clay + animation
It is the process of making films in which drawings or poppets appear to move by clay like plasticine. It make by connecting stop motions of clay.
2. What is meant by the term 'surrealistic Garden of Eden'? and 'all that is natural goes awry'?
nathalie djurberg's new works created for the venice biennale explore a surrealistic garden of eden in which all that is natural goes awry.
Djurberg’s hand is evident in every part of her work: in the dozens of carefully sculpted plasticine figures animated by the painstaking process of stop motion claymation, in the painterly sets of each video, and in the installation of human-sized, grotesque flower sculptures that surround the three projections. Described in the Biennale catalogue as a “surrealist Garden of Eden,” Djurberg’s set reflects the lushness of the surrounding Giardini, just as the violent austerity of Chan’s video echoes the industrial harshness of the pointedly unmodified Arsenale. One video in Experimentet shows a woman attempting to evade the advances of an older lecher, and in turn both struggle to escape the forest that begins to attack them. Another film displays a group of Catholic priests detachedly observing a parade of nude women as they erotically clamber over each other’s bodies, melting together and then clawing one other apart until only tattered bits of flesh remain. In a third video, a nude female reclines on a Victorian couch (a la psychoanalysis) in a cave of fecal stalactites, while bits of her body break off one by one and attack her. It seems that this video’s reference to the process of psychoanalysis, like Chan’s invocation of mathemeatics and vague shadows, subtly instructs the viewer to interpret these bizarre violent orgies as symbolic of broader struggles. Sure, the worlds that Djurberg and Chan are making may be horrifying and quite peculiar, but ultimately they address ideas that are profoundly universal. And isn’t that kind of beautiful?
-Reference
http://blog.art21.org/2009/06/16/nathalie-djurberg-and-paul-chan-making-weird-worlds-at-birnbaums-biennale/
Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg was the darling of the Venice Biennale and the Art Basel fair. She makes claymation videos that at once horrify and intrigue the viewer with figures ripping limbs off one another with jovial expressions. What begins as consentual fun takes an ugly turn towards the violent and scary. The videos are screened in a created environment of porcelain flowers, a surrealistic Garden of Eden.
(http://accessibleartny.com/index.php/2009/06/venice-biennale-2009/)
When I watched her claymation film at first time, actually I was horrified because her work's moods are very dark and figures look gueer(strange). For example, in her video a woman's breast is disfigured and flowers make horrible garden by porcelain materials and wilted shapes unlike normal flowers that people have images of beautiful things when they think about flowers like roses and tulips. It is like scoundrels background when I saw terrible landscapes in cartoons or animations. Moreover surrealistic Garden of Eden also maximizes her film's story by making it different with garden images.
3. What are the 'complexity of emotions' that Djurberg confronts us with?
she exposes the innate fear of what is not understood and confronts viewers with the complexity of emotions.
natalie djurberg was awarded the silver lion for a promising young artist at the venice art biennale 09.
(http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg-experiment-at-venice-art-biennale-09.html)
4. How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children stories, and innocence in some of her work?
stuff encompasses desire, envy, bestiality, slavery, rape and other violations of bodies emaciated, voluptuous and obese, which Djurberg imbues with a radiance at odds with their vile circumstances. Hers are not moral stories; good and evil coexist in each character, and all cry long putty tears, be they victims or perpetrators. Animated by stop-motion photography, a primitive technique Djurberg taught herself at Sweden’s Malmo Art Academy, the films exude a childlike innocence that can make the most debased human behavior seem almost charming.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/t-magazine/22talk-yablonsky-t.html?pagewanted=all)
In her films human's shapes are basic of characters. Even though her work's topics are war, violence, sexuality and sadism which are made by human, her clay figures are traditional tales and her ideas which are hidden topics, are same with typical children works. Once, Djurberg’s stories relate to traditional themes of folktales and purpose which was made by human for children such as “the best is good and the worst is bad.”
5. There is a current fascination by some designers with turning the innocent and sweet into something disturbing. Why do you think this has come about?
I think nowadays artists want to break pushing normal art's background and common preconceptions because They want to be remembered by people as good works and best artist by new ideas which can give us long impression. so I think artists make people disturbingly by what they see with using this.
I also always remind weird things when I go to gallery and exhibition.
In modern life, I think if you want to be best one of others you have to give us impressive so beautiful and so pretty or weird.
6. In your opinion, why do you think Djurberg's work is so interesting that it was chosen for the Venice Biennale?
In my case, claymation was not interesting to me When I watched her film at first because many mediums show it like her film but I really like why she made it. Even though I can see claymation all the time, most of claymation's topics are common things for children and it is made by artist for expression of human's features unlike her work. Her work is different with others. For example, hidden topics are dark such as war, violence, sexuality and sadism which are made by human in life. She wanted to express darkness unlike claymations by giving strong impression. At first time It is Cute but after long time or if we understand her opinions it will be profound.
I think it is a matter of course about that her work was chosen for the venice Biennale.
7. Add some of your own personal comments on her work.
