Immaterial: rules in contemporary art

292 Pages·2022·4.161 MB·English

by  Sherri Irvin

Immaterial: Rules in Contemporary Art
Sherri Irvin
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199688210.001.0001
Published: 2022 Online ISBN: 9780191767524 Print ISBN: 9780199688210
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Copyright Page  e
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https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199688210.002.0003 Page iv from
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Published: January 2022 ttp
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Subject: Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art e
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Immaterial: Rules in Contemporary Art
Sherri Irvin
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199688210.001.0001
Published: 2022 Online ISBN: 9780191767524 Print ISBN: 9780199688210
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Acknowledgments  e
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Published: January 2022 from
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This book has taken a long time to complete, and some of the ideas have been percolating for over twenty om
years. I’m grateful to many people for supporting the project, and me, in ways both concrete and intangible. /bo
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My doctoral students Stephanie Holt, Zachary Jurgensen, and Madeline Martin-Seaver supported this 89
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project as research assistants, and my intellectual life has been greatly enriched by my work with them as /c
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well as with Atabak Akhlaghi, Cheryl Frazier, Jeremy Fried, Babak Mohammadizadeh Khoshroo, Angela p
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Black, and Ruth Tallman. I received valuable research assistance from undergraduate students Kelly r/3
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Koupash, Hannah Neher, and Kiersten Strachan. 1
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Peter Momtchilo� of Oxford University Press has o�ered helpful guidance and shown admirable patience, 5
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while also securing comments from reviewers both early in the project and on the completed draft. I am U
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grateful to the reviewers for their helpful feedback and suggestions. iv
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Shelley Konieczny and Gabe Serrano in the University of Oklahoma Department of Philosophy have provided o
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outstanding administrative support and unfailing kindness. The owners and sta� of Gray Owl Co�ee and o
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Lazy Circles Brewing in Norman, Oklahoma, and Elemental Co�ee in Oklahoma City provided essential C
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refreshments and a welcoming atmosphere. ro
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I’m grateful for the writing time and research opportunities a�orded by a National Endowment for the t C
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Humanities Summer Stipend, a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society, a a
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University of Oklahoma Arts and Humanities Faculty Fellowship, and a University of Oklahoma Humanities l H
Forum Fellowship. ill u
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Artists Janine Antoni and Jill Sigman engaged in extensive discussions of their work and provided me with n
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opportunities to learn about many aspects of their creative practice. Sanneke Stigter and Vivian van Saaze 0 S
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were generous in sharing drafts of their work in progress as I was thinking through related issues. In p
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addition to providing feedback and encouragement, Anne Eaton and Ivan Gaskell have invited me to
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participate in exciting cross-disciplinary research symposia, including repeated opportunities for r 2
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discussion with Glenn Wharton. I’ve received valuable feedback on my work at various points from Kathryn 2
Brown, David Davies, Stephen Davies, Dom Lopes, Bob Stecker, and Amie Thomasson. A discussion with
Renee van de Vall’s interdisciplinary research group, including Deborah Cherry, Hanna Hölling, IJsbrand
Hummelen, Tatja Scholte, Sanneke Stigter, and Vivian van Saaze, played an important role in shaping the
p. x project. I have been grateful for the friendship, encouragement, and professional collaboration of
heather ahtone, Eleen Deprez, Darren Hudson Hick, Karlos Hill, Sheila Lintott, and Paul C. Taylor. Alexander
Nehamas agreed many years ago to supervise my dissertation from afar, though I had never studied
aesthetics; without his generosity and guidance this project could never have gotten o� the ground.
Without having Martin Montminy to talk my ideas through with early on, I would never have earned a PhD
or conceived this project. He is a wonderful friend and co-parent. Zed Montminy Irvin has kept me going
with delicious cakes and cookies and stimulating conversation, and has been patient with me when I’m
sleepy from early morning writing and when I’ve needed a minute to �nish a paragraph.
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List of Figures
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0.1 GeorgBaselitz,DieÄhrenleserin(TheGleaner),1978 2 fro
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0.2 FionaBanner,ShyNude,2007 3 h
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0.3 SaburoMurakami,PeelingPicture,1957 4 s://a
0.4 GeraldFerguson,labelsonthereverseofMaintenancePaintingNo. ca
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30,1980–94 5 em
1.1 FelixGonzalez-Torres,“Untitled”(PortraitofRossinL.A.),1991 11 ic.o
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1.2 SigalitLandau,BarbedSaltLamps,2007 15 .c
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2.1 ZhanWang,UrbanLandscape—Beijing,2006 39 m
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2.2 MariaFernandaCardoso,Cemetery—VerticalGarden/Cementerio—jardín oo
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vertical,1992/1999 40 /38
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2.3 MariaFernandaCardoso,instructionsforinstallingCemetery—Vertical 43
Garden/Cementerio—jardínvertical,1992/1999 41 /ch
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2.4 AnnHamilton,(thecapacityofabsorption—vortex30),1988/1996 42 te
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2.5 ElAnatsui,DriftingContinents,2009 47 3
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2.6 ElAnatsui,DriftingContinents,2009 48 32
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2.7 LizMagor,Production,1980 53 6
