Walead Besht+ Julia Zheng
Who is Walead Besht+?
Walead Beshty was born in London in 1976 and is now currently living in Los Angeles. He is a Los Angeles-‐based photographer best known for his photographic series called “Travel Pictures”. These photos were shot in Berlin and were accidentally damaged in the airport X-‐ray scanners on his way back. Despite the damage, Beshty printed the photos anyway and saw the vibrant streaks of exposed color. In 2005, he also created sculptural forms of his photographs using glass vitrines and FedEx boxes which is known to be his “FedEx Sculptures”. He put these shatterproof glass vitrines into FedEx boxes and shipped them to exhibition sites. He displayed these glasses and cardboard boxes at the exhibit showing the wear and tear accumulated from its travel journey. Beshty said “I was interested in making work that physically changed as it circulated through the art world.” Beshty also used polished-‐copper pieces called “surrogates” which consisted of ten-‐foot-‐tall rectangular sheets which were bent and were meant to showcase the Singerprints of those who installed them. Copper being a reactive material was able to accumulate all the oils from the skin it came into contact with. I was drawn to his art because it was so different. He made art with perfectly imperfect materials, and it all worked together to make a story.
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FedEx Sculptures
“Copper Surrogates”
Since Beshty’s audience is fairly afSluent, I chose Michael Kors as one of my retailers. Michael Kors is mainly known for his leather handbags, and the brown leather reminded me of the rustic copper of Beshty’s sculptures.
I also chose Akira as a retailer because it is more affordable than Michael Kors. Beshty’s art appeals to people of all ages, so I also wanted to make a bust form for a younger audience. The style is more daring and fun, and the style is more suited for adolescents.
The Michael Kors bust form rather minimal with the focus being on the crocodile leather for both the body and base. My inspiration for this bust form was the “copper surrogates”. The Singer prints on the copper added texture to his artwork, so I also wanted to add some texture onto the material I used for the bust form. The color will be completely copper bronze and it will cover the whole neck block, body and base. I also left the base very simple because I wanted all the focus to be on the material. Also, I wanted it to be a square base because it resembles the “copper surrogates” at the exhibition.
Akira’s bust form was inspired by Beshty’s photograms. I thought using color-‐blocking to showcase the different colors would be perfect. The body will be neoprene because it is a lightweight, youthful texture. The lines on the body will have different pops of color that would work really well with Akira’s fun, poppy aesthetic. The base will be glass, and this was inspired by the broken glass vitrines of the FedEx sculptures. I incorporated two different artworks into one because I felt like the two materials worked well together.
References Biography. (n.d.). The Hammer Museum. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://hammer.ucla.edu /exhibitions/2006/hammer-‐projects-‐walead-‐beshty/ Finkel, J. (n.d.). Artist Walead Beshty's Compelling Sculptures and Photographic Work. Architectural Digest. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.architecturaldigest.com/ad/art/2014/walead-‐beshty-‐regen-‐projects-‐los-‐angeles Walead Beshty | Artist Biography, Artwork for Sale | Artsy. (n.d.). Walead Beshty | Artist Biography, Artwork for Sale | Artsy. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from https://artsy.net/artist/walead-‐beshty Walead Beshty | Artspace. (n.d.). Artspace. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.artspace.com /walead_beshty