Al Hansen
Calliope Venus
Description of work
The Calliope Venus is a collage of a single figure on a bleak,
light tan and textured background. The figure extends past the page
on all sides, revealing only the upper and lower torso and hinting at arms,
legs and a head. It’s a female figure of voluptuous stature and comprised
of exaggerated womanly aspects. The female figure is completely constructed
from Hershey’s chocolate-bar wrappers. The body consists of mainly
red wrappers and the thigh-high stockings are created from brown wrappers.
Across the entire figure the artist produced word games by manipulating
the wrappers in the cutting and pasting process. This was meticulously
done with extreme craftsmanship. The word games lead to stereotypical
sexy terms, associated with women. “Oh lick me, Yes, She, Her, WoW/MoM”
are some of the words scattered across the figure. The words are
not the only relationship to stereotypes, the wrapper themselves are labels.
Labels are used for categorizing. They are attached to something
to provide information on the nature of what it is attached to. Much
the way people in society are categorized and labeled with stereotypes.
The exaggeration of sexual orientation, sexually charged words and
the plastering of labels on this female figure lead the viewer to understand
and sympathize with the categorizing of women in such simple terms and
in general the labels and stereotypes placed on people throughout society.
The most articulate features of this woman are intentionally left out,
the face and hands. This allows the viewer to remain impersonal with
the figure; she is merely a stamped out, label. It is a shocking and direct
piece, even humorous to a degree.
Contextual Research Questions
#1 Pop culture is evident in this piece is there a relation to the
Pop movement?
#2 As the name implies is this influenced by or an interpretation of
the “Venus” or
Willendorf?
#3 Why Hershey’s?
Answers to Contextual Questions
Question #1
Hansen was friends with Andy Warhol, who probably is the most famous
of the Pop artists. Like Pop art, Hansen used actual objects from
mass culture in his work. He was also an artist of Happenings that
presented theatrical events staged as art. His fellow creators of
these events contrived of and evolved into Pop art. However, Hansen
excelled past Pop art and was a pioneer of the Fluxus art group.
The group thought art should be an event, a happening and was willing to
merge all genres in order to create art. Hansen was both influenced
by and influenced the 1960’s Pop movement.
Question #2
Throughout his life, Hansen actually created thousands of these
collages that were mainly based around the image of Venus. He was
interested in a connection between his work and those first primal art
instincts, accented in the Venus of Willendorf.
Question #3
Hansen used all sorts of mass culture products in his works.
He used everything from maps and toilet paper rolls too cigarette butts
and trash. Hershey bar wrappers were in his signature pieces. The
letters in the name led well to the word playing and fit as a popular mass
culture product. Hansen also believed Hershey’s to be a phenomenon due
to the fact they didn’t advertise but were still highly successful.
Layers of meaning and message
Calliope Venus simply put, is about labels and stereotypes placed
on people in popular culture. The collage exaggerates the labeling
and categorizing processes in society. The work elaborates on the
idea of women with a sense of overflowing fertility. The viewer is
drawn to the labels and the words created by their manipulation.
The figure becomes an impersonal, mindless child barer of little consequence
other than the labels applied to her. The figure is merely a billboard
or the composition for the labels to be placed. Much like in life,
as people are seen only by preconceived ideas or stereotypes. People
in society often never notice the articulate parts of people that represent
who they are. In Hansen's college, even if you wanted to take the
time to look for their true personalities you couldn’t. I n life
you can.
Why this is an important artwork:
This work will allow students to think not only about how they
may be viewed but also how they view others. We are all guilty in
some degree of stereotyping but it is our obligation to struggle past the
labels to find the true person. The work also addresses the idea that people
need to communicate their personality to others. The piece will address
how pop culture plays a role in defining the stereotypes many of us follow.
No one wants to be stamped out and labeled, this collage helps to expose
this discomfort.