1. Mueck's sculpture is described as 'hyper-real'. Define the meaning of this term and explain how it is evident in his work.
"Hyper-real" is used to describe an exaggeration of something true or real. In Muecks work it is evident that the term hyper-real is being use to create his works. In the works "Mask II" and "A girl" he has over exaggerated the size of the baby and the mans face by making them much larger than the really are. This shows that the definition "hyper-real" is used in Muecks work because he has used this idea and put it into action by making a mans face and a tiny baby huge.
2. Mueck says he is not interested in making life size sculpture. Find out why he is more interested in working with the scale of the figure which is not life size, and mention 2 works which use scale that is either larger or smaller than life.
Mueck doesnt like to make life size sculptures because they are boring and have already been done. He made his works larger to show what a person really looks like if you take a good look. He decided to do this because he wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary. The works "a girl" and "mask II" use a large scale which makes the works shocking to look at and will give the viewer something to think about.
3. Define Renaissance Humanism , and identify which aspects of Humanism can be seen in Mueck's work. Note that the contemporary definition of Humanism is much broader than the Renaissance definition.
Renaissance huminasim is practically a definition that explains individuality. It was the beggining of something different. instead of being so trapped in religion, people started to figure out who they were for themselves instead of following what church or religion told them to do.
4. Research and discuss one of Mueck's sculptures that you might find challenging or exciting to experience in an art gallery. Describe the work, upload an image of the work, and explain your personal response to the work. Comment on other student blogs to develop the discussion around the variety of our own personal and individual responses to art and design.
Ron muecks sculpture "two women" has shown two old women huddled together in mid conversation. Although it seems that Mueck is visually mimicing their appearnece he is also showing they have emotion intensity which is expressed through facial expressions and posture. The figures are small in scale. I enjoy this peice of work because it reminds me of many old ladies today. There are many old women around that always pull sour unimpressed faces and to me this is laughable but in a good way.
