User:Npeterswiki/Funky Bones

Funky Bones is a public artwork by Atelier Van Liehout, a Dutch artist collective lead by Joep van Lieshout, located in the 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The artwork, primarily made from fiberglass, consists of twenty-two white and black bone-shaped benches.

Description
Funky Bones is situated in the Meadow region just south of the lake at 100 Acres. It is a site-specific artwork consisting of twenty-two white bone-shaped benches inscribed with black drawings of bones that together form a large stylized human skeleton. The artwork was constructed primarily from fiberglass, plywood, and concrete. The format of each bench is a fiberglass shell filled with a lightweight foam material. Specifically, the fiberglass can be described as a glass fiber reinforced polyester. This material can be described as a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced with glass fibers. The fiberglass surface has been impregnated with pigment, carved, and coated in polyester resin. A standard plywood was used only during the detailing process of the black bone segments and is not visible in the completed artwork. The concrete component for this artwork is not visible and serves as a structural aid, anchoring and securing the individual benches into the ground. A standard ready-mix concrete was used for this application.

The skeleton is positioned with its arms spread out in a horizontal manner while the legs remain straight [down]. The individual benches range in both length and width, but all are approximately 26’’ in height. The artwork was fabricated in Atelier Van Lieshout's studio in Rotterdam and shipped to the Indianapolis Museum of Art where it was installed by the design and installation crew.

Historical information
Ideals concerning domestication, politics, complex functioning systems, and the re-contextualization of familiar, domestic objects occur frequently in AVL’s work. The Atelier van Lieshout claims to make no distinction between “real artworks” and “just building something for someone.” The studio group focuses on creating artworks whose design principles challenge conventional ideas of utility and functionality by reinventing how the viewer perceives or approaches an object and the environment in which it is placed. This is achieved by the implementation of non-traditional materials and color palettes, odd or unusual subject matter, and through the strategic positioning or locale of the artwork.

Concerning the original concept and inspiration behind Funky Bones, AVL founder and head designer Joep van Lieshout states:

"I came up with [this] design that is not only a site specific artwork referring to the history of the continent, but also provides a function and will improve the stay of the park’s visitors. Even as a child I knew the state Indiana and Indianapolis as an exotic place where the ‘Indians’ came from and were living, and even though this is not true, it is important for my proposition.  Another field of interest is the history of art and especially in early developments of art from primitive and native cultures.  In early art forms, techniques and skills were not so developed and the artworks were made in a very basic way, therefore art had a direct relation to the people, its time and environment.  Native American art, design, and architecture produced beautiful artifacts, religion, and lifestyle, but after the appearance of the ‘more advanced’ culture from the east the original inhabitants were moved around and dispersed. The very few things that remained are their cultural heritage and artifacts scattered around. At this time of rapid production and consumption, their primitive lifestyle, close to nature, seems to become a necessary utopia. The dislocated Funky Bone benches installed in the park stand symbolic for the leftovers of their sold culture and the spread of Native Americans over the continent."

Location history
This artworks was installed at the IMA in May of 2010. Reference the NYTimes.

Acquisition
Funky Bones is currently on temporary loan at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Artist
Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) is a multidisciplinary company that operates internationally in the field of contemporary art, design, and architecture. Joep van Lieshout (b. 1963), founder of AVL, is a Dutch artist born in Ravenstein, The Netherlands. He has received his formal education and training from the Academy of Modern Art in Rotterdam (1980-1985), Ateliers ‘63 in Haarlem (1985-1987), and from the Villa Arson in Nice, France (1987). Joep van Lieshout formed the AVL studio group in 1995 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where the company continues to design and fabricate their widely-exhibited internationally works. Atelier Van Lieshout has attained international recognition for objects-based projects that balance on the boundary between art, architecture and design. Reoccurring themes in the work of AVL are self-sufficiency, power, politics, and the more classical themes of life and death. Atelier Van Lieshout’s work includes solo exhibitions at Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany; Centre Pompidou and FIAC at the Grand Palais in Paris; and the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Condition
In general, the bones require regular cleaning in order to maintain their white color. Instrumental analysis involving the artwork's color and gloss levels has also been recorded.