Even though it hasn't felt much like spring around here, it was still recently time for The Milwaukee Art Museum's annual Art in Bloom show. For this event, floral designers interpret the museum's art collection through plants. You might remember last year's show: Spooky Blooms at The Milwaukee Art Museum
Last year, in keeping with my blog's theme, I searched through the displays for anything remotely dark and titled the post "Spooky Blooms". I'm always on the lookout for the dark or mysterious aspects of my everyday activities, so I can share those here. This year, not a whole lot was spooky. There was one piece, however, that really fit the bill. It was hands down my favorite floral interpretation, and a work of art in itself.
As you can see, there's a metal rib cage encompassing the floral organs. There was even a spinal cord on the back of the display. It looks like it's grabbing a person with its skeletal hand in the photo below!
The skeletal robot, or "Flowerbot" as I've decided to call him, had some very cool hands:
The floral display was representing a sculpture titled The Greeter, which is a friendly, waving robot.
A new character at the museum was this headless writer, busy at his desk. At first I was reminded of The Headless Horseman and countless Halloween props. The figure was wearing noticeably bright fabrics. If there was any information about him displayed, I couldn't find it. At least I managed to find out who the artist probably is. From a lot of similar pieces I found online, I'm going to assume the artist is Yinka Shonibare. It's worth looking at more of his work: http://www.yinkashonibarembe.com
As often happens in the process of writing my blog posts, I learned something new. This time I learned about Yinka Shonibare. There are many interviews with him on YouTube. This video about his work is one of my favorites:
I learned from the video above, that the headless figures signify The French Revolution, or probably any time power is taken from those who abuse it. From what I read on the artist's web site, a lot of his work is about colonialism and politics.
So, what I saw at our museum was a headless figure dressed in a fancy 1700s style. The fabric is obviously not what he would have had on; the artist uses a lot of African fabric. Still, this is a style of clothing worn by a rich French man of that time, and his head is cut off. He's surrounded by Rococo paintings. Rococo is one of the most excessive styles of French art, a style in which you mostly see rich people having a good time. If you take all these things into consideration, this room is a striking and somewhat eerie placement for the figure!
I'm going to transition from the talk of heads being chopped off to this ceremonial axe. I'm sure this axe was not actually used for any purpose like that. Still, it seemed funny that the next object I planned to share was an axe. The axe has probably been at the museum for some time, but I hadn't seen it before. Isn't it beautiful? I can't imagine what the object next to the axe is.
All I know about these objects is that they are African. From what I've read about similar objects online, they were probably used by someone of high standing in a society and during ceremonial rituals. If you know any more about these objects, I'd like to hear it!
Last year, in keeping with my blog's theme, I searched through the displays for anything remotely dark and titled the post "Spooky Blooms". I'm always on the lookout for the dark or mysterious aspects of my everyday activities, so I can share those here. This year, not a whole lot was spooky. There was one piece, however, that really fit the bill. It was hands down my favorite floral interpretation, and a work of art in itself.
As you can see, there's a metal rib cage encompassing the floral organs. There was even a spinal cord on the back of the display. It looks like it's grabbing a person with its skeletal hand in the photo below!
The skeletal robot, or "Flowerbot" as I've decided to call him, had some very cool hands:
The floral display was representing a sculpture titled The Greeter, which is a friendly, waving robot.
A new character at the museum was this headless writer, busy at his desk. At first I was reminded of The Headless Horseman and countless Halloween props. The figure was wearing noticeably bright fabrics. If there was any information about him displayed, I couldn't find it. At least I managed to find out who the artist probably is. From a lot of similar pieces I found online, I'm going to assume the artist is Yinka Shonibare. It's worth looking at more of his work: http://www.yinkashonibarembe.com
As often happens in the process of writing my blog posts, I learned something new. This time I learned about Yinka Shonibare. There are many interviews with him on YouTube. This video about his work is one of my favorites:
I learned from the video above, that the headless figures signify The French Revolution, or probably any time power is taken from those who abuse it. From what I read on the artist's web site, a lot of his work is about colonialism and politics.
So, what I saw at our museum was a headless figure dressed in a fancy 1700s style. The fabric is obviously not what he would have had on; the artist uses a lot of African fabric. Still, this is a style of clothing worn by a rich French man of that time, and his head is cut off. He's surrounded by Rococo paintings. Rococo is one of the most excessive styles of French art, a style in which you mostly see rich people having a good time. If you take all these things into consideration, this room is a striking and somewhat eerie placement for the figure!
I'm going to transition from the talk of heads being chopped off to this ceremonial axe. I'm sure this axe was not actually used for any purpose like that. Still, it seemed funny that the next object I planned to share was an axe. The axe has probably been at the museum for some time, but I hadn't seen it before. Isn't it beautiful? I can't imagine what the object next to the axe is.
All I know about these objects is that they are African. From what I've read about similar objects online, they were probably used by someone of high standing in a society and during ceremonial rituals. If you know any more about these objects, I'd like to hear it!
