University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Born again, and again: The codification of minimalism into an international style

(USC Thesis Other)

Born again, and again: The codification of minimalism into an international style

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content INFORMATION TO USERS
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI
films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some
thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be
from any type of computer printer.
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the
copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality
illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins,
and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete
manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if
unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate
the deletion.
Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by
sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and
continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each
original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced
form at the back of the book.
Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced
xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white
photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations
appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to
order.
UMI
A Bell & Howell Information Company
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA
313/761-4700 800/521-0600
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
B O R N A G A IN , A N D A G A IN
THE CODIFICATION OF MINIM ALISM INTO AN INTERNATIONAL
STYLE
b y
RICHARD WEARN
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Degree
Master of Fine Arts
(Fine Arts)
December 1997
C opyright 1997 Richard W eam
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
UMI Number: 1389997
UMI Microform 1389997
Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved.
This microform edition is protected against unauthorized
copying under Title 17, United States Code.
UMI
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
U N IV ERSITY O F S O U T H E R N C A L IFO R N IA
THE G R A D U A TE SC H O O L
U N IV ER SITY PA R K
L O S A N G E L E S . C A L IF O R N IA 8 0 0 0 7
This thesis, written by
fV» c K o l ' t A V \ J £ < lrr\
under the direction of h j.5 Thesis Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been pre
sented to and accepted by the Dean of The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements fo r the degree of
Date December 16, 1997
THESIS C O M M IT T E E
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
" I f one accepts the usual ideas about how information propagates through time and space,
then Bell's Theorem shows that macroscopic responses cannot be independent of fa r away
causes. This problem is neither resolved nor alleviated by saying that the response is
determined by pure chance. Bell's theorem proves precisely that the determination o f the
macroscopic response must be "nonchance", a t least to the extent o f allowing some sort o f
dependence on the fa r away cause."
Henry Stapp "S-Matrix Interpretation of Quantum Theory" Physical Review D3 1971
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
"Narrative relation, so one thinks, does not recount itself; it reports a content that is given
outside it and before it. Here we m ust keep in mind that what happens provokes the narrator
and the narration; the components o f the narration are that without which the event would
not take place. It is as if the narrative condition were the cause o f the recounted thing as if
the narrative produced the event it is supposed to report. It is on the condition o f narrative
that the recounted event w ould have taken place...."
Jacques Derrida, "Given Time: Counterfeit Money"pages 121-122, University of
Chicago Press, 1992.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
1
My project is an inversion of m inim alism . The conceptual grounding for my
w ork has evolved from my reaction to m inim alism 's codification as the last
international form alist style. This style became the last m anifestation of
colonial visual culture to perm eate Australasian art practice and art history.
In granting myself the privilege of hindsight, I have analyzed the im pact of
the codification of m inimalism upon my practice. As an artist from N ew
Zealand now resident in Los Angeles, I have had the opportunity to review
my form ative experience by looking back from the culture that generated this
influential style.
The objects I have constructed reference both m inim alist form and utilitarian
potential. This conflict creates a sense of frustration, which in turn reflects
upon the inw ard nature and self - referentiality of formalist art.
In establishing my argum ent, I have addressed the concept of a cultural
region existing in the m odes of w orld w ide cultural transmission. My
research includes the investigation of locality and non- locality in Q uantum
Physics, and the codification of visual culture through photographic and
textual representation in art publications.
The review ing of rhetorical theory, centered on re-reading the figuration of
time and space, provides alternative definition to these passage ways or
conduits of inform ation m ovem ent.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
2
Wishing to m ove beyond dem onstrative or didactic artwork, I have
approached my project wishing to convey the notion of a conflict of
knowingness or intent. Thus, my w ork appears on the one hand inextricably
part of the system of simulacrum (1), b u t sim ultaneously providing
commentary on this process. Built into the w orks is a sense of familiarity, that
is underscored by a subverting hallucinatory removal. This conceptual
structure frames the initial reading of the works.
By avoiding m etaphorical narratives, through the exploitation of mimetic
slippages, the objects create a complex conceptual dialogue. The dialogue
includes a sim plified criticism, but is not singularly limited to a reactive
critique.
