Some relationships between conceptual and performance art

Frazer Ward's article describes the strong connection that performance art has with conceptual, particularly through documentation. Performance art pieces are temporary works, performed in front of an audience who will remember the work, but for those of us who weren't there, the work is documented through video, photography and written descriptions. Vito Acconci's Step Piece for example, was a performance within his apartment where he stepped onto and off a step for as long as he could. It's relationship to conceptual art is that it is the execution of a predetermined set of instructions. The language contains the concept, detailing exactly what he will do, where he will do it, when he will do it and how he will inform people of it. The performance itself is just the physical enactment of the words that he has put together to create a work open to the public in his private home. The phographic documentation combined with the written form of the instructions resembles conceptual art more than the performance itself.

Vantage Point and Image Worlds

Ron Burnett is interested in the role of images in society, in their uses and the ways in which they are interpreted into everyday life.
How people interpret an image is influenced by many a discourse that has infiltrated the human psyche, through various mediums. This perspective or 'vantage point' is an image communicated, that is a reflection of one's own self image.

I particularly like how Ron Burnett discusses the influence of media on self-image, the interpretation of world events, and the compression of space and time.

Here are some points he makes about media

* television's influence is far reaching. defying the limitations of medium

* Images are the middle man, between the different layers of 'complex image- worlds'

* Television has had a huge influence on the history of images

* Televisions focus has shifted from entertainment to news, that has compacted space, time and history into a set of "visual, oral and textual discourses, that are for the most part based on the sophisticated use of images"

* The readily availability of news at any time alters the context of the source.

* Images are more than just objects and signs. Live television is a "portal into a variety of experiences"

* "Images are both the outcome and pro-genitors of vast and inter-connected image-worlds. All of these elements may have been discreet at one time or another, but not anymore. Pictures of a series of crises, for example come from so many sources, that the parts become the whole, and the whole seems to have no end or even any parts."

* The broadcast of traumatic world events, become all encompassing. The way these images are read, experienced and stored in memory are a new development of the 21st century.

* Television uses text, sound and images, in an endless stream of information. The TV screen has become a multi-dimensional map, travelling across the world in seconds. World affairs are juxtaposed with reality TV, and crime fiction. "...Survivor, which is one of the best examples of the synthesis of reality/fiction ever created on television"

* Modern media's ability to convey a message far surpasses traditional ways of human interaction and conversation. This marks a shift in the ways humans communicate.

* "Television, radio and the Internet are always on. The media don't disappear, when viewers turn off electrical switches, just as electricity doesn't disappear when it is not being used"
This because of the development of a new natural and constructed world. The differentiation between natural and artificial have diminished.

* The use of images have changed the way humans see themselves, from individuals, to hybrid personae
" Identity no longer resides in one particular place, object or person" ( Jeff Wall. photographer)

*no images of human activity is separate from a variety of media or social context. Images seep into viewers lives from every angle imaginable. Viewers are less aware of the materiality involved with these images and have to juggle the many meanings conveyed thru these images. An example of this is how events on television are discussed as if the portrayal and the event are one.
"The event is internalized, personalized, and then discussed as if the images approximate 'being there' "

gallery visit

The work that have chosen to review is;

Toward a New World Order
Michael Goldberg

I really enjoyed trying to decipher the symbology in this work. Its an interesting evaluation on globalist themes. Michael Goldberg is reflecting the history of the sight in Woolloomooloo. An area that presents a contradiction with the juxtaposition of flash high rises and up market restaurants residing in walking distance withing poverty stricken department of housing, and refuges for the homeless.

There's a really informative interview with Michael on the Artspace website in the archive section. I found it helpful to unpack his use of symbols, i remember everyone was a bit stumped.

art and spirituality

Art and religion have been inter knit throughout western history. Artists such as Michelangelo were commissioned by the Catholic church to create works, as can be seen today in the Sistine Chapel. Many of the works created under this premise are now some of the most important masterpieces of Western Art.
The secularization of culture has influenced the departure from religious themes, though it is still present.
The birth of modernism, deterred the persistence of religious iconography. Early modernists linked organised religion to oppressive authority and seeked to distance themselves. They although maintained a sense of 'spirituality', professing the process of creating art as sacred.
Artists such as Piet Mondrian, Malevich and Marsden Hartley were all influenced by Theosophy.
This detachment from religion enabled avant garde artists to freely choose their subject matter, or lack of. By the aftermath of WW II, artists were being commissioned regardless of religious inclination.
religion in art has been replaced by a somewhat abstract 'spirituality'. In 1979 R.Krauss noted the emergence of an "absolute rift" between art and religion. This rift is most apparent in the work "Piss Christ" by Andres Serrano.

Piss Christ (1987)- Andres Serrano


Here is another sacrilegious delight


Yo Mama's Last Supper (1996)—Renee Cox


There are many arguments that resound, when artists use religious iconography in art. are they expressing their personal faith, are they denigrating religion, or are they making a political statement? Whatever it may be, the relationship between art and spirituality may have evolved over time, but it has not died Art continues to draw on metaphor and images to address universal metaphysical themes, such as "Why are we here?" "What is the meaning of life, of death?" "Is there anything beyond the world we know?"

