Vik Muniz

Vicente Jose Muniz, also known as Vik Muniz, is a visual artist and photographer from San Paulo, Brazil. He is currently working and living in New York City. He is best known for his visual puns, including one of his most famous works to date called "Clown Skull," which was a human skull with a clown nose projection.

Vik Muniz is also known for making realistic portraits with unconventional art materials such as chocolate syrup, cotton balls, and sugar. He photographs the portraits upon completion and the work is shown as a photograph.

Vik Muniz's work has been showcased internationally in museums such as The Florida Museum of Contemporary Art in Tampa, The Museum of Modern Art in NY, The Musee d'Art Compemporain in Montreal Quebec, Canada, and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

View his gallery of completed works here!

Vik Muniz Thesis Statement

Vik Muniz takes the mundane, everyday ordinary object and transforms it into a sight that makes us stop and think, “That is the famous Leonardo Di Vinci’s “Last Supper, but it is made of…chocolate?” It is Bosco’s Chocolate, if you want to be specific.

Vik Muniz initially started out as a sculptor, and was known for his visual puns, such as his famous “Clown Skull.” He later turned his full attention to photography after taking photos of his more, “less stable” artworks.

He can make something as sticky and unruly and peanut butter and jelly and recreate the Mona Lisa. Forget about using paints, pastels, or charcoal to paint a picture. Forget about any other conventional mediums out there and resort back to everyday objects such as cotton balls and spools of thread to map out landscapes.

One of his more famous series of works is his “Sugar Children” series, a series of portraits of the children of plantation labor workers on the island of Saint Kitt’s made entirely of sugar from the plantation and black pepper. Vik Muniz is able to shape and form the sugar to create such realistic portraits of the children with beautiful definition and shading. Each portrait is titled with a characteristic of each child he learned during his time with them.

Another famous series, along with an Academy Award nominated documentary is “Pictures of Garbage,” shown in the film “Wasteland,” directed by Lucy Walker. Muniz recreates portraits he took of garbage pickers of the world’s largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro into large-scale portraits completely out of recyclable materials found within the landfill. He takes a photograph of the finished product and displays the work as a photograph. In fact, he displays most his creations in the form of a photograph.

His subjects are usually those belonging to the working class, something he can personally identify with. He grew up poor in Sao Paulo and came to the United States speaking very little English. He introduces a new world to those who have never seen or known about the art world. He gains a connection and understanding for his subjects, and he is able to give back to them.

Many critics look at his work and say there is nothing special, or nothing there. They aren’t looking close enough. They see ordinary objects on a canvas. What they don’t realize is that behind every portrait is a greater story, and a sense of integrity of that person, such as those in his “Pictures of Garbage” series.

In a recent TED talk, he talks about creation and creativity. He explains that creation is something that is already there, ordinary, and might not have meaning. Creativity is what allows us to see the beauty in mundane everyday things. This is greatly reflected in his works; working with mundane, everyday objects, something that we pass by everyday with no thought, and manipulating them into classic art pieces.  Next time you see something as ordinary as spaghetti sauce, just imagine the potential possible for it to become an extraordinary masterpiece. 

Inspirations

Peter Paul Ruben's painting "A Child's Head" was the painting that motivated him to become an artist. Also, his trip to Hungary gave him the confidence to live up to the title of "artist."

A Child’s Head by
Peter Paul Rubens

(http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/worstpossibleillusion/vik_fla.html)

" Once I was stopped in the train going into Hungary. And this was a long time ago. Guards, they were reminiscent of the Red Army, coming with machine guns and asking for a passport. And I said I didn't have a visa to get in. And they asked me what I did. I said, "I'm an artist!" And this guy had a little clipboard, like this, he says, "So you're an artist? Draw me a picture." For the first time in my life, I said that I was an artist and I drew a picture of his friend who was holding this machine gun. I drew this picture and I gave it to him and he looked at it and said, "Oh, indeed you are an artist! Can you sign it?" I actually drew my way into Hungary. And I remember these guys looking at the picture, like, making comments, waving goodbye to me. That was the first time I felt that I was really an artist, because if I am an artist to people with machine guns, I am an artist to any critic in the city. I felt like after that I passed the ultimate proof I could call myself an artist. " -Vik Muniz, interview with EGG (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/307/muniz/interview_content_1.html)

