Postmodern Characteristics Works Of Young British Artists Cultural Studies Essay

Postmodern Characteristics Works Of Young British Artists Cultural Studies Essay Got their fame in the early 1990s, the Young British Artists (YBAs) is known as a group of highly publicized British avant-garde artists active from the late 1980s (Chilvers, 1999). In this research essay, the works of two leading artists of the YBAs, Marcus Harvey and Damien Hirst, will be mentioned and analyzed within the context of postmodern theories. The evident postmodern characteristics being discussed in the four art pieces is pluralism. Marcus Harvey (1963-now) is an English artist and painter and a leading member of YBAs; his pieces cited and analyzed in this essay are Myra (Fig. 1) and Toilet Roll (Fig. 2). Both of the two paintings are the representation of an object with blurred lines and pieces, seemingly as if the macro images are composed by tiny units and sections. The composition of the paintings and the fuzzy impressions has largely corresponded to the meaning of pluralism in postmodern theories. Damien Hirst (1965-now) is a close friend of Marcus Harvey, he is the most prominent member of YBAs and most of his works focus on the theme of Death (National Galleries of Scotland n.d.). In this essay, two of his works being analyzed are the painting LSD (Fig. 3) and the sculpture For the Love of God (Fig.4). In these two art pieces, LSD is constructed using a grid of dots of different colors while For the Love of God is consisted of human skull, platinum, and diamond. These pieces illustrate how single elements can produce new meanings when being composed together or re-arranged, similar as Harveys works, these art pieces are also a reflection of pluralism in postmodern viewpoint. In postmodernism, the word pluralism is generally used to describe the multiplicity of meaning and the status of a mixture and disorder (Bohman 1999) of culture, identities, ideologies, worldviews, religions etc. in postmodern era, it embraces the idea of fragmentation or incoherence in contemporary world. Body Pluralism is literally defined as the quality or state of being plural (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010), which is in contrary of dualism. As we learned from the course, pluralism within postmodern practice is not only apparent within its political content but also in the strategies, processes and the styles within the works themselves. Looking back to all the theories and argumentations on postmodernism, it is easily observed that the common ground among all the discourses is to admit the chaos, disorder, fragmentation, and even meaningless of any subject from my perspective, the balance of disorder and order is a representation of what we called pluralism. Doubtlessly, pluralism has become a dominant tendency in every aspect of modern life in the backdrop of globalization and commercialization tide. According to Milbrandt (2003), the characteristics of postmodern world have directly triggered the emergence of popular culture and postmodern art forms such as visual art, on the other hand, conceptual barriers between so-called high and low culture have broken down due to the evolution of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). In one word, to study todays artistic creations in turns of different postmodern characteristics, such as pluralism, will provide us a comprehensive understanding of postmodernism theories as well as postmodern lives/practices. Speaking of the arena of art, more specifically, the YBAs, those conceptual artists, painters, sculptors and installation artists are noted for their shocking and creative tactics in making art; and as reported by The Guardian (14 June 2000), they dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. By analyzing the four works I cited in this essay, I hold the viewpoint that as typical Young British Artists works, those art pieces from Marcus Harvey and Damien Hirst have notably demonstrated and reflected the qualities of pluralism. Myra (Fig. 1) is one of the most famous and disputed works by Marcus Harvey, it is the portrait of a child killer Myra Hindley recreated from multiple copies of childrens handprints. In this artwork, numerous childrens handprints seem to cover and claw at Hindleys face and shape a unique situation: on the one hand, the image of her face is composed by those handprints; while on the other hand, those tiny palms also obliterate her features. It is commended by The Guardian Weekend (Burn, 1997) that this artwork brings the chill of horror we feel but can rarely express and suggests the coolness that is, the affectless-ness; the loss of sensation; the stray; the cold stoniness in the work itself. Connecting it with postmodern theories, one can easily catch the smell of pluralism in Myra. As Hughes (2004) and Knoper (2008) summarized (though the idea is originated from Lyotard), postmodern art represents the death of so-called meta-narratives maintained in modern society and adopts plur alism to replace dualism, thus create a sense of chaos and disorder in meanings. Such is what we read from the controversial artwork Myra, in which the tiny units are both creating and destroying the whole iconic image, based on this, varied and more in-depth meanings are conveyed. Toilet Roll (Fig. 2) is another artwork by Marcus Harvey and from which we can also find evidence of pluralism. Ang (2006) points out that, the status of pluralism and the imitation of an existed style lead to things like pastiche (an empty copy), which is an idea that suggests little of the implied depth. Toilet Roll the painting is a reflection of such death of depth I personally dont think the image in this artwork conveys much aesthetic delight, nor it is as meaningful and thought provoking as Myra. However, when we look at the fuzzy images and small blocks in the picture, a sense of meaningless and confusion is generated in readers mind. In other words, from my perspective, no/little value or meaning is the meaning of this work. LSD (Fig. 3) by Damien Hirst might be the one among the four artworks that represents pluralism most apparently and directly: a grid of dots of different colors, a simple mixture of plural elements. Similar to many postmodern paintings, one cannot easily grasp what the artist wants to express in this painting. Villeneuve Erickson (2008) point out that contemporary art cannot be judged simply by whether they are representational or attractive, and contemporary artists tend to use unconventional materials and touch difficult topics (such as sexuality, patriotism, and religion), which all present obstacles in understanding. So as to LSD, readers can have numerous interpretations to the grid of dots from varied perspectives. Those perceptions express the complex and different cultural backgrounds and social identities of the appreciators as well create the multi-dimensionality in interpretation (Song, 2009), which reveals a broader pluralism beyond the painting format itself. Besides, t he interdisciplinary mediations and analysis (Trafà ­-Prats, 2009) of contemporary art also reflects the spirit of pluralism (i.e. the interpretation of LSD may touch upon the field of music, political science, cultural studies, religious studies, etc.). For the Love of God (Fig.4) is a sculpture by Damien Hirst produced in 2007, it consists of human skull, platinum cast, and 8,601 diamonds (Hirst unveils  £50m diamond skull, 2007). Besides the value of the material itself, the artistic value of this sculpture is also precious. George Steiner (2001) claimed in his book Grammars of Creation, the age such as ours is an age of ugliness the violence, oppression, economic enslavement and social irrationality. And this artwork For the Love of God shows a hope for beauty in this age of ugliness and death and is a restoration of respect for God (Moore, 2004). The materials used in this sculpture are shock, contrasting and creative, and when Hirst constitutes the skull, the platinum, and the diamonds together, they successfully create new meanings with sharp impacts such is an aspect of pluralism, that the single distinct elements can produce an organic whole. Conclusion In conclusion, all these four art pieces analyzed in this essay is a good demonstration of pluralism in postmodern context. As artistic works created by British avant-garde artists in the post-1990s era, they successfully used some tactics and gimmicks to produce and convey what I would call a sense of nonsense and a sense of confusion and shock to the audience. It is not surprising that all the works can easily find a niche in postmodern interpretations, not only because they were produced in the context and with the idea of postmodern thoughts, but also because we are trying to read them from a postmodern perspective. Nonetheless, although it is hard to elaborate in details what aesthetic feelings or experiences they create to audience, because each individual has his/her own judgment on artistic (especially postmodern artistic) works and also because postmodern fine art is often anti-aesthetic, it is still possible to reach a better understanding of them besides the sense of nonsense, confusion and shock. From my perspective, those works in general expressed the artists concern on the spurt of modern technology, industrialization and commercialization, as well as the loss of meaning and depth in postmodern way of life, which are the eternal focuses of all forms of postmodern fine art.

