Creativity plays an important role in society: Discuss with reference to at least two artists

This essay will aim to look at the works of three performance artists, namely Christo and Jean Claude and the Australian artist Stelarc; in relation to how creativity plays an important role in society.
It is most interesting to look at the works of these artists when questioning the importance of societal creativity as they deal with the fundamentals of human existence, shedding new light on our perceptions of the norm, through creative means. Christo and Jean Claude deal with our perceptions of what is around us, namely buildings and landscapes and ask us to visual them in a new light through their art works. Stelarc questions the sustainability of the human body through his per formative integration of technologies with the living body. All of these artists use creativity as a means to open up our world and question our perceptions, highlighting the fact that without creativity, society would not be as advanced or innovative as it is.
Through looking at the works of these artists and their chosen milieu, this essay will highlight how the performers creatively demonstrate to their audiences how important openness and change are to society, in order that we keep up with the progression of the times, by constantly questioning our selves and our surroundings.
Christo and Jean Claude’s work is most interesting to analyse in terms of creativity and its importance on society. By their own admission the work is meant to bear no great social relevance other than its immediate aesthetical appeal, they are there to simply unlock the joy and the appreciation of the viewer through concealment of the project. Art Critique David Boudon classes these pieces as ‘Revelation through concealment.’ Demonstrating how by being creative with a familiar landmark, it is exposed to society in a new and contrasting light.
The work involves the wrapping of various familiar land marks in order to portray them in a new light; as such Christo and Jean Claude are environmental artists who utilise the earth and its buildings as their canvass which they beautify through their process of ‘wrapping.’
One of the most fascinating aspects of their work is the fact that the projects disappear when they are finished, only the drawings and collages are left which gives the work an almost legendary character. The work only remains through people’s memories and press clippings. It is stated that ‘…Disappearance is crucial to the works’ integrity’ (Green, 1999, 17). This would seem to be true and highlights the importance of the role that society plays with the artwork. The piece is there for the public to view, it is for the public appreciation, and its memory exists only in peoples minds, thus its essence and relevance remain only in memory.
‘The surrounded Islands’ project is one of the most impressive pieces of work completed by Christo and Jean Claude; mainly because of its vast and impressive scale. On the 4th of May 1983 the project began to wrap eleven islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay with 603,850m of pink polythene floating fabric. The fabric floated out sixty one foot into the ocean and was appreciated for two weeks by land, water and air by the general public.
The colour which was chosen was luminous pink, in order that it worked in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited verdant Island. The material reflected the light of the Miami sky and the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay, making for an amazing visual spectacle. The Beauty of this work of art is that each individual could take their own impression and meaning away from what they had seen and that everyone’s impression and ideas were different. The artistic intention behind the piece was to ‘display a work of art which underlined the various elements of ways people in Miami live, between land and water. (Christo, Claude, 1983, 17) Although as stated previously, the works are only meant to explore the beauty of what they conceal. Other artists and critiques take their own impressions of the works such as Baal Teschuva who remarked that ‘Flying over it with the helicopter I was reminded of the water lily canvases by Claude Monet ….. Biscayne Bay functioned as Christo’s canvas.’ (Teschuva, B, 2001, 7) This demonstrates how each individual can use their own intellect and creativity when shown the same picture or artwork, to unlock thousands of meanings and impressions, where before there were none. The artwork highlights the importance of creativity, in that it demonstrates that by changing the visual exterior and impression of a landmark or place, we begin to question its function and unlock its meaning, appreciating the beauty of the world we live in.
‘The wrapped Reichstag building’ which was finally completed on June the 24th 1995 after a struggle spanning through from the seventies to the nineties was also visually very impressive, although of course with this piece there were added elements of a political undertone. Christo and Jean Claude really struggled to be able to bring this piece to fruition which was appreciated by the five million visitors who came to see it.
The Reichstag itself has been through continuous changes, having been burnt in 1933 and nearly destroyed in 1945, and then rebuilt in the sixties, the building has always remained a symbol of democracy. By wrapping the building Christo and Jean Claude were asking the public to once again explore the meaning of the building. The Art Critique David Boudon commented that ‘their work has afforded one of the eeriest visual spectacles of our time.’ (Bourdon, D, 1970.) He was remarking on the fact that by wrapping the building the artists were commenting on the building’s historical relevance and context, and that we as a society lock away our secrets in places like the Reichstag. By wrapping it, the artists are perhaps questioning what the building is concealing, and unlocking people’s memories which have diminished with time. Christo himself said of the piece ‘I am an artist and this means I embody….. the project of the Reichstag has been to translate a broader idea of art… related to the people… the project makes people see, rediscover ordinary routine surroundings, when beyond the door of the museum they say… is this art? (Christo, Linstead, S, 2000, 67) Thus Christo is commenting on how he wishes to insight change and provoke thoughts through his artwork.
