Catch up: Art and Identity, Art and Architecture

Art and Identity - Yasumasa Morimura
Morimura is a Japanese artist who reenacts iconic western images, such as Marilyn Monroe in her wind-swept dress pose or Manet's Olympia. Morimura transforms himself as a homage to the "idealised distant world" he was exposed to in post-war japan as a child. Morimura works are seen rather than the usual subversion to be an exploration of these ideals and their place in his westernised-japanese identity. this it seen through the introduction of japanese elements to the original western icon, for example in the work Futago (1988) Morimura swaps the fabric on the bed to an overtly japanese style this added to the replacement of Manet's feline with the iconic "beckoning cat" and Morimura's own japanese facial features brings the artists identity into the iconic images that he says helped to make his identity.

Art and Architecture - Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio
Diller and Scofidio look at the private and public space and how modern architecture and security systems have altered the way in which these spaces exist and interact. diller and scofidio work alot with security cameras commenting on the act of watching and being watched as an aspect of the architectural space, without the space there would be no need to watch or be watched, public and private wouldn't exist. through this they also look at what is actually being shown, as with master/slave (1999) which shows a procession of toy robots in a modern office like structure through a series of video displays that shows not only the robots as they move through the space but via x-ray the inner workings of the robots within the space calling into question the nature of surveillance and what is still private in a public domain in contemporary society

Art & Audience/Politics - Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

"I want you, the viewer to be intellectually challenged, moved and informed . . . I need the public to complete the work. I ask the public to help me, to take responsibility, to become part of my work, to join in. I tend to think of myself as a theater director who is trying to convey some ideas by reinterpreting the notion of the division of roles: author, public, and director" - Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Interactive or “Participatory art”1 as Eleanor Heartney suggests is art which involves the audience in order for the artwork to fully function. Adriano Pedrosa states Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s art is highly dependant on audience interaction, giving the viewers an “obligation to act”2 in reaction to his works. As seen in Gonzalez-Torres’s artworks, meaning is created through the act of participation. He presents the viewer with a situation where curiosity and intrigue acquires the better of them relying on a physical or emotional engagement with the work.

There are many personal references to Gonzalez-Torres’s works which are only acquired through audience participation. Issues such as gender and sexuality, death and loss, time and change, freedom and repression are questioned. Gonzales-Torres’s life partner Ross who died of AIDS in 1991, maintained a recurring role in most of his work. As seen in “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)” 1991, the candy spill begun at the weight of the two combined lovers, and as the mound is stripped slowly, changing in shape and weight it represents mortality and loss.


Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)", 1991,
175 lbs Fruit Flasher Candy, size variable.

Also in “Untitled (Strange Bird)”, 1993, Pedrosa states the paper stacks “sit silent like tombstones or anti-monuments”3

depicting black clouds with a singular bird in flight, representing power of the individual spirit referring to Gonzalez-Torres’s experience with AIDS and the effect it had on his life. The precarious shape, weight and composition of “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)” and “Untitled (Strange Bird)” are slowly diminished, as the audience is invited to take pieces away with them. However in this case “to eliminate is to complete”4 with the final act of the audience, the artwork gains a life of its own and is replenished by the gallery.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled (Strange Bird)", 1993

8 in. x 44 1/2 in. x 33 1/2 in. (20.32 cm x 113.03 cm x 85.09 cm)
Collection SFMOMA

Gonzalez-Torres explores the medium of audience interaction differently to his candy spills and paper stacks, In “Untitled (Go Go Dancing platform)” 1991, the audience is invited to watch and become emotionally involved in the artwork consisting of a white platform with a rim of lights occasionally enlivened by a well-muscled male dancer who privately listens to music. This creates a situation where the viewer participates from a more observational viewpoint, and like most performance art, is confronting to witness. Heartney suggests that “it is the attitude of the audience toward the art which becomes the work”5.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled (Go Go Dancing Platform)", 1991,
wood, lightbulbs, acrylic paint, GoGo dancer in silver lame bathing
suit with listening device and sneakers, 21 1/2 x 72 x 72 in.
Switzerland, private collection.

One of Gonzales-Torres last conceived works before his death in 1996 was “Untitled (Golden)” 1995, which was essentially a curtain used as a room divider, suspended in which the viewer must pass. He invited viewers to take part in the metaphorical and literal evolution of his work’s meaning as Pedrosa suggests “The gentle confrontation of this golden screen provokes the tactile and sensory, inviting the viewer to transform its shape simply by walking through”6. “Untitled (Golden)” is a work of transitory passage associated with his battle with AIDS - from life to death, public to private, the known to the unknown.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "untitled (golden)", 1995

Strands of beads and hanging device, variable dimensionsSolomon

R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Art Institute of Chicago, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2008.