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2.8 NicholasGalanin,TheImaginaryIndian(TotemPole),2016 56 U
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3.1 ZoeLeonard,StrangeFruit(detail),1992–1997 62 iv
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3.2 SarahSze,Migrateurs,1997 69 ity
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4.1 AdrianPiper,MyCalling(Card)#1(forDinnersandCocktailParties), f N
1986–present 79 orth
4.2 AdrianPiper,TheProbableTrustRegistry:TheRulesoftheGame#1–3,2013 80 C
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4.3 MarinaAbramović,Rhythm0,1974 82 rolin
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4.4 JillSigman,Hut#4,2010 85 a
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4.5 JillSigman,detailfromHut#4,2010 86 h
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4.6 PaulRamírezJonas,TheCommons,2011 88 e
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4.7 SarahSze,Untitled(Thessaloniki),1997 92 ill u
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4.8 JanineAntoni,Gnaw,1992 96 e
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4.9 JanineAntoni,LickandLather,1993 97 n 2
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xii   
4.10 KaraWalker,ASubtlety,ortheMarvelousSugarBaby,anHomagetothe
unpaidandoverworkedArtisanswhohaverefinedourSweettastesfromthe
canefieldstotheKitchensoftheNewWorldontheOccasionofthe D
demolitionoftheDominoSugarRefiningPlant,2014 100 ow
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5.1 JanDibbets,AllshadowsthatstruckmeintheKröller-MüllerMuseum,1969 109 loa
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5.2 JanDibbets,SannekeStigter,andEvelyneSnijdersinstallingJanDibbets’s ed
workAllshadowsthatstruckmeintheKröller-MüllerMuseum,1969 110 fro
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6.1 KehindeWiley,JacobdeGraeff,2018 134 h
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6.2 SarahSze,Untitled(SohoAnnual),1996 135 s://a
6.3 JanineAntoni,Conduit,2009 137 ca
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7.1 DanhVo,TombstoneforPhùngVo,2010 152 m
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7.2 NicholasGalanin,IndianChildren’sBracelet,2014–18 160 .o
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7.3 FritzHaeg,EdibleEstatesregionalprototypegarden#4:London,England, .c
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established2007 165
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7.4 ProjectRowHouses,founded1993 166 o
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8.1 BabakGolkar,installationviewofworksfromtheseriesTimeCapsules 8
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(2016–2116) 176 43
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8.2 Ulay/MarinaAbramović,Imponderabilia,1977 188 ha
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8.3 LizMagor,TimeandMrs.Tiber,1976 190 ter/3
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9.1 BradTucker,DrumSolos,2001 198 8
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9.2 LygiaClark,Bichos,1960 206 2
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9.3 VideostillfeaturingcuratorPeterEleeymanipulatingLygiaClark’s 6 b
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Bicho,1960 208 U
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9.4 LygiaClark,Bichos,1960 209 iv
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9.5 JamelieHassan,LosDesaparecidos,1981 218 ity
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9.6 JamelieHassan,instructionsforinstallingLosDesaparecidos,1981 219 f N
9.7 RichardGagnier,instructionsforinstallingJamelieHassan’sLos orth
Desaparecidos,1981 220 C
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Introduction D
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Inthisbook,Ifocusonaclusterofdevelopmentsincontemporaryart.Theyhave h
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to do with material and what to do with it. Developments having to do with s
materialhavebeenwidelyrecognized:manycontemporaryartworksaremadeof ://a
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materialsthatareweirdorhavebeenputthroughaweirdprocessontheirwayto d
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arthood.Thematerialofsomeartworksisaneventinsteadofanobject.Formany ic
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artworksinnewmedia,itishardtopindownwhatthematerialisatall:neither u
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the“thing”labelnorthe“event”labelworksverywell.Asthematerialhasgotten .co
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weirder, the boundaries between (what used to be) different art forms have /b
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brokendown. o
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One development about what do with the material has been widely noticed: /38
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interactivity.Thesedayswemaybeabletowalkaroundinanartwork,eatapiece 43
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ofit,changeitsappearance,playwithit,ortakepartofitawaywithus.Acoupleof h
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other developments, though, have gotten less mainstream attention. First, the te
issue of how to display the material has gotten vastly more complicated. Some r/3
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artists spend as much time telling museums how to display things as they spent 1
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makingthethingsinthefirstplace.Someartistsdon’tmakeanythingsatall!They 27
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just tell museums to get some things and display them. Second, there are new b
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questions about how to take care of the material, even when it isn’t on display. U
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These matters of display and conservation might seem like technical issues that ive
onlyamuseumprofessionalcouldlove.Inthisbook,though,I’llarguethatgetting rsity
a handle on them is crucial to understanding much art these days. They affect of N
whatartworksareandwhattheycanmean.Hereisaquicktasteofwherewe’re o
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headed. C
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Pranking Painting at C
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Consider the art of painting up until, say, the late nineteenth century. Paintings el H
were made on (approximately) flat supports. A painting was a picture of some- ill u
thing.Displayingthepaintingwasstraightforward:thepaintedsurfaceshouldface se
away from the wall, and the picture should be right side up. Conserving the r o
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painting wasalways acomplicatedbusiness,butithadacentral goal:preserving 0
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thelookandsubstanceofthepaintedsurface. e
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Now let’s think about some twentieth- and twenty-first-century interventions te
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inpainting. e
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