Throughout the history of Art the use of fabric has been integral to producing sculptures, paintings and frescos, the utilisation of fabric on the Reichstag follows in this tradition, and this is remarked on by Teschuva (2001, 9.) ‘The spectacular project, wrapped Reichstag, can be seen as a huge monumental sculpture and work of architecture, although it also manifests elements of antique drapery and folds.’ Thus demonstrating how Christo and Jean Claude made a building into a work of art, creating a myriad of new perceptions through their creativity.
Stelarc utilises creativity in a completely different way, his work has been seen extensively in Japan, America and Euroupe and he uses medical instruments, prosthetic robotics and virtual reality systems in order to explore alternative and involuntary interfaces with the body. Stelarc uses technologies in order to create body modification which asks the viewer to think about the sustainability of the human body. Jane Goodall comments on this when she states that Stelarc is ‘interested in redesigning the body… the experiments depart radically from the traditional ways of imagining the body… Utilising enhanced human embodiment and in a climate of intense speculation about the future of the body …his ideas offer some important provocations.’ (Goodall, 1999, 15) Stelarc is asking society to look at how ideally suited the human body is to the society which we have created through per formative methods.
Stelarc is commenting on the human body and its inefficiency to compete with the technologies which have been created, through his work. In an article about his performances Stelarc states that ‘It is time to question whether a bipedal, breathing body with binocular vision and a 1,400 cc brain is an adequate biological form. It cannot cope with the quantity, complexity and quality of the information it has accumulated.’ (Stelarc, 1991, 591) Thus his performances are aimed at showing society a new hybrid form of humanisation where the human body and technologies are linked together in order to form a body which is more in tune with the technologies surrounding us.
Stelarc describes his work as being situated ‘in the liminal spaces between performance and writing…between the actual and the virtual…where the human is born out of the relationships with technologies and when transformed environments necessitate the restrictions of the bodily desire.’ (Zylinska, Stelarc, 2002, 8) thus his work is not based solely in reality it is looking forward to a new era where the human body has caught up with the technologies which surround it. Zylinska has classified this state of existence as ‘post human’ where the body has no specific gender, it is a mutated form which is ‘authored by its technologies… which is retelling and reconfiguring what it means to be human…’ (Zylinska, 2002, 9) This state of existence is looked at in many of Stelarc’s highly creative pieces, for example where he attaches ‘A third hand’ to his body which mimics the substitution of the body by a technological construct.
In one of his most recent works ‘Eskoskeletan’ Stelarc comes onto the performance space in a pneumatically driven avatar with an extended arm. Stelarc is moving the machine with the use of his body and protrudes antenna like from the contraption. The underlying message to this piece is hinting at how the human race is beginning to move towards a collective consciousness (like insects) working together with technologies such as the internet. Stelarc is alerting his audiences to a new hybrid human, and one possible evolutionary path which humans can take. Zylinska states that Stelarc’s cybernetics ‘portray a western society’s love affair with technological apparatus, depicting a desire for the transcendence of the body and an escape from death.’ (Zylinska, 2002, 43) Thus demonstrating how with the use of highly advanced technologies, our bodies can escape to the realms of fantasy and can become as advanced as the technologies we have made with them.
Stelarc is suggesting that we need to address the fact of how far we have come in technologies, and the fact that our bodies have not caught up with this progression, almost going as far to say that human beings need to shed their skin and adapt to new technologies around them. Stelarc is making some very astute comments about our interaction with the world around us, and is commenting on the importance of how important creativity is to society. He seems to be commenting on the fact that we are so creative technologically that we have yet to allow our bodies to advance with the times. He is also showing what the future could be like if we as a human race continue on to be so obsessed and surrounded by technology.
By looking at these artists and their work it is clear to see the importance of creativity in society, for without it we would not be human, and would not be able to appreciate the world in which we live. These artists demonstrate in contrasting ways, different types of creativity, both through the medium of performance.
The importance of Christo and Jean Claude’s work is that it asks us to examine the world around us, and constantly reanalyse its meaning and identity. By creating these mass wrappings they are actually revealing to society the beauty of the world around us, as well as question the notion of what is art? Through a creative means they are asking us to revaluate and appreciate the world in which we live.
Stelarc is highlighting how advanced we have become as human beings in the field of technologies and showing how our bodies have not yet caught up with this advancement. He is also hinting at a future which could see a symbiosis of the two, where our bodies could react to the world around us.
This work highlights how important creativity is to society, as through the work of these performers, we can appreciate the world we live in today, as well as being made aware of what we could become.