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Doris Salcedo’s impressive chair installation – What you should know

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Episode #115: Doris Salcedo discusses her installation for the Istanbul Biennial, describing how she wanted to create a “topography of war” that would transcend the specificity of historical events. Doris Salcedo’s understated sculptures and installations embody the silenced lives of the marginalize…

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Rachel Whiteread’s 14,000 white cubes at Tate – Embankment – Public Delivery

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Rachel Whiteread’s installation Embankment stands out for many reasons. First, it’s the embodiment of several ideas. One who looks at it casually would conclude that it represents an obsession with boxes.

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Why did Rachel Whiteread's House earn her the title Worst Artist?

Last updated:

Published: July 13, 2019

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Biography

How Rachel Whiteread became famous

Is it possible to illustrate memory or lack of it? This is exactly what the sculptures made by Rachel Whiteread strive to achieve. Born in London in 1963, where she lives and earns a living by her creativity in art comprises of making molds around or within objects. In 1993, she had already made a name for herself at only 30 years of age. It is easy to classify her success as having been a result of experience and exposure as it happens for other creatives, but Rachel's creativity exploded right after art school. A plaster cast of a Victorian living room named Ghost created in 1990 would be the catapulting force that shot her name up the charts.

The Holocaust Memorial & other important works

There is no doubt that Rachel Whiteread's rise happened in the 1990s, and when Britain lists their most significant sculptors, she features among the top. While some of her works have faced severe criticism, others like the Holocaust Memorial in Vienna of 2000 which illustrates the genocide Austrian Jews during World War II.

Themes of Whiteread's work

Most of Rachel's sculptures explore basic architecture, absence of matter, and space. Her inspiration all through her work has been the physicality of the human form. She is intrigued by the intimacy within household items and internal spaces.

House, 1993

The Turner Prize

Following her moment of elevation in the early 1990s, she was invited by Artangel, a leading arts organization with the plan to create illustrations in a public arena. This brought about the 1993 creative work of house which she pulled off by filling a house with liquid concrete and later removed the mold. Yes, removed the house! This creation was rather interesting, and while most people think it is a masterpiece, some level of controversy surrounds it. House, although increasingly criticized, increased Whiteread's popularity as an artist, and regardless of the division, this would go on to become the most defining project of that decade to be honored by the admired Turner Prize. After Rachel was named the worst artist of the year owing to the project, it was demolished by the town council barely 11 weeks after it had been completed.

Material & How it was made

Set in East London, House, encompassed the interior of a home that had been cast in concrete. The most popular media that Whiteread uses are industrial elements such as resin, rubber, and plaster. Anything you can think of has space whether within, on top or under it and even around it. Any sculpture made of molding this way will retain the shape and texture of the main item but in essence, is a 'ghost'. This concept of making ghosts from real items is what Rachel Whiteread has committed her life to.

The walls inside the house were cast in concrete, thanks to the support given by Whiteread's team. The sculpture was prevented from collapsing itself owing to the interior metal framework that offered ample support for the sculpture. Whiteread then proceeded to get rid of the exterior of the house brick by brick, which only left hardened concrete that was only noticeable to passers-by.

Rachel Whiteread inside House during construction
Photo: The Tarmac Group

Video: Documentary: Rachel Whiteread -- House, 1993

The audience wondering what the meaning could be

Like most of Racheal's works, House reads like a puzzle or mystery. Like all her monumental sculptures, House seemed like any old architectural form. However, it was completely devoid of utility, which in turn left the audience to simply observe and wonder what the meaning embedded behind the concrete could be. Because the work was left to interpretation based on the audience's point of view or life experiences, the reactions regarding House often vary widely.

Video: Rachel Whiteread speaks about 'House'

Why was this particular building selected?

For House, Whiteread opted to model a home located in northeast London that had been scheduled to be demolished. At the time, the government had elected to demolish several dilapidated buildings in that area for purposes of creating more green space for the community. The building that Whiteread selected to work with was the last remaining building set for demolition. The resulting sculpture that was created from the condemned structure, stood exactly where the original property had been erected. House was designed to only be temporary as the government would continue its scheduled rounds of demolitions to proceed with the redevelopment process in a few months.

