Simulacra
"The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth - it is the truth that conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true." Ecclesiastes.How does the above statement apply to representation of the real in art?In direct translation, simulacrum of any form threatens the difference between "true" and "false". Simulation is to feign to have what one do not have, thus implies to an absence. Religion is seen as a simulacrum. The idea of it is not tangible nor comprehends physical truth. It is something that is made real by its believers, not something that is believed in because it is physically real although it can be real. The simulacrum is seen as the represented "truth". According to Jean Baudrillard, simulation is the substitution of signs of the real for the real. Simulacra convey signs that no longer represent or refer to an external factor. They stand for nothing but themselves, and refer only to other signs.Baudrillard points out very clearly how our modern culture is being affected by images and other similar encouragement from media sources and simulations rather than what is considered real and how it becomes what is real to us by perception. Baudrillard clearly defines how various things like Disney, mult
Pop Art is considered a simulacrum with the multiplying of images and reproduction of the original. The late photo realist sculpture, Duane Hanson describes the masses, their loneliness, their isolation and despair, with deeply sorrowful humour. His paintings are seen to be "real". Estes has maintained allegiance to acrylic, oil, and gouache as media. The simulacrum becomes our reality as how it is being presented to us. It is known and mass produced thus making it pop. Though it can be dubbed a fake, it does hold a certain advantage and power. In the recent exhibition, Encounters with Modernism in Singapore Art Museum, a work by Douglas Gordon entitled Remote Viewing 13-15-1994 (Horror Movie), creates a form of simulacrum in the gallery itself. Though it presented as the real and does not conceal it, it is not the real itself. The resemblance of reality being reproduced to create an entire different "reality". Duane's works is best known for his deadly accurate, satirical studies of bored and idle Americans through his tourists, shoppers and housewives. They do not raise our consciousness about city life, modernity, chaos, structural dynamics, grandeur, nostalgia. It however does confuse the relation between the real and imaginary. i-media advertising and many other sources have replaced the provocation of the real for us and how our media culture has become our reality.
Common topics in this essay:
Hanson Hanson's,
Chuck Close,
Jean Baudrillard,
Horror Movie,
Duane Hanson,
,
Cola Sony,
Times Square,
Richard Estes's,
Andy Warhol,
chuck close,
real real,
truth conceals,
truth truth conceals,
seen real,
everyday life,
representation real,
horror movie,
middle sea,
city views,
simulacrum conceals truth,
truth conceals none,
conceals none simulacrum,
pop icon,
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Acceptance Essays
