Week 4- The social status of the artist.

Self Portrait in Fur Coat (1500)
Albrecht Durer

Knob (1997) Gavin Turk

Damien Hirst and Maia Norman (1995)

1. Identify aspects of Durer's self portrait that show a changing view of the artist's view of himself as
an individual.

In this portrait, the artist is trying to portray himself as gold-like, as an individual who is unique. His whole style looks similar to that of Jesus and how he is different from the church. It could be that he is trying to portray himself as Jesus as a comparison to indicate that he himself is a creator, a creator of art. Not only that, he signed his picture as a claim that this was a original work done by him. This way, no one else can lay claim to his work because he has staged his claim that he produced this art work and that no one can vandalize it.

2. Explain how the artist's social status increased during the Renaissance period. Briefly explain why this happened.



3. Comment on Gavin Turk's work in relation to individualism, status of the artist and egotism.

By trying to make himself stand out from the rest, this indicates that he is above everyone else and that he has an ego, or if you look at it from another angel, it could be that he is someone who is self confident and who is not hesitant to venture into the unknown.

4. Comment on Damien Hirst's use of his work and the media for self promotion.

It could be that he is trying to promote himself as an original artist because not only did he signed his work, but he also did a self comparative portrait to Jesus. This type of work is bound to create speculation around this time period as religion was a big thing back then.

5. Find 2 images of work by artists or designers that reflects some of the ideas of individualism, self promotion or egotism that have been discussed on this blog. Upload images to your blog, title and date the work, identify the artist/designer and comment on the work in relation to the question.



6. How do you think artists and designers are viewed in Western society today?

Most are viewed differently depending on how the media portray them. Like all artists and designers, their work and the acknowledgement of their work all depend on the media and how they portray it. If the media and other professions deem that particular work as positive or spectacular, than the rest of the world, through media will view it just as that. Same goes if the work was viewed as a bad thing. However, all these things depend on the discovery of the work. The artist along with his or her work have to be discovered by someone who is a professional or by someone who is well known for spotting or attaining unique works in order for the artist to gain acknowledgement for his work. This is how I think artists and designers are viewed in Western society nowadays.