Comparison of the TV Bra for Living Sculpture and the Olympia - Essay Example

Comparison of the TV Bra for Living Sculpture and the Olympia Art will always remain part and parcel of life. It has been there since time immemorial and there are several household names that are known for various pieces of art. This is as a result of certain aspects on the pieces of art that make them so much recognized. However, some of these pieces of art have become centers of controversy either because of the style that they embrace or as per the societies view of what proper art should be. The Olympia and the TV Bra for Living Sculpture are such pieces of art that have brought some form of controversy in the subject matter that they have and will be the focus of discussion in this paper. The Olympia was done by Edouard Manet, a French painter in 1863. This painting caused such uproar when it was presented at the Salon in 1865 and the authorities at the Salon were forced to put it further up and put two armed guards to prevent the painting from being damaged by the public (Wallace, p.1). The painting encompasses a reclining nude woman being tended to by a black maid while a black cat is on the far right of the bed where the woman is lying gazing rather mysteriously to the viewer of the painting (Tinterow, p.16). The TV Bra for Living Sculpture is a piece of work done by Nam June Paik in 1969 and is found in the Walk Art Center. It is made of video tubes, television, rheostat, Plexiglas boxes, vinyl straps, foot switches, cables and copper wire (Smithsonian American Art Museum, p.2). All these were connected to resemble a bra, which is a piece of cloth used by women to hold their breasts in place. According to Salter, p.116, it is used to portray how electronics can be humanized since it entails the use of a TV as a bra; a bra is something that is considered intimate to the female human being, and it is so unlikely that a TV can be used as a bra. That being, the idea was to stimulate the fantasy of finding a new, imaginative and humanistic use of technology. Both artists, Edouard Manet and Nam June Paik are renowned artists. This is mostly due to the style of art that they engage in, for example, Manet was known for a series of paintings featuring naked women such as the Le Dejeuner sur IHerbe. On the same scale, Nam June Paik did a number of electronically inspired arts throughout the 1960’s such as the TV chair, Opus paintings, TV cello and TV garden among others (Smithsonian American Art Museum, p.2). All these pieces of art encompassed electronics being portrayed in a unique way. While the Olympia is made of oil paint the TV bra for living sculpture is made of various electronic devices such as copper wires, cables, switches and a TV screen. These two pieces have different materials but this does not make them any less desirable. The Olympia measures 130.5 by 190 centimeters and Manet used strong brush strokes which many people considered to be unfashionable at that moment since it was the kind of painting that little children used to practice their painting skills (Courtesans, p.1). The painting has a great contrast between the dark part that is on the background and the lighting on the foreground. The lighting gives focus to the woman lying on the bed as opposed to the other components of the painting such as the maidservant that is serving the lady as well as the cat that is on the bed (Courtesans, p.1). This serves to give the painting a desirable effect in addition to contributing to the thematic concern of the paint. The composition of the Olympia is not very different from other pieces of its time. However, the only unique aspect of its composition is that Manet took what was a classical composition and put it in a contemporary setting that could be referred to everyone else (Wallace, p.1). This was achieved by the use of the woman of a common origin bringing a sense of immediacy to the painting. On the other hand, the composition of the TV bra for living sculpture is rather unique since it encompasses the use of modern technology in art, a method known as video art. A number of electrical devices such as copper wires, switches and two small TV screens have been used to make something that resembles a bra. The composition of the two pieces is different from each other in the Olympia is a normal painting with maybe a controversial subject while the TV bra is a unique style of art that ventures into how modern technology can be used in another way. In the Olympia, the subject is being depicted as being fearless, the lady lying on the bed is bright and glaring, and this is made even more prominent with the visual transitions from light to dark, with the lady given light effects as opposed to the other subjects in the painting, the maidservant and the cat. Her look is the one that shows how fearless she is due to the glaring nature that her eyes have been given. They seem to be quite big bringing out a contemptuous mood. According to Wallace, p.1, she is believed to be bourgeus or rather a prostitute and this is the reason why the painting was received with a lot of contempt from the public. Actually, most middle class men would visit such ladies but they were not ready to be confronted by such pictures in a public gallery. As such, the painting is more of a realist nature since it brings out the real happenings in the society which a variety of people may not want to associate with but Manet brought it out anyway (Gersh-Nesic, p.1). The use of the black maidservant was also a way of depicting the ills of the society since at that time most blacks were being discriminated. Generally, this was a realist piece of art since Manet was portraying how women were