From the 20th century onwards, the beauty of much art is it has no need for the eye of a beholder. Conceptual works, in theory, place as much importance on the idea as the finished visual object. And while lots can be said about the dozen pieces below, the kernel of each is a thought of no more than 140 characters.
This is not to assume that simple ideas are the best. But it is possible that in a time of information overload, and web-based attention spans, they are the ones that travel best. If these artworks translate into tweets, it is only a sign of their power.
Benjamin Peret, Insulting a Priest (1926):
“A black and white photo of a surrealist poet harranguing a man of the cloth, as featured in a 1926 manifesto for the liberation of desire”
Robert Rauschenberg, Erased De Kooning Drawing (1953):
“After six weeks of careful erasing a heavily worked drawing by Willem de Kooning becomes a gold-framed piece of near blank paper”
Marcel Broodthaers, Femur of a Belgian Man and Femur of a French Woman (1964-5):
“Two human bones, one from Belgian man, one from a French woman, each painted in the colours of the flags of their respective nations”
Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965):
“A folding wooden chair, a photo of the same (not by the artist) and a blown up definition of the word chair to be displayed as one piece”
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled (1969):
“A white-walled Rome gallery became a temporary stable for 12 quite mucky and fairly noisy live horses”
John Baldessari, The Commissioned Paintings (1969-70):
“Out on a walk, the artist took close up pics of a friend pointing at interesting things, then asked 14 sunday painters to paint the photos”
Adrian Piper, Untitled Performance for Max’s Kansas City (1970):
“The artist wears blindfold and gloves and pays a visit to a New York bar where the art world generally go to see and be seen”
Jørgen Nash, Decapitated Little Mermaid (1972):
“The head of Copenhagen’s most famous statue is cut off by (it is said) the Second Situationist International. The artist is a member”
Hans Haacke, Manet-PROJEKT 74 (1974):
“A proposal that a Manet painting be displayed next to panels giving details of all the work’s previous owners and their business activities”
Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting (1974):
“A suburban house is cut down the middle and undermined causing it to split and thereby open a rift in the social fabric”
Gavin Turk, Cave, 1991:
“For his degree show, the artist leaves nothing in his studio but a blue plaque with the words: Gavin Turk, Sculptor, worked here 1989-1991”
Sherrie Levine, Fountain (1991):
“Marcel Duchamp’s infamous urinal readymade has been recast in bronze to give it, at last, some respectability”
By now you should be convinced, some of the most important works of modern and contemporary art lose little from a lot of distillation. They might even work as tweets, albeit ones with plenty more to say.
A 24-hour recording of ambient city noise is, on the face of it, boring. Few people will ever sit through all of the 1999 Giorgio Sadotti piece currently on show at Milton Keynes Gallery.
Behind the soundtrack, however, is an amazing story. Sadotti flew from London to New York, stayed overnight, and came home the next day without speaking to anyone. And that has the makings of an urban legend.
Now simply by hearing about the artwork, you can experience it. It can be easily shared, at no cost, between friends, over a drink. Never mind the lengthy audio documentation. The anecdote, surely, is just as much the artwork, as the tapes from across the Atlantic.
You may wonder how it was possible, logistically, to do such a thing. In its invisible way, the piece is as remarkable as a tromp l’oeil ceiling or an ornate manuscript. It must have been solitary, dogged work to produce.
The next question is what he might have said. The title implies withheld judgement or perhaps a kept secret. It draws attention to what Sadotti was thinking and the recording offers no clue. This gives the piece an essential and age old mystique.
In an attempt to demystify Went To America Didn’t Say A Word, I went to my local shop for a pint of milk and maintained a strict silence. Here is the documentation. You won’t find it in a gallery: Went To The Cornershop Didn’t Say A Word.wma
Skill and accomplishment are at the forefront of this unusual work. But instead of technique with a brush or a chisel, we are treated to the novel and maybe useless vocal imitation of 32 typewriters.
This is representational art of the highest order. Each sequence of hammer strikes does sound, it must be said, just like a typewriter and a different one each time. With no immediate sources to refer to, the performance is taken on trust. As with Mona Lisa or Dora Maar, there is little point in questioning resemblances.
But while Da Vinci or Picasso went all out to capture beauty or its opposite, Ignacio Uriarte has gone in for precise realism in an area which, unlike a model or a landscape, has marginal interest. The 21 minute film, in which we hear the same phrase typed over and over, is mono-manic.
But that 56-character phrase, The History of the Typewriter Recited by Michael Winslow, is also the title of the film. So in a sense, the sounds you hear refer to nothing more than the sounds you hear. The virtuoso performance with all of its mimetic skill is little more than a sideshow. It is fitting that Winslow is a comic actor and he cannot resist a good many gestural asides throughout the film.
Be dazzled by all means, but rather by the force of its creation. not the means of its execution.
Here’s the first of a series of new features in which artists talk about their own work. This is what Oliver Beer had to say about his film Deep and Meaningful:
“For some time I had been quite fascinated by the structure of hidden architectural spaces, but also I read about these urban explorers. They break into sewers in London or all over the world and explore underground. I think considering all the ends of the earth have been explored, there’s actually quite a lot to explore under your feet. Then I found out that on occasions Southern Water let people into Brighton sewers and it’s an incredible space…”
Three locations are evoked by the film Deep and Meaningful by Oliver Beer: the sewer in which the original choral performance was filmed; the type of church where you might expect to hear such a thing; and the gallery environment in which it might end up.