Reactions by the visitors

As a result, House honored and celebrated the intimate private details of the house's interior, that is often concealed from the outside, instead of highlighting the façade. Londoners were invited to explore the large multi-story structure with many condemning it while others praised it. Those that were angry were incensed by the considerable attention and funding that the sculpture was receiving while those that were pleased by the structure voiced their support for it.

Former location of 'House'

193 Grove Road, London E3

Conclusion

This push and pull, between the art world and the locals, created a tense political issue that set the ball rolling for numerous public housing debates. Consequently, House was demolished by the local government after standing undisturbed for 80 days, which was a mere ten days before it was set to be demolished. House rightfully became one of Racheal Whiteread's most simultaneously praised and criticized works.

Images

Photos of House, 1993

Preparatory drawings & collages, 1992

More

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Why did Rachel Whiteread's House earn her the title Worst Artist?

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Why did Rachel Whiteread's House earn her the title Worst Artist? Last updated: Published: July 13, 2019 Last updated: Biography How Rachel Whiteread became famous Is it possible to illustrate memory or lack of it? This is exactly what the sculptures made by Rachel Whiteread strive to achieve.

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Do Ho Suh – Almost home? An entire apartment recreated in museum

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Why did Do Ho Suh create this work? South Korean artist Do Ho Suh created an installation based on his New York home. It serves…

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Introduction

Korean artist Do Ho Suh's Specimen series draws a lot from his personal experiences as an immigrant from his native country. Do arrived in America in 1991 to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design. His experiences at the school led him to measure spaces to create and establish a relationship with his environment. As he progressed in his career, Do developed the idea to take the measurements he had taken from various spaces where he used the measurements to replicate a series of specimens such as chairs, fridges, and ovens that he previously owned.

Why did he create this series?

Specimen demonstrated Do's constructions of the spaces in his life and the elements held within the spaces, which he executed through various mediums such as resin, styrofoam, and fabric. In general, Do tried to use his specimens to address the emotions that people tie to spaces. Through the specimens, Do also exposed his own feelings of displacement characterized by references to his home in an overt or covert way.

In his series of sculptural art pieces, Do Ho Suh continues his investigation of the themes adjoining cultural displacement and the existence of different cultural identities. Do explores how our identities help shape how we perceive and respond to our surroundings and how we manage to construct memories from the spaces that we have lived in or experienced previously.

Do was interested in exposing people's connection to their physical spaces. The connections are physical, intangible as well as symbolic and psychological when a person leaves a comfortable environment such as the house they grew up in. The experience is often unsettling because it causes people to feel like they do not fit in anywhere.

Why is this work relevant now?

As such, his sculptures are intended to evoke emotions of distant recollections of the spaces we have known or experienced in the past. At a time where immigration is a soft issue, Do's reflections of space and memory are particularly applicable at this time.

How the sculptures were created

Do recreated a full-scale replica of his studio apartment in New York at the main gallery using colored filmy and almost transparent fabric. Not only were the sculptures in the series full of intimate detail, but they were also dreamy owing to the translucence. The transparent fabric that he used was draped over stainless steel armature before being stitched to perfection.

Conclusion

As people went through the exhibition, they were forced to examine what it feels like to live in a space that is no longer familiar. They were also forced to examine the feelings that they would undergo once a familiar space ceases to be home. Even more pointedly, the audience was forced to examine the feelings and the emotions they would have if they had no home to think of at all.

Fabric works

Bathtub, 2013

Medicine Cabinet, 2013

Radiator, 2013

Refrigerator, 2013

Toilet, 2013

Exhibition photos: Frist Art Museum

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Do Ho Suh's Specimen: Sculptures of toilets & bathtubs

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Introduction Korean artist Do Ho Suh's Specimen series draws a lot from his personal experiences as an immigrant from his native country. Do arrived in America in 1991 to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design. His experiences at the school led him to measure spaces to create and establish a relationship with his environment.