Representation & Reflection on the Subject of Death in Modern & Contemporary Art

Résumé du document

Within the framework of the presentation of the personal fictive museum, I have decided to retain ten art pieces from the 20th C and 21st C in accordance with the problematic of the representation of, and the reflection on death in modern and contemporary art. In as much as the questioning about death – and thereby about life – is inherent in human nature, it is the object of an eternal and universal artistic inspiration. As a matter of fact, the relationship between the human being and nothingness has always and everywhere been sublimated by art, as it expresses man's consciousness of death.

The post-war epoch coincides with the disruption of the idea of death, and subsequently to the multiplication of its artistic interpretations that oscillate between a religious vision and a scientific perspective. The set of artistic creations in connection with this theme refers to an excessively vast range of responses on the part of the artists: from a nihilist fascination to an existentialist anguish. With a view to putting into relief the diversity of the artistic expression related to the topic, the collection of the museum is deliberately as heteroclite as possible, on the level of content and on the level of form. Indeed, although the thematic of death is – explicitly or implicitly – at the heart of the major part of the art currents of the 20th and 21st centuries, its treatment is fundamentally extremely different from one artist to the other. I have voluntarily chosen major as well as minor artists from diverse fields of artistic activities: cinema, drawing, music, painting, performance, photography, sculpture and theatre. There have been some changes with respect to the initial list, because some of the pieces originally selected are less adequate than the ones later encountered in the course of the research.

Extraits

[...] And as we wind on down the road Our shadows taller than our soul. There walks a lady we all know Who shines white light and wants to show How ev'rything still turns to gold. And if you listen very hard The tune will come to you at last. When all are one and one is all To be a rock and not to roll. And she's buying a stairway to heaven - The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Spirit of Someone Living, Damien Hirst - Forms without Life, Damien Hirst 6. [...]

[...] Distinctive feature of the Sezessionstil figurehead and the mosaic pattern of their adornments are reminiscent of Byzantine art. There is a play of contrasts in the graduation of colors and in the variation of lights. As a matter of fact, the incarnation of death wears a tunic embroidered of black crosses whereas the human mass is circled with a tapestry of vivid hues. Moreover, the background is dark behind the skeleton whereby it creates an aura of luminosity around the characters. [...]

[...] Effectively, one of the principal difficulties of the selection of the exhibited items has been to avoid drifting away into lugubrious interpretations of the thematic of death. This why the performance of Ron Athey Suicide Obsession / Tattoo Dream ( . ) has been removed from the list. Secondly, one may remark that almost none of the works are directly about life, though discussing the concept of death is a tacit allusion to life. It is as if life were a reality even less tangible than death. [...]

[...] Yet it is possible to denote three main sorts of treatment of the subject: the representation of death, the reflection on man's mortality and the sublimation of life's brevity. The first approach corresponds to the process of becoming aware of the fact that one's existence has to come to an end. Life and Death Human Skull * and finally Eye * enter this category since all three depict the confrontation between mankind and the Great Reaper. The inability to mimetically represent the immaterial concept of death is solved by its personification (in the case of Life and Death or through its symbolization by a human skull (in the two other pieces). [...]

[...] The rhythm of the story is given by the regular appearance of two cryptic angels, which punctuates the inexorable passing of time Grams (2003) by Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu 21 Grams, Alejandro Gonzáles IÑÁRRITU (1963- ) mm color film min, Mexico. (London Fil Critics Circle: Best Director Mexican Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences: Silver Ariel Award New York Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Film) much does life weigh ? We all lose twenty-one grams at the exact moment of our death. Everyone of us. The weight of a stash of nickels . [...]