Week #8 - Artisan

Tijn Meulendijk "Objects of Desire: Contemporary Clay"

"Tijn Meulendijks works with nature and the vegetation in particular.

His lifelong interest in botany and along that the human perception of nature has become the greatest influence in his art works.

Plant material, soil, plant remnants and traces are collected and documented. Isolated from their habitat and rearranged in temporary installations or as interventions and drawings on paper.

These pure and evocative forms are based on Meulendijks's own subjective associations with the matter, it's morphology and observations in the field."

Objects of Desire, Tijn Meulendijk, 2016

Objects of Desire, Tijn Meulendijk, 2016

-------Follow Up Questions--------

Describe what eco-artist Tijn Meulendijks needs to accomplish in order for the exhibition to be ready.

Meulendijks took four days to create this installation. It is a site-specific work that is ephemeral and will only exist in this one space for a specific amount of time. Meulendijks harvested the grass himself and installed it by himself over the four days. 

This exhibition will be travelling around Australia, Meulendijks will go with the exhibition and create an installation for each gallery.



What safe handling practices are being used by the artist and gallery staff? Why should safe handling of artworks be considered by staff in art galleries?

The gallery staff are responsible for the conservation and maintenance of each artwork. In this exhibition there are a number of materials that need extra care. Hard gloves were used for installation of sharp ceramics and heavy objects. The cassowary feathers are a very difficult item to conserve, the staff had to keep them in a certain place, in acid-free tissue paper, away from other items. It is important to conserve these materials correctly for the longevity of the work. This is needed for the possible resale of the work and for future exhibitions. It is also necessary so that people (staff/viewers/artists) are not injured from the incorrect display or maintenance of these works. 

Some other interesting artworks from this exhibition:

Bride pendant series 6, Janet Fieldhouse, 2015.

Death wreath 1 & Death wreath 5,  Clairy Laurence, 2015.