The Jake and Dinos Chapman ‘come and see’ exhibition, currently at the Serpentine gallery, infuses a sense of sheer terror and discomfort towards the viewers mind. Through the aesthetics of paintings, drawings, sculptures, literature and film the Chapman Brothers purposely aim to shock their viewer, reproducing acts and themes of immorality. Although I believe that such an immoral act of the fine arts proves of no significant use for me to view as a human being, I can appreciate the Chapman Brothers skill and ability towards producing a controlled experience through fine art. It is the manner in which The Chapman Brothers manage to draw on meanings and messages (of our psychological connections with immorality) through their use of material that should highly be valued within today’s generation. Artists should actively be able create an art work that can stand and present itself.
Sculpture heads ‘Carnalitos (Arana)’ and ‘Carnalitos (Unamuno)’ (2010) by Kasper Kovitz displayed at The Saatchi’s ‘Body Language’ exhibition 2013/14, are heads carved from traditional Spanish iberico ham. Kovitz states “These two Basque characters have a significant role in the Basque independence struggle but stood on two opposing political sides: moderation and nationalism” and that “Carnalitos is an expression in Spanish for close friends as in ‘of the same blood’”. It exemplifies Kovitz aims to reflect towards a political/cultural situation personal to himself, and create a response from it through art. It can be noted that he takes his thoughts from The Basque independence quite literally, where the choice of carving two heads represent the two political sides, and the choice of iberico ham reference Spanish culture and a connection between ‘blood’ and ‘meat’. From first glance the sculptures appear to be no more than a couple of crooked heads; they prove of no significance as a response towards The Basque Independence, but merely as two heads – and it is difficult to even note...