The notion that an artist may only sell a few images in a lifetime yet once passed away their work starts hitting record prices is an interesting one. Lets imagine then that Van Gogh is alive today and is reaping the benefits of his labor. Lets imagine he has the money to make significant changes to his room in Arles. It clearly held significance for him as he recorded it for posterity. What changes would he make?
It is the exemplar that I produced for this that I would like you to consider as a relevant, contemporary piece of Art.
Lets just for a moment forget about the quality of the image. It was produced a considerable time ago in felt tip pen on watercolour paper. Lets briefly look at the changes I made to the room and then visit the work it inspired – further work I would like considered as contemporary practice.
Firstly I updated the pictures on the walls. Surely Van Gogh would invest in his peers work and start collecting himself, giving other artists the opportunity to share in his spoils. I chose a couple of Auerbach’s to ordain the freshly repainted yellow and orange walls… both colour’s being linked to creativity.
Secondly I sealed up the small window and instead introduced a massive skylight to flood the room in light and to create a clean, bright working space for the artist. The mirror and the furniture remained the same as reminders of paintings I’m sure Van Gogh would continue to make studies of, if he were alive today to enjoy the space.
The bed was moved into an alcove to permit him the privacy he so craved, and a cage like screen was introduced into the room to remind us of his times in the institute he placed himself into.
Pupils were encouraged to deconstruct the room and then set to task to create their own room as though they were successful multi-millionaire artists.
I had a lad who lived on the 23rd story of the adjoining tower block with his single mother, whose room will forever inspire me. He found education very difficult and was regularly sent to isolation by other teachers. I tell my pupils about it to this day because it was just so beautifully simple – my only regret that I’ve lost the photos I took of it.
In his own time he constructed a very simple yellow room that he stated he would love to live in. it contained a single bed, a single cupboard, a single wardrobe and a single bookshelf. He had constructed a single television, a single radio and several books that ordained the shelves. But best of all, the feature that continues to inspire me today was the simple view he had created in the single window that the room contained; – it was a simple, green-hilled landscape – a view that I wake up to everyday of my life.
Offered the world, his humility astounded me.
Over the years at times, I have continued to use these two images as starting points to this and similar projects. The work has developed and pupils are given a far greater set of options now to create their ideas with. The link below is an example of this. The film was completely made by the group of pupils named within it some 14 years ago. It is for this stage, the final piece of work that I offer up for consideration as relevant, contemporary artwork.
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5924DFv8slc&feature=youtu.be
