A STARK naked man has attracted attention from over 350 people so far at the Art Stage Singapore exhibition, currently being held at Marina Bay Sands.
"The man is seated in a booth in front of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas - dressed only in his "birthday suit".
Visitors to the exhibition can choose to join him in the room, hold his hand, and get a photograph taken for a token price of $250.
This man who exhibits himself is in fact an artist from Hyderabad, India called T. Venkanna.
And yes, posing naked and taking photographs is part of his art installation about "removing the trappings of identity". "
The first issue about this artwork is the price that need to be paid to view it. For an artwork, $250 is simply too much. If the purpose of his artwork is to convey a message to the public or to represent an idea through his artwork, he should make it more accessible to the public. Many people may find it too expensive to spend on an artwork. This price has also become a barrier between the audience and the artwork. People may be interested in this artwork, however they may think that this artwork do not worth $250. The price further prevents people of lower income group to able able to appreciate this work.
The second issue regarding this artwork will be the argument that whether by appearing nude can be considered as a form of art.
Some of the questions we should consider when viewing this work:
What is art? Is there really a restriction to art? In my opinion, the answer is both yes and no.
Art is defined as product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.
To me, art is an expression of oneself. From this aspect, the Indian artist indeed achieved a form of art. Everyone has their own opinion on beauty and their own way to express their inner self. By been fully naked, he might felt that he had truly removed the trappings of identity in him and to him, this might to the best way to convey his message. Art indeed is very abstract, everyone will have their own interpretations and restrictions to art. We cannot say or criticise that the artist is destroying the image of art or that what he did is not considered as art at all. As there may be people out there who can appreciate his unique form of 'artwork'. What we considered as unglamorous may be what the others considered as the true beauty of human form. Furthermore, people like Da Vinci has also spent their life time investigating the human body. Hence, who are we to say that the human form is not considered as art?
However, in the modern society, people are not yet that open to such 'art' or 'beauty'. The current society does not approve such installation and the society do not regard such installation as art. Hence, many people may feel uncomfortable when looking at the artwork of the Indian artist. It will then mean that people in the society cannot really appreciate his work as many of them may think that what he is doing is disrespectful to the people and the arts. Since the main purpose of the installation is to convey messages, such as removing trappings of identity, to the general public, he should use a art form that is more acceptable and easier appreciated by the general public.
On the other hand, I applaud his courage to showcase such an installation. He must be aware that his artwork will not be very well recieved by the public, nevertheless, he still chose to do it. I think that there should be more artists who should be more creative and daring and through their artworks, they can show and tell the public that there are actually many different forms of art. When art is presented to the public in a diverse way, people will then learn to appreciate art in the many other forms, and even in the form of a nude person.
In my opinion, when the public has a deeper understanding and appreciation of the various forms of art, then artwork can convey its meaning to them. However, we need more artist like him to take the first step to allow people to be more open towards the different forms of art and the notion of beauty.
What is art? Is there really a restriction to art? In my opinion, the answer is both yes and no.
Art is defined as product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.
To me, art is an expression of oneself. From this aspect, the Indian artist indeed achieved a form of art. Everyone has their own opinion on beauty and their own way to express their inner self. By been fully naked, he might felt that he had truly removed the trappings of identity in him and to him, this might to the best way to convey his message. Art indeed is very abstract, everyone will have their own interpretations and restrictions to art. We cannot say or criticise that the artist is destroying the image of art or that what he did is not considered as art at all. As there may be people out there who can appreciate his unique form of 'artwork'. What we considered as unglamorous may be what the others considered as the true beauty of human form. Furthermore, people like Da Vinci has also spent their life time investigating the human body. Hence, who are we to say that the human form is not considered as art?
However, in the modern society, people are not yet that open to such 'art' or 'beauty'. The current society does not approve such installation and the society do not regard such installation as art. Hence, many people may feel uncomfortable when looking at the artwork of the Indian artist. It will then mean that people in the society cannot really appreciate his work as many of them may think that what he is doing is disrespectful to the people and the arts. Since the main purpose of the installation is to convey messages, such as removing trappings of identity, to the general public, he should use a art form that is more acceptable and easier appreciated by the general public.
On the other hand, I applaud his courage to showcase such an installation. He must be aware that his artwork will not be very well recieved by the public, nevertheless, he still chose to do it. I think that there should be more artists who should be more creative and daring and through their artworks, they can show and tell the public that there are actually many different forms of art. When art is presented to the public in a diverse way, people will then learn to appreciate art in the many other forms, and even in the form of a nude person.
In my opinion, when the public has a deeper understanding and appreciation of the various forms of art, then artwork can convey its meaning to them. However, we need more artist like him to take the first step to allow people to be more open towards the different forms of art and the notion of beauty.
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