The 1970s saw the rise of many new forms of art, including conceptual art, pop art, abstract expressionism and many more. As artists began to use their art to investigate new concepts and techniques, contemporary art was born. New mediums and styles that had never been seen before were being produced in ways that pushed boundaries and changed what many perceived as art. Art, at its core, is designed to have an impact on its audience, and as contemporary art arose, so did new ways of influencing beholders’ thoughts. Often artists create works with a set of particular goals in mind — most want to create something new or reimagine something old, and by doing so get you to look at something differently. Artists always have a theme they wish to communicate, whether it be something broad like life and death, or something specific like the conflict of man and nature.
All artworks have themes that not only guide the artists but make connections to the audience. The most powerful pieces are the ones that have an easily relatable theme and effectively communicate it. Life and death is often the most popular theme among artists — since art was first created, artists have been exploring the vast reality we all face. Mortality is a common topic of thought, and though no one may know its answers, many have been puzzled by its questions throughout history. Contemporary art has found new ways to investigate these questions and brought new conversation to these debates.
Before I Die is a project by Candy Chang, created to assess how everyday people walking down the street view death. The artwork is a mural on a wall in a New Orleans neighborhood, with the words “Before I die” stenciled on it eighty times followed by a blank. The mural has a black background and chalk nearby, inviting people to interact and write what it is they want to do before they die. Chang’s work is different because, while many in the art community have examined death — and though it is widely considered the end — she has created a work that highlights all the great things that can happen before that inevitable time. Before I Die is an innovative work that creates a new narrative around the conversation of death. Chang has since recreated this work all around the globe, which gives the art a much more impactful meaning.
Blue Placebo by Félix González-Torres is another work that examines death, but with a vastly different tone. The artwork consists of 130 kg of candy wrapped in blue cellophane and placed on the floor in an art gallery. Similar to the last work, it is interactive, and guests at the gallery are invited to take a piece. As the name suggests, the candy is representative of pills, which the artist intended viewers to symbolically taste. The goal was to express the idea that humans can take prescriptions, but just as the candy will run out, so will your time on earth. The tone is morbid but was necessary, as González-Torres was diagnosed with AIDS and was using his art to create awareness for the disease. The piece has a wider-reaching message of hope — that although it will one day run out, we should enjoy it while it lasts. This work is one of those never-before-seen creations that draws a lot of attention.
In the Eyes of Others by Jodie Carey is another inventive look at life, death, and mortality. The work is a collection of three chandeliers composed of sculpted bones made from the newspaper articles of tragic and fatal events. The sculptures are large, weighing one metric ton each, and hang at a height barely off the floor. The creations are monumental and are used to depict the gravity of life and death. Many people don’t want to discuss death, but Carey has created an environment where tragedy must be confronted. The chandeliers hang in a dark, ominous room that gives the darkest impression of the three artworks discussed. Carey’s creation has a far different goal than the first two — she wishes to make her audience uncomfortable so that they may confront their fear of death. The chandeliers are not inherently interactive, but their sheer scale gives the act of simply beholding the art the feeling of interacting with something greater than yourself.
Many artists and artworks have examined the mystery that surrounds death, and although hundreds of thousands of works have been created on the theme of mortality, each has its own unique view. Before I Die is a work created for anyone to interact with, celebrating all the experiences and journeys people have left in their lives, in contrast to the many connotations associated with death. Blue Placebo is a work with several tones — one being that all life will inevitably end, the other being that though the end is coming, there are still times to enjoy before you get there. In the Eyes of Others is a harsher piece, focused on the ugliness of impending demise, using grand scale and discomfort to force the viewer to ponder the brutalities of death. All three pieces share the theme of mortality, but each artist approached it in their own way — which, in a sense, is what art is all about.