and the thrust toward Modernism. Retrieved August 15, 2003, from:

http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture3.html

Clay mates. (2010) New York times. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/t-magazine/22talk-yablonsky-t.html?pagewanted=2