Art is something that transcends age, social status, race, gender and just about every other factor on earth. It is little wonder people travel all around the world to see first hand some of the greatest pieces and for those looking for some of the best art exhibitions, London is never far from the centre of attention.

One such institution that attracts as much criticism as it does adoration and intrigue is the Unilever Series in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.

For a decade people have travelled for miles around to witness the exhibition, and here are some of the more memorable installations.

Olafur Eliasson’s The Weather Project

This installation filled the turbine hall between 2003 and 2004, seeing a huge “sun” made of mono frequency lamps bathe the room in a solar glow. A fine mist generated from humidifiers occasionally swelled into clouds before dissipating altogether filled the hall… The roof of the turbine hall was mirrored, showing those stood below bathed in a celestial orange glow.

It attracted over two million visitors over six months.

Carston Holler’s Test Site

Between 2006 and 2007, Belgian artist Carston Holler created Test Site, a giant slide that reached up to the fifth floors of the Tate Building. Made of metal, they were open to the public to ride, to simulate delight and anxiety in equal measures. When speaking of his installation, Holler said it was a sculpture that you could travel inside.

Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth

One of the more famous installations of the turbine hall, Salcedo created a huge fissure running the length of the hall floor. This was done, she claims, to replicate a crack in modernity itself. Shibboleth is a term used to test a person’s belonging to a social group or class. It is a series of customs, phrases or vocabulary that excludes those unsuitable to join certain groups.

Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds

The most recent installation but no less controversial, Weiwei had a million “poppy seeds” hand made out of granite then laid on the Turbine Hall’s floor. Visitors were allowed to frolic in the seeds but this was stopped almost instantly after opening due to fears that the attrition would release harmful powder into the air.

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Leonardo was born in Vinci, Italy on April 15th, 1452, the illegitimate son of a young notary. Leonardo grew up in an environment rich with scholarly texts and art, provided by his father, who himself taught Leonardo how to paint, and by his father’s family. When he was in his late teens, Leonardo was sent to Florence to be an apprentice in the studio of famous renaissance sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio, where he met with other Renaissance artists Botticelli and Ghirlandaio, and continued honing his skills, which were proving to be greater than his teacher’s…

Leonardo’s first moment in the sun came when Verroccio asked him to help paint an angel in his “Baptism of Christ” piece. Leonardo so impressed his master that Verrochio himself decided he would never paint again. Leonardo continued working with Verrochio for a few years, and then the two parted ways.

Leonardo went on to be in the service of the Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan, where he remained for 16 years. Leonardo didn’t only paint for the Duke, but he also designed machinery, weapons, and a fair bit of architecture. Science and art were merged in an unending output of impressive works and studies. Leonardo’s designs were so ahead of their time, that they even included plans for various assault vehicles, flying machines, and even a submarine.

Duke Sforza died shortly after the completion of one of Leonardo’s most famous work, The Last Supper; Leonardo who had now lost his patron, and decided to leave Milan. He eventually returned to Florence after having traveled, lived, and worked for various patrons throughout Italy.

Shortly after his return to Florence, he and Michelangelo were commissioned to paint frescos on the walls of the new city hall. While he was working on his mural depicting the battle of Anghiari, which had been commissioned in part by Niccolo Machiavelli, Leonardo also painted his most famous work, the Mona Lisa.

A short while later, Leonardo’s father passed away, leaving his family to fight over the distribution of his assets, of which none went to Leonardo. It was only later and following the death of his uncle that Leonardo would inherit land and money.

Leonardo later went to Rome, and was given living quarters in the Vatican by Pope Leo X, so that he could further explore the arts while working on commissioned pieces for the Church. Leonardo did not create many new paintings during this period, concentrating on his drawings instead; it was quite difficult for Leonardo to pursue his studies of scientific subjects and anatomy while in the employ of the Pope, as the Church frowned upon the dissection of human cadavers.

But Leonardo who had had many patrons ranging from Duke Sforza, to the evil Cesare Borgia, was one who had no trouble adapting to his surroundings, and he did create several drawings including The Deluge, in which he portrayed the cataclysmic biblical event.

Source: http://www.famouspainter.com/leonardo.htm

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called ‘varnishes’ and were prized for their body and gloss. Other oils occasionally used include poppyseed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. These oils confer various properties to the oil paint, such as less yellowing or different drying times. Certain differences are also visible in the sheen of the paints depending on the oil. Painters often use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular feel depending on the medium.

Oil paint Although oil paint was first used in western Afghanistan sometime between the 5th and 9th Centuries, it did not gain popularity until the 15th century. Its practice likely migrated westward during the Middle Ages. Oil paint eventally became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. The transition began with Early Netherlandish painting in northern Europe, and by the height of the Rennaisance oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced tempera paints in the majority of Europe.

TECHNIQUES

Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the figure onto the canvas with charcoal or a “clean”, which is thinned paint. Oil paint can be mixed with turpentine, linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits or other solvents to create a thinner, faster drying paint. Then the artist builds the figure in layers. A basic rule of oil paint application is ‘fat over lean.’ This means that each additional layer of paint should be a bit oilier than the layer below, to allow proper drying. As a painting gets additional layers, the paint must get oilier (leaner to fatter) or the final painting will crack and peel. There are many other painting media that can be used in oil painting, including cold wax, resins, and varnishes. These additional media can aid the painter in adjusting the translucency of the paint, the sheen of the paint, the density or ‘body’ of the paint, and the ability of the paint to hold or conceal the brushstroke. These variables are closely related to the expressive capacity of oil paint. When looking at original oil paintings, the various traits of oil paint allow one to sense the choices the artist made as they applied the paint. For the viewer, the paint is still, but for the artist, the oil paint is a liquid or semi-liquid and must be moved ‘onto’ the painting

Traditionally, paint was transferred to the painting surface using paint brushes, but there are other methods, including using palette knives, rags, etc. Oil paint remains wet longer than many other types of artists’ materials, enabling the artist to change the color, texture or form of the figure. At times, the painter might even remove an entire layer of paint and begin anew. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a certain time while the paint is wet, but after a while, the hardened layer must be scraped. Scraping may also be used to smooth a portrait before scumbling and glazing. Many oil paintings reveal evidence of scraping on close inspection, particularly when the surface itself is examined. Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch in a day to two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year. Art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as Aesthetics.

The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans. An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as “a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science”. Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.

The nature of art has been described by Richard Wollheim as “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture”.It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation. Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another. Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art therefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator.

DEFINITION of ART

The most common usage of the word “art,” which rose to prominence after 1750, is understood to denote skill used to produce an aesthetic result. Britannica Online defines it as “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.”[8] By any of these definitions of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theories restrict the concept to modern Western societies. Much has been written about the concept of “art”. Where Adorno said in 1970 “It is now taken for granted that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more”. The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to “skill” or “craft,” and also from an Indo-European root meaning “arrangement” or “to arrange”. In this sense, art is whatever is described as having undergone a deliberate process of arrangement by an agent. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

by: Aldrin A. Mirambel