(l)"The copy is an image endowed luith resemblance, the simulacrum is an image without
resemblance. The catechism, so much inspired by Platonism, has familiarized us with this notion.
God made man in his image and resemblance. Through sin, however, man lost the resemblance
while maintaining the image. We have become simulacra The simulacrum is built upon a
disparity or upon a difference. It internalizes a dissimilarity."
Gilles Deleuze, "Logic of Sense" page 257-258,
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
3
Regionalism and the Imagefield
A ttem pting to resist the ebbing tide of the im agefield (2), New Zealand
contem porary art institutions have, since the late 1980s, initiated a defense to
protect the sanctity and originality of regionalism.
Though commendable as actions to address and analyze m ulti-culturalism ,
overly orchestrated curatorial acts have placed a disproportionate em phasis
on the idea of 'cultural convergence'. It m ay be argued that shows, such as
"Cross Pollination" (Artspace, Auckland 1992) w here young M aori artists
collaborated with a Pakeha (white) peer to produce a single work, are
indicative of a painless w ay to exorcise Pakeha collective guilt, accum ulated
over the past one hundred and fifty years. M ore consciously, this presents
itself as an easy solution to the more m undane, yet pressing problem of
finding a uniquely N ew Zealand content that is representative of
contem porary practice in a post colonial setting.
The widespread, though largely unstated hope in the propagation of a
uniquely New Zealand art seriously omits the all pervasive contem porary
understanding of the physical w orld.
(2) The Imagefield: "Published images of works of art, in magazines, books, newspapers, exhibition
catalogues are both a sample of current and historical activity and an index to the concerns of the
art world at any given moment." The definition used by Imants Tillers in his address at Linder
Capricorn, Is Art a European Idea? A symposium held at the Museum of Art, Wellington, New
Zealand, February 1994. Imants Tillers is an Australian Artist of Latvian extraction.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
Given the application of the Bell Theorem; which 'shows that either the
statistical predictions of quantum theory or the principal of local causes is
false. It does not say which one is false only that both of them cannot be true.
When the Clauser - Freedm an experim ent confirm ed that the statistical
predictions of quantum theory w ere correct, it proved that the principal of
local causes w as false.'(3) Thus, transposed to art, the advent of the Bell
Theorem refutes the proposition of 'local art' exclusively reflecting regional (a
space-like, separated area) conditions. This allows connections to be made
with and influence to be felt from seem ingly unrelated occurrence in diverse,
distanced locations.(A) Since the Bell Theorem proves the principle of Local
Causes a failure, its implications m ust be taken into account in any discussion
of local content in art and by extension the relevance of regionalism .
The failure of art schools and other cultural institutions to acknowledge the
significance of the 'im agefield' in the construction of New Z ealand's
contem porary culture, ignores the m ost im portant source of influence to
those engaged in contem porary practice. The imagefield is a tangible
phenomena, it exists as the ceaseless flow of photographs found in art
journals and publications.
(3) Imants Tillers, "Locality Fails" A rt and Text, Autumn, 1982, page 51-60,
(A) See notes: A
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
5
In recent years the imagefield has undergone an accelerated expansion.
Undoubtably, this has occurred as a result of a w orld wide process of
decolonization. M assive political and social changes, clearly evident in the
demise of com m unism , have occurred due to this process. As Thomas
McEvilley wrote - "decolonization is undoubtably the most significant global
event at w ork today, w ith countries in both the Third W orld and Eastern
Europe struggling to reclaim and reconstruct their ravaged cultural identities.
M ulticultural projects in the visual arts are one branch of this historic
process. A culture's visual tradition, w hen exported is a kind of foreign policy.
The interm ingling of different culture's image banks as part of the
postcolonial project is thus a sign of a deeper interpenetration of their
identities."(4) McEvilley suggests that this w as the inner meaning of 1980's
appropriation and subsequent quotation art, thus preparing the w ay for the
m ulticultural 1990's.
The construction of stylistic paradigm s and art historical reference points are
almost entirely based on the interpretation of artw orks through photographic
docum entation and the editorial of accom panying text. This is the language of
the imagefield, or in McEvilley's term s the index of the developm ent of
postcolonial culture as described by m ediated visual expression.
(4) Thomas McEvilley "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute" Artforum, October, 1991.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
6
Due to the lack of internationally significant contem porary artworks in N ew
Zealand collections, access to these and other pieces is almost always via
photographic reproduction. It follows that to make relative statements, or to
position and characterize an individuals practice w ithin a world wide
contem porary setting, it is necessary to fully assess the impact of the
imagefield.
Due to the sporadic nature of the imagefield, the juxtaposition and
random ness of visual and text based inform ation creates a wash of influence.
The formatting, chronological re-arrangem ent, and editorial characteristics of
the various publications are the contextualizing factors which are
am algam ated in the process of the reception of information. In essence a
freedom is afforded to assemble an unregulated, random taxonomy. To form
a historicized context based on this taxonom y is to unwittingly create a
deconstructive model. Once this model is compared to a direct experience of a
stylistic paradigm , the inherent shortcomings of both systems of
