After our trip to the walker, I decided on the piece called Schuttbild by Herman Nitsch in 1963. My first reaction to the piece was interesting. It was one of the only pieces at the walker, that we looked at, that spoke to me. The way the paint lays on the canvas very closely resembles a blood splatter. When I looked a bit closer i noticed hand and possibly foot prints amid the 'blood'. It began to formulate stories in my head. Stories of violence and terror. I was hit by a feeling of mystery and curiosity about what happened. Of course I knew the piece was painted, but the stories still egg at the mind.
The piece was displayed in a section of art called Gutiea(sp) which seemed to be art that reflected the chaos and pain of post WWII Japan. A few of the pieces in there, including the Schuttbild. Were created in part by having a performance on top of the canvas in the paint. (Hence the foot and hand prints)
I was curious however, the tour guide described gutiea and the works as Japanese. Yet the Schuttbild, is a German piece by a German artist.
Over all I like this piece, even when it turned out to be not quite what I originally thought it was. It still speaks to me. Now it just has a less morbid feeling to it.
Sorry about the confusion regarding the piece and whether it was related to the Gutai work in the same gallery (I was temporarily confused about this, too). I feel, though, like you could have done more research once you looked at the artist's name and realized he probably wasn't Japanese. Nitsch was one of the Viennese Actionists, and I think looking into his career and background, as well as the kind of "actions" he was involved with would help your description. They did work in similar ways to the Gutai artists, creating work through performances, etc. I feel like you are describing your initial thoughts and responses here, but not really getting into interpretation. What could this mean? Why does Nitsch want us to look at this apparent residue of a violent act? Does it say something about him, you, society?
ReplyDeleteNice and short and simple interpretation :) I like the simplicity.
ReplyDelete