RON MUECK DOCUMENTARY

We watched a documentary about the Australian sculptor Ron Mueck.

Photographs taken from here.

From the Tate website - 'Mueck sculpts in clay, makes a plaster mould around it and finally replaces the clay with a mixture of fibreglass, silicone and resin; the technical skill involved has often been foregrounded by critics to the detriment of its content.'

Mueck plays with scale, however not in the way others do, his over-sized pieces aren't intimidating - they are just as delicate and realistic as the small scale pieces.

The different scales within Mueck's work changes the preposition, as does placing the sculptures in a gallery space. Because they are so lifelike it is almost uncomfortable to view them.

Couple Under An Umbrella, 2013. Matériaux divers, 300 x 400 x 500 cm (environ), Courtesy Caldic Collectie, Wassenaar.
photo © Thomas Salva / Lumento pour la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2013.

"Dressed in a plain, navy one-piece swimming suit, a short-haired elderly woman is sitting beneath a colour-blocked sun umbrella, affectionately contemplating her male companion whose head rests peacefully on her thigh. Frozen in time and shaded from the sun, the anonymous pair could easily be enjoying a leisurely day on the beach but instead, their pale, motionless bodies rest atop the concrete floor of the Jean Nouvel-designed pavilion at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, France." - Malgorzata Stankiewicz (taken from here).