Friday 12th February 2016Appropriation art almost seems to be an unavoidable consequence of living in a digital world that thrives on information exchange. Whether it's Richard Prince (our favourite appropriation whipping boy) stealing people's Instagram photos and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars or the Beastie Boys tracks being sampled and remixed and reused, appropriation can seem to be everywhere.
But it's not entirely a digital phenomenon, and more importantly, it's not even entirely a problematic phenomenon - at least, not when it's done with some tact (we're looking at you, Richard). For example, take the work of Los Angeles-based artist Ana Prvacki, who arguably falls into the category of appropriation art, but in a far more interesting way than simply enlarging someone else's artistic vision.
Her work is largely comprised of explorations of the work of others, but her latest exhibit is focused specifically on sculptures, but in a rather unique way. Instead of appropriating the sculptures themselves, she appropriates the shadows of some of the most famous sculptures in the art world, both contemporary and historic. Michelangelo’s David, Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, Constantin Brancusi’s Endless Column, Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel, Louise Bourgeois’s Spider, Giacometti’s Walking Man, and Sarah Lucas’s Bunny gets Snookered all receive the shadow treatment.
Interestingly, Prvacki hopes to pin the price points for each piece to 1% of the latest sale price of the original pieces. Duchamp's bicycle wheel, which recently sold at auction for $1.6 million USD, would price out at $16,000 - and shipping, we can assume, would be free. She seems to have found a bit of a sticking point here with collectors, who, she says, would prefer a price point somewhere around 0.1%, but she has no plans to restructure her pricing.
Her unwillingness to compromise is admirable, as the whole idea hinges on the very nature of appropriate art, as does her justification for staying firm.
“Ideas are extremely valuable, and making thinner things should have more value than making huge things. If you can get something to be super thin and really poetic, that should be really valuable. We have to stop thinking in a Costco way.”
An admirable sentiment, as the best art isn't made with the expectation of a high price at the gallery, but for the art itself and what it inspires in those who see it.
Posted on February 12th 2016 on 02:35pm