“ Untitled 2015 by Jihyun S Park”
Henri Matisse was a leader of fauvism who appeared at the crossroads of twentieth-century contemporary art. Since the fauvism period, Matisse displayed an innovative attitude in color representation; he laid an emphasis on the purity of colors and flat composition. To Matisse, the concept of art was to represent happy feelings, creativity, and a sense of harmony with the surrounding environments.
Unlike the other artists, Because of Matisse’s theme, the art conveyed freedom, purity and serenity. Matisse’s cut out was energizing to artistic intelligentsias. Moreover, Matisse concentrated on traditional mundane routines. Through those components, he created his own individual art reality. His use of vibrant and intense colors and undulating silhouette figures makes the painting abstract and, through his work of art, he shared his beliefs of the aesthetic world that every small thing can be a subject of artistry.
The artwork “Untitled 2015” is an interactive art and installation art that was first introduced during the summer of 2015. The design of the artwork relies on artist’s inspiration about how Matisse’s arranged his cut out forms and figures by cutting from colorful sheets of paper. His “drawing with scissors” and his technique of arranging and moving them to different spaces inspired the artist to create the magnetic board for his memorial. The cut outs of the magnet were placed on the glass magnet panel where visitors can easily approach and move around the pieces and have a feel of the shapes that Matisse used to create his artwork. On the panel, the public all had chance to puzzle out the pieces to form the silhouettes of the Matisse’s masterpiece, The Parakeet and the Mermaid and the Blue Nude I. Furthermore, besides the two masterpieces, the blank panel was installed in the center for the public to create their own individual style of cut-out shapes and photograph the work.
The main material of the work was magnetics where different shapes and variations of magnets created by using techniques such as laser cutting, pressing, and annealing. She chose to use this material because of its durability. Due to the outdoor location of the Highline, there was a necessity for a material that was high in durability so that the artwork could endure harsh weather conditions.
The process of installing the memorial was simple. Checking the condition of the location was the first priority to successfully install the piece in the park. Installation was completed at any time of the day. However, because the installation may provide disruption to the visitors, the artist believed that it would be most be suitable to proceed with construction after the park was closed.
“Untitled 2015”, Henri Matisse’s memorial at the 10th avenue Square of Highline Park, successfully increased awareness and initiated a change of behavior on the part of visitors or the public who were not familiar with the artist’s work. Creating Matisse’s memorial, Park’s action raised the consciousness of general public to intervene and it was an effective way of exposing people to the artist, Henri Matisse.