1. Eleanor Heartney, Art & Today. ( London: Phaidon, 2008).
2. Adriano Pedrosa "Felix Gonzalez-Torres - Breif Article". ArtForum. 16 Oct, 2009.

(accessed 17/10/09)

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_4_39/ai_68697165/
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Eleanor Heartney, Art & Today. ( London: Phaidon, 2008).

6. Adriano pedrosa "felix Gonzalez-torres -Breif Article". ArtForum. 16 Oct,2009.

(accessed 17/10/09)

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/gonzalez-torres_felix.html

Bibliography:

Heartney, Eleanor. Art & Today. London: Phaidon, 2008.

Komis, Dmitry “whitehot Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Isa Genzken, Francesco Vezzoli @ the 52nd Venice Biennale”. Whitehot Magazine, 2007. (accessed 17/10/09)
http://www.whitehotmagazine.com/articles/francesco-vezzoli-52nd-venice-biennale/790

Pedrosa, Adriano "Felix Gonzalez-Torres - Breif Article". ArtForum. 16 Oct, 2009.
(accessed 1710/09)

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_4_39/ai_68697165/

Broken Homes - Andrew Mackenzie

better late than never right?

the review by Andrew Mackenzie on Callum Morton's 2007 Venice Biennale work "Valhalla" focuses on the implications of the architectural structures constructed in contemporary society and their internatilised and private nature. After losely Acknowledging the works connection to the ruins and battlefields of modern warfare Mackenzie moves to the work's deeper meanings about "a battlefield in which the everyday drama of thwarted domesticity plays out" the home. Mackenzie links this concept of domestic unsettlement with the location in which the work is installed, "in the quasi public domain" somewhere between the public and private. This literal representation of the metaphorical battlefield brings in the views and works of Mary Jane Jacobs "the death and life of great american cities" in which Jacobs discusses the internalisation of semi-private functions "children playing" or "friends story telling" causing urban social decline and alienation. emulated in Morton's work by the decrepit nature of the house covered in scorch marks, bullet holes and graffiti.

Mackenzie stresses the importance that this is not a biographical work and while the house is modeled on the artist's demolished childhood home it is more a metaphor for social convention as a whole and the privatisation of social structures and interactions. Mackenzie then discusses the final product of the privatised and internal architectural structures in the form of Dubai's extravagant luxury accommodations. with this we see entire islands gated off for private use.
the review then discusses the decline of modernist aesthetics and architecture as it is distorted by contemporary estate agencies.

the review by Andrew Mackenzie is an insightful view into the multilayered meanings of Callum Morton's "Valhalla" and the distinction between social behavior in private and public spacial architecture

Broken Homes- Andrew Mackenzie

"Broken Homes" is an article by Andrew Mackenzie critiquing Callum Morton's work Valhalla from the 2007 Venice Biennale. Mackenzie reveals that, contrary to the name, Valhalla isn't the mythological Nordic 'Hall of the Slain", rather a sculpture that reveals "A number of conceptual entry points and levels of meaning" bringing a complexity to the work as themes such as the war on terror - 9/11, and civil/ domestic unrest are brought to the forefront.

Mackenzie presents you with a variety of views as he takes you on a literary tour of the house, describing the visual connections of the sculpture to modern day war ruins in Afghanistan, the "splintered bones of the world trade centre", and a decapitated family home that shows years of neglect.

The building is a replica of Morton's family home that his father built decades earlier, now no longer in existence after being torn down. This event contributed to the themes of the sculpture as ruins, piles, demolition and collapse appear in Callum's work.Mackenzie refers to the sculpture as a theme park due to the size, lighting, and smoke installation, while displaying the mechanics of the work which appears as "an alienating Brechtian technique". This technique was used to shock the audience into reality, in Morton's case, revealing reality of the sculptures inner workings.

Mackenzie highlights the connections of public and political life and the social concern towards the home. He goes on to conclude that "Valhalla is not a heavenly hall, it is a monument to a home broken by time and the proclivities of real estate.. this work is one that asks questions and is not so smug as to pretend it knows the answers".

Art and Audience

Armchair Theatre, installation at the National Theatre.

When reading Art & Today’s chapter on the Audience and reading about participation of the audience, I was reminded of my recent trip to Europe. On the first day of the trip, I was in London and happened upon this great artwork. It was out the front of the National Theatre and at first glance reminded me of Putt-Putt due to the overwhelming amount out fake grass used! The lounge suite was arranged differently every day that I passed by it and occasionally someone was sitting on it. I think that it is wonderful when artists make art that people can interact with, because in the process of interacting with art it becomes less intimidating to the non-art public.

