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13
mostly showed Hilger flipping through the pages of his personal war diary. Each
page overflowed with color, magazine cut-outs and countdown calendars used to
visually mark off the days he had left to serve. Looking back through the journal
Hilger described its bursts of color and text as “kind of disgusting” considering
his mindset at that time, which was to remain true to his purpose and pursue the
opposing forces. Although he never straightforwardly verbalized regret, his tone
revealed how he must have felt. One wonders what the secondary viewer could
gain from witnessing this sentiment in such a distilled and edited fashion as the
only testament to the crew’s stop in Kansas City. The video portrays Hilger’s
discomfort and confusion about being involved in the war and the viewer is left
with drama and suspense.
Undoubtedly, the way in which the Kansas City clip was edited left the
viewer at a proverbial cliff, hanging on the sentiment- what can you do? And
many of the other videos by Creative Time do the same. Was part of the piece’s
overall intent to leave viewers feeling as if there was nothing one could do about
Iraq? Was the title It Is What It Is meant to have suggested this from the
beginning? As many of the videos similarly feature dramatic moments, the
secondary viewer begins to see how they are only momentary snapshots and
reflections of what Deller and his crew experienced. Despite this they
successfully alluded to the turmoil and frustration the topic elicited and proved
how eager the public was to engage in conversation about Iraq. Creative Time’s
photo documentation, like this image from Tennessee, also revealed the relaxed
yet intensely connective nature of the exchanges.
Object Description
| Title | Sites of production: An examination of Jeremy Deller's It is what it is: Conversations about Iraq |
| Author | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Author email | rkopp@usc.edu; rnkopp@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Public Art Studies |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Art Studies |
| School | School of Fine Arts |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-04 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Holte, Michael Ned |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Jacob, Mary Jane Decter, Joshua |
| Abstract | For little over a decade artistic practice in the United States has become intently “focused upon on the sphere of inter-human relations” (Nicolas Bourriaud). Contemporary theorists have presented a variety of ideas concerning the resurgence of this artistic tendency that emerged half a century ago. Using It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, which was presented across the U.S. and at three major museums in 2009 by British Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, as case study to further delineate this artistic form of expression, this thesis addresses recent theoretical developments within the broader social practice movement. Deller’s project emphasized the complicated nature of these theories in action within the contemporary moment, and testified to its heightened use in the public sphere through shifts higher education and institutional programming. The evaluation of Deller’s piece emphasizes the art-historical importance of this work and more broadly contends with the contemporary conflict between those who debate art’s ability to transform consciousness within the public sphere. |
| Keyword | social practice; Jeremy Deller; Iraq; dialogical practice; public sphere; public art |
| Geographic subject (country) | Iraq; USA |
| Coverage date | 2000/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3881 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Kopp-4545 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Kopp-4545.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 18 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 13 mostly showed Hilger flipping through the pages of his personal war diary. Each page overflowed with color, magazine cut-outs and countdown calendars used to visually mark off the days he had left to serve. Looking back through the journal Hilger described its bursts of color and text as “kind of disgusting” considering his mindset at that time, which was to remain true to his purpose and pursue the opposing forces. Although he never straightforwardly verbalized regret, his tone revealed how he must have felt. One wonders what the secondary viewer could gain from witnessing this sentiment in such a distilled and edited fashion as the only testament to the crew’s stop in Kansas City. The video portrays Hilger’s discomfort and confusion about being involved in the war and the viewer is left with drama and suspense. Undoubtedly, the way in which the Kansas City clip was edited left the viewer at a proverbial cliff, hanging on the sentiment- what can you do? And many of the other videos by Creative Time do the same. Was part of the piece’s overall intent to leave viewers feeling as if there was nothing one could do about Iraq? Was the title It Is What It Is meant to have suggested this from the beginning? As many of the videos similarly feature dramatic moments, the secondary viewer begins to see how they are only momentary snapshots and reflections of what Deller and his crew experienced. Despite this they successfully alluded to the turmoil and frustration the topic elicited and proved how eager the public was to engage in conversation about Iraq. Creative Time’s photo documentation, like this image from Tennessee, also revealed the relaxed yet intensely connective nature of the exchanges. |
