Roger Ballen vs Bill Viola to The Chapman Brothers vs Caravaggio

 

House of the Ballenesque 2017 at Les Rencontres Arles

Zeitz MOCAA 2017 Cape Town, South Africa

"Reflecting that the Greek word for martyr originally meant ‘witness’, Viola has explained that the martyrs ‘exemplify the human capacity to bear pain, hardship and even death in order to remain faithful to their values, beliefs and principles.’"

'protestants think that pleasure is bad while catholics think that suffering is good'

every surface has multiple mediums attached vs singular model & singular prop on black

chaos vs sleek

layered opportunities for meaning vs clear and minimal

gallery context vs made for a cathedral

subverting expected experience within the space vs upholding expected experience within the space

disconcerting vs religious experience

set for performance vs performative action

beginning of work vs end of work

uncanny vs baroque

discomfort vs pain

mid tones vs high contrast and saturation

opportunity vs decided

Sigmund Freud's theory of The Uncanny: is about the dread we feel in situations in which our childish fantasies and fears appear more real and more true than our adult worldviews ie it describes a strange and anxious feeling sometimes created by familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts.

Baroque emphasizes dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted, detail
The 7 characteristics of Baroque : grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, dynamism, movement, tension, emotional exuberance.

Caravaggio’s 1606 St Francis in Meditation

Francisco Ribalta 1625-27 Christ Embracing St Bernard