Thursday, February 7, 2008

extremely rough thesis outline.

be nice to me. this way more difficult than i thought it would be.



.............

it is human nature to divide, name, separate, categorize. why does this behaviour hold so much appeal for us? by categorizing external elements in our lives, we assess small amounts of power over our immediate environments. this allows us to feel comfortable and safe enough to accept and adhere to the systems that have been constructed for us.

the most basic cornerstone of categorization is the idea of a binary division. moral systems are based on “right” or “wrong”. assessing control by categorizing elements of our environments (external to us) is a byproduct of living in a society where we are often only presented with TWO OPTIONS... either/or.

although i am not convinced that these dichotomies are healthy structures to govern our culture, i understand that without these constructs in place, we would need to instill other types of structure, or we would be reduced to anarchy.

the things that we construct and believe to protect ourselves….

let’s talk about installation and its relationship to fluxus. fluxus is based on the idea of text, wether it is present or not. This is important, this is related. how can text be present but not present? or can it be present and still be successful/not overbearing? EVERYTHING is constructed of language objects. it is comparison, it is a point of reference. it is also a point of resistance. this is the way we comprehend things, the way we internalize them in a way that is useful to our consumption of our environments. artists that should be mentioned:

>>>>>>sol lewitt
rachel whiteread
doris salcedo
walter demaria
borges’ chinese cabinet, and w. benjamin’s discussions thereof
2nd half of 20th century thought on the grid, categories, systems, etc.
eva hesse
jeanne-claude & christo ?? maybe not.
donald judd
adam mckewen (tracking graphite floor tiles ala judd over white carpet; dirtbags/scrolls)
robert smithson
robert morris
frank stella
richard serra
carl andre
dan flavin
“arte povera”
ashley bickerton
christopher wool
katie kollowitz
sophie calle
dorothy simpson krause
yoko ono
yayoi kusama
barbara krueger
rirkrit tiravanija
john mccracken
joseph beuys
josef kosuth (the apparent trueness of chairs, clocks. What is true/false? What is more real?)
hans haacke (“different definitions of otherness”)
mona hatoum
robert gober
jesper just
jenny holzer
ana mendieta
felix gonzales-torres


what do these artists have in common, or what differs about them? why am I drawn to them? is this more or less important than their influence on my work?


why do I believe is installation the smartest form of media? why does it succeed in ways that sculpture, painting, and other media fail? installation suggests an in-betweenness, an opposition to the either/or. the duality, i mean. the production of this type of work mirrors cultural constructs that promote the hegemony of abstraction. if we can get past the way we shut orselves down, then we can truly experience the work. ….or the relationship. or the job. or the….whatever.

a huge shift has happened in the (my) work. what is the shift? it is that this conceptual direction is uncomfortable for me. it is unfamiliar. it is a relinquishing of power, a risk, an open door to chance. memory is related. memory is always generated by the binary. you only know yourself by how you relate to the other. all social systems are generated based on this desire to compare ourselves to things external to us.

this is the reason we are constantly uncomfortable.
this is why we have come to accept that every facet of culture is subject to change: politics, love, family, science, history, media, technology. everything except ART. ART is required, almost EXPECTED to remain solid, unchanging. have we have come to rely on this security? is this the only security we rely on?

how can a participatory element enter the picture without becoming the downfall of the piece? PARTICIPATION WITH THE WORK REQUIRES A CHOICE TO BE MADE ON THE VIEWERS PART. A CHOICE IS THE EMBODIMENT OF YES/NO. YES/NO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF A BINARY SYSTEM.

the artist’s responsibility is to represent what it is like to be alive NOW.
there is an element of chance that cannot be denied.


installation
minimalism
“flux” vs “fluxus”
conceptual art
fluxus
hans haacke’s “different definitions of otherness”
sol lewitt’s “Sentences on conceptual art” as markers per chapter (part) of thesis.
work that is ABOUT the body, but not OF the body
or, that You can make work about pain but you cannot make work from a place of pain.


what about scrolls in two piles? the viewer is forced to make a choice. the piles must be different, yet the same. the flour words will still hold. things are happening here. black scrolls? opposites, dualities. polars. one banner with all the words…male, either, large, fat, tired, happy. a second banner: female, or, small, thin, awake, melancholy. or on the floor, the text? how to incorporate the wrappedness of brownpaperproject? the text is chalk and flour on black paper. it is chalk and flour on concrete. CHALK AND FLOUR IS ABOUT IMPERMANENCE. INSTALLATION IS ABOUT IMPERMANENCE vs PERMANENCE.

it is about the change that is occuring under the veil of unchangedness.

i can spend time discussing brownpaperproject. it will take up a good amount of space. it is about the binary division. It pokes fun at these social constructs in a fluxus fashion. it is a tertiary. It involves text. it involves participation, filing, organization, control, organization, self-containment, self-censorship, choice, purging, rest, unrest. It involves a giving up, a relinquishing. it is about the power of judgement on others, and how it relates to judgement on one’s self. It is hardly about gender. It uses gender as a control. it is about control. it is about forced division. it references the holocaust. it references a mail room. it referencess the forgotten.


how about the dirtbags (expansion)? this project investigates the meticulosity of human preparation. it discusses the formal and informal aspects of strength and will, resistance and give. it is about weight. It is about memory. it is about holding something that does not need to be held. it is about invasiveness. it is about taking up space, intimidation, forced intake. IT IS IN YOUR WAY. IT SMELLS. IT IS WET AND IT IS HEAVY AND YOU CAN NOT MOVE IT ON YOUR OWN. it is thick. you can lie down near it and cry. you will take it home with you on the bottom of your shoes. you may not take it all the way home but at least you will take it away from itself. IT WILL MAKE YOU HEAVIER, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE.


and now for something completely different. this is fucking mesmerizing:

2 comments:

Rebecca Moran said...

This is an awesome video, LOVE IT!

Rebecca Moran said...

I'm trying to figure out a thesis outline. It's due by the end of this semester and I'm so freaked, I can hardly think. Got to calm down and think, think, think.