Jordan Perez
The concept and origin of museums is a widely explored field with many interpretations and theories sprouting from its ideology. From the basis of this universal concept many offshoots and variations upon the museum theory have arisen and taken root in the art world as the conventional approach to displaying and interpreting one’s own art. Concepts such as the personal gallery space, public installation and sculpture gardens are all variations of this inherent establishment. However as with any derivative there are some deviations, some variations from an initial idea that define the alternate model. What I am choosing to explore with this exhibition is the subsequent meaning and intention of art outside the conventional space of a museum or gallery. These various alterations in the idea and the artists’ choice to display their art in such a space suggest their intention. One of the pieces of literature I chose to accompany this analysis is a book entitled Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris by Thomas E. Crow. This introduction to the book describes in detail the origin of the museum, the French Salon, a sort of festival of fine arts, and its transition from a being a private affair reserved only for upper class citizens to a general event open to all, from nobles to peasants. For those of the lower class viewing such art was a rarity only afforded to them a handful of times a year, therefore this newly publicized event held great significance and value to the class as a whole [1]. The main concept I gathered from this text was the idea of displaying art as a public venue and the various social hierarchies to which art has come to direct itself towards. I carry this idea further by questioning and examining the idea of the artist’s personal intentions and ideas versus the unintentional connotations of the art regarding the spaces in which it exists. Naturally one must first critically analyze and understand the concept of a museum and its connotations before attempting to interpret its offshoots. It is not erroneous to look at the idea of the museum as a precursor to all modernist exhibition venues.
The overarching theme common to the artistic works I chose is one of the intentional meanings of the artist when placing his/her art outside the conventional museum setting. When choosing the artist and his or her work I attempted to keep in mind the endeavor to convey a sense of conveying or commenting upon relationships between these spaces in a multitude of ways. One of the works I selected based on this criterion is a 1999 installation piece by MFA Roberley Bell titled “Locus”. This installation consists of two small areas (12'x12'x4') surrounded by a generic white picket fence. Inside the fenced areas is artificial turf and flowers on soil. The artificial flowers spell out the words “desire” and “regret” respectively. The entire piece is located in front a major national bank in Washington, DC [2]. The significance behind this particular piece is heavy and relevant.
To begin to analyze it I first looked at the media in which the work was created. A white picket fence is a powerful image that suggests themes of suburban life and the American dream. The idea of an ideal life in the mid nineteenth century commonly consisted of a small family with a modest ranch house in the suburbs, often surrounded by a white picket fence; therefore the image has become iconic of the sort of lifestyle it is associated with. However this image was a façade of sorts and attempted to create an idealized image of American life in contrast to the harsh reality of the cold war and the newly introduced concept of mutually assured destruction. The false turf and flowers in the piece perhaps assist this commentary upon the false pretenses of the era and its relevance today. The words desire and regret in conjunction with the work’s placement create a space which brings up the folly of notions of decadence of necessity in the American life style. According to Bell’s herself “Locus” deals with the relationship between the natural and artificial and the significance of creating a suburban space in an urban area. After performing this comprehensive analysis I could begin to look at the work as whole to better understand how it defies classical museum treatment and format. The location of the piece is the main factor behind understanding its message. By placing it in front of a national bank Bell adds another layer of meaning and intention behind the work, this piece is something that obviously relies a great deal upon location to infer to its own meaning. In my exchanges with the artist herself I was informed of some of her intentions and preconceived notions regarding the work. Environmentalism and ecology have come to play a large part in her work which seems to be only natural considering its placement in a naturalistic environment. Bell informed me that as a sculptor who regularly engages in the kind of practices which I find significant to my thesis she has come to view her work as an endeavor to contrast artificial constructions and their existence as a modern convenience to the naturalistic and perhaps “intended” aspects of material and its form [3].
The second work I selected to compliment my thesis is a mixed media piece by Launa Beuhler entitled “STOP” (48" x 48" x 4") made in 2006. The piece is essentially a very worn, weathered, and scratched stop sign over a blue background on which words “senseless violence”, “war”, and “hatred” have been inscribed and repeat [4]. The most obvious and apparent message being conveyed by this piece is, of course, a plea to end the practices of violence, war, and hatred. By using a stop sign Beuhler uses a widely known and practiced example of cessation and links it to these immoral actions in order to mostly clearly and forcefully convey her message as one of necessity as traffic stop signs are. The ragged and scratched surface of the stop sign suggests that it is an old and worn out message that has been over-preached and become jaded. The relation of this piece to my thesis is one of commonality, of a universal symbol and the designated location in which it exists in every day life. A stop sign is obviously something that exists in the realm of the outdoors, specifically the sphere of the street. The idea of commands, of the pervasiveness and authority of the law in regards to even simple actions. To be commanded to simply STOP in the most simplistic manner possible on such a frequent basis. All of these ideas are dependant on the concept of the contextual significance and intentionality of location. Naturally these kinds of contradictions and ideas can only exist and be explored in direct relation or opposition of the initial idea of a Stop sign; one must understand the origin of the idea before expanding or commenting upon it.
