Full transcript
0:00For this 45th edition of art history , I
0:03suggest we go shopping , but rather
0:06artistic shopping . As usual , let's
0:10start by presenting the work based on
0:13the various pieces of information
0:15provided by the label . This work is a
0:18sculpture created by the artist Dan
0:20Hanson . It is entitled Supermarket Lady
0:24, which can be translated into French
0:26as the supermarket woman . It dates from
0:291969 and was made with polyester resin ,
0:35acrylic paint , and real hair , clothing ,
0:38and accessories . The label tells us
0:42that the work is life-size , in other
0:44words that the size here is that of a
0:46real person and a real body . In this
0:50case , it is 166 cm high , 130 cm wide ,
0:55and 65 cm deep . The work is kept in a
1:00German museum , the Ludvig Forum in Ex
1:02la Chapelle . Dane Hanson was born in
1:061925 and died in 1996 in the United
1:09States . This is an artist whose works
1:12are quite recognizable because they are
1:15all hyper-realistic . We will come back
1:18to this term later . I have positioned
1:21our year on the timeline . This is where
1:25Dallanson's work is in 1969 , so a
1:28little over 50 years ago . Let's move on
1:31to the description . Remember ,
1:33describing means saying what you see .
1:36Remember to pause the video as usual to
1:39describe precisely what you see . This
1:44sculpture shows us a woman pushing a
1:46shopping cart . The woman is rather
1:48overweight . She is wearing a pink
1:51t-shirt , a blue skirt , and blue
1:53slippers . She has a yellow necklace
1:56around her neck , a black handbag on her
1:59right wrist , a bracelet on her left ,
2:01bigis on her head , and a striped scarf
2:03over it . She is smoking a cigarette and
2:07we can see bruises and pimples on her
2:09skin . The shopping cart is completely
2:12filled with food and drink . We can see
2:16pizzas , cookies , Coca-Cola , pasta , and
2:19cans . There are even products on the
2:21lower shelf of the shopping cart . Let's
2:24move on to interpreting the work , which
2:26means saying what we understand . Let's
2:29recall the title of the sculpture to
2:31confirm what we saw . Supermarket Lady .
2:37The artist clearly shows us a woman
2:39shopping in a supermarket , hence the
2:42shopping cart she is pushing . It is
2:46filled to the brim , almost overflowing .
2:50We could associate this woman's excess
2:52weight with this feeling of having a
2:54full shopping cart . Furthermore , on
2:58closer inspection of this woman's
3:00shopping list , we notice that the
3:02shopping cart is filled only with
3:04industrial products that are generally
3:06considered junk food . These are
3:09products that we know are not very
3:11healthy , not very good for our health .
3:13So this also refers to the general
3:16image of this woman : the pimples on her
3:18skin , the cigarettes , the excess weight
3:20. A rather negative image that does not
3:23exude good health . The artist seems to
3:27construct a cause-and-effect link
3:29between the content of the CAD and the
3:32effects of this consumption on our
3:34bodies , on our health , in this case on
3:37the body and health of women . Let us
3:41remember that this work was produced in
3:43the late 60s . Let us also remember that
3:47Danson is an American artist . This
3:49period in the United States and soon
3:52everywhere else as well as in France
3:54corresponds precisely to the time when
3:57Americans began to consume enormously .
