Lombardi Map - Essay Example

Lombardi map Lombardi Map Mark Lombardi was a popular artist of his time who was famous for his neo conceptual piece of arts that documented the supposed monetary and political fraudulence that the power brokers committed and they were generally termed as the uses and abuses of power (Rosenberg, 2010). Fifteen theses on contemporary art was written by Alain Badiou who talked about the various theses that are normally seen in a contemporary form of art. In this these he took Lombardi as an example to explain his theses. He appreciated his work of art that predicted the future before everyone knew about it. He talks about the fifteen theses in his piece of paper. The first one that he quotes says that the art is not sublime rather it is the creation of a series that is infinitely subjective that goes through the finite methods of subtraction of material. This statement teaches how not to be a romantic. The basic purpose of art is to shed light on the world by methods of accurate summarization. It is in thesis twelve that the author speaks about a poetic thesis. Artistic creativity is defined by three determinants, i.e., to relate this creativity of art with a demonstration. If someone might ask as to why demonstration is crucial part of such artistic creation. The answer to this might be because the question that leads to the artistic creativity is also something that leads to the something unique. To something which is considered infinite, something which portrays a clean form of communication, a circulation that is not adulterated by mixed thoughts, to something that cannot be modified into several different forms, A piece of art that has a logical consistency and is supported by a rational equation. The second determination is something astounding. Something that leads to the creation of something new and the creation of something new is without a doubt astonishing. This is something that cannot be calculated or estimated rather it can be metaphorically be compared to a rupture, sudden and unexpected. It is similar to a new light which is raised to heights similar to a star or planet because it gives the hope of something new. But the problem does not exist here but lies someplace else. The basic problem for the contemporary art is how to find the link between the three determinants altogether. The question that arises is how to become a star, an ambush and a demonstration all at the same time. Lombardi is an exquisite example of such an art that utilizes and perfectly links all the three determinants. Lombardi draws the bush dynasty which is considered the troupe of corruption. Hence, all the three determinants can be seen in the art works drawn by Lombardi. Hence it can be said that Lombardi gave rise to the possibility of a new world and a new possibility; A piece of art in which the world is in the form of a new shape. Badiou talks about the last thesis and calls it as a link between art and humanity, or more accurately it could be said that it is the link between creation of an artist and freedom. The question that arises here is whether the artists actually have the sense of freedom in the democratic world. For this Badiou again considers the example of Lombardi’s work. It could be said that the likelihood of making an alternative possibility is not actually a case of freedom because there is already a dominating concept of freedom which is the definition of the democratic world. Badiou thinks that the creativity of the artist does not have that sense of freedom and are often restricted. The authors thinks that the true sense of freedom is not the freedom of common sense or the freedom of imperialism rather it is the making of an unfamiliar form of freedom and liberty and it may be seen in this case that the link between the analytical structure, the incredulity of a new knowledge and the allure of the star is the definition of independence which is much more complicated than the form of freedom which is determined by the democrats (Badiou, n.d.). The artwork made by Lombardi is a map which is made by a pencil and looks more like a diagram. This piece of art was title George W. Bush, Harken Energy and Jackson Stephens, ca 1979-90. This piece of art portray all the connections both social and powerful of James Bath who was an ex- CIA spook and a business broker, he served as a front man for Saudi money and linked the Bush family with the Bin Laden family in a number of suspicious dealing in Texas all around the globe. Badiou correctly described this piece of work as the galaxy of corruption. The Lombardi map leads to many historical scandals of the political world and Badiou rightly described contemporary art as not being about formalism and romanticism rather it is about creating something new, an unknown probability. Lombardi has fulfilled all the three determinants of an artwork mentioned by Badiou, that is, demonstration, surprise and an aesthetic character (Susanajorgina.wordpress.com, 2009). It was in 1994 that Lombardi began to draw narrative structures. He drew most of them using graphite of pen and ink on paper. Some of his pieces were big which measure up to 5 x 12 feet. Lombardi said that he called them narrative structure because each of his art work was made up of a network of lines and notation which served the purpose of telling a story; Mostly about an event that occurred recently and caught his interest such as the fall of the international bank, trading company or the investment house. One of his many goals included to investigate the links between the political, social and economic bodies in concurrent events. He used to draw his art pieces after collecting sufficient relevant information about the related workplaces. After carefully analyzing the literature he used to compress the important points into notations and various statements which then helped to build up the image. In certain instances, parallel lines were used to represent a time frame. Radiating arrows and broken lines were used to represent flow of money or hierarchical relationships within a system. Similarly, the color black represented the important point of the story whereas the important event such as lawsuits and other illegal acts were shown with the color red (lucarelli, 2012). Lombardi’s work of art was also criticized for the liberty and freedom of speech that is showed off. His work was displayed in a museum a week after September 11 terrorist attack, a year after he had committed suicide. His work displayed intricate details about the political scandals. However, Lynn Neary and Robert Hobbs who was a professor of art history commented that Lombardi’s pieces should be considered as a work of art and not only proficient research. In conclusion, it could be said that Lombardi art work indeed is in accordance with the thesis mentioned by Badiou and it represents all the three characteristics of the a contemporary work of art and depicts the freedom and liberty that Badiou talks about in his thesis. References Rosenberg, K. (2010). The Lights of Big Brother’s Eyes, Blinking in the City. New York Times. Badiou, A. Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art. Lacan.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015, from http://www.lacan.com/frameXXIII7.htm Badiou, A. Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art. Lacan.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015, from http://www.lacan.com/frameXXIII7.htm Susanajorgina.wordpress.com,. (2009). Mark Lombardi | Immersed in a New Media Environment. Retrieved 20 April 2015, from https://susanajorgina.wordpress.com/category/mark-lombardi/ lucarelli, f. (2012). Mark Lombardi’s Narrative Structures and Other Mappings of Power.... SOCKS. Retrieved 20 April 2015, from http://socks-studio.com/2012/08/22/mark-lombardi/ Read More