Sam Taylor-Wood - Still Life (2001)

[IFknHateUTube]

yawn

[khirghisia]

Completely overrated artist, not surprising considering her high rank network. Liked the pen though, it reminds me of how relative Time is.

[lcabosa]

tecnology have a long way to go before becoming sustainable...

[ICantRemember999]

i spent 3 minutes watching the pen to see if it moved. It didn't.

[latham29]

Very derivative - just like an outtake from Greenaway's A Zed and Two Noughts

[tdesanchez]

I love this take on dutch still life.

[emzicle109]

she looks really good at 2:57

[eternalchild86]

For some reason, I found it fascinating to watch. And yet...I kept thinking, "That is really wasteful."

[FourteenInTheMAking]

@eternalchild86 Perhaps that was what the artist was trying to illustrate? How we waste; food, time in this context.

[ohsodiverse]

I wonder what that smelled like..

[lollerz16]

This is cool but totally unoriginal and, in my opinion, is the work of an overrated artist. Can't believe she's just won an OBE.

[allydalley]

At 2:13 it looks like a plate of broccoli

[grrSjijb]

I saw it more like how our bodies decay but our thoughts endure. Pens are used to document our thoughts... And the impression we leave in this world is not by the physical presence of the body, but the thoughts we implant unto others.

[strychninecologne]

@grrSjijb are you sure it isn't just a bunch of fruit decaying in a bowl

[geokes76]

@strychninecologne don't be ridiculous

[strychninecologne]

@geokes76 oh okay

[geokes76]

@strychninecologne :D

[thegaybeetle]

@grrSjijb I couldn't resist noticing that the tip of the pen would most likely be dry be the end of scene, since there was no cap, and that the pen would probably not write anything anymore. What's the use of a pen that can't write?

[kazzypepper]

sam taylor wood makes me want to chunder.

[XxILoveDougiexX]

i don't understand why the pen is there, anyone care to explain?

[GothicFlowerZ]

@XxILoveDougiexX

I think she is trying to show how natural objects decay over time but man made objects, like a pen, doesn't. Also though its not just a pen its a Biro or a Bic. An object that is seen as a very disposable object in our society.

Yeah you can tell I've been studying it for my A level Photography course! ^^

[theemogoddess]

@GothicFlowerZ Also, Sam is trying to show the mortality of all things living and that one day, all things must decay and die. The pen is showing this contrast.

I too am studying photography at A level. :)

[GothicFlowerZ]

@theemogoddess Yeah. Our teacher said it was called a Memento Mori which is a Latin phrase that means something along the lines of 'Remember your mortality' Which is also why people used to keep photos of dead family members.

[TaUk7]

@GothicFlowerZ

could it also be that the massage is that beauty fade away in time but knowledge doesn't?? because some how i just feel that a pen represents knowledge. but than again it doesn't match with the title. just wanted to share my though. :/

[GothicFlowerZ]

@TaUk7 Yeah thats true, I have never thought of it that way but yeah, you're right. Becuase a pen is like, an invention by man so, it could represent knowledge!

[jennygalaxy]

I'm doing this for my A-level art too. I used tomatoes, which worked really well and quickly, especially the ones that I cut up. Much quicker than whole pieces of fruit.

[KCemolover]

I'm doing a similar thing with tomatoes for my A level art, they've been in my shed for weeks but still look good enough to eat :(

[BohoHobo]

does anyone know how many days it took for the fruit to decay?

[birgitdeubner]

@BohoHobo oops sorry, pressed wrong button.

[liquidmonkey2000]

Very interesting - Perhaps the French term would be appropriate here i.e "Nature Morte" (literally dead nature). As a motif in art still life has often been an allegory for death and mortality, especially the vanitas paintings where their theme was the transience of life. This piece literally breathes new life (albeit fungal) into this well established form.

A first class piece of work!

[Alesauria2009]

i liked the fact of comparing the pen that is an object and the fruits that are alive with the passage of time

[tym2pay]

it only takes 3:18 to die. wowow

[palandriflorencia]

hahaha very good!!

[jezziewkdo9]

emm... i only wached this 4 my studying its dead disgusting....... so is a little death by the same person

[RivaJane]

That wicker plate will probably have to be thrown away........

[tommynoonan]

imvotingfordukakis, where can i see "watch plastic die"? I can't find it anywhere.

[TheMoscs]

is she really going out with aaron johnson??

[dreamerstealer]

i know!! i think he is D;

[katethejourno]

Yeah I just read an interview in LOVE magazine and he said they've moved in together!!! She's 42, he's 19.

[imvotingfordukakis]

watch plastic die. it takes longer but is rather disturbing, noxious; if this were the wickedwitch melting in the wizard of oz, plastic decaying is tom cruise in interview with a vamprie.

[RachieRoozxo]

yeah same! i think the problem is that its in my garage and its cold in there but my mum wont let me have it in the house :/

its getting there now at least, and i have a few weeks left

ive got a fake banana in there aswell for the same purpose of the pen in this one

yeah i am :) are you?

[Abolfoof]

you dont start with all fresh fruits.. u have to have one already spoilt one

[vjyfcnshm]

fruits die. pen stays.

[RachieRoozxo]

anyone know roughly how long it took her to do this? since im doing something similar for photography and its taking forever to rot :(