There is a vast repertoire of visual iconography that contemporary artists can draw from.

Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta a Cuban born artists, integrates a hyper-spirituality of Pre-Columbian and Afro-Cuban beliefs into her work. It is through the artistic process that she explores her own spirituality. She has a strong interest in her Cuban heritage, and her work references Afro- Cuban practises like Santeria, Abakue, Palo Monte, Spanish colonial Catholicism and Indigenous worship of nature.

She often examines the connection between matter, spirit and nature. She is best known for doing this in her series of work "Siluetas"
"Silueta Series" (1973–1980) Ana Mendieta


In these works Mendieta immerses her body in nature. She buries her naked form in various landscapes, covering herself in mud, grass and flowers.


Imagen de yagul ("Silueta Series" (1973–1980)- Ana Mendieta

There are references to the cyclical nature of death in her work, where death is symbolic of new beginnings, and endings. Ana Mendieta has said that her works are both wombs and graves, where life is nourished from nature, or left to return to.

art and globalism

Art and Globalism

The increased interaction between artists from different nations is an effect of what is known as Globalism.

Globalism is difficult to define, as it is immensely broad and includes historical events that have led to the somewhat borderless world we are living in. Technological and scientific advancement, economics, politics, colonisation, was, slave trades, displacement of people and so many other factors, have contributed to the globalisation of the world. The critical discourse surrounding the issue of globalism is both in favour and against the results of globalism. Some suggest that globalism had had a positive effect, and has helped to balance out the distribution of power between nations. In particular it has opened up new economic markets to underdeveloped countries, and provided opportunity for new methods of political and cultural exchange

This is one view and there is another opinion that alludes to the ill effects of globalism, and how it only further consolidates the power of the corporate elite and exasperates the marginalisation of underdeveloped nations.

“It is thus not always clear whether the world is developing a truly global culture, or whether globalism is just a code word for the westernization of non-western cultures”

Mona Hatoum

Mona Hatoum is a London based artist , born in Lebanon in 1952 to Palestinian parents. Her parents fled Palestine due to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Mona Hatoum's works are diverse in medium, bold, allusive and moving. She has made many works from a political perspective and offers insight into the lives of those who have become marginalised due to the ill effects of globalism.

So Much I want to say 1983

Black and White video, sound

4min 40 sec

So Much I want to Say

One of Mona Hatoum's earliest works. She made this film whilst travelling to England. At the time the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon prevented her from returning. She feared greatly for her family’s safety. It was impossible for her to phone them, and was very difficult for her to make contact with her family. It is during this time and context that this film was made.

The film consists of a series of still images, revealing the face of a woman (Hatoum). Two male hands repeatedly gag her, at times covering her face completely. The soundtrack of the film consists of Mona’s voice repeating over and over again, “so much I want to say”

In this film, Mona Hatoum is portraying the abuse of power in both inter-personal and international relationships. She explores censorship, and represents the voiceless anxieties of those who have been exiled and displaced from their culture country and families. It is a very personal yet universal insight into the anxieties felt by those censored and oppressed.

Light Sentence 1992

wire mesh lockers, slow moving motorised light bulb

198 x 185 x 490 cm

Light Sentence

This is one of Mona’s earlier installations. The design of it involves rigid lines and oppressive features of a large grid like feature. In this installation, metal lockers are stacked on top of each other and a naked light bulb moves slowly up and down in the centre of the room. The shadows created as the light passes through the lockers, creates a feeling of instability, unease, and nausea.

The references in this work, are somewhat elusive, but the connection to confinement and torture are undeniable. This work is not in reference to one specific incidence, but instead alludes to the sense of human vulnerability that is universal. Here Moan Hatoum uses the grid as descriptive visual metaphor into power structures.

Untitled (Wheelchair) 1998

Stainless Steel and rubber 970 x 500 x 850 mm

Untitled (wheelchair)

In this work Hatoum has adapted forms of furniture, and replaced parts that

Symbolise comfort with those that evoke elements of hostile potential torture. I this work she has replaced the handles of the wheelchair with knife blades. What was once soft comfortable padding, becomes cold steel.

The knife blades transform what was designed to be something helpful into a vehicle for perverse torture.

The wheelchair is a metaphor for a relationship of love and support. But whoever is foolish enough to try to help, will become severely wounded. It now becomes a relationship where both parties become victims. The work suggests, the person who needs care and who is dependant on another in order to move is forced to injure the person who helps him.

Keffieh 1993- 1999

Human Hair, cotton, fabric

120 x 120 cm

Keffieh

Keffleh shows us a black and white checkered headdress scarf embroidered with hair. It is usually worn by men and became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and solidarity during the 1936 – 1939 Arab revolt against British colonialism. The hair motif, which appears elsewhere in Hatoum’s work, gives this piece a vivid and human feel.

While the Palestinian Keffiyeh continues to be a symbol of Palestinian heritage, it has also become a fashion trend for famous celebrities and fashionistas.

