Art + Institutions

Primavera '09 hosts a multitude of interdisciplinary works, one of the most provocative works being that of Christopher LG Hill - Clique. The installation work features a collection of centrally facing chairs derived from the MCA storeroom, the works of other artists and various other sources. Sitting amidst the chairs are precisely ordered piles "junk". Also present within the installation is Hill's recent thesis Never work, all art is problematic.

Challenging the object value systems and consumer driven society we perpetuate, Hill also questions the level of interaction the gallery space and it's staff have upon a work (significant in this case, the work having utilized a number of the chairs). In a larger sense, Hill questions the nature and structuring of the art institution globally; to what extent is art of any use if it is not universally accepted? In which case, why make art?

Self-Directed Work - Recording Screen Shot

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 + Spirituality + Globalism - Christian Jankowski

http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/christian-jankowski/video/



Christian Jankowski is a contemporary German artist who explores themes of communication, the varied forms of spritiuality and the internal psyche.

His work depicted above (a still from the video, linked), Telemistica, 1999 was exhibited in the 1999 Venice Bienale, in addtion to being televised in what would have to be real-time, given the call-in nature of the show. The video runs for approximately 5 minutes, in which we are exposed to The Opening scenes of Barbara Ferugljo's "L'Altra Modo di Esistere" (The Other Way to Exist), a tarot reading / fortune telling program on Italian television. Her first call is from Jankowski, having previously organised the call in advance. The artist introduces himself and asks if he will receive the support he needs to be able to complete his work for the Biennale in 2 weeks time. Ferugljo reads his cards and advises him that he will be eventually successful. While the work is not necessarily mocking the nature of clairvoyancy, the kitch commericalisation of the practice is questioned by the artist. The practice of the clairvoyant was once associated with shamanism and ancient Hindu prcactices; a private interaction between the clairvoyant and his /her client. Jankowski's Telemistica comments upon the exploitation of this once sprititual process achieved via globalisation and mass media.

The Holy Artwork, 2001 by Jankowski explores the exploitation of spirituality via the vehicle of mass media within a globalised culture. Spanning roughly 15 minutes of airtime, the work is filmed on a hand held video recorder by Jankowski in which televangilist Pastor Peter Spencer preaches the sacred nature of art. Jankowski moves up onto the stage during his sermon and collapses at Spencer's feet, all whilst still filming. The artist plays upon the behaviour of fundamental evangelical Christians who claim to be overtaken with the spirit of God. Heartney claims the work is "absurd" - working both against and in harmony with Christian spirituality.

Frustratingly, I couldn't find this video online, so I can't link it. (If anyone else has seen it, or knows how to access it, do tell me, I'm realy curious to see it).

Art + Identity - Mary Kelly's Post-Partum Document

“… ‘femininity’ can be understood not as a natural essence but as a complicated edifice which patriarchy demands in order to give ‘masculinity’ meaning and strength.”

Mary Kelly’s Post-Partum Document is a sensuous, Lacanian influenced documentation of the mother-child relationship; ensuing the consequential re-formation and development of the mother and the child’s respective identities. PPD is Kelly’s most renowned work; a large scale installation consisting of 135 pieces, divided into 6 subcategories, progressively mapping the separation between mother and baby – specifically; Kelly and her own son. Identity is referenced by the work extrinsically within the artist-audience relationship; Kelly’s identity as a feminist artist, and intrinsically within the artist-artwork framework; Kelly’s negative identity, determined by the progressive independence of her son.

Drawing from Lacan’s neo-Freudian ideas concerning psychoanalysis in relation to unconscious development, Kelly accompanies series of meticulously recorded fragments of her son’s early development with “pseudo-scientific language … to counter the assumption that childcare is based on women’s natural and instinctive understanding of the role of mothering” . Included within her recordings of her son; Kelly exhibits feeding charts, faecal stains, first and/or significant speech utterances, first drawings, plaster casts and a jarring array of both objective and subjective journalistic entries made by the artist herself.