Patient E.O.

1. )What type of reaction is the health care provider concerned about and why? Being that E. O has never been prescribed penicillin; her healthcare provider is concerned that she may be allergic to the antibiotic. Penicillin is an antibiotic that is used to treat many bacterial infections in the body. People with asthma and a history of any type of allergy should be monitored very closely when taking penicillin for the first time and should be given the right dose to safely take the antibiotic.An allergic reaction to penicillin can range from a simple rash to a life threatening condition known as anaphylaxis. If allergic to penicillin, E. O’s healthcare provider is mainly concerned that she might develop an anaphylactic shock, which may become fatal if the condition is not treated immediately. 2a. ) Explain the role of IgE and mast cells in type I hypersensitivity reactions. Type 1 Hypersensitivity is a reaction that involves many parts of the body, for instance, the skin, eye s, nasopharynx, bronchopulmonary tissue, and the gastrointestinal tract.This reaction may cause a range of minor symptoms to fatality. Common manifestations that may possibly occur during Type 1 Hypersensitivity are rhinitis, asthma, atopic eczema, bee-sting reaction, and gastroenteritis. IgE, released from B cells, is an antibody that mediates hypersensitivity and arms mast cells, which exhibit as the principal component cell of this reaction in the body. The exposure of an allergen in an individual causes plasma B cells to produce the antibody IgE which circulates in small amount in the blood.Immunoglobulin E binds to the IgE receptors on mast cells which ultimately produces IgE antigen-binding sites on the surface of the mast cell. After the exposure of the mast cell with crosslinking of IgE-Fc receptors to an antigen, degranulation results and mediators are released causing signs of inflammation (Copstead & Banasik, 2010, pp. 227-228). 2b. ) Why might E. O. react adversely to th e antibiotic with the first use? Being that E.O has a past medical history of asthma and allergy to bee stings, she might react adversely to the antibiotic within the first use because she already has a high level of IgE bound to mast cells from previous asthma attacks or bee stings. Since it will be her first time taking Penicillin, she has not developed the IgE to the antibiotic, which ultimately may cause her to have an adverse reaction to the drug. Copstead, L. C. & Banasik, J. L. (2010). Pathophysiology, Fourth Edition. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier.

The Dimension Of Health Care - 904 Words

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Guests of the Sheik Ethnography of an Iraqi Village

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