William Kogoi
Since reading The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again) I have been interested in Warhol’s concept of a waste of space being “any space that has art in it” (Warhol 1975, p. 144).
While I don’t directly oppose this philosophy, I have been intrigued by the notion of art being perceived as useless and purposeless. My Honours project explores the ways in which people perceive artworks through the use and fusion of functional objects. The terminology I use to refer to my creative method is ‘fusionality’ (fusion and functionality). This fusion of two functional objects into one removes the original function, causing the spectator to question the purpose of its existence. My contextual research considers how the fusion of objects informs my methods of making, similar to that of Jake and Dinos Chapman who “use things that preexist and have preexisting know[n] attributes… [trying to] squeeze them together to form an unknown or a more interesting object” (Chapman 2011). This fusion of two functional objects into one removes the original function, causing the spectator to question its existence. Informed by conceptual art, I want the artworks to hold a greater purpose while adopting a minimalist stylistic quality. A useful analogy here is the iceberg submerged in water: the physical work being the tip of the iceberg juxtaposed against the concept hidden beneath the surface.
SHOWstudio 2011, ‘In Your Face - Dinos Chapman’, YouTube, interview, 13 December, viewed 25 May 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvk3UPqaR2o&t=216s>
Warhol, A 1975, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, 1st edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York.
Coney 2020
Safety cone and furniture castors
350mm x 220mm x 220mm
Drag, 2020
Toy race car, metal chain and brick
330mm x 620mm x 140mm
Spike, 2020
Synthetic grass and steel spike stud
60mm x 500mm x 500mm
Crystal Base, 2020
Acrylic crystals and bollard base
35mm x 420mm x 420mm
Tied Tire, 2020
Car tire and twine
620mm x 330mm x 140mm