PPD recounts to its viewers the progressive stages of Kelly’s consecutive identity roles in relation to her son’s growth. During the ante-partum (pregnancy) and breastfeeding stages respectively, Lacanian thought suggests the symbolic role of the mother is temporarily heightened to that of a self-fulfilled, narcissistic being, within an inherently symbiotic relationship with her child; the child effectively becoming the phallus. However, as time progresses and the child becomes more independent, the mother “… experiences a sense of loss that … Kelly describes as reliving her own Oedipal drama, undergoing castration for the second time and re-learning the fact of her negative place in the symbolic order.”

It is at this point in the mother-child relationship that review critic Laura Mulvey suggests the mother has two possible options; “recognition … of her place or rebellion against it … her rebellion takes the form of fetishisation of the child (as substitute phallus), clinging to the couple relationship”. This fetishisation of the child is actively taken up by Kelly within the context of the artwork, thus, enabling the transgression of her intrinsic identity to that of her extrinsic identity. By channeling the compulsive energies of mapping her son’s progress into her artwork, Kelly effectively relinquishes any sense of attachment to the symbiosis between herself and her son, simultaneously upholding two separate identities.

References

Mulvey, L. “Post-Partum Document Review” in Post-Partum Document, Mary Kelly. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

Kelly, M. Preface to Post-Partum Document, by Mary Kelly. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

Kelly, M. Post Partum Document. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

Isaak, J. “Our Mother Tongue: The Post-Partum Document” in Post-Partum Document, Mary Kelly. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

Iverson, M. “The bride stripped bare by her own desire: reading Mary Kelly’s Post-Partum Document” in Post-Partum Document, Mary Kelly. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

Kelly, M. Imaging Desire. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996.

Nasio, J. Five Lessons of the Psychoanalytic Theory of Jacques Lacan, trans. David Pettigrew and Francois Raffoul. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

Image References

Kelly, M. Post-Partum Document: Documentation I, 1974. Analysed faecal stains and feeding charts (prototype), (detail). Perspex unit, white card, diaper linings, plastic sheeting, paper, ink. 1 of the 7 units, 28 x 35,5cm. Collection Generali Foundation, Vienna. Reproduced from Postmasters, http://www.postmastersart.com/archive/MK/PPDDocI.html# (accessed August 28th, 2009).

Kelly, M. Post-Partum Document. 1976. Transitional Objects, Diary and Diagram (detail), Perspex unit, white card, body/hand imprint in clay, Plaster of Paris, cotton fabric, string. 1 of the 8 units, 28 x 35.5 cm each. Collection, Zurich Museum. Reproduced from Postmasters, http://www.postmastersart.com/archive/MK/PPDDocIV.html# (accessed August 28th, 2009).

Kelly, M. Post-Partum Document: Introduction, 1973, (detail). Perspex unit, white card, wool vests, pencil, ink. 1 of the 4 units, 20 x 25.5 cm each. Collection Peter Norton Family Foundation. Reproduced from Postmasters, http://www.postmastersart.com/archive/MK/PPDIntro.html# (accessed August 28th, 2009).

Collaborative Art - NU-CA

NU-CA is a title that encompasses "a network of uncollectable artists" and their characteristically unobtainable, poorly documented, large scale and sometimes illegal works. Ironically, I found their site seconds after having googled "sydney collaborative artists".

The website is something of a directory listing collaborative artists around Australia; their respective blog sites, dissertaions, discussions and the cultural events within which they are involved (radio shows, etc).

Unfortunately, as I trawled through the various links, I noticed the website seems to have been inactive for about two years :( I don't know whether this means they are no longer operating .. or they just don't update their blog.

Solidifying the group's status as a collaboration rather than mere directory, in 2004 at the Next Wave Festival in Melbourne, the group launched a series of collector cards (see the one featured above; , featuring the uncollectable NU-CA artists themselves :).