understanding are exposed.
In the 'O rder of Things' Michel Foucault w rote of his incisive understanding
of possible forms of order. Foucault's archeology "arose out of a passage in
Borges, out of the laughter that shattered, as I read the passage, all the fam iliar
landm arks of my thought - our thought This passage quotes a certain
Chinese encyclopedia in which it is w ritten that 'anim als are divided
into: (a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) em balm ed, (c) tame,
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
7
(d) suckling pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) including the
present classification, (I) frenzied, (j) innum erable, (k) draw n w ith a very fine
camel hair brush, (1) et cetera, (m) having just broken the w ater pitcher, (n)
that from a long w ay off look like flies/ In the w onderm ent of this taxonomy,
the thing that by way of the fable, is dem onstrated as the exotic charm of one
system of thought, is the limitation of our own."(5)
Foucault explains that our own historicizing system of thought, which arose
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, forces knowledge into a
continuous chronological developm ent that effectively conceals the
incompatibility of seem ingly linked events. O ur cultural history
universalizes and ultim ately psychologizes all knowledge by tracing it
through a series of regressions to its origin.
In concluding that the historicized order behind my work was prem ised on a
random taxonomy, rem oved from the paradigm that it was supposedly
appealing to, I was m ade aware of a valid space for the re-interpretation or re-
invention of this paradigm .
The foundation of this taxonomy was the inform ation transm itted through
photographs and text presented in art publications. The syntax and language
inherent in photographic reproduction, and the editorial of the
accompanying text codified the representation of the docum ented art.
(5) Michel Foucault, 'The O rder of Things' (New York: Pantheon, 1970), page xv
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
8
The collapsing of three dim ensional objects into two dim ensional
representations not only presented the art in a new form of representation,
but most im portantly offered an illusionary experience that w as totally
removed from the experience of the objects in real time and space.
The information that I w as accepting w as m ediated by two dim ensional
compositional values, graphic design arrangem ent of text and image, and the
photographic denotative/connotative content issues. The im ages obviously
eliminated an experience of scale, and all other spatial elem ents of the objects.
Conversely the photographic conventions accentuated and invented a new
set of qualities that appeared to be im bued in the works. The overall visual
characteristics of the artworks established themselves as the dom inant
readings. M aterial significance was superseded by com positional relationships
of form and color, and spatial occupation collapsed to frontality.
Given this form of presentation, it m aybe concluded that m y preferences
became based on an appeal to a sensibility distilled from graphic issues. In this
way, the clarity and compositional im m ediacy of the photographic
docum entation of m inim alist sculpture occupied my attention.
Given the sim plicity of form, these w orks, once photographed, transposed
themselves easily to a connotative, abstracted graphic com position.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
9
Specific Objects
In attem pting to reconstruct minimalist sculptural form from the
photographic representations and thus gain the experience of the three
dim ensional qualities, I sought non art objects to act as models or screens for
the projection of these works. In doing so, prescribed generalizations of
m inim alist form had to be constructed. Thus I developed a set of criterior that
acted as a template for selecting real world objects to act as m inim alist
substitutes. The sensibility of minimalism w as all im portant, but the
theoretical concerns of m inim alism at this point w ere relegated to secondary
significance.
U pon view ing these works for the first time, and reading the theoretical
concerns of their makers, (particularly Donald Judd) the misconceptions of
my assum ptions became clear. Having a definitive record of the intentions of
the w orks gave a clearly stated pole from w hich I could monitor the
conceptual space that existed between my m ediated construction and the
artist's intent. Approaching these works w ith reference to the substitutes I had
assigned them unhinged them from their original premise. This allow ed me
to create a fram ework that w ould encompass an investm ent in the trope of
m inim alism , and re-assign m eaning to this apparently exhausted paradigm .
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
10
Implicit in my framework is criticism of Judd's exclusive rhetoric attacking
the validity of all art falling outside of his narrow criteria.
By the construction of a consistent m ode of description, Judd set in place a
linguistically defined context for his art, a manual of interpretation that
predicated and sustained a regimen of practice that is characterized by an
extraordinary consistency and continuity that has operated w ithout any
significant modification for three decades.
Placed at the center of Judd's concept is 'specificity'. The intended m eaning of
'specific' is confusing. "I'd like m y w ork to be somewhat m ore specific than art
has been...."(6) By setting this com parative value, Judd im plies his work is
specific only to a history of Art objects, and that this history is unproblematic.
This is also a claim of immunity for the work from anything outside the
history of art objects, that is social context. The claim for im m unity can be
further disputed with the reading of 'specific' in another context. "Materials
vary greatly and are simply m aterials - formica, alum inum , cold rolled steel,
plexiglass, red and common brass and so forth. They are specific"(7).
(6) Intervieiv with Donald judd, Artforum, June 1971
