Wednesday 7 January 2009

Reece Jones

In preperation for the seminar with Reece Jones, we read around Kant and contemporary theories of the sublime. We also read a text written by Mick Finch called 'New Techniques, New Painting?' (Published in Contemporary Visual Art Magazine (N°17), 1998)

http://www.mickfinch.com/texts/new.html

We began by discussing the idea of the contemporary sublime with reference to the work of Reece Jones. Can the sublime exist without a religious foundation?

His work can be read within the concept of the contemporary sublime, due to its use of war imagery which is often used out of context, to create feelings of cinematic tension and mysticism. This subject matter was seen to be potentially sensitive and volatile, which lead us to discuss the ethics of the artist as a social commentator.

Within the lecture, a question was posed that, given the warlike nature of his imagery, would he ever consider visiting these sites to gain first-hand experience? This became relevant to our discussion and expanded on the ethical viewpoint.

We ended the seminar with a lengthy discussion questioning the responsibility of the artist to create and maintain the dialogue between the artist and audience.

There were various viewpoints which ranged from the idea that the artist must first and foremost consider the work over and above the needs of the audience, to the necessity for the artist to consider how the viewer may respond to the work whilst adjusting their practice accordingly.