Check out their website: http://squatspace.com/uncollectable/index.php

Images + Data sourced from: NU-CA, NU-CA Network of Uncollectable Artists (2007) http://squatspace.com/uncollectable/index.php (accessed August 25th, 2009).

Art + the Body - Gina Pane

Gina Pane is renowned for using her body as a point of reference to the environment and the impact upon which humans have upon it.

In her performance work Azione Sentimentale in 1973, Pane deliberately self-harmed in order to illustrate the control and the ability to corrupt the environment that humans posess and often dismiss.

Critical Literature Review

Reference: Zurbrugg, N. Installation Art – Essence and Existence in What is installation? An anthology of writings of Australian installation art edited by Geczy, A. and Genocchio, B. 25-31. Sydney: Power Publications, 2001.


Zurbrugg’s chapter within What is Installation? … is an academic essay within which he engages the reader in a discussion directed at obtaining a more structured and informed definition of the term “installation” and the subsequent academic and visual consequences arising from such definition. Within the chapter, Zurbrugg argues that

…it seems more helpful to consider the origins of different kinds of contemporary Installation Art in terms of the early twentieth-century avant-garde movements … it seems that post-modern Installation Art derives from modernist experimentation …

Within the first two paragraphs of the text, Zubrugg sets an over-arching, pragmatic definition of installation;

Installation Art might tentatively be defined as that which artists install, inside, outside or around the exhibition space … perhaps the single-most common feature of all installations is their use of three-dimensional space …

By initially utilising a simplified definition of installation; Zurbrugg facilitates an expansive discussion on the topic, comprising of three primary categories; kinetic, performance and environmental installation art. Zurbrugg formulates his own definition of installation via historical comparison; drawing references to schools of thought in art, to art itself, and visual analysis.

Kinetic, or technological installation, referred to early within the essay, encompasses movement in the form of sound, light and heat waves. Zurbrugg argues that the development and initial experiments with this form of installation can be attributed to the Futurists and those involved in the Bauhaus experiments of the 1920s. Within Zurbrugg’s observations of ‘Kinetic Installation’, Moholy-Nagy’s Light Space Modulator, is referred to by the author as functioning “both as a kinetic or static sculpture, as a twofold installation piece”. The artist’s work presents to the author only a minor comparative challenge to those exhibited by artists branching into a number installation ‘fields’ simultaneously.

Considered by the author as multi-media artist, John Cage serves as a transition between two of Zubrugg’s Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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jor explorations; both kinetic and performance installations. Cage, having recorded a number of his performances, presents a larger problem to Zurbrugg in terms of defining installation;

The co-presence of such detail [the recorded documentation of the work and the live occurrence of the work] typifies the recurrent disparity between Installation Art as some sort of real-time process within a specific location … and Installation Art as documentation.

Posing the most significant problem to Zurbrugg, in his efforts to specify installation, however, is environmental art; the final component of the influences he presents as being precursors to the emergence of installation today. It is here that Zurbrugg struggles with the primary challenge associated with Installation Art- the notion of whether or not “any selection of pre-existing materials may function as an installation in any place if the artists considers them to have artistic value”. Schwitters’ Merzbau is used by Zurbrugg to exemplify this very problem; the combined static, and, at times, banal elements of the work ultimately leads to Zurbrugg’s final conclusion;

…when we ask ourselves which installation works or installation performances and installation-actions seem most substantial, it seems arguable that different kinds of kinetic works seem most attuned to present times …the most rewarding installations are perhaps those which imply or enact some sort of movement …

In light of the objective historical data Zurbrugg has gathered, he has seemingly drawn a somewhat frustrated and subjective conclusion based upon what appears “most rewarding” as opposed to what seemed to be his initial intention; to identify the holistic nature of installation in consideration of the entirety, rather than a selection of it’s influences.