(7) Donald Judd, Specific Objects" Arts Yearbook VIII, 1965
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
11
Is the assertion of 'specific' in reference to an advanced industrial society, by
extension America ? "I don't make a great thing of technology I don't
romanticize technology like Robert Smithson and others. I think generally
you are forced into m odem technology, but the technology is m erely used to
suit ones purpose."(8) Judd implies that technology is ideologically neutral.
To appropriate industrial fabrication and m aterials and sanitise them of
ideological and intrinsic value via their m iraculous arrival in a historical
lineage of art objects illustrates a flawed m ethodology, a deeply vested interest
in the m odernist canon implicit in abstract expressionism and the strategic
difficulties encounted in the delivery of unw avering published definition.
In Judd's dism issal of technology: "...the scale is pragmatic, im m ediate and
exclusive...The w ork asserts its own existence, form and pow er."(9)
his approach to practical industrial materials appears as an end in itself.
Given his description of Ducham p's Bottle Rack as an interesting object,
devoid of the D adaist gesture, and a disavowal of transcendental qualities it
would place the identity of the art object in its materials. H ow ever in his
denial of conceptual and associative m eanings implicit in m aterial choice he
is taking identity and function for granted, and presupposes the context of art
as an unw avering, impregnable stasis that is m aintained by an
unquestionable history.
(8) Ibid (6)
(9) Intervieiv with Donald Judd, by Lee Bontecoit, Arts Magazine, April 1965
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
12
The explicit claim in relation to m aterials is that by appropriating materials
into an art context, they lose their extra art associations. "There is an
objectivity to the obdurate identity of materials"... M ost of the new materials
obviously aren't art." They become materials "w ithout histories"(10). Implicit
in this assum ption is the existence of a completely autonom ous art history,
divorced and unaffected by social history. It assumes an autonom y for the
category of art, defining it as ahistorical, not social.
In addition, another aspect of context was ignored by m inim alist artists. It is
apparent that they had not given consideration to the transition of their work
from the internal space of the gallery to the significantly different realm of
external surface or space of architecture. The phenom onological object was
transform ed into an architectural m odel or an outdoor sculpture.
The popularity of the m inim alist form am ong corporate art buyers, who
responded to the tasteful, highly finished, inoffensive, ubiquitous objects can
be correlated with the dem ise of the fundam ental prem ise of site specificity.
(10) Ibid (6)
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
13
Carl A ndre's comments: "I don't feel myself obsessed by the singularity of
places, I d o n 't think spaces are that singular. I think there are generic classes of
spaces w hich you w ork for and tow ard. So its not really a problem where a
work is going in particular."(ll) cam e after the declaration that "... Sculpture,
once equated w ith form and structure, w as now to be equated w ith place."(12)
The fundam ental conceptual shift em bodied in the change in contextual
prem ise indicates the failure of m inim alism to produce a fully materialistic
critique of m odernist idealism.
This w idely accepted notion of the 'failure of minimalism' is a clear line of
narrative in m y project. U nderstanding the limited conceptual scope of
didactic explanation through art objects, this argument was articulated
through m y objects by investing them w ith a confusion of intention and a
layering of possible functions in and out of art parameters.
Through the w ithdraw al of particular qualities from the com m on place
objects I referenced or appropriated, to the point where recognition is
uncertain, a narrow m argin of possibility is left for the viewer.
(11) Quoted in Phyllis Tuchman, "An Interview with Carl Andre," Artfomm 7, no.10, June 1970.
(12) Douglas Crimp, “On the Museums Ruins," page 155. MIT Press.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
14
This m argin of possibility allows the viewer to re-invent m y objects at generic
levels. Viewers are led to assess their ow n associations w ith the kind of
objects they encounter. W ithout the literal and immediate distractions of the
specific characteristics of the object in the present, viewers rely upon their
memories to build the associations. It is the strategy of the 'alm ost absent',
which affords the substitution of presence through the m edium of our
acquired associations.
In confusing or refusing the function of the objects, through the slippage of
recognition created by the relationship of the utilitarian to the artistic, the
memory of their purpose is not com pletely denied. There is som ething
cynically hum orous about their dysfunction as useful objects, which reflects
on the inw ard nature and closed self referenciality of m inim alist art. This
denial of function is played out in "Sweater". Recognizable as brand new
wool sweaters, their transition to art is seemingly made sim ple by a few folds,
hanging devices and pins. The insertion of the folded sweaters into a
formalist color pattern and arrangem ent creates a complete m inim alist form.
At the same tim e the piece subverts this association by its direct reference to
the body. It was the desire of the m inim alists to remove the body from the
work. "Sweater" refutes this ill conceived notion, for the very existence of any
work of art alludes to some form of bodily interaction.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
15
It is im portant to note that my work is not a complete denial of the
significance of m inim alism . In deciding to invert a paradigm , the
implication is that it is worthy of attention. Therefore some level of
agreem ent has to be m ade with the objective of
pursuing a particular line of argument. It is the aim of my project to re-invent