Andrew Mackenzie – Broken Homes

In the article “Broken Homes,” Andrew Mackenzie discusses various concepts about Callum Morton’s project Valhalla which was exhibited in the 2007 Venice Biennale. Mackenzie begins by comparing Valhalla to some of Morton’s other work, and discusses how his ideas have progressed. He moves on to describe the artwork as a battlefield, which alludes to the modern day ruins of Afghanistan. However the artwork is influenced by the destruction of his childhood home. Thus in architectural terms the house is a “story of broken homes.”
The artwork was built as a “burnt out, scarred and maimed shell,” however as you enter the house it ‘transition(s)’ into a “cool white spotless interior.” The sheer size of the work forces the audience to engage with the house, thus alluding “to the tension between public and private life.”
I found this article interesting and extremely well written. I enjoyed reading it and I, not knowing much about the artist, learnt a lot about the concepts and ideas behind Morton’s practice and his work Valhalla. I also like the name of the artwork, and found it to be really appropriate to the notions behind the work.

Tatzu Nishi @ AGNSW

I’m not interested in art for experts. I want art to come to the people, to involve them in it, and this doesn’t happen in the gallery space.

Tatzu Nishi quoted in Laura Allsop, ‘Outside In: Nishi Tatzu’, Art Review, no 13, p 30

Thank you to everyone for yesterday - I hope you all agree that the work is quite amazing... and for those of you who are using this exhibition for your review assessment - there is a plethora of information to be found on line.

Most notably - see the AGNSW educational notes

Art and Politics

Ai, Weiwei, Study of Perspective - Tiananmen, 1999. C-type print, addition of 10, 90x127cm. Galerie Urs Meile Beijing-Lucerne. Reproduced from Social Text, http://www.socialtext.net/data/workspaces/cdt/attachments/blogger_profile_ai_weiwei:20090225230802-1-30815/scaled/AWWFinger.jpg (accessed October 10, 2009).

Ai, Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995. Gelatin silver print, triptych, 126x110cm each unit. Galerie Urs Meile Beijing-Lucerne. Reproduced from Art Tattler, 

http://arttattler.com/Images/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/Mori%20Art%20Museum/aiweiwei_08_l.jpg

 (accessed October 10, 2009).

Ai, Weiwei, Forvever Bicycles, 2003. Bicycles 275x450cm diameter. Galerie Urs Meile Beijing-Lucerne. Image reproduced from Sinopop,

http://www.sinopop.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/forever-bicycles-2003.jpg 

(accessed October 10, 2009).

ART, AI WEIWEI & POLITICS

Ai Weiwei is a contemporary Chinese artist. His art is quite controversial and is often strongly based around philosophies and ideologies of politics and social structures. He is immensely passionate about the unprecedented growth and change in Beijing. One of Ai Weiwei’s works called Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn(1995) involves a triptych of him dropping an ancient Chinese dynasty urn. The first shot could be described as a reference to the urn’s survival in the present moment. The second is a gesture of letting go of history and cultural constructs. The third, where the urn smashes on the ground, is similar to the second. Ai is expressionless and emotionless with no shock evident on his face. This leaves the viewer to determine the value of the urn through their reaction to the destruction.

Another work Ai has done with an ancient dynasty urn is Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo(1994).  He has painted a Coca Cola logo in red on it. Ai is critically engaged with the history and material of clay. The logo causes the urn to lose its authenticity. Ai ‘challenges the distinction between high and low culture and points to their commodity-based affiliation.’(1) 

Ai’s Study of Perspective series is one of his more controversial works. Photos depict Ai sticking his middle finger up at several iconic personifications of authority. The gesture is directed at architectural monuments associated with state power and national identity. The perspective in the works is that Ai’s finger is of significant size in comparison to these monuments lets us question the individual’s opinion and feeling compared to the values, rules and constructs these monuments represent.

Ai Weiwei was the designer of the Bird’s Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympic games last year. This seems quite contradictory considering Ai outwardly opposes the Olympics but said that he did the project because he loves design. He said ‘The Olympics is far from the will of the people and the spirit of freedom, a national ceremony without the inspiration of the citizenry, a myth so far away from modern civilisation, the end will be endless nonsense and a bore.’(2)

I went to the White Rabbit Gallery a few weeks ago and was able to see a work by Ai Oil Spills(2006) in the current exhibition. It is a hyper-real installation of oil slicks made from glazed porcelain. The work is said to be about international trade and how some goods can be both damaging and productive.

