Thursday, February 16, 2012
Henry Bond
YBA artist Henry Bond began his artistic life creating photographs in London that quickly came to be noticed by Nicholas Bourriaud. His work was lumped into the concept of relational aesthetics, because his photography and video work was accessible and highly interactive with the public. In my research, I was able to see how Bond's artistic career morphed from a social critique on Londoners to that of an almost-psychoanalyst who heavily researched crime scene photographs. His series The Cult of the Street in 1998 was his first look at how London society was overly obsessed by consumerism and fashion. He took the photos in such a way that they could have easily been mistaken for snapshots, but were ultimately too well composed and structured. I found his photographs to be visually compelling for the most part, although some of them are very plain. I had a large struggle with the fact that very few of his images are unavailable online, even with heavy digging. Such is the way with modern artists at times.
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It really is unfortunate that a lot of stuff does get buried online, or not even archived there, especially with someone as interesting as Henry Bond. I really like how he focused on detail and used that to help his career in psychology. It makes me feel like I'd be able to incorporate art into whatever career path I choose if I so desire.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Jessica, Bond's work in psychology is very intriguing. It's easy to see art as outside of scholarship/ research, but Bond demonstrates that art is essential to other disciplines.
ReplyDeleteThere is an underlying aesthetic and intellectual interest evident in the few examples you were able to extract. The eroticism of the crime photos, even of something simple like a tea cup, and the results of looking downward. Some artists make a deliberate effort to keep their work off the internet for fear of what will happen to it. Wonder if he is one.
ReplyDeleteI was not able to see your presentation but I was curious about the inaccessibility of his work so I tried to google some of his photographs. I was able to find a couple of images and I think that his style is fascinating. I would like to see more of his work and how he binds it with his intellectual interest in psychology. After all the human mind is wicked!
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