minimalism by creating objects that could be categorized as minimalist, but at
the same time contain constructive argum ents that criticize and extend the
notion of the m inim al in sculpture. My inflatable objects are the most
successful in articulating key elements in m inim alist sculpture in new ways.
The desire to accentuate a viewers experience of space was a prim ary motive
of the minimal form. The resonance of a sim ple object w ithin the emptied
gallery space amplified the phenomena of being in that space. In effect space
became conceptually pressurized. My inflatable sculptures literally articulate
this. The P.V.C. skins can be viewed as containing pressurized gallery space
(the trapped air is of greater pressure than that of the outside). In this way the
content of my inflatable objects are incorporating the supposed effect of
minimalism on its viewers.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
16
Joining the Cargo Cult
In the w ay that many precapitalist indigenous cultures resolved the mysteries
of their dealings with capitalist traders, by turning cargo commodities into
im agined fetishes, my relationship to inform ation acquired from the
imagefield took the form of fetishization.(B)
Central to the philosophy of the cargo cultist is the experiencing of a
contradiction between different economies of an object, and the construction
of a particular form of fetishism to explain this difference.
The sam e contradiction is apparent in my objects. The slippage of recognition
forms an incom plete memory of the function of the referenced object in the
mind of the viewer. This allows the poignancy of past rem embrance to
invade the present experience. It is in this conceptual passage that the
mimetic slippages in my work are constructed. The white inflatable piece
(untitled) is plausibly destined for a surf beach or sw im m ing pool. These
settings stim ulate associative m em ories that illicit a perceptual tension in
viewers. The object's role as rarified art is conflicted w ith its potential as a
pool raft, a comfortable vessel for the body. In this way a process of mimesis
occurs in tw o relationships, w ith m inm alist art and sim ultaneously with
inflatable w ater toys. Neither one is entirely resolved within the objects
presentation. Viewers are left to speculate on the relationship, or lack of one,
that exists betw een the different economies referenced by the work.
(B)See notes B
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
17
The collision of autonom ous art and utilitarian function is blatantly played
out in the untitled wall installation constructed from pionite, alum inum
framing, and scale m odels of Donald Judd sculptures. M y materials are those
common to utilitarian purpose. The pionite (the brand nam e is grey
chromatix) is a formica m ulti purpose covering. Its surface pattern is a
uniform faux paint splatter. O n close inspection, the pattern is identical to a
Pollock drip painting. The Ju d d models, and the entire wall was covered in
the pionite. The com position w as then framed by the alum inum beading.
The relationship of artistic to utilitarian is seemingly obvious: art covered
with m aterial designed for w ork surfaces. However, an aw kw ard reversal
augments this conceptual binary. The pionite's patterning is derived from the
Pollock drip painting. The appropriation of som ebody else's design decision
(the choice of surface patterning of the pionite) adds resonance to the art
versus utilitarian dialectic. The designers decision, as a m aterial in m y work,
speaks of a complicated system of mimesis that encodes an 'artistic break
through' into an everyday usefulness. The line betw een art and utilitarian in
this circumstance is eroded.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
18
In the Marxist sense the fetishism of the comm odity evolves from its
separation from the workers w ho produced it. In this form of fetishism the
semblances of people and products are reversed. Social relations take on "the
phantasm agorical form of a relation between things"(13), and commodities
take on the active agency of people. The readym ade underscores this
fetishism in art. W ithin the context of gallery space, the art work cannot
escape the status of comm odity, in other w ords the adoration given to the art
object is sim ilar to the fetishism of the capitalist comm odity. This form of
adoration given to the readym ade as art also discloses fetishism in the
Freudian sense. That is, such art functions as a com pensatory substitute that
disguises or disavows its m aterial reality.
This collision betw een 'autonom ous' art and everyday utilitarian commodity
is evident throughout my work. In order to articulate the inherent
contradiction betw een the econom ies of art and com m odity my work is
invested w ith the device of the readym ade: inflatable pool rafts, travel
pillows, kleenex boxes.
(13) Karl Marx, "Capital." Taken from "The Future of an Illusion, or the Contemporary Artist as
Cargo Cultist". By Hal Foster
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
19
The contradiction of the economies of art and commodity in my project is
given a paradoxical explanation due to the customizing of the objects as art.
W ith the exception of the w ork constructed from the found cabinet, none of
the works rely on the appropriation of readym ades. They w ere constructed as
art works. However, the art works are vested with an unm istakable
utilitarian potential. In this way, the readym ade is inverted. The Dadaist act of
recontextualization is replaced w ith the labor value invested in the works.
Unlike the appropriated labor of the readym ade, the labor value in my work
is specific to each object as a craft value. Each piece is a custom design, and, on
close inspection, the construction techniques are m ade apparent. For example,
the lines of construction in the red inflatable (untitled) are still visible.
Unlike the repositioning of the readym ade object as a cargo cultist's fetish or
totem, the deliberate nature of my w orks betray a more calculated
construction of this fetishism. By faking this process, the intention of my
project is to deconstruct the fetishism.