being rejected in the society. In comparison, the TV bra was more of an idealistic art since Nam Paik was trying to give the public an idea; that technology can be used for other purposes other than what most people perceive the use of technology to entail. This was made evident when Paik worked with Charlotte Moorman who wore the TV bra when performing. The TV for human bra art was giving people an idea of what they could use technology for hence an idealist form of art. Both the Olympia and the TV Bra for Living Sculpture are not sacred pieces of art. This is due to the fact that they do not depict anything biblical; in fact, they portray happenings that are in the real society, hence secular. The Olympia portrays how certain groups of people are perceived in the society and how they come up and speak for themselves while the TV Bra is trying to show how technology can be humanized, these are both aspects of the contemporary world hence both are secular pieces of art. In the Olympia, the message being passed on was that a mere courtesan woman whom many people would otherwise despise should be regarded with some respect (Wallace, p.1). The woman’s unwavering eyes were somehow condemning the society for despising her yet she got to be of use of them at sometime. What the Olympia is asking for is a chance to be heard, and the woman in the painting could be speaking for other women in the society who wanted to be heard and treated fairly. It symbolizes those who are oppressed in the society. Historically, this was a time when the people of France were getting rid of aristocracy with the French Revolution taking center stage. In the same way, the world of art was trying to depict things in a different manner so that people would change the way in which they view things and situations (Wallace, p.1). However, the people in the public who were able to view such paintings were the upper class and they had to be told the truth the hard way, that is, by the use of paintings such as the Olympia. Socially, there was the idea of the class society with people being divided as upper class, middle class or the bourgeois (Wallace, p.1). This class society is what Manet was trying to eliminate by doing the painting. In comparison, the TV bra was made at a historical time when there were a lot of innovations in technology. All over the world, people were coming up with new inventions and Paik simply did the same but in an artistic nature. He did his own new inventions but in a form of art that came to be widely appreciated. Socially, while the Olympia was trying to bring out the ills that were happening in the society, the TV bra was meant to sensitize people on other aspects of technology, that is other uses into which technology could be put into. Therefore, looking at the two pieces of art, it is evident that they came at different historical times and the social happenings at the time when they were being done were also very different. The quality of life at the time when the TV bra for living sculpture was made was high and people were all trying to outdo each other in terms of the technology that they embraced. In the same respect, Paik had to come up with a device that had never been seen or used by any other person. This is the reason why the function and style of the TV bra is very unique, technology was undergoing a lot of invention and people were trying different styles so as to be part of the invention and development. In comparison, the Olympia was done at a time when people were used to paintings with people but these were always models portrayed as princesses. This is the reason why the painting was not very well received by the public since the woman in the painting was not what they would expect (Tinterow, p.16). The society was used to a high quality of life and displaying the finer things which was not the case with the Olympia hence the uproar. In conclusion, the Olympia and the TV Bra for living sculpture are both great pieces of art. This is due to the unique features that they have and what they do with regards to the time period in which they were made. While the Olympia was trying to advocate for a change in the way people treat others in the society, the TV Bra was trying to bring out the fact that technology can be used in other ways. On the other hand, both pieces of art are similar in that the artists who did them are both renowned for other pieces of art that encompass the same subjects. They also both fall under the secular pieces of art since they do not depict anything that is considered sacred. Generally, they are both great pieces of art that are known the world over. Works Cited Courtesans. Olympia. Retrieved on 7th March 2013 from https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255-s01/courtesans/Manet-olympia.htm (2012) Gersh-Nesic, Beth. Edouard Manet’s Olympia. Retrived on 7th March 2013 from http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/manet-olympia.html (2013) Salter, Chris. Entangled: Technology and Transformation of Performance. New York: MIT Press. (2010). Smithsonian American Art Museum. Nam June Paik: Global Visionary. Retrieved on 7th March 2013 from http://americanart.si.edu/pr/library/2012/paik/paik_checklist.pdf (2012) Tinterow, Gary. Metropolitan Museum of Art: Volume 8 of Metropolitan Museum of Art Series. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. (1987). Walker Art Center. Collection, TV Bra for Living Sculpture. Retrieved on 7th March 2013 from http://www.walkerart.org/collections/artworks/tv-bra-for-living-sculpture (2013) Wallace, Natasha. Edouard Manet’s Olympia. Retrieved on 7th March 2013 from, http://www.jssgallery.org/other_artists/manet/olympia.htm (2010) Read More