By: Catherine Feng
Cornelia Parker is an artist who uses things like explosives steamrollers and snake venom in her work. Her creative work has changed views on what people consider “art”.
Since the late 1980s, the artist has made extremely interesting works of art. One of which being “Hanging Fire (suspected arson)” it was made out of charcoal, pins, nails, and wire. As the name says it looks like hanging fire.
This artwork is made from the remains of a real case of suspected arson! She used them without changing their form, and what used to be the reminders of a potentially devastating fire has been transformed into an amazing piece of art that people marvel at in wonder.
Cornelia Parker’s destructive take on art seems to come from her childhood, when she was living under the hands of an abusive father in Cheshire in the 1960s. As a child she would throw coins on train tracks to watch them be demolished.
This act was thrilling for a child who had been forced to give up playtime in place for mucking out stables and milking cows. Cornelia Parker did not just crush pennies. She formed art.
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