Now let’s venture to the bad! For this I nominate the work of the Australian artist, Ron Mueck. You might be shocked at this as he seems to be regarded highly by many in the art world today. When we look at his art we see big, bold bodies of ultra realism. However what we don’t see is the amount of waste created and what chemicals and products are used to make these creations. As an avid greenie I cannot condone the process in which Mueck makes his so called art works, no matter how realistic and overpowering they may be.
I recently watched a video on Ron Mueck, which primarily featured the making of “Pregnant Woman 2002”, along with reference to some of his other works of his. The video, written and narrated by Colin Wiggins, gave an insight into how Mueck created these “master works” and the difficulties into producing each one. However I took this opportunity to investigate the environmental repercussions of the materials he uses and was disgusted with what I discovered. Mueck first used plaster studies to fine-tune the mould of his final sculpture of “Pregnant Woman 2002”. He then made a large clay maquette which was given great detail. Mueck created a frame of scaffolding tubes on which the artist roughly defined the forms of the woman using chicken wire and bandages that were soaked in plaster. This was then covered in layers and layers of clay until the silhouette of the pregnant woman was complete. This is all fine! No chemicals, no harm to the environment, until Mueck began to, how can I say it? He began to “get fancy with the spices,” although in this case, not spices but chemicals! He applied Shellac varnish to the clay mould to prevent it from drying out and from cracking. It is can be highly toxic when inhaled and must be disposed of properly by being sent to authorised disposal plants or for incineration under controlled conditions..
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| Ron Mueck at work- coating "Mother and Child 2001" clay sculpture in silicon- notice the mask! |
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| Applying Silicone to "Pregnant Womab 2002"- again notice mask! |
The clay sculpture was taken out, or more like destroyed, as it was taken out of the mould. The sculpture was made by the use of many layers of polyester, resin and fibreglass and the face was cast separately in silicone, which took several tries to perfect. The clay sculpture, mould and the silicone tests for the face created much excess waste material. As polyester resin is basically a plastic it takes many years to decompose and can release toxic chemicals into the ground as it does so. Burning would unfortunately produce the same result. On the other hand, even though fibreglass isn’t a toxic or non-biodegradable material the process through which it undergoes makes it environmentally unfriendly. Most methods of fibreglass production use styrene which causes hazardous air pollution that is harmful to breathe at excessive levels and therefore has the ability to create acid rain.
I would now like to draw your attention to the sculpture of Ron Mueck’s “Mask II 2002”, made from polyester resin, fibreglass, steel, plywood and synthetic hair. It measures 77 x 118 x 85 cm. As it is such a large work and it stands alone, it really is hard to narrow down a focal point. The sculpture is so realistic it looks as if you are staring into the face of Ron Mueck himself. Is this work not the opposite of what Flood advocates? Why do we need this likeness of the sculptor occupying space? I agree with co-curator of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, Massimiliano Gioni, who believes that artists need to carefully consider what they create to occupy space that is already overcrowded with goods, commodities and waste.
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| "Mask II 2002" by Ron Mueck |
James Fox, an art history lecturer at the University of Cambridge in England, likens the mask to the busts of Amenhotop and Raemesses and the Easter lsland sculptures. He asserts that this scale manipulation is part of humanity’s desire to transform our likeness into idols and humans into deities. He also goes on to state that “history confirms that the “hubris” of constructing monumental likenesses is all too often followed by the “nemesis of their downfall”
How appropriate to be bringing up these points when discussing Ron Mueck’s work. It is this very God- like attitude that we are the most important life form on this planet and can do whatever we like without consequences that will eventually, as history has shown, bring about our downfall. We must wake up to ourselves and start treating our planet with respect and adopt a greener, more sustainable life style. Sculptures like this do nothing to encourage humility in mankind.
Ron Mueck’s sculptures are, yes magnificent, very realistic and take much time and effort to create. However from an environmental perspective I feel strongly that the chemicals used and the waste created makes them not worthy to clutter up the precious space in our galleries. At least Ahenhotop and Raemesses were created in a more environmentally friendly way.
Keep checking for the last post which I feel is the best of art today.
Hope you enjoyed.
Your greenie with a voice,
Eartha24-7