The correspondence between church and art gallery is self-evident. To many both are sacred spaces. Both offer a place to reflect. Visitors to either may hope for revelations or the appearance of truths.
But the links between church and sewer are less clear. There could be straightforward blasphemy in the work. Or perhaps it is that both perform perform civilising roles and both absolve the user.
Finally this piece brings the sewer into the gallery. In a more polite way, it is a similar gesture to that of Duchamp and his urinal. It could suggest art is a functional and dirty business.
Seven well-trained voices join in harmony for the performance. Their song is pitched to vibrate with the sewer and echo around the gallery. It elevates the former, and raises questions in the latter.
The church is conspicuous by its absence. ‘Amen’ is sung without an obvious referent. It could be affirming Victorian architecture or possibly contemporary art. But you can find religion in both.
Oliver Beer, Deep and Meaningful, is currently on show upstairs at 20 Hoxton Square Projects until 24 July 2010.
Exhibition: A Horse Walks Into A Bar, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, June 18 – August 8 2010
That a non-domestic animal in a pub should occasion hilarity tells us something about our relationship with nature. The proverbial horse in a bar is an old joke.
Perhaps the nine artists in this group show at Castlefield Gallery can persuade us that we should take animals more seriously, or at least supply an original punchline.
Using video, painting, photography, sculpture and performance, the show promises to work away at the boundaries between the human and non-human living worlds.
The role of animals is here considered in many spheres, such as regal portraits, mass produced imagery, the entertainment industry and myth.
Contributors include Turner-prize winning artist Mark Wallinger, who once dressed as a bear to roam the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin for one of art’s better gags.
Meanwhile two photographers on show include Corey Arnold, who worked in Alaska as a fisherman, and Richard Billingham, whose unflattering family snaps caused controversy at the Barbican in 1994.
The response from art collective UHC is also no laughing matter. They have invited 100 members of the public to get unique tattoos of the 100 most endangered species in the UK.
Other artists to feature in this intriguing bestiary include Andrew Bracey, Lorraine Burrell, Maddi Nicholson, Dan Staincliffe and Chiz Turnross. So surely one can tell us, why the long face?
Museums at Night is a nationwide campaign running the weekend of May 14-16, organised by Culture24. Here are my picks of the best after-hours activities in the world of contemporary art:
Light Night at the Bluecoat, the Bluecoat, Liverpool, FridayMay 14
Local musicians with world influences bring rhythms of the night to Bluecoat. Sit in the garden at sundown, check out a craft fair by LOACA.ART or wander through the late-opening show, Global Studio, by Livepool artists with international links. Open 7pm-10pm. Admission free.
Artist’s Residency Open Studio Twilight Visit, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth, Friday May 14
As dusk falls on Aberystwyth Arts Centre, they celebrate the end of two residencies. Rabab Ghazoul uses text, film and altered-objects to create site specific installations exploring social hierarchies. Peter Williams is a printmaker concerned with relations between the individual and the home. Open 5pm – 9pm. Admission free.
India Noir: LATE, National Portrait Gallery, London, Friday
Visit a completely different timezone at the NPG with a celebration of contemporary Indian culture. Viram Jasani from the Asian Music Network will be programming the regional tunes. A panel will discuss Indian Crime Fiction. And from the artworld, The Singh Twins will talk you through mixing Eastern tradition and Western innovation. Open 6pm-10pm. Admission free.
Artists’ Talks at the Estorick Collection, Estorick, London, Thursday May 13
With a few more hours in the day, this might be a good opportunity to visit one of the world’s best collections of early 20th century Italian art. Check out works by Boccioni, Balla and Carrà and hear from artists featuring in intriguing temporary show Another Country: London Painters in Dialogue with Italian Art. Open until 10pm (artists talks between 7.30pm and 8.30pm). Admission free.
Kenji Yoshida: A Celebration of Life, October Gallery, London, Friday May 14
Yoshida is that rarest of beings, an ex-kamikaze pilot. Find out how the peace-loving painter survived the war and take a look at the deeply felt etchings, calligraphic works and paintings which resulted. Plenty to celebrate at October Gallery. Open until 5.30pm-9pm. Admission free.
10th birthday of Tate Modern, Tate Modern, London, Friday-Sunday May 14-16
After pulling in crowds for 10 years, Tate Modern has more than one excuse to open late. Maurizio Cattelan is among the curators of a free festival in the Turbine Hall which brings together projects from 50 independent art spaces and collectives. With performance, music and film, it could prove as anarchic as any 10-year-old’s party. Open 10am-midnight Friday and Saturday (until 6pm Sunday). Admission free.
Dream Home, Phoenix, Brighton, Friday-Sunday May 14-16
This Open House is less a gallery in someone’s home, more a fabricated home inside an artist-led gallery. Rest assured you can still poke around. Eleven residents include Kim L Pace, Gary Barber, Caitlin Heffernan, Rona Innes and sculptor Ben Thompson. Open 7pm-9pm. Admission free. Full story on Culture24.