Forever Bicycles is a work by Ai which is the complete abstraction of bicycles into a useless geometric construction. ‘By transforming an iconic object of Chinese life into a cog in a gigantic geometric structure. Pointedly abstracting it of any content.’(3) It could also be about how peoples lives become an impersonal object of manipulation i.e. in communism. It plays off the name of the bicycle company ‘Forever’. The bicycle is a symbol of the peasant revolution and socialist utopia turns out to be going no where. ‘It may be forever, but if it is to be called revolution, it is only insofar as the wheel revolves in the perpetual circularity of a fixed movement.’(4)

‘Ai Weiwei is a producer and maker of fairytales and those indestructible things that communities are built upon. Through his work we have the opportunity to remember.’ – Charles Merewether.(5)

1. Charles Merewether, Ai Weiwei: Under Construction. (Sydney: University of NSW Press, 2008).

2.Ibid

3.Ibid

4.Ibid

5.Ibid

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Merewether, Charles. Ai Weiwei: Under Construction. Sydney: University of NSW Press, 2008.

Higgie, Jennifer. "United Technologies". Frieze Magazine (2009), http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/united_technologies (accessed October 10, 2009).

Tinari, Philip; Pakesch, Peter; Merewether, Charles; edited by Meile, Urs. Ai Weiwei Works 2004-2007. Beijing-Lucerne: Gallery Urs Meile, 2007.

Broken Homes - Andrew Mackenzie Review

In his article "Broken Homes" Mackenzie discusses Callum Morton's Work Valhalla,exhibited in the 2007 Venice Biennale. Mackenzie discusses Morton's work initially in a political sense suggesting the the dilapdated bullet-ridden ruin of a building to potentially be referencing the strains of terrorism and war. This idea he quickly discounts on account of fearing the fall of Morton's works into the depths of "political naivity".

Counteracting any political interpretations of the work; Mackenzie states, doubtless, that the work in fact references domesticity and the ever-growing tension between the public and private existance, instilled by architecture and social planning. Mackenzie goes on to discuss the physicality of the work, walking us through his encounter with the work, noting that the model itself is based upon one of Morton's childhood homes that his father designed. Despite this; "the work refuses the romanticism of biographical projection, not least through the staginess of constructed reality."

Within his descriptions of the work; Mackenzie notes the Hollywood "theme park size" elements to it; the soundtrack, faux flame englufed exterior, the visual evidence of the technology running the work, suggesting that Morton's intention is not to be taken seriously. In light of such a claim, Mackenzie states that the work IS in fact serious in another of it's layers of referencing that he undertsands as being a questioning of the nature of private and public existence. From here on, Mackenzie launches into several paragraphs of what may be described as sociological analysis interspersed with witticims and generalisations.

Having not viewed the work; I am in a lesser postion to critisize it, let alone someone's else's interpretation of it; however, I really feel that Mackenzie takes a fairly biased approach to the work; taking his favourite interpretations of the work and claiming them as gospel. Perhaps I'm being harsh, but to me, the work is too much like a theme-park, too drawn from Morton's own existance, too staged to be considered as anything but what it is; a set, a haunted house within the context of the prestigious Venice Biennale... and really, why can't it be can't it be considered that way?

Art and Architecture - Langlands and Bell

Having collaborated since 1978, Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell have built a strong body of works discussing the role of architecture and the changing nature of human behaviours within a globalised society in relation to architecture.

In Maisons de Force, 7 white chairs stand, each of the 'seat' components of the chair encasing the outline of models of prisons from Europe and North America. Situated under a spotlight, the shadow of the outline is reflected directly below each chair. Having literally been cut into (or inserted within the open 'seat' space - I can't really tell which) the seat, the impression given (and stated on the Langlands and Bell website) is that in the event of sitting on these chairs, we represent the way by which, over time, our usage of buildings and architectural spaces become imprinted upon us.

Crystalising the sense of containment inherant in architecture, what struck me most in my reading of the work's description reads as follows;

"One of the main functions of architecture is to contain and direct social activity ... in some senses, the prison may operate as a metaphor for the social function of architecture"

http://www.langlandsandbell.com/

Art and Spirituality

Richard Campbell is an aboriginal artist, born into the Dhungutti tribe in 1956, he has been creating art since he was a little kid making drawings for his dad who would burn them onto boomerangs, shields, and spears.

19 of his paintings were chosen for the 2008 World Youth Day in Australia, his oil and acrylic paintings depicting the station of the cross using traditional aboriginal dot paintings, combining both catholic and the aboriginal dreaming beliefs in a unique blend of both religious symbols and colour.