4:00It was the time when the supermarket
4:02was invented , a very large store , very
4:04different from the small shop in your
4:06neighborhood . A store where you could
4:09find absolutely everything and in very
4:11large quantities . A store that was
4:14filled with mass-produced products such
4:16as canned goods , cookies , cans of soda ,
4:19frozen pizzas and so on . In short ,
4:22everything that was in this woman's CAD
4:25. These stores became the very symbol
4:29of consumption that we would even call
4:31overconsumption . Hypermarkets and
4:36supermarkets are considered temples of
4:38consumption . They can accommodate a
4:41very large number of customers at a
4:43time and they are everywhere in every
4:45country . To describe the 1960s and
4:491970s , we speak of mass consumption . In
4:55Hanson , Hanson is not the only artist
4:57to depict this particular period . Andy
5:01Warhol , another American artist , even
5:03transformed this phenomenon into his
5:06work . In supermarkets , products are
5:09multiplied to infinity . Well , Warhol
5:13does the same thing by multiplying
5:15their images to infinity . For example ,
5:18here with the Coca-Cola bottle or the
5:20soup can . Andy Warhol even had the idea
5:24of having himself photographed pushing
5:27a shopping cart full of the products he
5:29painted in his own works . Even though
5:32Danon and Andy Warhol are very
5:34different in their artistic work , here
5:36is a common point that appears here :
5:38the CAD . Let's move on to the
5:41conclusion . To conclude means to say
5:43what one thinks . Dallanson's sculpture
5:47is not simply designed to criticize
5:49this woman , judge her , or make fun of
5:51her . The proof is unknown . Her identity
5:54has not been disclosed . This work is
5:57more of a general critique of American
6:00society , a critique of an unreasonable
6:02mode of consumption . It is an image in
6:06which the consumer-viewer can easily
6:09identify . I'll make a small aside . It
6:15is interesting to note that even today ,
6:17major industrial brands push us ,
6:20particularly through advertising , to
6:22consume more and more . Look at this ad
6:27for a soda brand that shows the very
6:30famous American singer Beyoncé pushing
6:34a shopping cart full of cans . This ad
6:39dates from 2012. DNAson's work dates
6:42from 1969. Don't you think that the
6:45Supermarket Lady is therefore a work
6:48that is still very relevant today ? I
6:52also thought of the work of the Swiss
6:54artist Sylvie Fleuri . Here , she covered
6:58a shopping cart in gold . Another
6:59shopping cart . She installed it on a
7:03pedestal as if it were becoming a
7:05sculpture , but not just a sculpture , it
7:07is made of gold as if it were becoming
7:10a jewel , an extremely precious object .
7:14It is also a way for the artist to make
7:17us question our relationship with CAD ,
7:19in other words , our relationship with
7:22consumption today . I will close my
7:25parenthesis and return to Douan Hanson .
7:29If the artist's work is so successful
7:31and his message so clear , it is because
7:34he is a hyper-realistic artist . What
7:38does a hyper-realistic artist mean ?
7:42Hyper-realism , as its name suggests , is
7:45creating or producing a work that seems
7:48real , that seems to show us here a real
7:51woman , a living being . That is also why
7:55the sculpture is the size of a real
7:57woman . That is why he uses real hair
8:01and real clothes to fool us as if we
8:03were looking at a living person and not
8:06an inanimate sculpture . Dallanon is one
8:11of the first hyperrealist artists . He
8:14produced many hyperrealistic works . To
8:18achieve this , he made casts of real
8:21people . He then painted his casts ,
8:25dressed them , added hair to them , and
8:27then staged them in everyday situations
8:30. Each time , he showed us people who
8:33were not at first glance interesting .
8:35They were not celebrities , artists , or
8:38famous athletes . They were everyday
8:41people , people we passed by without
8:43even noticing . In Hanson , he made
8:46sculptures and works of art out of them
8:48. He gave them importance . He gave them
8:52the opportunity to be looked at . In
8:55fact , he showed us our daily lives to
8:57make us think about them better . Today ,
9:01other artists also work with
9:04hyperrealism . The technique has of
9:07course improved over the years and with
9:09progress . When you come across a work
9:12by Ran Mek , for example , who is
9:14probably the most famous hyper-realist
9:17artist today , you are actually
9:19disturbed because you feel like you are
9:21looking at a real living being . However
9:25, even if Dan Hanson's works are older
9:28and perhaps less misleading than those
9:31of Ron Mwek , they still produce
9:34emotions that are just as strong and
9:36just as complex . They make us ask
9:40ourselves some interesting questions ,
9:42but also some that are a bit disturbing
9:44at the same time . I'll see you soon for
9:47a new issue of art history . Mr.