Vik Muniz

This is Vik Muniz. He is a Brazilian artist who lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Some of his famous works include:

·      Skull with Clown Nose

·      Stone Joy Stick for Atari

·      The Last Supper (Chocolate)

·      Entire Encyclopedia Britannica for Travel Purposes

·      Half tombstone For The Almost Dead

·      Sugar Children: Portraits of Sugar Care workers (made out of sugar)

·      Bouquet of Flowers out of wire

·      Wasteland: The People of Jardim Gramacho

This is my favorite work by Vik – The Last Supper (Chocolate):

According to Vik, the image is not intended to be a critique of Christianity, nor is it intened to be funny in the slightest. Instead, it is intened to be clever, unusual, and thought provoking. Indeed, in much of his works, like this one, Vik challenges the viewer to think accept familiar materials being used in unfamiliar ways. Resourcing materials is also important to Vik, he wants the art to be in conversation with the material, not just use the material to make art.

In this example, the viewer originally thinks chocolate is a satisfying, sugar-y food, indulgent even. Vik here paints with chocolate and challenges the norm of painting with conventional materials. Vik also emphasizes being creative and having fun with his work. In an interview I watched, he discussed “play” as something that his work is about.

Ideas I thought about while trying to think like Vik:

I thought of some ideas for objects that could be placed in the space of the Courtyard. The key theme of what I thought about is how important materiality is to Vik. My ideas would have to represent the materiality of the space. These ideas included:

·      Trash in courtyard becomes bench/chair (repurposing objects)

·      Found Desk/Cabinet/Drawer becomes planter (repurposing objects)

·      Trash in courtyard becomes Garden (dirty and clean)

·      Bricks on the ways painted as modern buildings (old and new)

Below is an example of something Vik might create in the space. It’s a desk in a planter, incorporating the old and the new, using familiar objects (desks) in unfamiliar ways (garden)!