The Encyclopedia Britannica was another source of inspiration. One day, the encyclopedia arrived to his house on a wheelbarrow after his dad won it in a game. It allowed Vik to read about the outside world and all the things it had to offer.

(Big Book by Vik Muniz, from Seeing Is Believing, Arena Editions)

(http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/worstpossibleillusion/vik_fla.html)

Early Life

Vincente Jose Muniz was born in 1961 in San Paulo Brazil. His mother was a switch board operator, and his father was a bar tender. He attended art school in Brazil for a few years and worked in advertising before coming to America. He came to the States in 1983 speaking very little English.

Coming to America

(http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1357.htm)

In 1983, Vik was out one night and saw a fight between two men in tuxedos. The fight got very ugly as one of the men decided to pull out a gun, and out of aggression, decided to shoot the first person he saw. Unfortunately, Vik was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was hit with the bullet. The gunman later apologized, asking if there was anything he could do. Muniz bribed him with compensation money. With that money, Muniz bought a plane ticket and flew to America. Maybe the unfortunate situation wasn't completely unfortunate at all.

If you can't write, draw!

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2008/jul/28/furthereducation.television)

When Vik was young, his grandmother taught him how to read. The downside was he was taught how she was taught, and that was reading words instead of syllables. This made learning how to write difficult for Muniz. Instead of expressing himself though words, he expressed himself through drawings.

"Drawing is not only a way to come up with pictures, drawing is a way to educate your eye to understand the visual information."

Vik didn't want to be an artist in the first place. He tried other jobs in different fields of work but failed. He saw the art field as kind to those who fail, as long as you use your failures for something else.

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/307/muniz/interview_content_1.html)

Sugar Children

In 1996, Vik Muniz travelled to a Brazilian sugar plantation in St. Kitt's, where he photographed the children of the labor workers. He recreated the portraits of the children with sugar from the plantation and black pepper. He titled each portrait with an adjective or fact of each child that he learned as he spent time with them.

Valentine, The Fastest. From "The Sugar Children Series." 1996.
Gelatin-silver print. 20 x 16". Courtesy Wooster Gardens, New York.

(http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1997/newphoto13/muniz.html)

Valicia Bathes in Sunday Clothes, from the series Sugar Children

(http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=36333)

"Big James Sweats Buckets" from the series "Sugar Children"

(http://www.6thousandmiles.com/2011/07/waste-land/)

Clown Skull

"Clown Skull" (1989) Plastic, "Relics" Series

(http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424520152&gid=424520152&cid=109721&wid=424748235)

Clouds

Another one of Vik's famous photographs is "Clouds." Here, a crop-duster sky-writes a cloud in the sky, which almost seems cartoon-like. Muniz uses the New York City Skyline as his backdrop, and the cloud can be seen from Wallstreet to Harlem.

He is able to reach a vast audience stretching for street to street simultaneously. Thousands are able to look at the sky and view the work.

(http://pulpfactor.com/uncategorized/2112/skywriting/)

Waste Land

(http://lightbox.time.com/2011/03/22/portraits-with-purpose-vik-muniz-in-waste-land/#1)

 One of Vik Muniz's greatest accomplishments is his "Pictures of Garbage series" and his documentary of the process, "Wasteland," which was directed by Lucy Walker.

The documentary was filmed in the largest landfill in the world in Jardim Gramacho in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro over a three year period. It follows the daily lives of the catadores, a term that refers to the pickers of recyclable materials, as they work day and night in the landfill as a means to survive.

