Some of the Best Jan Hakon Erichsen Projects
The world of visual art is a strange, strange place. Since the inception of abstract art and Picasso, art seems to have gotten increasingly weirder and further from traditional mediums. In contemporary and current art, the goal of this art may even be to challenge what the current community and average person considers art and artistic conventions. Something that garners considerably more attention than just a painting is performance art. Enter: social media to the artistic sphere—specifically Instagram. Instagram seems like the picture based platform is absolutely perfect for artists of all types, from visual arts to musicians to installations.
Self-described "visual artist and balloon destroyer" Jan Erichsen (@janerichsen on Instagram) is verified and has 675,000 followers. With over 700 posts, his art consists of contraptions focused around balloon popping, taco shell crushing and spaghetti smashing. Oftentimes, he faces direct criticism from snide, holier-than-thou Instagram comments which proclaim that what Erichsen is doing is not art. This same sentiment can be found among ruling class elites in the late 1800s—arguing that, for example, works by Edvard Munch does not constitute art, but some backwards attempt at the traditional bourgeoisie establishment of visual art. By the way, Edvard Munch is the man behind "The Scream" which is perhaps one of the most popular expressionist pieces ever to exist.
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Erichsen and Munch is not the expressionism of the work but the medium. Following are some of the highlights, taken from Erichsen's Instagram and in no particular order, of the past 700 posts.
Here is one of Erichsen's classic posts, including some wooden contraption and a balloon's untimely death.
Erichsen's very first video that was posted seemed to be the diving point that all other content seems to spring from. We can see the classic knife and balloon set up that many other performance pieces take after.
Some, as we can see, instantly draw our eyes in by the initial shock. A saw? On his head? Swinging down to pop a balloon strapped to his chest.
Some, as we can see, involve something more than just balloons. As mentioned previously, taco shells may be victim to Erichsen's contemporary art.
As we can see from the caption—this one did not work in the way Jan intended—that being said, it somehow still works by the nature of contemporary art.
I think that we can all agree that Erichsen's contemporary art projects certainly make the audience think what does and what does not constitute art. When hairs are spliced, the edges and fogginess of the definition of art really seem to become clouded.
Self-described "visual artist and balloon destroyer" Jan Erichsen (@janerichsen on Instagram) is verified and has 675,000 followers. With over 700 posts, his art consists of contraptions focused around balloon popping, taco shell crushing and spaghetti smashing. Oftentimes, he faces direct criticism from snide, holier-than-thou Instagram comments which proclaim that what Erichsen is doing is not art. This same sentiment can be found among ruling class elites in the late 1800s—arguing that, for example, works by Edvard Munch does not constitute art, but some backwards attempt at the traditional bourgeoisie establishment of visual art. By the way, Edvard Munch is the man behind "The Scream" which is perhaps one of the most popular expressionist pieces ever to exist.
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Erichsen and Munch is not the expressionism of the work but the medium. Following are some of the highlights, taken from Erichsen's Instagram and in no particular order, of the past 700 posts.
Here is one of Erichsen's classic posts, including some wooden contraption and a balloon's untimely death.
Erichsen's very first video that was posted seemed to be the diving point that all other content seems to spring from. We can see the classic knife and balloon set up that many other performance pieces take after.
Some, as we can see, instantly draw our eyes in by the initial shock. A saw? On his head? Swinging down to pop a balloon strapped to his chest.
Some, as we can see, involve something more than just balloons. As mentioned previously, taco shells may be victim to Erichsen's contemporary art.
As we can see from the caption—this one did not work in the way Jan intended—that being said, it somehow still works by the nature of contemporary art.
I think that we can all agree that Erichsen's contemporary art projects certainly make the audience think what does and what does not constitute art. When hairs are spliced, the edges and fogginess of the definition of art really seem to become clouded.
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