Interesting text - Seeing and consciousness, particularly on the gaze and introspection, nice alternative to the ususal focus on the male gaze. Are there any images we can look at that focus on the narrative of psyche, gaze and meditation or transient transendental spaces?

Collaborative Reproduction

The below extract from an online article by Sonia Leonard picks up on the collaborative nature of reproduction used in Antony Gormley's work Fields. The concept that mass reproduction away from the factory gave each model an individuality, which was unseen through reproduction previously.

'In the early 1980's,Gormley gently introduced terracotta into his sculpture, which often acted as a foil to the lead body casts nearby. The material provided Gormley with a metaphore for spiritual release. If lead body cases represent man, acoalescence of mind and body, then the earth pieces represent the emancipation of the soul and the completion of the alchemical process. Nowhere is this sense of spirit more apparent in Antony Gormley's work than in his hugely successful and ambitious collaborative installation project Field (1991), which fulfilled his desire to include a sense of ritualistic creativity in a group production.'

Leonard. S., Antony Gormely: Method and Motivation, [Online]
Availbable at: http://www.ncad.ie/faculties/visualculture/research/thoughtlines/sleonard.pdf
[Accessed 19th March 2009]

(Post by Patrick Kirk-Smith)

Medley 1

' In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artefacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and , finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain.mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however, represents something new.'

Benjamin. W, Illuminations, 1992 Ch The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, first published 1936

Discuss this critically with reference to the chapter and current issues facing the artist and designer as producer. Post any images, works or current online articles that link to the discussion.