The artwork, especially the later work, evokes feelings ranging from sympathy or nostalgia to anger or utter revulsion, and it is evident that the artist herself felt and instilled these very emotions into her art as she made it. She created black bodies sewn together in a grotesque embrace, their headless figures making the viewer feel like the bodies could represent anyone; maybe the viewer themselves, their parents and family or their friends. The strange and revolting decapitated bodies are contrasted with disembodied heads made by pieces of tapestry sewn together into contorted faces portraying anguish. The tapestry links these heads to Bourgeois’ early life and the face brings the emotion related to that time of her life.
What was so appealing about Bourgeois was not her talent in painting and sculpture, not her unconventional and sometimes Freudian subject matter, but it was how upfront she was about her art that made it special. This becomes evident through her repeating of colors themes and figures throughout the work in all mediums. The feelings of looking in on a private world full of tension and animosity generated by the Red Room of the parents is matched by the red bathed scene in “The Death of the Father.” Various Sculptures contained the same cumulus figures which seemed to represent the bleak uniformity of people in a group; too crowded to be comfortable but too afraid to be alone. Bourgeois’ art was far from pleasant; at times I could do nothing but stare in revulsion or wonderment as to why I would allow myself to look upon something so private and twisted, but at least there was no questioning its nature. No guilty anger or “Is there something to get?” feelings. Instead there was only emotion.
]]>I felt that something as magnificent and breathtaking as a waterfall was not in the least captured by the 90-120 feet metal constructed imitation. The installations made me think about how man-made products interfere with nature’s natural processes. The salt water that is getting recycled to create the waterfall causes adverse effects on the surrounding flora along the East River because the water-retentive properties of salt interfere with photosynthesis. I do appreciate how the pieces were designed to be eco-friendly but maybe a few detrimental effects were overlooked.
Overall, the falls did not appeal to me in terms of magnificence and beauty, but I’d like to give credit to Olafur Eliasson for not only thinking of a project out side of the conventional lines of “art” and creating a scenic piece of nature in the midst of an urban metropolis, but also expanding the economical value of art by making it a great tourist venue as well as a city dwellers escape.
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