The deliberate nature or know ingness em bodied in the construction of my
w ork underlines the intention of m y project to re-invent m inim alism
in m ore entertaining and interesting term s. Simultaneously it speaks of the
potential democracy of objects w ithin culture, suggesting correlations between
art and objects that are encounted every day. This strategy is fundam ental in
order to reveal the structures of art th at purport to elevate it as a mystical,
fetishized practice.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
20
In analyzing the theoretical structures of m inim alism , presented through the
writings of Donald Judd and Carl Andre, it is logical to conclude that the
concerns of m inim alism w ere those of abstraction. N ot the abstraction of
Malevich's 'inner necessity', but in the tradition of high formalism. A nd in
the way of its m odernist predecessors, m inim alism became identified as a
codified international style.
M inimalism w as the last international form alist movem ent. The
proliferation of artistic m odes that discounted formalism and cham pioned
diversity and plurality evolved as a reaction to the world wide pervasiveness
of minim alism as codified style.
The demise of the m odernist program , em bodied by minimalism,
corresponds to the w orld w ide disintegration of colonialism as a dom inating
cultural structure. As interpreted by Thomas McEvilley, the im position of
formalist paradigm s as legitimate practice, w ith the resulting repression of
individualized, ethnocentric expression, can be assessed as characteristic of
colonization. It is logical to conclude, therefore, that the characteristics of Post
M odernism, plurality and diversity, evident in the rise of ethnicity in visual
culture, are synonym ous w ith the post colonial m odel. In this sense m y work
not only isolates and comments on the lim itations of formalist practice, but
situates itself as a com m entary on the dism antling of colonial visual culture.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
21
NOTES
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
22
(A)THE BELL TEST
Bernard d'E spagnat, of the University of Paris-South, is a theorist who, like
David Bohm, Has devoted a lot of thought to the implications of the EPR
family of experim ents. In his 'Scientific American' article , and in his
contribution to the volume 'The physicist's Conception of N ature', he has
spelled out the basics underlying Bell's approach to the puzzle. D'Espagnat
says that ou r everyday view of reality is based on three fundam ental
assum ptions. First, that there are real things that exist regardless of w hether
we observe them; second, that it is legitimate to draw general conclusions
from consistent observations or experim ents; and third, that no influence can
propagate faster than the speed of light, which he calls "locality." Together,
these fundam ental assumptions are the basis of "local realistic" views of the
world.
The Bell test starts out from a local realistic view of the w orld. In terms of the
proton spin experim ent, although the experim enter can never know the
three com ponents of spin for the sam e particle, he can m easure any one of
them he likes. If the three components are called X, Y and Z, he finds that
every time he records a value - 1 for the X spin of one proton and the Y (or Z,
but not both) spin of its counterpart, and in that way it ought to be possible to
get inform ation about both the X and Y spins of each pair.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
23
Even in principle this is far from easy, and involves m easuring the spins of
lots of pairs of protons at random and discarding the ones that just happen to
end up m easuring the sam e spin vector in both m em bers of the pair. But it
can be done, and this gives the experimenter, in principle, sets of results in
which pairs of spins have been identified for pairs of protons in sets th at can
be written XY, XZ, and YZ. W hat Bell showed in his classic 1964 paper was
that if such an experim ent is carried out, then according to the local realistic
views of the w orld the num ber of pairs for which the X and Y com ponents
both have positive spin (X+Y+) m ust always be less than the combined total
of the pairs in w hich the XZ and YZ measurements all show a positive value
of spin (X+Z+ + Y+Z+). The calculation follows directly from the obvious fact
that if a m easurem ent show s that a particular proton has spin X+ and Y-, for
example, then its total spin state m ust be either X+Y-Z+ or X+Y-Z-. The rest
follows from a m athem atically sim ple argument based on the theory of sets.
But in Q uantum m echanics the mathematical rules are different, and if they
are carried through correctly they come up with the opposite prediction, that
the num ber of X+Z+ is m ore not less, than the num ber of X+Z+ and Y+Z+
pairs combined. Because the calculation was originally expressed starting out
from the local realistic view of the world, the conventional phrasing is that
the first inequality is called 'Bells inequality/ and that if Bell's inequality is
violated then the local realistic view of the world is false, but quantum theory
has passed another test.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
24
THE PROOF
Out of the first seven tests of Bell's inequality five came out in favor of
Q uantum mechanics. In his 'Scientific American" article, d'Espagnat stresses
that this is even stronger evidence in favor of quantum theory than first
thought. Because of the nature of the experiments and the difficulty of
operating them, 'a great variety of systematic flaws in the design of an
experiment could destroy the evidence of a real correlation on the other
hand, it is hard to im agine an experimental error that could create a false
correlation in five independent experiments. W hat is m ore, the results of
those experiments not only violate Bell's inequality b u t also violate it
precisely as quantum mechanics predicted.'
The ultim ate test, so far, of Bell's inequality therefore involves changing
the structure of the experim ent while the photons are in flight This is the
