One of the most acknowledged artists, Tony Cragg - Essay Example

Tony Cragg Tony Cragg was a British sculptor and one of the most acknowledge artist of the eighteenth century. Born in 1949 in Liverpool, Tony Craggbegan his education in Britain before he proceeded to Germany for further studies. Unlike other students of his age, Tony spent much of his life in his Wuppertal studio doing what he did best. In 1997, he was given a teaching position at an art academy in Dusseldorf and this was a major contribution to his artistic skills and career. Unlike other artists of his generation, Cragg did his artistic works as both a career and philosophy. He was therefore an influential person to both his audience and the wider society. This essay will therefore focus on tony Cragg career in arts and visual communication. The essay will analyze his work, philosophy, and interactions with the wider society. Tony Cragg started his career in Britain as a laboratory assistant. His main duties in the laboratory involved testing, manipulating and developing various categories of rubber. Cragg took these duties while he was still an art student and therefore he utilized his artistic skill in all experiments that he conducted. Using his drawing techniques, he was able to express his experiment to an understandable level. His background in science is also considered to have contributed to his imagination and creativity. In 1970, Cragg joined the Wimbledon College of Art before he proceeded to the royal college in London. After completing his studies at Wimbledon, Cragg moved Wuppertal in Germany where he continued with his work in visual art. While in Germany Cragg utilized found materials such as broken glass, toys, plastics and metal pieces to produce his works. In 1980, tony Cragg began using bronze and iron as his major artistic materials. He also used other materials such as wood, polystyrene and steel to cast bronze and iron. Due to complexities in his work, Cragg preferred producing all his sculptors using his own hands (Chandler, 2008). Cragg however had a team of assistants who assisted him with his daily work and requirement in his studio. His early forms took from his experiences and encounter with experimental work. Most of his artifacts during the early stages of his career resembled the deferent types of vessels and flasks used in the laboratory. In mid 1990s, tony began producing artifacts that were more organic and elastic. At the beginning of the year 2000, Cragg began producing work that was based on geometric structures. He also utilized the latest painting technology and, this helped him to overcome the problem of adding color in his cast works. Unlike other artists of his generation, Cragg’s work was considered as the most complex. This is because not only did he produce artifacts, but he also propagated his own ideologies and philosophy through his work (Chandler, 2008). Understanding the philosophy or ideology behind his work was therefore the only way of understanding his work. According to Cragg, the age of a sculptor or a form did not affect its influence. Cragg argued that even though sculptures produced in the last decades appeared abstract, they could still evoke feelings, allusions, and fantasies. According to Cragg, the age of a sculpture was independent of its influence to the audience. In this relation, Cragg argued that materials used to produce a sculpture had little or no influence on the audience. This is because an artist had the capabilities of transforming the materials into new form. In this new form, the sculpture produced new content and information from the material. Cragg also did not believe the idea, that waste materials are useless, to him the discarded materials such as plastic and glass has a lot of significance to contemporary life. He also believed that ancient artifacts signify the culture of the people that produced them Tony Cragg also had a close relationship with the material from which he produced his artifacts. Cragg produced his artifacts from various materials, which included stone, clay, glass, bonze, and polystyrene. According to him, different materials have different emotional concepts that determine the influence of an artifact to both the artist and the audience. The word material was adopted from the word mother to mean the creator. With this notion, Cragg believed that it is possible to create any impression using material. Cragg believed that making a sculpture out of a material involved adding value to the material. In this process, the sculptor acquired new knowledge while the audience acquired new experiences. This indicates that the success of an artifact depends on the views of the artist and the sculptor. A sculptor and the audience, therefore, engage in a form of dialogue through the artifacts. Cragg began producing his artifacts at the heights of the post-World War era. During this time, the world was experiencing speedy transformation in political and social aspect. His sculptures therefore exhibited the dynamic transformations in global politics and social life. The period when Cragg produced his work is also considered as the period when the world achieved many breakthroughs. The period