The last work of Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse, Untitled (Seven Poles), aluminum wire, fiberglass, and resin, 1970, variable dimensions (Centre Pompidou, Paris, © Estate of Eva Hesse)
speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

[@sjenner76]

I had an immediate and yes, visceral reaction to this sculpture. I love it and hate it at the same time.

[@user-bj2lu9qt3o]

I LOVE this series and those two speakers. And I love challenging and slightly repelling art like this. And, oh my, what a heavy life she had...but this piece tells me she must've been strong.

[@gtabro1337]

Did you add the background crowd noise on purpose? Because it makes the video feel as if the viewer is in a museum and you are describing and interpreting the piece privately, which effect I quite enjoy

[@smarthistory-art-history]

We are really in the museum - we are where we say we are!

[@gtabro1337]

@@smarthistory-art-history Oh wow, even more "immersive" if I could say so :)

[@YZOBEL5000]

@@gtabro1337 I love that

[@user-bj2lu9qt3o]

@@smarthistory-art-history and yet, not seeing the speakers is a very good decision. Focus entirely on the piece of art - and the admiration for it!👌

[@lucky1adrastus]

Wow are you visiting in light of COVID restrictions? I'd love to be going to museums right now, but have been avoiding them. I'd love to hear how COVID is affecting your work!

[@dwindlebunny]

Really interesting! I love the spirit of embracing the unusual and abstract. So many people make a distinction between "high art" and "conceptual art", but it's nice to hear you treat so many types of art with the same care.

[@evamarie2628]

this definitely feels gross to look at, i almost feel disgusted- that's crazy that a sculpture can make me feel like that

[@andiemorgan961]

Art is meant to evoke emotion or communicate a message. And the experience shouldn't always be a pleasant one.

[@guest_informant]

Worms. The colouring reminds me of animal fat tissue. Are they moving towards each other, or are they on their knees either moving away from each other, or stationary and guarding what they surround. Broken limbs. Natural/Unnatural.

[@levoy4ge]

thank you for making some contemporary art videos!

[@ocean1069]

i love these videos ♥️

[@dansmith4984]

Just gorgeous. The surface is incredible. Hesse was really special. I can’t help but think about them being growths and relating that to the cancer that took her so early.

[@BrianHutzellMusic]

We have a similar piece of Hesse’s, also completed near the end of her life, here at the Des Moines Art Center: Untitled (1970). But in the work here, the “tentacles” dangle out from the wall, rather than hanging from invisible wires, appearing to rise from the floor as in the piece at the Pompidou.

[@tmeColfer]

I would love to see her work some day, and this one sounds particularly interesting

[@luizmauricio3745]

beautiful

[@iooog1]

1:51 lol

[@daniel96011]

potent even through the screen *shivers* love hearing it talked about but ooph it's discomforting to say the least

[@1ngrid5]

anyone knows if this can ble called process art? i know eva hesse made process artworks but im unsure about this one

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Terms such as Process art, Minimalism, etc. can be handy to distinguish between bodies of works, styles, and general intentions with broad strokes, and to help organize and identify but are often less useful when applied to specific works. That said, this work could certainly be understood as an example of Process art.

[@1ngrid5]

@@smarthistory-art-history thank you, thats really helpful!

[@jestfuldemigod]

I love you guys and this Channel, but no amount of context is going to help me understand this

[@uzulim9234]

I feel left wanting more detailed and fleshed out form than the spindly worm-like construction. Maybe I am missing out ons omething.

[@jackier3179]

curious

[@dwindlebunny]

All art was once contemporary. All of the "great" artists were wildly contraversial at some point.

[@krazier15]

You guys should come to Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA and speak on the Sol Lewitt wall art. It's an amazing accomplishment and I'd love to hear you speak on it

[@user-bj2lu9qt3o]

Why those thumbs down? Because it's not beautiful?🙄

[@schoolstudio7915]

Yes, fill the blanks in this field of art, and enough of Jesus and Mary (Please).

[@Sasha0927]

😬 This is something you see in a horror flick, lol. I'd feel less surprised seeing this in the basement of a serial killer than in a museum. You can come up with the plot: "weight-obsessed serial killer flays their victims and adds their putrefied fat to tubes suspended in a secret room." Yucky, lol. Her story is heartbreaking, though. I can appreciate why she'd want to display something so raw and damaged.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Interesting how different the Hesse and the Wyeth are brought together by your comments. One of the great treats of the 20th century is the multitude of styles, often very effective in their own ways.

[@Sasha0927]

[Urkel voice] Did I do thaaat? 🥸 lol. I'm glad there was something in my comments worth reading beyond Dan-related drooling. That's the only theme I've noticed. Thank you. 😂❤@@smarthistory-art-history

[@onion6foot]

Casts (broken legs) and castings....(worms....death)

[@ourhammy1279]

Yoko Ono where are you when we need you!?