Andrew Mackenzie's "Broken Homes"

I found Mackenzie's article very interesting and well written. He explores the very essence of Morton's Valhalla and more broadly 'home' as a symbol of this change in society where the ideas of the public and private are changing.
Mackenzie mentions some of Morton's other architectural works such as 'Mies van der Rohe' and I was interested in comparing them with 'Valhalla'. I found another article by Mackenzie in Broadsheet vol 32 no 3 which is a review of Callum Morton's 'HABITAT EXHIBITED' at the NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA' 2003 and 'MORE TALK ABOUT BUILDINGS AND MOOD' at MCA. Its interesting to compare the two articles and Morton's works focus on in each. Valhalla seems to be an intense manifestation of ideas an emotions that have been appearing throughout his work over the years. However as Mackenzie suggests his works, in particular 'Valhalla', show Morton works evolving to become more complex and deeply meaningfull, seeming to focus on human emotions as opposed to the human condition.

http://www.cacsa.org.au/publications/broadsheet/BS_v32no3/bs_24.pdf

Broken Homes Andrew Mackenzie on Callum Morton

The Broadsheet review of the Venice- celebrated piece Vallhala draws from the nexus in Morton's upbringing and the work's metaphor. The author alludes to the psychology of the artist in presenting a "smouldering" battle scarred, tenement shell, conscious of the unnecessary glamourisation of the effects of destruction, the article cites the artist's naivety.

The transpositions between what the author describes as "public and private" life becomes a certain reference throughout the articles duration, he contrasts the idea in a paragraph quoting Mary Jane Jacobs, he also refers to the "internalising of domestic space" and "enervation of public domain" in another. He then writes of eroded public life and repressed private life. There are numerous other incidences of that argument in the work, but the description, "anti social art of spatial introversion" was found to being one of the many, particularly interesting combinations, after drawing this initial (Public/Private) conclusion.

The seriousness of the work provides the Author with an insight into some major political conditions, the works ferocity addresses. The writer's enthusiasm and rhetoric are quite possible narrative toward the visual impact of the Callum Morton work. He describes the artist's disparate upbringing with a similar zeal, intending to create a sentiment between the bombed out image of the house and alluding to the home it actually was.

There was an little mention toward the contrived austerity of the arrangement, each bullet mark, pristine, clean- these are demands of a prima donna in a war savaged environment. Although the writer was fast to refer to the Vandals of Rome and, albeit somewhat prematurely, the flattening of Dresden, the more psychological elements within the work- Graffiti for example , was an aspect that I personally had not thought dealt with by the use of a Psychological analysis of the Artist. I was awestruck by Valhalla's uncanny representation and its bewilderingly unheard message of peace. Perhaps this article was written from an editorial perspective, exposing the vulnerable biography of the artist.

Broken Homes- Andrew Mackenzie

The article “Broken Homes” by Andrew Mackenzie deals with various concepts of Callum Morton’s work. Mackenzie writes of the art work Valhalla and how the work explores “battlefields”. This is in reference not only to modern day ruins in Afghanistan, war and terror, but (in architectural terms) “the story of a broken home”. Mackenzie cleverly describes the house “as a battlefield in which the everyday drama of thwarted domesticity plays out. “ He then goes on to relate the house to the domains of public and private. I enjoy how the outside of the house takes on more of a real, yet morbid representation and then as you enter the inside it represents that of purity and cleanliness. Mackenzie brings out a great social concern with the family home and relates it to Jane Jacobs, who holds housing partly to blame for lack of socialising and communication. Many interesting issues are brought up through the article, many of which i did not perceive myself. I enjoyed reading it as it gave me a different perception of the works meaning. Andrew Mackenzie created a piece of writing that was stimulating, yet not too hard to understand. Overall a good article.

Art and Architecture- Maya Lin

Maya Lyn we saw earlier in the Art:21 episode of art and identity but I thought she was also quite interesting in relation to art and architecture. As her works are part art and part architecture. This artist really inspires inspiration through her works.

She was trained as an artist and architect, and her sculptures, parks, monuments, and architectural projects are linked by her ideal of making a place for individuals within the landscape. She draws inspiration for her sculpture and architecture from culturally diverse sources, including Japanese gardens, Hopewell Indian earthen mounds, and works by American earthworks artists of the 1960s and 1970s.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/lin/






Systematic Landscapes, 2009
2 x 4 Landscape
Wood, 36' x 53' x 10'




What is missing, 2009

Take a look through her website her works are amazing. http://www.mayalin.com/

Broken Homes – Andrew Mackenzie

Andrew Mackenzie has discussed some really intriguing ideas in relation to Callum Morton's piece 'Valhalla' which was featured in the 2007 Venice Biennale. This review explores the in-depth conceptual levels of meaning behind the artists work. This artwork as Mackenzie discusses due to size and scale allows the audience to engage with the work and entice a response.

