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Writer's pictureTyler A Deem

World Heritage Collage: Beauty and Decay


Temporal Beauty and Aging Decay

Ancient standards of beauty often guide what we recognize as beautiful. Images of women and men in ads and perfect models in art and movies are based off a lineage of iconic faces. These icons of beauty in contemporary society stem from these ancient standards.

Time

Time is the all defining factor; without the potential for decay beauty would not hold its value. The reason artists painted flowers was because their beauty did not last long. Even the sculptures of the great artists of the past focused on idealized beauty, and their works decay and break down just as their models did. There is a temporal view of flawless beauty.

Distortion

How must distortion pushes the ideal beauty into something unpleasant. Objectifying a woman in art is altered to be something repelling. Making a grotesque version of an otherwise universally accepted symbol of beauty- no matter if some of the proportions are decomposed- becomes a critique and statement against the traditions and standards of beauty throughout the history of art and society.

Decay of Beauty and Heritage,2019. Mixed media Collage with van dyke brown prints.

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