In the documentary, Muniz photographs the pickers to recreate some famous works of other artists, then recreates that image on a much larger scale entirely of garbage.

The lives of the pickers involved in the project changed forever upon the completion of the project. They experienced art for the first time, and had a chance to actually be a subject of an artwork. And for Muniz, a deeper understanding for the garbage pickers community was gained.

Waste Land has won many awards and has been nominated numerous times.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/arts/design/24muniz.html)

Peter Paul Rubens; "A Child's Head"

("Head of a Child" c. 1616, oil on canvas.)

Peter Paul Rubens

(http://www.nndb.com/people/895/000031802/)

Peter Paul Rubens, born 1557, was a Flemish artist who first came to Rome, Italy at the age of twenty-three. Here, he studied many great artworks of artists during and before his time, and also studied in Genoa and Mantua. Rubens was considered a non-conformists for he chose to not join any major artist movements or groups during his time. But like most Flemish artists, he expressed his abilities through the emphasis of textures in his paintings, and stayed as true to nature as possible. In fact, he executed the brushwork techniques to such true-to-material textures so masterfully, that he had no known rival north of the Alps. Flemish artists are known for painting in small-scale, mainly for the decoration of one's home or personal use, but Peter Paul Rubens introduced the large-scale paintings from Rome. Peter Paul Rubens was admired for his ability to bring a sense of life to the subjects that he painted, which can be seen in his painting, "Head of a Child" which is most likely his daughter, Clara Serena. The portrait itself is very simplistic; there is nothing elaborate or flamboyant. It is just an ordinary, mundane portrait of a little girl. However, through the mundane portrait, his skilled brush strokes are prominent, for the portrait seems to "breathe of life." The hints of light on the face and the lips, and form of the hair and the face depicts that.

(http://www.arlindo-correia.com/100404.html)

Vik Muniz on TED Talk!

View His Ted Talk here!

Sweet, sweet sugar

Ever wondered where those sweet tiny crystals you put in your coffee or tea come from? It turns out that civilizations have been using them as far back as 8000 B.C. in New Guinea. The people of New Guinea were the first to domesticate sugar.

Sugar originated from south Asia and southeast Asia. Early sugar crystalizing methods were introduced to China through the traveling monks. Early processing techniques involved grinding and pounding the sugar cane until the juices were extracted. The juices were then boiled down until they were caramelized, then alter dried in the sun, resulting in gravel-like crystals. The Chinese were the first to establish a sugar industry in the 7th century. Eventually, cultivation lead to Indochina, India, the Middle East, and Europe. By the 1790's, sugar prices soared so high in Great Britain, that they had to call in the East India Company to help alleviate the prices.

It wasn't until the 18th century that sugar production was mechanized. During 1768, Jamaica ran the first steam engine powered sugar mill.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sugar)

(Magnification of sugar crystals)

(Brown Sugar)

A video showing Earthworks, by Vik Muniz

(http://avion.egloos.com/m/2221792)

(http://another29.exblog.jp/5588418/)

(http://another29.exblog.jp/5588418/)

Geoglyphs

Geoglyphs are monumental-scaled land sculptures done by arranging stones and/or earth. Geoglyphs can also be carved out of the earth to expose the hidden bedrock beneath the surface. Some of the most well-known geoglyphs are the Nazca Lines and the Uffington White Horse in England.

(http://archaeology.about.com/od/gterms/g/geoglyphs.htm)

Lines of Nazca

(http://paranormaldailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/nazca_spider_geoglyph.gif)

Uffington White Horse

(http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/0/51/73150/v0_master.jpg)

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was more than just one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance. He was a scientific Genius, who studied a vast array of subjects, such as architecture, civil engineering, astronomy, and anatomy (Just to name a few). He discovered many scientific breakthroughs that are the foundation to today's discoveries, such as the rock cycle, and how the heart works.