experiment that A lain A spect's team at the University of Paris-South closed
the last major loophole for local realistic theories in 1982 Their
im provem ent involved the use of a switch that changes the direction of a
beam of light passing through it. The beam can be directed at either one of
two polarizing filters, each m easuring a different direction of polarization,
and each with its ow n photon director behind it. The direction of the light
beam passing through this switch can be changed w ith extraordinary rapidity,
every 10 nanoseconds (10 thousand-m illionths of a second)
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
25
by an autom atic device that generates a pseudorandom signal. Because it takes
20 nanoseconds for a photon to travel from the atom in which it is bom in
the heart of the experiment to the detector itself, there is no way in which any
information about the experim ental setup can travel from one part of the
apparatus to the other and affect the outcom e of any measurement-unless
such an influence travels faster than light.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The Aspect experim ent and its predecessors do indeed make for a very
different w orld view from that of ou r everyday com m on sense. They tell us
that particles that were once together in an interaction rem ain in some sense
parts of a single system, w hich responds together to further
interactions Theorists such as d'E spagnat and David Bohm argue that we
must accept that, literally, everything is connected to everything else, and
only a wholistic approach to the universe is likely to explain phenomena
such as hum an consciousness.
Taken From "Discovering Schodinngers Cat" Pantheon, 1986. By John Gibbon
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
26
(B)
BJORN AGAIN, AND AGAIN
Through the evaluation of fetishism in term s of the cargo cultist, an analysis
can be m ade of the construction of appropriated sensibility as style, as a
characteristic of art that is influenced by photographic reproductions of art
works, and m ade in 'peripheral' areas. Unable to encounter and objectively
assess the nature of an art work, the construction of its importance is based
upon m ediated information. The denial of direct experience leads to a zealous
enthusiasm for inform ation that will facilitate the next closest interaction.
This desire creates a fetishism that functions as a com pensatory substitute for
the experience of the real, in this case experiencing the artw ork or the scene it
is part of. In the production of culture this fetishism m anifests itself in the
form of sim ulation, or mimesis. For example, Australia has produced an
unprecedented num ber of tribute rock bands; Bjom Again (ABBA), The
Australian Doors and After Burner, a tribute to ZZTop, to nam e a few.
Similar cultural dynam ics produced a full scale reproduction of Jackson
Pollock's 'Blue Poles'. In 1973 the A ustralian G overnm ent purchased
Pollock's w ork as a symbol of the nations cultural coming of age. In 1982 two
staff members of the Australian N ational Gallery produced a full scale oil and
enamel reproduction of Blue Poles. The replica was then hung in place of the
original during gallery renovations.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
27
The acceptance of these replicas illustrate a cultural climate that is covertly
comfortable w ith extrem e forms of cultural fetishism, unwittingly resulting
in the acceptance of the simulation as 'reality for its ow n sake...'
The appeal to creative authority (resulting in fetishism and simulation) is not
surprising, given the m ethods of art education in Australia and New
Zealand. The adoption of the style of a significant international artist is
prom oted through out secondary school. The use of m odels is em phasized as
a valid system of art education.
Baudrillard's discussion of hyper-realism provides an insightful description
of this phenom ena. "From m edium to m edium , the real is volatilized,
becoming an allegory of death. But it is also in a sense, reinforced through its
own destruction. It becomes reality for its ow n sake, the fetishism of the lost
object: no longer the object of representation, but the ecstasy of denial and of
its ow n ritual exterm ination: the hyperreal."
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
28
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Baudrillard, Jean "The Hyper-realism of Sim ulation” 1976, taken from ‘Jean
Baudrillard: Selected W ritings' edited by Mark Poster, Stanford University Press, 1988.
-Bontecou, Lee"Interview with Donald Judd" A rts M agazine, April 1965.
-Crimp, Douglas "On the M useums Ruins" M IT Press, 1993.
-Deleuze, Gilles "Logic o f Sense" University of Columbia Press, 1984.
-Derrida, Jacques "Given Time: Counterfeit Money" U niversity of Chicago Press,
1992.
-Foucalt, Michel "The Order of Things" Pantheon Press, 1970.
-Foster, Hal "The Future o f an Illusion, or the Contemporary A rtist as a Cargo
Cultist" The End Game, The Institute of Contemporary A rt, Boston. 1989.
-Gibbons, John "Discovering Schrodinnger's Cat" Pantheon Press, 1984
-Judd, Donald "Specific Objects" A rts Yearbook VIII, 1965.
-McEvilley, Thomas "Enormous Changes at the Last M in u te" Artforum, October,
1991.
-Stapp, H enry "S-Matrix Interpretation of Quantum Theory" Physical Review D3
1971.
-Tillers, Imants "Locality Fails" ART+TEXT, A utum n, 1982
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
29
-Tillers, Imants "Turbulence in the Imagefield" Lecture delivered a t 'Under Capricorn -
Is A rt a European Idea' at the National A rt Gallery, Wellington, N ew Zealand. 1994.
- "Interview with Donald ludd" Artforum, June 1971.
-Tuchman, Phyllis "An Interview with Carl A ndre" Artforum, June 1970.
-Benjamin Buchloh, Rosalind Krauss, A nnette Michelson, Dennis Hollier, Hal Foster,
Silvia Kolbowski, M artha Buskirk, "The Reception of the Sixties"
October 69, MTT Press, 1994.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (Q A -3 )
150mm
IIW IG E .In c
1653 East Main Street
Rochester. NY 14609 USA
Phone: 716/482-0300
Fax: 716/288-5989
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Being within versus without