This traditional garment has now been appropriated and mass produced, now also becoming a tradable commodity. It is interesting how anything can be traded in our consumerist society. Politics as fashion.

Cildo Meireles

Cildo Meireles is a Brazilian artist who explores the aftermath of consumerism, politics and military dictatorship. Meireles used pre-existing circulation systems to propagate messages that undermined authorities ( Eff the Man!!) In 1970 at the height of the Brazilian dictatorship, Meireles created a work called (Insercoes en Circuitos Idealogicos : Projecto Coca-Cola ( Insertion into idealogical circuits : Coca-Cola project)

Insercoes en Circuitos Idealogicos : Projecto Coca-Cola

In this work Meireles etched politically provocative statements, such as “Yankee go home”, on Coca-Cola bottles (a criticism of the American infiltration of the Brazilian economy). These messages were invisible until refilled with soda and redistributed.

This piece came out of an earlier work “Insertion”, where he stamped Brazilian and American money with similar messages and re-distributed them.

Joyce Kozloff

Joyce Kozloff has used maps as a mechanism for analysing the complicated facets of colonial and post-colonial cultures.

The maps she creates do not illustrate geographical locations but instead the attitudes and pathways of explorers, colonizers, traders and conquerors. Her maps re-address the western version of history, instead presenting the patriarchal dominance and abuse of power by the west on the colonised.

La Conquista

Her work “La Conquista” is a world globe that she has covered with maps and charts from the sixteenth and eighteenth century. This work is about the colonisation and conquest of the Americas. She has presented the tragic events of this conquest, documenting the diagrams of slave ships, slave ports and drawings of indigenous people as supposed “exotic savages”. Most importantly she has included a map of Tenochtitlan, sent to Spain by a conquistador as a relic of the city he was about to destroy.

Her work comments on the contradiction of scientific and technological advancement, where in the name of development it has been used for destructive devices

Annotated Bibliography

Heartney, Eleanor. Art and Today. New York: Phaidon Press Inc, 2008 (Globalism p.290-319)

Eleanor Heartney presents the effects of globalism and how the art world has had to adapt to a changing world climate.

Where once in 1984 an “International Survey of recent Painting and Sculpture” consisted of mostly white and mostly male artists, this has begun to change to include artist from places in the world that had been previously overlooked. A pivotal moment that reflected this development was the 2002 edition of Documenta, an international exhibition that happens every five years in Germany. For the first time in 50 years, it had been co-ordinated by a non-white curator, Nigerian born Okwui Enwezor. The exhibition presented work by artists who came from all over the world, breaking away from the previous trend. We now see more of an international delegation of artists in prominent institutions such as the MOMA and international biennales.

The increased interaction between artists from different nations is an effect of what is known as Globalism.

Heartney gives an overview of artists that have been influenced by the resounding effects of globalism.

Said, Edward W. The Art of Displacement: Mona Hatoum’s Logic of Irreconcilables

This article written by intellectual Edward said, was very helpful to understand the sentiment behind Mona Hatoum’s work. He presents Hatoum’s objective to disturb viewers, and force them to reminsis through the use of domestic objects that convey sinister meanings. He likens the severity of her work to the experience of refugees, feeling civilians, and those affected by war, massacres, and political upheaval. He poetically imparts an analysis of Mona hatoum’s work, which served to fill in the blanks and provide further insight into her art practice.

Relations between conceptual and performance art

The article by Frazer Ward examines the relationship between conceptual and performance art. He illustrates this through his analysis of two performance pieces, Ian Burn’s Mirror Piece (1967) and Step Piece (1970). Ward’s analysis centres on the idea of performance art as a challenge to the limitations of conceptual art, with a focus on rationality. Ward sees performance and conceptual art as ‘… engaged in a continuing dialogue, sometimes a conversation, sometimes an argument’.

Burn’s Mirror Piece is used as an example of a conceptual piece in its abandonment of aesthetic authority. Ward raises the issue that Burn’s work illustrates, ‘…that it is one thing for a work explicitly to reveal its “ideation premise,” but another for artists to simply state their intentions’. The notes that accompanied the mirror, in the piece, provide evidence of Burn’s priority of placing emphasis on the linguistic over the visual.

The second performance piece, Step Piece, Ward depicts as a piece which, within a broad conceptual framework, models a different version of the subject of aesthetic experience. He observes that the work offers a ‘…model of the subject for whom the language of rationality has intimately physical effects. Rationalism alone, in this context, guarantees nothing to aesthetic experience’

Burn uses both pieces to show evidence of the connection between conceptual and performance art.

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art and the archive

Matej Krén, a Slovakian contemporary artists, has focused mainly on the means of amplification and the communication of knowledge, establishing suggestive links between their historical and ideological relativity and the experimentation with many forms of optical and perceptual illusion.

books in this installation are used as raw materials for an artistic process existing and communicating on many distinct levels.

Books generally a historical and archival reference of knowledge have been transformed into a surrounding tomb like architectural structure in a powerful way

The common reference to a library like scenario points us in the direction of curiosity of the books themselves and their contents. This then takes the books away from a material only bases and categorises them into a documentation like manner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K21F26Gb0o