But you can also say that Da Vinci was a man of contradictions; He despised war, yet he worked as a military engineer that developed weapons. He made numerous scientific discoveries but never published his ideas (his manuscripts were later found, but were difficult to read, for he wrote right to left in a shorthand that he invented himself.), and he is known as one of the masterly painters of his time, though he only has a handful of paintings to show for it.

During his early years in Florence, Italy, he worked as an apprentice for the artist Verrocchio. During his years of training, he learned the crafts of making canvases and brushes, mixing paints, carving stone and wood, and casting objects of gold and silver. He observed the machinery around him, examining and isolating each and every individual part, and analyzed how they worked, drew them in diagrams, and modified them, leading to new inventions. His drawing skills allowed him to draw out his ideas and findings with great accuracy.

In 1482, the ruler of Florence sent Leonardo to Milan bearing gifts for the ruler Sforza. He wrote a letter to Sforza, stating that he can build and invent things that would benefit him during their state of war with Pisa, and build things that would protect his troops. Sforza was impressed with Leonardo's abilities, that he offered him a position as a painter in the court. There he established his own studio, where he designed costumes for plays, bridges, forts, and weapons. Milan was later invaded by the French, and Sforza later fled. In 1516, he worked under the patronage of Prince Giuliano the Magnificent in Rome. Here he studied anatomy by cutting up animals from butcher shops, and optics. He also completed one of his most famous paintings, La Giocanda, also known as The Mona Lisa.


(http://leonardodavincifacts.net/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci)

Fluxus Art

(http://redletterdayzine.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/day-the-second-eleven-fluxus-bucks-2/)

The Fluxus art movement started out within a small group of international artists in Germany during the 1960's, and later spread globally as far as Japan and New York. Their intentions were more social rather than aesthetically. Fluxus artists mixed numerous art principles and styles such as Dada, Zen movements, and the art from the Bauhaus. Dick Higgins was the first to label the movement as the Fluxus movement. Many avante garde developments were inspired by Fluxus art. Artists of the movement attempted to base their work on the scientific and sociological ideas. Their style is both playful and unconventional, and tried to reflect the idea of "everything is art, and anyone can do it."

Vik Muniz puts Fluxus art into action by using unconventional mediums to recreate famous artworks, such as the Last Supper made of chocolate syrup, and his series Sugar Children made of sugar and pepper. He finishes off the process of taking photographs of those art works and presenting his work as a photo, instead of the actual work itself.

(http://www.arthistoryguide.com/Fluxus.aspx)
(http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-15/ae/29546262_1_fluxus-ben-vautier-george-maciunas)

Linear Perspective

(http://rourkevisualart.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/linear_perspective.jpg)

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yE_QeylKubw/TU2kJrw1SaI/AAAAAAAAAN0/Dw5xqa_Dk3Y/s1600/linear.gif)

Linear Perspective is a mathematical system in which illusions of space and distance are created on a flat surface. The system is believed to have originated from Florence, Italy, by an artist named Brunelleschi in the 1400's. Leonardo Da Vinci learned the technique during his years as an apprentice.

To achieve the affect of linear perspective, the surface has to consist of a horizontal line in the middle. This is where the sky and the ground tend to meet. The vanishing point is where the rays, or orthogonal lines, when drawn, appear to meet. This should create a train track-effect continuing in the distance. The overall image should look as if you're looking to the distance.



(http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/ExploringLinearPerspective.html)

Dust to Dust

“There was dust from the first floor, which was very fuliginous, dark and greasy. On the top floor, there was some lighter dust. It was the hardest substance I’ve ever worked with, because it’s disgusting. Dust is pieces of hair and skin. I think people scratch their heads a lot in museums; that gets mixed with the residue from the artworks themselves. That’s the ultimate bind between the museum visitor and the artwork.”