This work was heavily influenced by the destruction Morton saw to his own family home. The work takes on the foundation of an old house however, the house is “burnt out, scarred and (a) maimed shell”. The location that was this work was exhibited added to its meaning as it was situated away from other works the public did not immediately identify the work as a piece of art.

This work also looks at the domestically of the family home. This idea of home is at the centre of all that is human, it is where most of our lives take place and it is where our humanity lies. The discussion of these ideas by Mackenzie is an emotive point of discussion as he sees “it becomes a powerful mediation on the domains of the private and the public.” This idea of the private and public is discussed quite frequently within the article. This work is believed to depict the “uneasy distinction between private and public life”. With this a sense of ethical, cultural and social concern arises. These concerns predominately lie within the decline in the “social life of the city” due to the political control on public life. Public life is slipping away by control on all aspects of social life. He continues on to discuss the decline of the American neighbourhood and the “prosperity that once existed between home and public life” and the neighbourhood that once was.

This last quote from Mackenzie encompasses all that this work displays that” The burn marks and bullet holes that deface ‘Valhalla’s’ walls are the damage done by the simultaneous erosion of public life and repressed internalisation of private life: the enslavement of architecture to property development in the broadest sense, as well as in the more specific demolition of a piece of Morton's past.”
This article is one of rich ideas and discussion; the writer does look at all the possibilities this work is offering in conceptual meaning. The ideas discussed in relation to public and private life for the reader ignite discussion of the modern world. The work is full of fascinating meaning and Mackenzie has brought up ideas in relation to this work i would not have considered.

Broken Homes...

Andrew Mackenzie's review of Callum Morton's works was a particularly interesting read. His discussion is based primarily on Morton's Valhalla from the Venice Biennale of 2007. I found that, not at all being familiar with Morton's work, i can grasp the concepts which with he deals through his works. Obviously an artist dealing with architecture and institutions, Morton's idea's of public and private space being plumented teniously together in the stucture of a home is one that is not only intriguing but also starkly honest and one which can be related to with a sence of reality and truth. Although the work as Morton would have it, is not a personal diatrabe, but rather a social commentry, and Mackenzie's likening to such things as the World Trade Centre and Palestinian homes certainly gives the works an entirely different look.

Mackenzie’s impression of Callum Morton's Valhalla.

Mackenzie’s impression of
Callum Morton’s Valhalla.

“ Smouldering remains of a building that Morton has so morbidly brought back from the dead in this city of phantoms.”

Andrew Mackenzie says Callum Morton’s piece for the 2007 Venice Biennale, Valhalla has various meanings. His impression of the project is a narrative of a broken home. He believes Morton has tried to construct the concerns of society’s private and public life that surrounds and maybe destroys a home. Morton has allowed the audience to engage spatially with the large-scale installation. By placing the house away from the main exhibitions and on its own separate site that fits with in a public domain has made it more intriguing. He also establishes that some of the elements of the house are recreations of Morton’s past.

Mackenzie’s say with this piece the artist has extended and evolved from his earlier works. Clearly this Valhalla is not a heavenly hall. It is a monument to a home broken by time and the proclivities of real estate. It is a monument to the ravaging force of economy over ideology. And this work is one that asks questions and is not so smug as to pretend it has the answers.

This review was a very enjoyable and easy read. I will also find it helpful when writing my own art review.

Broken Homes - Andrew Mackenzie

Andrew Mackenzie’s review Broken Homes provided great insight into Callum Morton’s artwork Valhalla. It not only discusses the influences and concepts behind the work but clearly breaks down the multiple layers of meaning that can be read into Morton’s artwork.

Mackenzie describes the ‘home’ as “a battlefield in which the everyday drama of thwarted domesticity plays out” and notes Morton’s references to contemporary ruins, and the ‘tragic continuity of history’. Mackenzie then continues to show that this continuity is reinforced by the title Valhalla, ‘Hall of the Slain’ in Nordic mythology.

