Art is not something that could be limited to paintbrushes and canvas.
In any era, artists have gone beyond the limits working with unusual or even shocking materials.
These artists made use of strange materials that ranged from the disgusting to the delicious, such as fluids and food, mixing those with the usual materials we use to create our conceptions of beauty and rethinking what could be defined as art.
Among the bizarre things that artists did with their works, in the following article we mention some of the most atrocious instances of blood and chocolate being used as art materials.
Maybe there is no such a material that would be more intimate or more controversial than blood. Artist Marc Quinn in a very spectacular way used his own blood that was frozen to fabricate a series of self-portraits called "Self." Every five years, Quinn extracts nine pints of his own blood, shapes it as his head, and keeps it frozen in a fridge display. The piece, in a very indirect way, deals with the themes of death, the concept of self, and the frailty of the human condition which is radically different from the one usually done with any kind of paint.
One more artist, Jordan Eagles, gets human and animal blood from donors and then encloses the blood in resin to make bright, radiant, and twisted works of art. Eagles believes that blood, the chosen medium for the artworks, provides strong contrasting themes of life, death, and spirituality. Consequently, those who are using something as stark as blood have to confront their own bodily nature and emotions - some people get the feeling of being uplifted while others may feel nauseous. In any case, it is a form of dialogue that is triggered.
Chocolate has never been a "just" thing. Different artists have not only shaped, painted, and built the interiors of the spaces using this delectable material but have also made the rooms themselves one of the art works. Food artists such as Vik Muniz are known for the usage of food in general which includes chocolate syrup to make very detailed faces and to create the likeness of the famous pieces. One time he recreated the old masters' works using chocolate and used photography for recording the melting lines as they moved.
Chocolate models have been leveraged to highlight excess and consumer culture, as well. In 2008, artist Cosimo Cavallaro created a life-size chocolate figure of Jesus called "My Sweet Lord". The work attracted a lot of debate, some calling it desecration, while others seeing it as a vibrant comment on commercialization and religion.
Chocolate in its impermanence as a medium—susceptible to melting, breaking, and rotting—serves as a reminder that beauty and delight are only temporary.
Xiàngjiāng rén Měishùjiā Zhāng Huán yǐ fójiào sìchén shā chúnjiàn jùdà huàshù hé diāosù zuòpǐn. Yánzhěng fànwéi zuòyòng de wènglóu, qǐngsòng shí yǐngxiàng jīngjié lǐyòu, yàyuán, zhèxiē yānchén zhǔchù yánshēngle lìshǐ hé wénhuà yìyì, yě jiāng bàifàn de fǎngjí chéngchéng zūnxùn de yìshù zuòpǐn.
British artist, Andy Goldsworthy, is famous for literally working with the elements - he would create and organize leaves, stones, dirt, and ice into delicate, temporary installations. His works (usually taken a picture of before they disappear) show the ephemeral beauty of nature.
Those who make art of ashes and dirt show us that the value of the work does not necessarily have to be made of precious metals or oils—it can simply be found in the soil under our feet.
4. Hair and Nails
Body parts have been a theme that artists did not exclude even in their most bizarre pieces. The artist Wenda Gu created enormous pieces of art out of human hair that he gathered from hairdressing salons all over the world. His work, comprising of hair flags and hair curtains, uses the idea of hair to speak about cultural identity, human relationships, and the spreading of the earth.
On top of that, a Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, has gone so far as to use human fingernails in a mixed-media installation. To combine human hairs and nails only—things that we let go off—speaks about the continuous changing of our bodies. Besides being close to one another in terms of theme, these artists' works also have a common feature, and that is, they are both a little disturbing.
5. Chewed Gum and Candy
Ben Wilson, a British artist, changes the discarded chewing gum found on the street into little paintings. He melts and irons the gum, then draws detailed patterns on the hardened lumps with his paint. What most people see as garbage turns into tiny explosions of inventiveness.
On the other hand, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, an American artist, made sweet installations that allowed the audience to take a piece of them. His most well-known creation, “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), comprises of 175 lbs of wrapped candy—symbolizing the perfect weight of his late partner, Ross. As the visitors take candy, the heap gets smaller, representing the decline of Ross’s condition due to AIDS. The candy, that is enjoyable and touching at the same time, makes the audience become the art itself.
6. Bones and Taxidermy
Several others have resorted to skeletal remains of animals along with the use of the art of stuffing to delve into issues of ecology, asking spiritual questions, or depicting the relations between humans and animals. The works in question may cause a feeling of unease in the viewer; however, they also open up dialogues regarding the setting of moral limits in art.
7. Plastic Waste and Everyday Trash
Unusual materials are not always surprising—some of them are merely creative. El Anatsui, the artist, changes the thrown away bottle caps into shining tapestries, thus making waste beautiful. His giant works of art are exhibited in the world's leading museums, showing how art can re-mix what we discard.
In the same way, the American artist Aurora Robson also fabricates delicate looking sculptures from plastic fragments that were picked out of rivers. She not only shows the seriousness of the environmental issues by giving trash a new life but also demonstrates that there can be beauty in destruction.
8. Digital Data and Code
In the world of technology, data is the new oil for several artists. Refik Anadol manipulates data sets to build amazing visual installations—changing data which is going to be difficult to imagine into captivating and hypnotic displays. Besides being less tangible than blood or chocolate, data-as-material provokes reconsideration of the definition of “real” art in the digital age.
Artists of today are not far from those painters of the past who had been limited by the lack of pigments. Instead of paints, they are using code, algorithms and virtual reality to create engaging experiences that could even be compared to live ones.
Why the Artists Use the Uncommon Means
While the use of strange materials does not necessarily mean the artist wants to shock the others, such decisions speak out. Blood calls to mind death. Chocolate makes one think of both delight and the passing of time. The used hair and rubbish refer to the matters of the human - identity, waste caused by us, or change. Quite often, these materials end up being mostly repulsive and disturbing, but at the same time, they provoke the audience to be involved on a more complexed level.
Being spectators, we are alerted that art is nothing to be limited in its display in galleries or practicing only certain styles. It may be sticky, foul-smelling, or even edible. And that is what makes it stronger.
Final Thoughts
Weird materials disclose limitless potential of art from self-portraits frozen from the artist's blood to portraits made of chocolate syrup. These pieces challenge us to reconsider our values, fears, and what we find beautiful. When next you come across a candy installation or a hair sculpture, think about the depth of the concepts that these unconventional materials convey.
Art, at times, may not be pleasurable to the watcher’s senses—or a mess. Nevertheless, art continues to change over time. And it is often those oddest materials that lead to the most fascinating creations.
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