Thanks for the question! Here are two non-traditional "works of art" that I personally enjoy:
1. "The Gates" by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The website is:
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html. This was an enormous work that was planned for over two decades. It was a series of orange "gates" covering all of the walkways in Central Park, New York City. The display was only up for 16 days in 2005.
THE FORM:
• 5,290 US Tons of steel (4,799 Metric Tons) (10,580,000 pounds) (equal to 2/3 the steel in the Eiffel Tower) for 15,006 specially designed steel footing weights, varying between 615 and 837 pounds each, according to the width of the gate, (279 - 379 Kg.). Gates varied in width because there are 25 different widths of walkways in Central Park. The weights rested on the hard surface of the walkways. There were no holes in Central Park.
• 315,491 linear feet (60 miles) (96.5 Km.) of Vinyl tube, 5 inch x 5 inch square, (12,7 x 12,7 cm.) extruded in saffron color, recyclable, specially designed, (for each gate: 2 vertical 16 feet long (4,87 meter), and one horizontal (varying between 6 and 18 feet, because the width of the walkways varies).
• 15,006 specially designed, recyclable, cast aluminum upper corner reinforcements which held together the 2 vertical poles to the horizontal pole.
• 15,006 base anchor sleeves. Which were bolted to the steel footing weights.
• 15,006 (1/2 inch x 8 inch x 8 inch) (1.27 x 22,8 x 22,8 cm.) steel leveling plates. The leveling plates were installed between the base anchor sleeve and the steel base. Each leveling plate held a pivoting bolt which ensured the perfect verticality of the poles, even when the walkways were inclined.
• 165,132 bolts and self locking nuts. (7,506 x 22)
• 15,006 (8 x 8 x 8 inch) (22,8 x 22,8 x 22,8 cm.) Vinyl leveling plate covers, which hid the bolts.
• 116,389 miles (187,311 Km.) of nylon thread extruded in saffron color and specially woven into 1,067,330 square feet (99,155 square meters) of recyclable, rip-stop fabric, and then shipped to the sewing factory to be cut and sewn into 7,503 fabric panels of various widths. 46 miles (74 Km.) of hems.
THE SUBJECT MATTER:
The Gates literally depict hundreds of orange draped poles hanging over the walkways of Central Park.
THE CONTENT:
The Gates represent different things to different people. To the originators, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates respresent a completion of Central Park, which is a man made structure originally designed without formal gates at any of the enterances to the park. To others, The Gates represent a uniting of the different parts of Central Park (from Harlem to the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side).
The Gates may be considered REPRESENTATIONAL art, given the associaton between the structures and actual enterance way gates.
2. "Drowned Alive" by David Blaine. A good website for information is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blaine. This was performance art by the street magician David Blaine in May 2006. David Blaine submerged himself into a sphere of water at Lincoln Square in New York City for 7 days straight.
THE FORM:
The sphere was 8 foot (2.4 m) in diameter, filled with water consisting of isotonic saline (0.9% salt), located in front of the Lincoln Center in New York City.
THE SUBJECT MATTER:
Literally depicted was the magician David Blaine immersed in this water filled sphere 24 hours a days for 7 days straight. The sphere was surrounded by security guards, members of the press, and curious onlookers. David Blaine was connected to an air supply as well as a waste removal system. He did not eat solid food during his time submerged and he slept in the sphere.
THE CONTECT:
The act represents different things to different people. To some, David Blaine's performance art represents mankind's abject humanity - that we can overcome the elements of nature - the ability of mankind to put mind over matter. To others it represents becoming one with the elements of nature - a symbiotic relationship is formed.
Drowned Alive may be considered REPRESENTATIONAL art, given that it represents realistically (rather than abstractly) a man's interaction with nature.
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