I was interested to find that Morton’s family home “Myoora” had been torn down and it is upon this realization that the work has been based. Created for the 2007 Venice Biennale the work becomes in a way an exploration of the tension between public and private space. Mackenzie insists however that the work is not a biographical projection and suggests the eroded and burnt exterior becomes a metaphor for all the damage done by ‘the simultaneous erosion of public life... and the enslavement of architecture to property development’ and I would agree with him. I would also agree that because of the small separated site the work would not necessarily be ‘immediately identifiable as art’. I hadn’t made the connection before reading the article but I feel that the specifics of the site highlight the tension between the public and the private spaces, a theme that Mackenzie suggests Morton has often alluded to through his work.

I found the article to be very interesting, informative and easy to understand considering the complexity of Callum Morton’s artworks.

Art and Its Institutions – Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler

Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler collaborated for a decade, producing works ranging from public projects and site specific installations to drawings and mixed media sculptures. They explored the aspects of the exhibition apparatus. The duo created conceptual and minimalist works that involved political and economic issues, history and national iconography to cross the barriers around most public works and engage more people’s minds thus making the work more “public”. They engage the audience to such a degree that their work could not be complete without audience participation. One of their installations/outdoor projects includes Camouflaged History, 1999 a house that was painted in an army-deigned pattern using 72 commercial paints. The commercial name of each paint, commemorated an aspect of the city’s history (Charleston, South Carolina), is also painted on the house, revealing the city’s civil war past.

Art and Architecture – Absalon

Absalon is an Israeli sculptor who moved to Paris in the later 1980s. During his career he constructed a number of 1:1 scale architectural models which were created as idealistic living units. Made of wood and painted white these models reveal and obsession with order, arrangement and containment, and are highly focused on geometric elements: circles, cylinders, squares and cubes. These “Cellules” sculptures were designed to be placed in various cities, thus providing the artist accommodation while he travelled. In 1993, Absalon exhibited a series of six “Cellules” in Paris. He described how these models fitted both to his body and to his mental space, but were also designed to allow movement for his body. These forms explored domestic architecture as a vehicle of mental and physical habituation. These “Cellules” provided a calm, control and protection atmosphere, while letting the imagination wonder. They merged the necessary with the utopian, and transformed everyday life into sublime order.

Art and Globalism – Xu Bing

Xu Bing is a Chinese born artist, who works in New York. His art practise is an exploration of language. Works ranging from monumental installations to handcraft books, he plays with the written word, usually in the form of Chinese characters. Bing creates installations which questions the notion of communication through language, demonstrating how both meanings and words can be manipulated. A Book from the Sky (1987-90) consisted of over 200 hand printed, and hand bound volumes of a single book. The artist invented approximately 4000 characters resembling Chinese characters. Xu Bing hand carved the typesetting blocks used to make the prints according to traditional Chinese block printing methods. Each block had a unique but meaningless symbol which was used as movable type to print the volumes of books and scrolls that were laid out on the floor or hung from the ceiling. The texts appear to convey ancient wisdom, but in fact they are unintelligible. This artwork recasts the cultural meaning and the authority of language.

institutions and the kosuthian way of viewing

Joseph Kosuth, One in Three Chairs, 1965.

Joseph Kosuth, Titled (Art as Idea as Idea), 1966.

Joseph Kosuth, Leaning Glass, 1965.

Joseph Kosuth,'Titled (Art as Idea as Idea) [Water]', 1966.

J Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965


Who decides what should be displayed? Who gets to speak in the name of ‘Art’, ‘the public’ or ‘the nation’?

What are the processes, interests and negotiations involved in the construction of an exhibition or museum display?

And most importantly what, as a result, is silenced or left out?

Artists use the museum as a medium in order to investigate cultural production and knowledge, provoking the idea that museums always involve cultural, social and political negotiations and value-judgements when constructing an exhibition.

These negotiations and value-judgements must by nature have political, social and cultural implications.

In the case of Joseph Kosuth there is a strong drive to explore and question the production of meaning in the nature or realm of art.

It is hard to surmise each individual piece in Kosuth’s exhibitions due to the size and complexity of the displays so instead I’d rather point out some of their underlying issues and themes.

A lot of Kosuth’s exhibitions look at the role of the curator and museum as a business that pronounces the importance of certain practices and art objects as belonging to the ‘proper’ realm of Art. He questions the way in which museum exhibitions choose and display art works and the effect this has on the audience.

Kosuth’s practice is also influence by the writings of 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein’s theories on language arise from the principles of symbolism and the essential relationships between ‘words’ and ‘things’ in any language.[1] In the text Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Wittgenstein is concerned with, among other things, Accurate Symbolism. Accurate Symbolism is a concept of symbolism in which a sentence of things means something rather definite.