PDF

Beyond cultural: Global approach in visual art

PDF

A selection of work

PDF

Film buffs and philosophers

PDF

Identity re-constructed

PDF

The MOMO store

PDF

Falling through the cracks: Two years of work

PDF

Art as intuitive conundrum

PDF

Drawings and videos

PDF

Exhalation: An essay on the art practice of Sarah E. Lovett

PDF

"Hairballs" and other drawings

PDF

Elliptical Ground

PDF

From practice to praxis

PDF

Innovative incorporation of cultural arts in Jewish education: How to enlighten the Jewish community with quality cultural arts programming

PDF

A thesis

PDF

Depression in offspring following severe prenatal stress

PDF

Creamy or chunky: The pursuit of consumer bliss and the application of paint

PDF

If only I could remember

PDF

An artist's response to...

PDF

Assessment of minimal model applicability to longitudinal studies

Asset Metadata

Creator Wearn, Richard Patrick (author)

Core Title Born again, and again: The codification of minimalism into an international style

School Graduate School

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Fine Arts

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Fine Arts,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Fine, Jud (committee chair), Bunn, David (committee member), Weisberg, Ruth (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-19710

Unique identifier UC11341425

Identifier 1389997.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-19710 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 1389997.pdf

Dmrecord 19710

Document Type Thesis

Rights Wearn, Richard Patrick

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA