Stedelijk Base is one of the main collections of the museum of modern art of Amsterdam, also known as the bathtub (if you look at the building, you’ll understand why). In this exhibition the highlights of the collection of the museum are shown.
This week we zoom in on one of these great artworks. It’s called Untitled (past, present, future) and it’s an artwork which covers an entire room with sentences, words and smileys. Made by the American artist Barbara Kruger, it tries to create a sense of collectivity by putting gigantic provocative and emotional statements in English and Dutch. Nowadays we are so used to seeing images, that we sometimes forget how powerful words can be. Especially advertisements make use of images to persuade people.
Also on social media like Instagram or Snapchat texts become subordinate to the images. Most of the times we’d rather just put a smiley to give meaning to the story. This artwork gives you a moment to think about these different ways of communication. Walking into this room you’ll feel overwhelmed and surprised. It’s definitely worth a visit!
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- ’’Forever’’
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- ‘’The end’’
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- ‘’If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face, forever’’