This notion of accurate symbolism can be seen expressed in Kosuth’s work, primarily those like One in Three Chairs 1965, in which an ordinary wooden chair, a photograph of the ordinary wooden chair and a dictionary definition of the word ‘chair’ are displayed side-by-side in a gallery space. Not only does this work question what is by definition ‘real’/ authentic or inauthentic, but its process of display also undermines the business of the curator and museum/institution. The curator of the exhibition displaying One in Three Chairs must follow the instructions stipulated by Kosuth, whereby the curator is to a degree made powerless. Instead of sending his completed work to be installed, as seen fit by the curator or director of the museum, Kosuth sends off a brief and succinct description of how the work must be completed and displayed.

One in Three Chairs has been displayed numerous times with the only things that remain constant being the Instructions for construction and display and the Photographic enlargement of the dictionary definition of ‘Chair’.

In a work that appears so formal and restricted by rules and guidelines, its inconstant nature would seem surprising. Yet it is exactly the syntax of the language of these instructions that Kosuth is playing with. For Kosuth an artwork must always involve a test and in this case he is testing the construction of art through language[2]. Although each curator is given the exact same copy of instructions and enlargement of the dictionary definition, each curator is still inherently unique in time and place.

Which bring us back to Kosuth relationship to the ideas on logic of Wittgenstien. Wittgenstein proposes two problems with the logic of symbolism; the conditions for sense rather than nonsense in the combinations of symbols and the conditions for uniqueness of meaning or reference in symbols or combinations of symbols[3].

This is not to say that the curator is given back his curatorial power, it is merely that each time the work is set up the language of the instructions and the completed work is understood in a different way. The work suggests the problematic relationship between language, image and referent and causes the viewer to question representation, definition, reality and above all form.

Kosuth reiterates these points in the works such as Leaning Glass, in which five foot sheets of glass with one word printed in black lettering on the surfaces are leant casually against the wall and designed to be direct description of themselves.

Other works like Art as idea as idea also explores, through direct visual language, the status of art and the definition of an art object.

Kosuth creates a non-confrontational dialogue between the audience, the art object and 'Art' to suggest that one must also look analytically and realistically when gazing upon a museum/institution display and to think about the what the concealed message being projected may be.

Kosuth’s exhibitions to some extent denounce the trust we put in the role of the institution and assert that the concreteness of art-historical museum displays leave gaps in the total entity of art[4]. Whereby kosuths works can be seem as a pleading or coaxing of the audience to make assessments of truth based of self-understanding and practical consideration.

Images;

1. Joseph Kosuth, One in Three Chairs, 1965. Wood folding chair, mounted photograph of a chair, and photographic enlargement of a dictionary definition of "chair", Chair 32 3/8 x 14 7/8 x 20 7/8" (82 x 37.8 x 53 cm), photographic panel 36 x 24 1/8" (91.5 x 61.1 cm), text panel 24 x 24 1/8" (61 x 61.3 cm). Image reproduced from MOMA. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3228&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1

2. Joseph Kosuth, Titled (Art as Idea as Idea), 1966. printed definitions glued to board form of presentation: six mounted photostats. photostats: 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm) each overall: 48 x 303 inches (121.9 x 769.6 cm) image reproduced from Sean Kelly Gallery. http://www.skny.com/exhibitions/2008-10-25_neither-appearance-nor-illusion

3. Joseph Kosuth, Leaning Glass, 1965. Glass sheets with printed words, 60x60 inches. Image reproduced from Sean Kelly Gallery http://www.skny.com/exhibitions/2008-10-25_neither-appearance-nor-illusion

4. 'Titled (Art as Idea as Idea) [Water]', 1966. Photostat, mounted on board, 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Image reproduced from Guggenheim, New York. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search='Titled%20(Art%20as%20Idea%20as%20Idea)%20%5BWater%5D'&page=&f=Title&object=73.2066

5. Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965
 Installation: chair out of wooden and 2 photographs 
 200 X 271 X 44 cm. Image reproduced from Centre Pompidou. http://www.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-ArtConcept/image03.htm

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[1] Ludwig Wittgenstein, ‘Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus’ (New York: Routledge, 2001)

[2] Stuart Morgan, ‘Art as Idea as Idea – An interview with Joseph Kosuth’, Freize no.16 (May 1994): 2.

[3] Ludwig Wittgenstein, ‘Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus’ (New York: Routledge, 2001)

[4] Stuart Morgan, ‘Art as Idea as Idea – An interview with Joseph Kosuth’, Freize no.16 (May 1994): 4.

Sorry i could do it by the time i said, i tried to do it as fast as possible. Also the spacing of this blog is not under my control.