Don Judd- Specific Objects

In 1965, sculptor and art critic Donald Judd coined the term "specific objects" to describe artwork that challenged the traditional categories of painting and sculpture by exploring the ideas of structure, seriality, and material.

Here is a link to the essay Specific Objects,(1965)

http://cepa.newschool.edu/~quigleyt/vcs/judd-so.pdf



During the first half of the 1980s, Judd drew the plans for the Chinati Foundation, Marfa; the renovated compound of buildings opened in 1986 as a showcase for his sculptures, as well as for the work of other contemporary artists.

Ya wen public reading

Ya wen will be performing a public reading of the thesis in the Commons and providing people with drawing materials so they can draw in response to Kalnin's proposals, or invent their own proposals for what Elam could be as a place.

It'll run from 10am to 2pm this Friday and people are free to come and go as they wish.


Hi all

Please come along! You don't have to stay for the whole duration of the reading, just come and go as you want, and I will take breaks to answer questions and talk and stuff.

Your support will be hugely appreciated!

Thanks
Ya-wen

Book Works Artist books

15 Lombard St.
by Janice Kerbel (2000)

15 Lombard St. is a rigorously researched masterplan of how to rob a particular bank in the City of London. By observing the daily routine in and around the bank, Kerbel reveals the most detailed security measures such as: the exact route and time of money transportation; the location of CCTV cameras in and around the bank along with precise floor plans that mark the building's blind spots.

Kerbel's meticulous plans include every possible detail required to commit the perfect crime. The ubiquitous fantasy of a bank robbery functions as a backdrop for Kerbel's 'play of subversion'. By surveying surveillance Kerbel shows how different systems are interrelated, forming a web of control. Kerbel's aim is not simply to subvert but to emphasise the fact that the idea of absolute control and the fantasy of robbing a bank are interconnected and mutually sustaining.

ISBN 978 1 870699 45 7




Below is a link to an interesting organisation which publishes artists books come of the descriptions of past titles give an idea of the range of the projects they take on.

http://www.bookworks.org.uk/asp/home.asp

Vincente Guallart -How To Make A Mountain

Something I came across I thought was an interesting example of analysis.
See the full set of images at:
http://www.guallart.com/05howToMakeAMountain/default.htm

Its comes from an architecture practice:
http://www.guallart.com/
I thought their dictionary was interesting, (find it on their homepage, above)

J.M.W Turner

I thought the description of J.M Turner painting environment was great, in particular the application of paint one colour at a time.



Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892), one of the best known scientists of his day,met J.M.W. Turner in August 1845.

He tells how, on a very bright August day, Broderip and he walked together to Turner’s residence, which was slightly dingy in outward appearance. When they arrived at the door, they awaited some time before their ring at the bell was answered. At last an elderly person opened the door a few inches, and asked them suspiciously what they wanted. They replied that they wished to see Mr Turner. The door was immediately shut in their faces ; but after a time the person came back to say that they might enter. When they got into the hall she showed them into a room, and forthwith shut the door upon them. They then discovered with some dismay that this apartment was in total darkness, with the blinds down and the shutters up. After a prolonged interval, they were told they might go upstairs. Upon arriving at the topmost storey they perceived Turner standing before several easels, and taking his colours from a circular table, which he swung round to get at the paints required. He was painting several pictures as once, passing on from one to the other, and applying to each in its turn the particular colour he was using, till it was exhausted.
'

This account can be found in The Life of Richard Owen by his Grandson The Rev. Richard Owen. Murray, London 1894. p.263-4

Tate Britain has virtually reconstructed J.M.W. Turner's Gallery which he built in his house so that he could control how his paintings were shown.

Yang Fudong

Yang Fudong
Seven Intellectuals In Bamboo Forest, Part I, 2003
35mm black and white film
29 minutes



This five screen film by Yang Fudong (Shanghai) was interspersed throughout the Arsenale exhibition at Venice last year. It was one of my favourite things from the Biennale and I think is a great exampe of a productively confounding narritive. Hopefully It or other work by the artist will make its way here at some point.

Each part was screened inside its own viewing room meaning that the viewer could enter and exit at any point. Time seemed stretched and nothing is rushed. The activities of the characters are soundless which compounds the sense of a sense of waiting. The series of black-and-white films were originally shot on 35mm film, but projected from DVD.

Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest comes from a traditional theme in Chinese art about a group of seven Taoist sages taking respite in the forest as they pursue anti-Confucian ideals such as individualism and personal liberty. Yang substitutes the word 'intellectuals' for the traditional terms 'sages' and 'worthies,' perhaps a comment on the evolution of the idea of wisdom in China in the 20th century.




Links:
http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Essay.Yang-Fudong-5-Films.10.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_1_42/ai_108691799
http://www.themoorespace.org/oldmoorespace/YangFudong/Texts.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2006/apr/25/1

Artur Żmijewski

Singing Lesson 2

Singing Lesson 2, (2003) plays on a medium sized flat screen monitor very nearly at the entrance to the gallery. On the monitor a choir of young people appear to be singing in church. As one seats oneself and pulls a set of headphones over one's ears, strains of remotely familiar music, specifically Bach's Cantata, Heart and Lips and Deed and Life are awash in haunting noises emanating from the choir which is composed of hearing impaired children. The piece is mesmerizing. Though the choir seems locked in a visual embrace with the conductor, his gestures evince only atonal sighing, growling and sobbing - sounds far more gutteral and far less self conscious than anyone in the hearing world would commonly ascribe to a hymn sing. The result is a very peculiar, dreadful yet beautiful noise.





Them
Documenta 12



“Though we often ostensibly apply actual labels to fictive things, we
can hardly apply fictive labels; for a label used exists.”
-Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art

‘I’m starting’ says an old lady in her modest but excited voice. Nobody
anticipates the beginning of a battle. She draws a black line, then
another, and more.
Four different teams illustrate their four diverse views in simple
drawings. A catholic church, a word ‘’ in Hebrew framed in the
contour of , Chrobry’s Sword, and the word ‘Freedom’ (in Polish)
again framed in the contour of .Each team’s members come from a different ideological background. As groups supposed to appear representative of the ideology they become
stereotypical in themselves. Moreover – they use stereotypes to express
their beliefs.

Their illustrations serve as emblems, also in a literal meaning, as
they are printed on t-shirts that each group will wear. During the
second meeting, dressed in their new outfits they become easily
identifiable. Simple rules are set – there are no rules. Teams begin to correct each other’s expressions, removing or adding elements until the message is in compliance with their own views. They each represent some type of an extreme, not one being a so-called typical Pole. However, it is the very use of stereotypes in which lays
the strength of Them.

Their actions are a battle of representations, a war of images, symbols
and gestures, which gain their intensity from being simple, direct and
most importantly – not always adequate. The extremity escalates as the
exchange of fire takes place.None of the participants are artists; it is only for the sake of the video that they agreed to use visuals. The conflict is spectacular,
almost thrilling as the actions develop.

If one ever asks the question whether art can be harmful, this video
provides a particularly interesting answer. Only the elderly catholic
ladies notice that the tumult is not leading the discussion anywhere.
They decide to leave the room. The remaining three groups consisting of
much younger people seem too excited to notice that their actions are
destructive. The reason for that is as simple as it is peculiar. They
have to invent ways of expression that are new to them and that will
prove what they consider to be the strength of their argument.

There is no single attempt to explain any belief or the reason behind
it. Nobody tries to reach an agreement. Nonetheless, members of each
group seem to be satisfied with their doings. Perhaps it is because
they are stubborn. But it may also be due to the fact, that they are
engaged in a creative process, the most fulfilling act any human can
undertake. The godly act of creating easily becomes opium for the
brain.




An Eye For An Eye

An Eye For An Eye the able lend limbs to the disabled. An able man supports a one-legged man. They walk together, ascend and descend stairs, do a little dance. Then a woman takes a shower with a legless man who has lost his fingers through frostbite. Placing her fingers under what remains of his hands, she lets him use her fingers to wash himself. How do we understand this? As the disabled and the able co-operating, symbiotic, creating a new dual human being? Or are the able simply appropriated as slaves to the greater needs of the disabled?

Links:
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.bold.gif
http://www.cca.edu/about/press/2005/zmijewski
http://www.briansholis.com/WRITING/CONTENT/ZMIJEWSKI/
http://www.archive.org/details/Artur_Zmijewski_at_Radical_Thinking_Series_5th_March_20
08_Stockholm
http://www.metropolism.org/magazine/2007-no5/beeldenstorm/english