La Debacle by Dupuis-Bourret - Essay Example

? Dupuis-Bourret’s ‘La Debacle’ The artwork under discussion is d ‘La Debacle’ and is an example of installation art done by Andree-Anne Dupuis-Bourret. It is an assemblage work made of paper that has been folded over and stuck to each other to create a mountainous gradient. The paper has lines drawn all over it in varying thickness which have been photocopied over and over to achieve a kind of precise repetitiveness. This mixed media structure is made of screen-printed paper and its dimensions are 300 x 450 x 65 centimeters. It is made up of over 5000 pieces of this screen-printed paper which has been folded and stuck on to a hidden foundation made of foam and cardboard. The installation art changes form depending on the space where it is being exhibited at the time. The idea began when Dupuis-Bourret wanted to start ‘a river of paper in her basement’ (Vocat). The repetitive lines on the printed paper create a rich texture in place of the usual picturesque images one may be used to seeing at an art gallery. This is one of the things that make this piece of work ‘difficult’ to appreciate (Diepeveen & Van Laar). The traditional notions of beauty cannot be adhered to while appreciating this installation artwork. There is no use of color in the usual sense; it is entirely in black and white. The textures and patterns are repetitive and not very artistic in the usual sense. However, it is because of this unusual quality that this piece of art makes for a thought-provoking one. The viewer begins to wonder what it is about this artwork that makes it so compelling despite the lack of traditional beauty in it. To begin with, the lack of color and the tonality of the texture give it a rather haunting quality. The wide expanse of black and white with varying densities of etching on them allows the viewer to project their own opinions and thoughts on the artwork rather than it dictating too strictly what it ‘means.’ The black and white expanse could mean different things to different people and this element of ambiguity and room for interpretation is one of the things that make such a piece appealing. But by itself, the artwork is not entirely silent either. The pointed edges and the material used recall the ‘paper fortune-teller’ that children use to play and tell fortunes for each other. This gives the piece a toy-like quality. This playful element is also reflected in how repetitive the structure is; something that rhymes and songs for children often are. The piece also has mathematical significance. The idea of the fractal, where basically a super-structure is made up of identical smaller structures and at every point of a structure, one finds the same pattern replicated. This is something that is sometimes reflected in nature as well where particular arrangements of petals in flowers or rings on a snail’s shell and so on are often found to be uncannily replicated. Other than the various connotations that the piece itself evokes, the title of the artwork meaning a debacle or disaster is also interesting. Is it that the artist wants to call this work itself a disastrous one? This would mean the apparent lack of order or beauty in the artwork and its almost awkward haphazardness would assume a greater significance, as this would be what the artist would emphasize as being what a failure looks like. Or could it be that the image that the artwork attempts to recall or recreate is the disaster? The wide expanse of paper visually looks like a flood or ice melting and this could be what the artist point at as being ‘the debacle.’ Whatever the meaning or response the title may evoke, it is evident that the choice of naming a piece of art is of crucial significance. It can emphasize a certain aspect of artwork or even bring up a new dimension to it. Apart from the provocative, childlike, mathematical and other connotations that this piece seeks to evoke and its creative naming, the artwork is also made ‘difficult’ in its choice of medium. Installation art is a relatively new form of art and not necessarily as widely understood and appreciated as other forms. First of all, ‘La Debacle’ exhibits multiple media of art. The paper is printed on, like ordinary two-dimensional art; this in turn, is folded to become a sculpture or three-dimensional art; and this is finally assembled together to create the final piece. This installation work therefore uses space and artistic media like few others. It creates an almost seamless transition from painting or printing to sculpture to assemblage all within one artwork. As artist Ilya Kabakov reveals in one of her interviews, the medium of installation is something that is still in a fledgling state: The installation medium continues to make many people nervous. Sometimes it is perceived as an ultimatum: "Give yourself up and come out to face the firing squad." Installation is a three-dimensional invention, and one of its features is a claim to totality, to a connection with universals, to certain models that, in the general view, no longer exist (63). This choice of medium then is also significant. Not only does it imply a desire to be different from traditional art, it also makes statements more specific to the choice of medium itself. For instance, assemblage art’s dependence on its space of exhibition implies a certain flexibility and changeability of art which the artist may well be emphasizing in their work. Also, as ‘La Debacle’ is actually in a different form each time it is exhibited, there is a quality of suspense involved as it is never the same artwork that is reproduced twice. This is a significant comment on the nature of art and its reproduction – the idea of the same thing being replicated infinitely (as in the pointed shapes of the assemblage) and yet never really taking the same form is a profound statement on the nature of art, especially famous art. For instance, a famous painting like The Mona Lisa may well be familiar to thousands of people who have seen it on postcards, on websites, on walls and so on. These reproductions are all basically identical to the original and yet, in differing contexts, each of them can mean different things. Moreover, this media brings with it a degree of self-consciousness about the process of its making. Nowhere else is the process of how the artwork has been completed this apparent. It is easy for the viewer to figure out from first glance how the paper must have first been printed on, then folded up and then joined together on the foam and cardboard foundation. This form of art then brings notice to itself. What makes ‘La Debacle’ ‘difficult’ then is not that it has nothing of aesthetic value to offer but rather that its beauty is not of the traditional variety. It brings up images and connotations, its title teases out new meanings from itself and even the medium itself brings attention to the fact that it is in fact an artifice, a work of art. All these qualities make assemblage art in general and ‘La Debacle’ specifically, thought-provoking and very much dependent on viewer-participation. It makes us rethink our very conception of art. Works Cited: Diepeveen, Leonard and Van Laar, Timothy. Art with a Difference: Looking at Difficult and Unfamiliar Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print. Kabakov, Ilya, Tupitsyn, Margarita and Tupitsyn, Victor. ‘About Installation.’ Art Journal. 58.4 (1989): 62 – 73. Print. Vocat, Daryl. ‘Andree-Anne Dupuis-Bourret: Inlandsis.’ Open Studio. n.d. PDF File. Read More