These two works, when viewed in relationship to each other under an overarching theme, represent a certain artistic objective in a sense. Both works attempt to create and delineate an idea thru their respective media. While Bell’s work seems to comment upon the façade of ideal social class in response to an imperfect world, Beuhler directly confronts those imperfections and flaws and responds in turn to them. When viewed together and in relation to one another these contrasting characteristics represent all sides of the common idea. When thinking critically about such art the question of what influences are acting upon it during its conception from an idea to a space, is the artist actively thinking about what a museum space is and what it offers and creating art that intentionally defies its conventions, or art that could only exist outside of museum. Relationship of the art to its surroundings, the conscious effort to create the context of the art in regards to its location is probably the most relevant relationship and is one of the main ideas I am focusing on. Consciousness of the size and volume of the work is something that is opened up to the artist. Most would consider these options of exhibition as entirely a positive aspect of the displaying of art; having a greater gamete of options always seems to be a wholly good thing, but there is a contrasting idea that counters this apparent win-win situation. The idea come from the base idea that art is something that exists through boundaries, whether it is genre or medium art is something that follows and greatly relies on the universal concept of classification to be understood. Following this idea one could argue that actions that destroy or stretch these boundaries in fact hinder the creation of art. To use a series of metaphors to describe this think of a person presented with an entirely blank white canvas, and the person simply stares at it, at a complete loss as to what to draw, or how a student writing a paper might stare at a blank document for half an hour without writing a thing, or how a person being recorded for test purposes is asked to say something and they simply say “something”. When presented with such a scene of limitless potential, one tends to draw a blank without any guidelines or rules to dictate or guide their decisions they are incapacitated at the sheer limitlessness of their options. In the case of the person being recorded we see that humans tend to grasp at any sort of instruction to command their actions.
The next work I chose to analyze is by artist Russel Semerau titled “Lights Out”. The piece is a small crank toy constructed of painted wood and brass and depicts a man and a woman engaging in intercourse, and when cranked the man moves in the motion of it [5]. This piece maybe be viewed by many as somewhat crass or crude, however I believe it creates a valuable and relevant message. The idea and practice of sex has been, for the most part, a generally private affair. However in recent decades sex has suddenly become a more global and uninhibited thing with modern day advertising and media overtly and relying upon it to capture attention and promote their message. In this sense even an intangible concept such as sex can be observed as having a “location” within society and culture. Similar to things such as cursing and displays of deep emotion, sex is or was commonly viewed as something inappropriate and out of place on the public stage. By creating this piece Semerau forces the act of sex out in the open to be viewed and analyzed. But how does this differ from the common sexual explicitness omnisciently present within our daily structure? The main difference, again, is intention, Semerau does not have such a transparent and obvious goal as the advertising market, what he is doing in fact is recontextualizing the act and notion of sex as something that tends to exist only in one’s private affairs. Naturally this effort is being supported by a great deal of forces already but Semerau is simply contributing to this. The fact that this work is in the form of a small toy also adds certain connotations to the piece, the idea that toys are for children contrasts with the notion that we are to protect them from things such as sex. This idea can also be attributed to my thesis if we think of these two concepts as existing separate from another which adds the connotation of location. This is one of several similar works by the artist. The work being part of a series also lends itself to the idea of mass culture. Susan M Pearce writes about applying the “nature of the theoretical structure” to a “particular range of artifacts” in regards to material culture and museum studies. This can be viewed as an inspection of the origin of artistic interpretation as Pearce draws comparisons to the distinctions between humans and “higher mammals”. Pearce then makes the logical leap to the ideas of language and creation, things existing and relevant exclusively to the human species and important to the artistic analysis [6].
The final work of art chosen to accompany the theme is a sculptural ceramic piece by artist Eddie Dominguez entitled “Red Torso”; its size is 18 by 24 inches which is essentially life-sized. The torso is meticulously decorated with ornate designs and depicts a sunset with flowers, butterflies and birds all of which are based on the red pallet. This work seems to glorify the human body, particularly the most essential part; the core of the body if you will. By creating such a whimsical and atheistically focused design on the torso Dominguez creates the association of the beauty of nature and its expression through the human body. The choice of color also plays a great part in understanding the significance of the piece. The color red carries many associations, the color of blood for example, it is a color often associated with passion or anger, two inarguably powerful human emotions. According to Dominguez’s website, he lives in an uncomfortable body due to a back injury and the idea of human discomfort plays a large part in his work [7]. This is interesting in that it brings to mind the idea of location and contextualizing in regards to our own human bodies. The idea of work being an outlet or a means to transcend our own location outside our own conventional space (the body) is very interesting but not entirely new. Frida Kahlo immediately comes to mind as something that corresponds to this idea. The self portraits she created act as a form of self realization as well as an escape from the limitations of ones own inescapable condition
The relationship between these two works of art is culturally prevalent and there is value in delving deep into the symbolism and iconography intrinsic to them. A precursory glance at the two objects finds the common factor as the human body and its representation. Both pieces attempt to convey a certain sense of values or manner of thinking which, by themselves create an interesting analysis, but together achieves a commonality and scope far beyond the individual work. The manner in which the human body is portrayed is something of interest between the works. Two bodies interacting with each other in the act of mating suggests both a primal necessary behavior but also something that has come to hold more meaning as humans have evolved. The notion of love and sentimentality in relation to sex is something that has been “added” over thousands of years. That is to say the association of love with sex is not intrinsic to the action, but has come to seem that way. The simplicity in which Semerau portrays the action of it heralds back to that primal, unemotional action while perhaps commenting on the folly of the repressive nature of sex as a cultural idea. While Dominguez’s work is in itself merely a portion, a section of the human body on which aesthetic designs have been drawn. The red color, its association with passion can relate to the sexuality of man along with its simple and open portrayal of the body which seems to idealize and represent the bearing of ones body for all to see.
