Longevity

In the world of art there seems to be an obsession over how long something lasts, preserving items, artefacts and paintings. 

This obsession is of interest to me. Preserving the longevity of well-known art works in relation to how long my work or the work of others would last for.

Museums and art galleries almost seek out the most perfect conditioned item, unchanged, historic paintings made hundreds of years ago under go constant treatment and altering. 

Banksy’s Sotheby’s auction was this weird performance of preservation, its occurrence was rare and unexpected, the destruction became of focus raising the price. 

Another contemporary artist who deals with these ideas of destruction is that of Ai Weiwei and his smashing of dynasty urns and distraction of them or painting on top of. 

The reasons for exploring the idea of longevity in relation to my practice falls into many areas. One of the areas that longevity falls into is in relation to the materials, building materials or old salvaged materials in specific, these materials are often seen as temporary or having a short life span on their own, I am always quite curious about the materials of which I use, especially as they are materials that are used in modern housing, which are hoped to in return respond to a longevity and long lasting. Another area which Longevity is concerned about is in the natural spaces which are being impacted, I question the life span of these areas, how long will the stand for? When will the disappear or will they grow larger after people realization? Will invasive species littering alongside the river be torn down and replaced by other introduced plant species or will they be planting native plants which enrich the ecosystem and benefit native fauna.

Figures:

1. Banksy shredding of “girl with the red balloon”, 2018. Retrieved from: https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200×0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F1051962266%2F0x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale
2. Ai Weiwei – Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995. Retrieved from:
   https://publicdelivery.org/ai-weiwei-dropping-a-han-dynasty-urn/