was also characterized by complexity and complex processes. Cragg’s artifacts demonstrated complexity and it was difficult to understand them from a literal point of view. The complexity in his work demonstrated the complexity of development and processes in the real world. His artifacts also demonstrated how processes and methods of doing things in the real world had transformed from simple to complex ideas. The period was also characterized by development of complex gadgets and equipment. These transformations were adequately covered through his artifacts. The period when Cragg actively produced his artifacts was also characterized by speedy transformation in social and political fields. This period was also characterized by the application of classical theories and ideas to solve day-to-day problems in the real world. Application of classical ideas to solve real world problems was experienced in economics, politics, technology, and other related fields. Application of such knowledge and ideas involved the evolution of ideas from simple ideas to complex ideas (Chaney, 1968). Cragg used his artifacts to demonstrate the trend and transformations that the world was undergoing. The evolution of communication networks and technology also revolutionized communication and interaction across the globe. Although the society in the modern world had become a complex, society there was at least a unifying factor. Cragg demonstrated this by making complex artifacts that could only be understood through a detailed analysis. The modern era is also characterized by a scarcity of resources in various fields. Problems resulting from scarcity of resources can be solved by re-using our waste products. Environmental degradation is also a common problem in the modern world that can be solved through re-use of waste products. Cragg demonstrated that it is possible to create useful products using waste materials. Production of useful products using waste products demonstrated that the world is capable of overturning the immediate global problems and scarcity of resources (Castedo, 1999). Artifacts produced from waste materials demonstrated that although the world had achieved a lot of developments and complexities, not all problems could be solved through such inventions. Cragg made several sculptures throughout his career; each of the artifacts was unique in its own way and had a specific message to the audience. “The bent of mind” is one of his famous artifacts of the recent history. The artifact not only indicates strange ideas and feelings but also new ideas and creation. The bent of mind demonstrates how complex ideas can be interconnected to produce a simply connected item. The Elbow (2010) is also an interesting work of art. Like The Bent of Mind, Cragg produced this artifact to demonstrate complexities in the modern world (Artdesigncafe, 2011). The Elbow and the bent of mind can be put in one class or family due to their resemblance. The two artifacts demonstrate curiosity and desire to experiment. Cragg had precise objective and information that he wanted to pass to his audience through the two artifacts. Although Cragg relied on the complexity of the two artifacts to relay his message, he did not achieve his objectives due to their complexities (Hall, 2011). The two artifacts were too complex for the intended audience and therefore the message contained in them remained only known to the artist. The two artifacts also demonstrate the creation of new ideas or the power of imagination. Although artists are expected to create new ideas, they need to have a basis of existing ideas. Cragg ought to have introduced his new ideas to the audience through known or established ideas and knowledge. He could have achieved this by relating the artifacts with things in the real world. Unlike the two sculptors, the Early Forms St Gallen (1997) had a close relation with the real world (Artdesigncafe, 2011). This artifact resembled a screw that runs in the opposite direction. The artifact also resembled a screw that seemed to wrestle with itself or that contradicted reality. This artifact is a clear demonstration of the complexity that the world was undergoing and its consequences. In conclusion, Tony Cragg produced artifacts that had a real message for his intended audience. Although cragg had a specific message for each of his artifacts, their complexity hindered the audience from receiving the intended message. Throughout his career, Cragg continuously produced artifacts that demonstrated progress and developments in the real world. References Artdesigncafe, (2011). Tony Cragg at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2011) (press release). Artdesigncafe. Retrieved March 8, 2012 from: Castedo, L. (1999). A History of Latin American Art and architecture. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher. Chandler, R. (2008). A History of European and American Sculpture: From the Earliest Christian Period to the Present Day. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Chaney, S. (1968). Sculpture of the World: A history. New York: The Viking Press. Hall, J. (2011). Tony Cragg and the sculpture wars. Guardian. Retrieved march 08, 2012 from: Read More