Yves Klein: Strange, Yet Brillant

I've chosen Yves Klein and his "Anthropometries of the Blue Period" to write about. Upon first seeing the video of him directing women to paint their bodies, and press themselves against the immense canavas, well, it was simply bewildering! It was so elegantly done, as if a performance of a play on stage, with music accompanying, and an audience watching all the while. Yet, my face kept frowning as I watched more and more. "How strange," I uttered to myself. This was something completely new to me, and needed further investigating.

                             Klein and model during the performance of, "Anthropometries of the Blue Epoch,"March 9th, 1960

Klein was born in 1947 in Nice, France. Early on in his career, he was drawn to the concept of boundless space and time, as well as the "immaterial" where one could exist, live, be without worrying about the burden or weight of objects. Although he died at the young age of 34, his short career proved productive and abundant. His use of ultramarine blue during the Blue Period was given a name all his own: International Klein Blue. His reasoning for using blue was that it represented compete freedom, abandonment of any reference to the languages of representation, and the color has the spirit of the sky and sea all in one. It's amazing that one color can exemplify two such boundless forms, one of the water, and one of the air.

In his series of Anthropometries, as stated earlier, the women press their already blue covered bodies against a canvas. Klein did not see them as blue covered women, he saw them instead as "living brushes." He wanted to stray away from the usual paint brush or medium utilized at the time by artists, and instead use something alive that could transfer that energy and leave an imprint behind. This is why the performance aspect of the Blue Period was so vastly paramount. The act of the painting was fleeting, ephemeral. The imprints of the women left behind suggests what used to be or what already happened. Klein even called his art works the "ashes" of his art, implying that they were traces left behind from a greater desire.

After being further informed about Yves Klein (having external data), I realized his aspirations, and finally got it. His art was a performance that took place for such a short amount of time in history. He wanted to document it, and leave a shell, a small trace behind so people could find it, and be taught something new. His work at first may confuse the viewer, and make them question the legitimacy of the art, but it truly provokes deep thought by having the viewer question it. At first, I greatly disliked his pieces, but now, they mean so much more. That is why in viewing contemporary art work it is important to further inform one's self. Once you understand the piece of art, and the desired message the artist wished to convey, you can truly appreciate what you see before you.

Sources:
http://calitreview.com/9415
The Walker Arts Center