In the corner of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, stood an abstract yet beautiful thing. It seemed to be made of little black pieces of charred substance, hanging in an imaginative rectangular cube. Seemingly chaotic, there was something captivating and wondrous about it. This is ‘Hanging Fire’ — one of the many chaotic pieces created by Cornelia Parker.
When most people think of art, they might think of things like sculptures, paintings, woven material, and things of that sort.
Not many would’ve chosen “destruction, explosions, and snake venom” as their firsts. However, these types of seemingly horribly violent things are the exact material Cornelia Parker chooses to use to create and transform them into beautiful things. In the article, “Cornelia Parker: The Artist Who Likes To Blow Things Up,” it was mentioned that Parker has been creating artwork since the late 1980’s, by “harnessing everything from plastic explosives to steamrollers”. She used the most unusual things — the blade of the guillotine that was used on Marie Antoinette, drawings fashioned out of paper and wires made with melted bullets…Even remnants of a garden that she persuaded the British army to blow up for her, in 1991. She reassembled them, creating “indestructible beauty” from bruised batters of broken things.
Cornelia’s destructive way to create works of art can be traced way back to childhood. She would place coins on railroads, to see them violently turned into something else. “Cornelia didn’t only squash a penny, she minted an imagination.” In an article about Cornelia Parker on Artstory, it was mentioned that when she was 15, Parker went on a school trip to London. She later commented on the memory: “the whole world of art opened up: I’d never even been to a museum before. Having spent my childhood working hard, the idea that I might spend my adulthood playing began to seem quite attractive.” Later, in 1995, she came to fame by creating The Maybe.
Maybe not all people understand the violent beauty of Parker’s art, but she will be remembered by the people for the uniqueness of them for years to come.
When most people think of art, they might think of things like sculptures, paintings, woven material, and things of that sort.
Not many would’ve chosen “destruction, explosions, and snake venom” as their firsts. However, these types of seemingly horribly violent things are the exact material Cornelia Parker chooses to use to create and transform them into beautiful things. In the article, “Cornelia Parker: The Artist Who Likes To Blow Things Up,” it was mentioned that Parker has been creating artwork since the late 1980’s, by “harnessing everything from plastic explosives to steamrollers”. She used the most unusual things — the blade of the guillotine that was used on Marie Antoinette, drawings fashioned out of paper and wires made with melted bullets…Even remnants of a garden that she persuaded the British army to blow up for her, in 1991. She reassembled them, creating “indestructible beauty” from bruised batters of broken things.
Cornelia’s destructive way to create works of art can be traced way back to childhood. She would place coins on railroads, to see them violently turned into something else. “Cornelia didn’t only squash a penny, she minted an imagination.” In an article about Cornelia Parker on Artstory, it was mentioned that when she was 15, Parker went on a school trip to London. She later commented on the memory: “the whole world of art opened up: I’d never even been to a museum before. Having spent my childhood working hard, the idea that I might spend my adulthood playing began to seem quite attractive.” Later, in 1995, she came to fame by creating The Maybe.
Maybe not all people understand the violent beauty of Parker’s art, but she will be remembered by the people for the uniqueness of them for years to come.
