Beyond Metamorphosis
Published by Becky S June 17th, 2004 in arts
Holy shit, someone snuck into Battery Park and littered up the place with 3,000 butterfly umbrellas! Oh wait, it’s just some art:
“The piece explores themes of transformation, migration and regeneration,” says [Victor] Matthews [the artist]. “Butterflies make an obvious spiritual gesture that’s often overlooked: of a life that never ends and a spirit that never dies,” said Matthews. Every year Monarch butterflies make a 3,000-mile migration to Mexico, where they reproduce, die, and subsequently regenerate the species.No Tags
UhhhhhYEAH. I’ve been leery of Art Upon The Canvas Of Nature ever since some schmuck painted an iceberg red. PAINTED. RED. I’ll be watching for these umbrellas on eBay.
I hope he’s fastened them down securely. The first gust of wind and the umbrellas will be migrating too.
Where would one get 3,000 butterfly umbrellas?
to hell with the message–that’s just freakin’ cool! I have a thing for butterflies–for the very reason the artist does.
ciao! (trying out the international flavor and i know no indian phrases)
Clair, don’t you click on the links?
“In his studio, the artist has painted the butterfly image directly onto the cotton canvas of the umbrellas using black, orange and yellow water-based paints.”
Interesting–it looks like the umbrellas have been moving around. A picture here shows the umbrellas in straight lines.
This give me flashbacks to Christos “The Pont Neuf Wrapped” 1975-1985. The impermanence of this installation, however, makes me think of sandcastles…tremendous effort, cool result, and everything wiped away at the end of the day…
I also thought of Christo’s umbrella pieces: one in Japan, one in the California: both killed people! http://www.theapesheet.com/archivethree/newart.html
“…environmental artist Christo killed two people on completely different days in separate time zones with a work of art. On October 26, 1991, Lori Rae Keevil-Matthews was visiting Christo’s umbrella project in Tejon Pass, California. The piece was an environmental project consisting of 1,760, 485-pound yellow umbrellas planted throughout the pass. As part of the project, Christo had also installed 1,340, 485-pound blue umbrellas in Ibaraki, Japan. Keevil-Matthews was killed by the piece after a 40 M.P.H. wind pulled up an umbrella and smashed her against a boulder.” Nice that Matthews is working on a more ephemeral, non-homicidal scale.
I also thought of Christo’s umbrella pieces: one in Japan, one in the California: both killed people! http://www.theapesheet.com/archivethree/newart.html:
“…environmental artist Christo killed two people on completely different days in separate time zones with a work of art. On October 26, 1991, Lori Rae Keevil-Matthews was visiting Christo’s umbrella project in Tejon Pass, California. The piece was an environmental project consisting of 1,760, 485-pound yellow umbrellas planted throughout the pass. As part of the project, Christo had also installed 1,340, 485-pound blue umbrellas in Ibaraki, Japan. Keevil-Matthews was killed by the piece after a 40 M.P.H. wind pulled up an umbrella and smashed her against a boulder….On October 31, during the de-installation of the project in Japan, Masaaki Nakamura was electrocuted to death when the crane he was operating, which was in the process of removing a sculpture, touched a 65,000 volt high-tension line.”
Nice that Matthews is working on a more ephemeral, non-homicidal scale.
An here I thought it was just showing off by doing some “photoshop” tricks!
ps to pam, I too thought painting the iceberg red was over to top until one thinks about the philosophical aspect of that color with reference to the Titanic. Think about it…….bs and art!
So a guy can dump a bunch of umbrellas in a park and it is “art” yet when I wrap a car in toilet paper it is called a misdemeanor. I don’t get it.
Clair,
The next time you wrap a car in toilet paper, take a picture and send it to me. I will write an art review for it, and then it will be art.
Getting some ideas: perhaps the toilet paper could be the artist’s environmental statement on the excrement created by motorized vehicles.
If you want to be a real artist, though, you cannot be deterred by a mere misdemeanor.
becky s & clair
this installation was really beautiful. advice to you: get off your computers and go see it. i think it would do you some good. your cynicism is poison.
Thanks, Margo! Uh, I did see the installation. That’s how I managed to take a picture of it.
Hey, the car I wrapped in toilet paper was beautiful too. I used quilted.
Ignore the detractors, Clair, and keep cynicism alive. A little poison never hurt anyone.
As a monarch butterfly enthusiast, I was taken with the display. It may not be “art” in the classical way, but mind provoking just the same.
After my husband’s untimely death, the butterflies life changes were what kept me going strong.