British Artist, Anya Gallaccio, is an site-specific and minimalist installation artist. The main and central theme in her work in metamorphosis (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2004a) She frequently works with organic matter, such as chocolate, flowers and ice. Due to this fact, her installations transform as time progresses and they decay, this means she can’t understand no predict how her installations will end up looking or become by the end. For instance, a work which mainly involves flowers, at the beginning of the exhibition and installation, the aroma and scent of flowers would be extremely pleasant and pleasurable, however as the flowered decayed would become the opposite, more and more unpleasant. Because of all of this her work is particularly difficult and presents many challenges in documenting her work as it is very time and site specific. She is challenging what is usually considered to be an art object or a sculpture should be, especially in the form of a monument within a museum or a gallery setting.
preserve ‘beauty’ 1991-2003 Anya Gallaccio born 1963 Presented by an anonymous donor 2004 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T11829 preserve ‘beauty’ 1991-2003 Anya Gallaccio born 1963 Presented by an anonymous donor 2004 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T11829 preserve ‘beauty’ 1991-2003 Anya Gallaccio born 1963 Presented by an anonymous donor 2004 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T11829
Her work therefore lives in the memories of those who saw and experienced it, along with the concept of the work itself. Also due to no one seeing it from beginning to end, it becomes a collective memory and together it tells the story of the work. I find this idea fascinating especially in relation to my current path of research being memory, and asking is this interactive way of creating art something I could incorporate into my work going forward. But also as her work is concerned with the themes of change and decay, I believe that is important to note in my current research for inspiration, as I am looking a memories, and in a way something quite fragile, which do decay over time, or change and can be manipulated. These could be other themes I could intertwine with my work.
Even though most of her work is installation based, she has also created some more static images such as Black Ice and White Ice. These were both prints, but using different mediums and surfaces. Black Ice being an etching which was created by digitally manipulating a photograph and creating a steel plate from the image and then printed onto paper. Whereas White Ice is a Screen-print on a mirrored acrylic surface. The pieces together symbolise and show this passing of time, ‘from pristine snow to despoiled slush and ice’ (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2004a). I am hoping to be able to visit and see these works in person when Museums reopen, as they are currently on display at the V&A. However these work are key for me, as they show they same concepts and ideas in her main installation work but applying that to print, and as myself a printmaker, it is great and inspiring to see how those ideas and concepts can translate into print.
Victoria and Albert Museum (2004a) Black Ice Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106410/black-ice-print-gallaccio-anya/ (Accessed: 29 March 2021)
Victoria and Albert Museum (2004b) White Ice Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106429/white-ice-print-gallaccio-anya/ (Accessed: 29 March 2021)
Tate (no date) Anya Gallaccio Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/anya-gallaccio-2658 (Accessed: 29 March 2021)
Tate (no date) Anya Gallaccio preserve ‘beauty’ Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gallaccio-preserve-beauty-t11829 (Accessed: 29 March 2021)