—   Vik Muniz, New York Times Magazine, February 11, 2001

Vik Muniz-Robert Morris, Untitled (L Beams)

(http://www.inhotim.org.br/arte/obra/fotos/331)

(http://www.renabranstengallery.com/Muniz_DustAd.html)

(http://www.windowdarlings.com/2010_05_01_archive.html)

Sky Writing

(http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/Skywriter-Trailed-R.jpg)

(http://www.skywrite.com/img/skywriting-heart.jpg)

John C. Savage, an English aviator is said to be the father of skywriting, for which he received a patent in 1924. The first skywriting advertisement was done two year before the patent in 1922. One of the first companies to do an advertisement by skywriting was the Pepsi-Cola Company, with Andy Stims, one of the first skywriting pilots who flew for the company from 1931-1953.

Skywriting is done by specially built planes which release the smoke in burst-like motions. The white smoke is made by mixing paraffin oil with the plane exhaust, and evaporates at 1500 degrees from the heat of the engine. For those who are environmentally conscious, no worries! The oil is environmentally safe. The bursts of white smoke are controlled by electronic signals from a computer containing the master layout of the design. One plane can make up to 6 characters, and more planes are needed to make longer words or phrases, while flying simultaneously. The best skywriting conditions are little to no clouds, low winds, and cool temperatures, and the messages can last up to 20 minutes while being seen up to 30 miles away from any given directions. Skywriting is typically done in altitudes of 7,000 to 17,000 feet.

(http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/skywriting.jsp)
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/skywriting.html)

Bean Around the World

(http://www.gourmetcoffeeisbetter.com/)

Legend has it, that a goat herder in Ethiopia noticed that his goats were more energized and awake after eating berries from a certain tree. He took note of his observations and told the news to an Abbott in his local monastery. The Abbott brewed a hot drink using the berries, and noticed an increase of alertness during his even hours of prayer. Eventually the news had spread across the globe.

The Arabs were the first to cultivate and trade coffee. During the 15th and 16th centuries, coffee was being produced in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula.
Coffee had become very popular in that region due to the fact that the Koran forbade Muslims to drink alcohol, they thought coffee was a more suitable substitute. The energy drink was known as the "Wine of Arabay."
Coffee had become the center of socializing. People engaged in conversations in coffee houses, and played games of chess while drinking cups of freshly brewed coffee.

By the 17th century, the news of the aromatic brew had reached Europe via travelers that had returned from the far east. But of course with new things, comes a party of opposition. Those who avoided the drink thought of it as an invention of Satan himself. In Venice, the local clergy had even condemned it. The debate over coffee became so intense that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. However, the Pope decided to try it out himself, and was so satisfied with its effects, that he gave it his approval.

Coffee had entered the social realm once again, this time in Europe. Coffee houses, known back then as "penny universities," had sprung almost everywhere within the continent. Penny Universities earned its name due to the fact that anyone could purchase a cup of coffee for just one cent, and engage in many social events with other fellow coffee drinkers. These coffee houses attracted a vast array of people with common interests, such as merchants, brokers, and artists.

The Dutch were the first Europeans to cultivate coffee, having first planted them in India. Production in India did not succeed, however, success came to the Dutch on the Island of Java, now present day Indonesia. Since then, the Dutch began to trade coffee.

In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam had given King Louis XIV of France a coffee seedling as a gift, which was then planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. About a decade later, a Naval Officer name Gabriel de Clieu managed to obtain a seedling from the royal garden. After a rough voyage by see, he was able to introduce coffee to Martinique. That seedling grew and blossomed, and was able to produce 18 million trees in a span of 50 years.

Missionaries and travelers continued to spread coffee and introduce it to many different lands and cultures. Plantations were built within forests, or on mountain tops. Some nations were born out of the coffee industry. Today, coffee remains as one of the most valuable commodity crops. So next time you have that hot cup of Joe, think about the journeys that took place to bring you your daily morning cup of coffee.

(http://www.ncausa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=68)

Interested in some coffee humor?