LOUISE BOURGEOIS Maman (1999)
Childhood experiences and the drama of growing up were fundamental in the work of Louise Bourgeois. In fact, her father brought a mistress to the house and, in front of the whole family, lived with her for 10 years. This emotional experience was transformed into a symbol of a spider - a skilled spinner, a caring mother and a dangerous hunter. This image was formed as a reflection of Louise herself and her mother.
The title Maman when directly translated means mummy. Maman was created By Louise as an ode to the loving but tumultuous relationship that the artist shared with her mother. Maman was created to express the complexity of the relationship that parents have with their children. The large spider was designed to hold eggs in the belly area, just like a mother expectant does. By the time Louise was creating Maman, her mother had already passed. Since spiders are some of the best weavers, the protective spider was created in part to pay tribute to her work as a weaver and tapestry restorer. (Louise Bourgeois’s iconic spider Maman – Everything you need to know July 20, 2022 online At: https://publicdelivery.org/louise-bourgeois-spider-maman/ (Accessed 09.08.2022)
URS FISCHER Untitled (Lamp/Bear) (2005/06)
Fisher's work with Bear and Lamp is another example of childhood memories. It was the artist's favourite bear. https://youtu.be/UmjbV_cbP1U
Such an incredible increase in size puts on the agenda the problem of the perception of these objects. In particular, there is a toy and a lamp. For everyone, their own interpretation of these objects will begin, but for all, it will be a reference to their own childhood and/or the process of learning/working in the light of a night table lamp. The artist chose two objects and combined them into one composition. Positive colours also support the childhood period when the world was seen as colourful and positive, and adults painted it for you in bright colours.
This is the same discussion of two unrelated objects as the discussion of a cup and a saucer. It would seem that a cup is already an independent object that performs its function - it holds tea or coffee. But culturally it so happened that the saucer complemented the cup. Perhaps because the hot surface does not burn the fingers in this way, or it is more aesthetically pleasing... And yet, now it is a composition of two objects that interact with each other, and we with them.
SIMON FUJIWARA A Spire (2015)
“Fujiwara's work, A Spire, is a beacon and totem that evokes the industries on which the University, and indeed, the city, are largely built. A Spire is conceived as a soaring visual timeline - a skyward archaeology that connects the past and the present. Tall and cylindrical in form, A Spire is a third spire between two church buildings on the Woodhouse Lane site, drawing attention to the physical qualities of the site and creating a visually arresting moment on the campus. From the pulverised coal integrated at the base of the spire symbolising the coal on which Leeds's prosperity was built to the branches and cables laid into the cast to create a surface of intertwined natural and technological elements which symbolises the current digital era in which organic and man-made materials merge.” A Spire, 2015 Simon Fujiwara (online) At: https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/collection/968 (Accessed 24.08.2022)
A Spire, 2015 Simon Fujiwara (b.1982) jesmonite with coal, copper & rust particles, aluminium frame & steel The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds (online) At: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-spire-296937/search/keyword:leeds-art-gallery (Accessed 24.08.2022)
Maquet of the "A Spire"
Mike Smith Studio projects > A Spire – Laidlaw Library (online) At: https://mikesmithstudio.com/projects/a-spire-laidlaw-library/ (Accessed 24.08.2022)
A conceptual and at the same time very tactile public project, in my opinion, it is quite conservative. The idea of combining different materials and their colours and the choice of this form certainly fit perfectly into the surrounding space of the institute and the church. The chimney refers to the history of the place, and the interweaving of wires and young trees in the imprint of the structure connects the time-space with today. But the overall impression of this composition is not comparable, for example, with the above works. There is nothing that would provoke the viewer, forced to stop. This is the work of an excellent student from a good institute of the Arts.
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