Week 3- Fiona Hall's work and Mercantillism
' Leaf Litter' (1999-2003)
'Tender' (2003-05)
Fiona Hall's contemporary work relates to the Renaissance concept of Mercantillism.
Research the two examples; 'Tender'(2003-05) and 'Leaf Litter'(1999-2003) to explain how they relate to this concept. First define mercantillism and explain how it has developed since the Renaissance. For each work you will need to describe the shape, form and materials of the work, and explain the ideas behind each example.
How does the work relate to the concept of Mercantilism?
Money; the majority of people need it to sustain a reasonable living for themselves. Yet only a few can live without it. The title of the work 'Tender' has a double meaning. Tender in one sense can refer to a human emotion and in the other sense, tender is used to describe currency.
What is Mercantilism and how it has changed since the Renaissance?
Mercantilism during the 16th-18th century was wealth measured by the possession of gold one had. Since the Renaissance mercantilism has evolved. In stead of using precious metals i.e. gold, silver; a person's wealth is simple measured by how much money he has in his bank account.
Describe shape, form and materials of the work and explain the ideas behind each example.
Tender is complied of dozens of shredded U.S dollars bills in forms of birds nests. On each note has the phrase 'This note if of 'Legal Tender'. One of the messages portrayed by this is one of the effects of modernization, the advance of global trade and the spread of deforestation which is depriving many animals and humans of the environment.
These works were part of an art show titled 'Force Field' which can be viewed in one of the exhibition spaces on Youtube - Part Three: Fiona Hall: Force Field.
Mercantilism can be defined as an economic system of major trading nations during 16th,17th and 18th century.,which focused on the national wealth and power best served by making more exports and gaining precious metals in return that defined how wealthy an individual was.But since the Renaissance and also agreeing to what has previously ben said in the text above.Wealth in society today is measured by how much money he or she own instead of the amount of gold an individual owns.
ReplyDeleteFiona Halls 'Tender' series of work relates to the concept of mercantilism as she incorporates an aspect of nature (being the leaf), with modernisation (the pieces of dollar bills). This is created by her use of materials which features shredded US dollar bills which have been crafted into fragile birds nest in assorted sizes to represent the effects of modernisation, the advancement of global trade and deforestation which have deprived birds,animals and people of their own environments.
In her creation of 'Leaf Litters' this also relates to the concept of mercantilism by once again incorporating various banknotes with a light use of gouache paint in her work to create an x ray image of a leaf.She brings forth the idea of how the leaf and the banknotes are linked by using the multiple banknotes to continue the whole picture and emphasizing the importance of nature through the use of a almost transparent leaf, whilst still revealing how society has become so modernised through the use of the bank notes.
References
The Columbia Encyclopedia,Sixth Edition.(2005)Mercantilism. Retrieved Feb 11.2006,
From http://www.bartleby.com/65.me.mercati.html
Rebeca Cobb-Clark.(3.3.09) from
http://rebeccacobb-clark.blogspot.com/2009/03/fiona-hall-leaf-litter-materials.html
- http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/849/
Sunday Mornings Radio National with Rhiannon Brown
10:45 Sunday 04/09/2005 from:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/sunmorn/stories/s1451093.htm
I like your description about 'Tender' sculpture but i would like to add more for 'Leaf Litters'. There are 183 leaves which are drawn painstaking botanical accuracy.We have three systems which collide that of botanical illustration, Linnaean and local vernacular classifications, and monetary systems. This work is long 12 meters.Once the viewer is entrapped by its beauty, it lends itself to many levels of interpretation about threatened and destroyed environments.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, exploring the relationship between human society and nature is one of the main themes of her work. Fiona Hall's art is an ongoing exploration in to nature as a system or network, as the title of the exhibition "force filed". "It's the overall system of nature, and part of entire matrix, not separated out in the way humans like to think it is"-Fiona Hall.
ReplyDeleteBoth these two works combined products of human society with nature. On one hand, using currency emphasis the idea of mercantilism and importance of money, on the other hand, the transparent leafs and twisted "bird nest" showed us what we did to our environment for economic purpose.
Mercantilism is an economic theory, considered to be a form of economic nationalism,that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable". Economic assets are represented by bullion held by the state, which is best increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations .
ReplyDeleteThe theory assumes that wealth and monetary assets are identical.
Hey Cory
ReplyDeleteIt's quite an interesting work that one, with various ways of interpreting it. When I look at it, I think about the environmental destruction that goes on in the pursuit of money, especially in this example logging. Thousands of trees are cut down for in the pursuit of money, destroying homes of countless animals, which this work shows almost as if to say "you can't build a birds nest out of money", that the pursuit of money in exchange for the destruction of our planet is futile. I also quite like the double meaning hidden in the title of her aptly named work
What is Mercantilism and how it has developed since the Renaissance?
ReplyDeleteMercantilism is an economic theory, thought to be a form of economic nationalism,[1] that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable". Economic assets (or capital) are represented by bullion (gold, silver, and trade value) held by the state, which is best increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations (exports minus imports).
The theory assumes that wealth and monetary assets are identical. Mercantilism suggests that the ruling government should advance these goals by playing a protectionist role in the economy by encouraging exports and discouraging imports, notably through the use of tariffs and subsidies.[2] The theory dominated Western European economic policies from the 16th to the late-18th century.[1]
In"Leaf Litter' (1999-2003)" I can see While money is the bottom line in our contemporary economy and overrides crucial environmental concerns, plants are often the raw material for generating income (and money, made from paper, is also produced from plants). Fiona Hall’s witty and elegant work captures this perfectly.
Russell Storer, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism
http://nga.gov.au/Federation/Detail.cfm?WorkID=26201
The 'Tender' work is quite interesting with the materials that it was made up of using currency. I also agree that civilization has become so consumed with money and materialistic Things. Money is the only thing keeping this world going. The ‘Leaf Litter’ piece shows a strong message of the world’s resources it points out that global trade and the spread of deforestation is depriving many animals and humans of the environment.
ReplyDelete