[@irishrepub84]

lol jayzoos

[@mackenziemckayla9715]

Woow woow 😍💋 💝💖❤️

[@SKF358]

And the Emperor's New Clothes strikes again!

[@jakobvanklinken]

excuse me sir, you are in the Art section, where exciting things are explored about how we experience life - if you want to look at things that are pleasing to the eye all day, the Kitsch section is down the corridor, and you might also be interested in the Netflix section around the corner....

[@Raphael3032]

But this time is you that is naked. Your preconceptions, your limitations as a human being, you faulty ideology. The void that is your capitalist brainwashed mind

[@starlessstephtx]

First

[@smarthistory-art-history]

yes, but now go watch the video!

[@wendyrowell4940]

@2:00 lol 👍 I realize art does not have to be beautiful but this is disgusting... it looks like the artist is attempting to bring order from the bowels chaos... And Yes, I agree like the grasping, control and torture of the naturally (agreeably) offensive... Courageous of you guys to choose this piece to make a video out of... And yes, a bold suggestion and idea for all in the artists terms ...now I ask you pleases to look at something pretty, 😝 lol 😆

[@mikecabral1579]

Sorry hard life breaks my heart but I don’t value any of that stuff. I paint watercolor line and wash urban sketch. I enjoy art but not that stuff. If making me feel uncomfortable is great art then it must but great art.

[@allertonoff4]

almost incomprehensibly ugly like trains of shitty wire, but she meant it to be so .. there is another statue in the Italian square where micheaelangelo's david stands that is infinitely superior in artistic credibility, (michealangelo was crap, he couldn't even paint women, it's all about quality NOT quantity) .. a bronze by Bernini maybe ? .. Great post BTW happy 2021 guys.

[@1marcelo]

Credibility was never the goal 🙄

[@allertonoff4]

Erectile like a reptile .. my comment stands up to scrutiny

[@1marcelo]

@@allertonoff4 No, it doesn't.

[@allertonoff4]

i will show u a vastly more sophistimacated sculpture .. Bernini, 'the dying Gaul' .. Bernini 'David' .. Bernini supersedes michealangelo on every conceptual level !

[@1marcelo]

@@allertonoff4 If you think that Bernini made the dying gaul, it proves that you have no idea about sculpture.

[@jameshero5755]

artists - let me make trash, call it art and sell it for millions, that drip? yeah it was an accident i was supposed to clean it but it dried fast... curators - lets put meaning into this because it costs millions. That drip represent the immortal existence of man and its connection to the universe blah blah blah

[@mariafeodorovna4487]

You’re being obtuse. Art in the 21st century is personal expression of ideas. Supposing that this piece might reference the Holocaust is completely possible because of the artists life experiences Just say you’re a philistine and go

[@mariafeodorovna4487]

@@williechops that doesn’t even make sense. Art has constantly pushed boundaries and made people question what art is. Is Manet suddenly degenerate because he scandalized people

[@dwindlebunny]

Art's value is in the way it's enjoyed by the viewer. If you don't care about this specific artwork, it's not valuable to you. But if other people enjoy it, then it's valuable to them. Art, like love, is in the act of paying attention. And so anything can be art if it is valued. (not in terms of money, but in terms of emotional connection, and being a kind of sacred object)

[@happydemon3038]

@@mariafeodorovna4487 How about knowing the art of expression? Where someone can tell they intend only one idea to be seen, not another. Imagine if melancholic music was called cheerful. Is that successful in the art of expression? The philistine is the one who tear down technically impressive pieces of art so their unimpressive pieces get more attention and praise.

[@jakobvanklinken]

@@happydemon3038 excuse me sir, you are in the Art section, where exciting things are explored about how we experience life - if you want to look at things that are pleasing to the eye all day, the Kitsch section is down the corridor, and you might also be interested in the Netflix section around the corner....

[@fabrizio483]

Low art. Horrible.

[@jakobvanklinken]

excuse me sir, you are in the Art section, where exciting things are explored about how we experience life - if you want to look at things that are pleasing to the eye all day, the Kitsch section is down the corridor, and you might also be interested in the Netflix section around the corner....

[@rey-jc6iz]

@@jakobvanklinken i am loving your comments

[@lukaskirchhoff7901]

This kind of reaction is exactly what this piece wants to provoke. The fact that you're so upset by it's gross and unpleasant nature proves how effective it is.

[@fabrizio483]

@@jakobvanklinken There's nothing exciting about that thing.

[@jakobvanklinken]

@@rey-jc6iz thank you!