Jeff Koons

I really admire how Jeff Koons aims to create a sense of community with his work and have a large team/wanting interaction and communication. Even though the art pieces take a long time, he really emphasizes relishing the process---connecting with other people. However, as always, I wonder why only one artist gets all the credit. Even though he emphasizes how he couldn’t do this without his team, I only see them doing all the work and they even note how he rarely works on the actual painting and instead just stops by to direct the group. It’s really hard for me to wrap my head around that. I consider who ever creates the piece-the final piece-- to be the artist. I don’t really see how someone comes up with an idea, and then lets other people implement it yet he gets all the credit. I’m not sure if I relate much to his work, although I do agree with his idea that art should be powerful, should invoke something, but morality comes along with power. My favorite pieces of his were the shiny, reflective pieces, like the pink “egg” thing & bunny & balloon animal work—totally beautiful and surreal/alien-like. I also like his use of mathematical patterns, because I’m a math nerd and I think it’s really cool when artists use math and science in their art. I also really liked his topiary pieces, because it reminded me a lot of the Shining (book) and I felt like little Danny looking at them—in wonder, but also kind of scared and intimidated. Overall, I thought his work was interesting and beautiful to look at, but I’d rather see artists actually working on their piece.