Death has always influenced cultures since the beginning of time, it has always been this shadow that transcends any belief or culture. it is a factor of humanity and is one of the constants that defines the entire human existence. Christian Boltanski's large installation Personnes, created in 2010, is a work that evokes this feeling of death and highlights the fragility of humanity through its melancholy atmosphere. His piece shares many similarities with other art movements such as Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism, but this particular piece by Boltanski is an important work in the world of art history due to its relationship to Abstract Expressionism and the way it where both of these movements explore the idea of ​​the human being. existence in completely different stylistic ways. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Boltanski's large Personnes installation, held in Paris at the Grand Palais, is composed of sixty-nine field-like sections arranged in a long grid pattern. On the floor of the Palais, each field is composed of an assortment of clothes and a fluorescent light above the field illuminating the uninhabited clothing below. At the other end of the building is a huge pile of clothes above which hovers a large industrial claw. The cold grip of the industrial claw reaches down to pick up these garments making it appear as if they are about to embark on a long journey only to be dropped and returned to where they came from. This action of engagement and disengagement by the claw is certainly a commentary on the cycle of human life, engagement being the birth of human existence and disengagement our inevitable death. Looking at ​Personnes​, thinking about Boltanski's other works, one can see that Personnes​ clearly talks about the life cycle of humanity. These life and death themes that appear in this specific work bring out reflections on contemporary political and social problems such as the European immigration issues that were occurring in the early 2010s, “the Arab Spring movement, triggered by Tunisian protests in 2010 had huge implications for Europe, pushing record numbers of refugees to leave their homes in the Middle East” (Glazer). This violence and political tension in the Middle East that was occurring around the time of Boltanski's installation is a factor that should be considered when discussing the themes of life and death in his work, as it reinforces this idea of ​​death as something omnipresent force . Boltanski's work also speaks to historical atrocities such as World War II and the Holocaust. His exploration of the genocide that occurred during the Second World War is something quite common in his work; “He often creates works of prisons, hospitals and schools, which are very interested in the consequences and lessons of the past. In a series of elegies evoking the Holocaust, Boltanski hung slightly blurry photographs of children and surrounded them with clusters of small electrical constructions that cast a glow similar to candlelight in a place of worship” (Arnason, Mansfield 703). However, the meaning of his work goes beyond a simple historical event: “My work is not about the camps, it is after the camps. The reality of the West has been changed by the Holocaust. We can no longer see anything without seeing that. But my work isn't really about the Holocaust, it's about death in general, all our deaths” (Solomon-Godeau, Boltanski). Boltanski himself reinforces this idea of ​​​Perssones​ as a commentary on human existence. Another thing that should beconsidered is the title of the artwork. “The title of the installation, Personnes, evokes contradictory ideas in French: personne means both someone and nobody.” This title once again adds to the theme of existence by demonstrating that, similarly to the word Personne, human beings are something important, yet ultimately we are nothing. Looking at Boltanski's other works we see that he seems to be influenced by the Holocaust and the Second World War, but more importantly, he questions our very existence and causes the viewer to contemplate the ephemerality of human life. Abstract Expressionism, while drastically different in style than Boltanski's work, still shares the same inspiration. Abstract Expressionism was born in the mid-20th century and is characterized by a chaotic style with an almost violent use of paint splashed on canvases. Artists were inspired by this new philosophy called existentialism, the academic discussion of the subconscious mind, and many artists rebelled against the normal figurative forms of painting that were popular before the war. In an article by art historian Stephen Polcarim, he discusses how this movement and its artists were related to and, in a sense, a reaction to the war; “The Abstract Expressionists addressed the historical, psychological and emotional crises of the dark days of the early 1940s not by recording them with illustrations and images of the war as most other artists did, but by disguising them through symbols, metaphors and allegories” (Polcari). The artist tended to use this form of chaotic painting, often called action painting, to explore that subconscious part of the human mind, letting the artist's mind flow freely on the canvas, leading to this chaotic style. Artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Adolph Gottlieb are just some of the most notable artists of this movement who embraced this style in their paintings. The early abstract expressionists also tended to be interested in the philosophy of existentialism, and when we delve deeper into the ideas of existentialism we begin to see how the artists of the abstract expressionist movement relate to this philosophy and incorporate these themes of existence into their work. Philosophy itself highlights, among other things, the freedom that human beings have in the world as individuals. Jean-Paul Sartre, who was an existentialist who popularized philosophy among many during the 20th century, talks a lot about the idea of ​​freedom and human existence: “The main characteristics of this ontology are groundlessness and the radical freedom that characterize the human condition.” (Onof) This personal freedom, encouraged and explored by existentialism, can be easily seen in the works of many abstract expressionists by Jackson Pollock ​Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), we can see these aspects of existential philosophy and how they are present. in his work. Pollock's large painting, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), embodies the idea of ​​freedom with its dramatic splashes of paint that bathe the canvas and end up forming this chaotic yet expressive work of art Much like existentialism, Pollock is able to embrace and exploit the control he has over his life, and uses this control to create these chaotic paintings that represent the freedom we all have. existence in some of his paintings. In Gottlieb's painting, ​Blast I​, we see a circular sphere that seems to arise from the black abyss below. This red sphere bursting out of the black nothingness suggests the embryonic stage of a fetus, almost as if it were genesis of human existence. These themes of existence and freedom under discussion/1360612