Essentially all these works as I have investigated them, contribute to the idea of contextualization. Sexuality, ideology, intellectualism, of all these ideas, while abstract, operate under the notion of contextualization, the idea that something can only be observed and understood when compared to something else is the basic notion behind the action of contextualization. The questions are raised, “is it in human nature to contextualize all aspects of life?”, and “is classification the only means through which humans can understand something?” “How does the physical location of the piece inform me of the intention behind it as well as its relation to the rest of the world?” I believe these works contribute important evidence in contribution to these ideas and further contribute to the unending debate of definition and contextualization of art and life.
The exhibition that will support this thesis is an integral aspect in understanding the theories and ideas I have discussed so far. Naturally in relation to my thesis the exhibition is something in which a great deal of intention towards even its smallest aspects must be given. The self-referential nature of my thesis is an important catalyst to generating the kinds of thoughts and questions I want to instill in the viewers of the space. My ultimate choice in designing the exhibition space in a more conventional gallery-type setting may seem hypocritical to some I ultimately believe it to be the right choice, after all my exhibition is meant to comment upon non conventional art contextualization and my choice in design and location is the most effective way to do this.
Basically the entire space would exist in a large room about 14 by 18 feet with a separator/pillar placed in the center of the room that directs traffic in two directions as well as acts as a space to display work. The pillar in the center of the room also creates the state of two paths that a person can follow to go deeper into the space, this effect is something valuable I believe because it contradicts the linear nature to which the space initially creates and many spaces rely on. Also the entrance to the space would be narrow enough that only one person at a time could fit through it, effective directing the flow of people into a single line. The reason for this is because I want the experience of viewing the exhibition as a personal thing, by reducing the traffic of the entering spectators to a line one would entering the space as an individual. This would only be true for the entrance to the exhibit as I wouldn’t want the space to be crowded and uncomfortable Naturally I wouldn’t have direct control over the exact architectural layout of the room but something similar to this would be ideal. Two ceiling mounted lights would directly illuminate the side of the center section facing the entrance on which a short description of the exhibit would be posted for entering people to view. In the back corners of the space would be 2 frames mounted on some kind of stand that would display the work Roberly Bell and Eddie Dominguez. The reason for the mounting of the images is simply to create an interesting space to capture attention. The back of the pillar would display the work of Russel Semerau and Launa Beuhler. The overall flow of the space corresponds to the impartial and nonlinear nature that art of this context can take.
(Cones represent ceiling mounted lights)My submission to wikipedia is an addition to topic of the contemporary art gallery [8]. Basically I altered the central definition of the concept under the main heading on the page to include a mention of art existing outside the conventional gallery. I also added an additional example of such art to the existing list.
“Conversely, some works of contemporary art are not shown in a gallery. Land art, performance art, Internet art, mail art and other new forms also usually exist outside a gallery. Photographic records of these kinds of art are often shown in galleries, however.”
Bibliography
Crow, Thomas E. Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris. New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 1985.
Dominguez, Eddie. “Cultural Landscapes: The Art of Eddie Dominguez”. 2008. 4 October 2009.
Beuhler, Launa. “Objects”. 4 October 2009.
Bell, Roberley. “Locus”. 2009. 4 October 2009. <>
Karp, Ivan, Lavine, Steven D., eds. Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display. London, Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution, 1991.
Pearce, Susan M., ed. Museum Studies in Material Culture. London: Leicester University Press, 1989.
Footnotes
[1] E Thomas, Crow, Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris (New Haven London: Yale University Press, 1985) 1-22.
[2] http://www.roberleybell.com/proj-06.html
[3] Roberly Bell, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2009
[4] http://www.launabeuhler.com/pops/6Stopbig.html
[5] http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/4307597
[6] M. Susan Pearce, Museum Studies in Material Culture (London: Leicester University Press 1989) 47.
[7] http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/8aa/8aa104.htm
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_art_gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment