 | |||
| 'Leaf Litter' (1999-2003) Fiona Hall |
"Money doesn't grow on trees-or does it?" (Fiona Hall)
Australian based artist, Fiona Hall, investigates this imbalance of mercantilism through her work 'Leaf Litter'. The work consists of actual bank notes from various countries and painted leaves; likely to be representing the native plant from the country of origin of the bank notes. These plants have became endangered as a result of economic pressures to grow commercial crops.
Hall's leaves which were carefully and lightly painted with gouache gives the leaves a little bit of transparency. Parts of the bank notes can seen to purposely show that the two subjects are linked.  |
| 'Tender' (2003-2005) Fiona Hall |
A more recent work of Hall's is 'Tender'. Ironically when looking up close to the work the viewer will see that the nests are constructed of shredded cold cash: the American one dollar bill. The lack of life from the nest gives the viewer a sad feeling of the absence of the bird species, suggesting the danger of globalisation and the American dollar. Again showing the relationship between nature and consumerism
 |
| "Tender" (Detail) |
Even though Hall doesn't use any bold colours, her choice of materials are able to communicate with the viewers clearly in a poetic and symbolic way. There are almost no sense of life in Hall's works. The bank notes are something that we can all recognize as money. They symbolize the cold and greedy world we live in. Seeing something that is so recognizable in an artwork will make us question about the economy.
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/market_to_market/pages/mercantilism_imports_and_e.htm
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mercantilism.asp#axzz1oEG22v3H
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/fiona-hall
http://nga.gov.au/Federation/Detail.cfm?WorkID=26201
Thanks for the post Cam. Some good comment here. Just a quick pointer on Mercantilism - today I'd probably discuss Hall's work in relationship to late Capitalism - i.e. today's dominant economic system. Mercantilism, as we've discussed in CADI classes, was an earlier economic system that acts as a pre-cursor, or leads to, the development of the current economic system. So, in answering the question about how we'd see Halls work being connected to Mercantilism, the connections might be made historically - but perhaps the stronger connection can be made through discussion about both Mercantilism's and Capitalism's similar impacts on natural environments through extraction and exploitation of natural resources etc. Final comment - the page looks good - good to see you paying some attention to image use.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Wes. I will research more on Mercantilism and Capitalism as we continue classes. I didn't understand a thing about Mercantilism on our first week but I think I know some basic information about Mercantilism now. Its amazing how the artworks from centuries ago can tell us so much about history. I look forward to the ALVC classes.
DeleteHey Cam,
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
I enjoyed your discussion on Mercantilism, Maybe a little more detail into what mercantilism is, I guess we could of dicussed how it has changed into what we know today and how we are able to define todays econmic system because of Mercantilism. Your Fiona Hall response is really good, I liked how you discussed her ideas and your views of the symbols she has used. You clearly identify what the issues are around her works so reading it becomes alot easier to read ! :)
Hi Kerryn, Thank you very much for your comment! I also agree that I could have added a bit more on Mercantilism but at the time I didn't understand what the term means. I love how Hall's works reflect our greed and desire for money yet we neglect the negative effects it has on the world.
Delete