midterm contemporary art

**PIER MANZONI

"Can of shit" Comparison between the monochromes of Yves Klein and the Achromes of Piero Manzoni. Comparison between the conceptualism of Piero Manzoni Socle du Mond and Andy Warhol's quote "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" Manzoni- no other solution than utopian wish that everything be upturned, frustration of our visual sense as strategy of resistance against spectacularization of culture- (a slide) everything is art because he turned the pedestal upside down. German art historian Benjamin H. D. Buchloh suggests that the core tenet of Warhol's aesthetic, being "the systematic invalidation of the hierarchies of representational functions and techniques" of art, corresponds directly to the belief that the "hierarchy of subjects worthy to be represented will someday be abolished," hence anybody, and therefore "everybody," can be famous once that hierarchy dissipates, "in the future," and by logical extension of that, "in the future, everybody will be famous," and not merely those individuals worthy of fame.

Deskilling

"getting rid" of the skills of an artist, being able to create things with different medi

Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Attese, 1959

"spatial concepts" refers to the space behind the physical canvas, into which Fontana seems to be trying to access. He is incorporating movement & space, exploration

Piero Manzoni, Socle du Monde, 1961

'Base of the World', literally transforming the entire world, including humankind, into a work of art. If everything is recognized as art, nothing is art? This should ring a bell to Andy Warhol's saying "fifteens minutes of fame". Meaning- everyone will have fame, be famous, be turned into art, be exposed for 15 minutes. Turning everyone into a new relationship with the art.

ENGLISH AND ITALIAN POP ART

-Art of mass production and of the products of consumerism. -Exhibit This Is Tomorrow by the Independent Group; where was held and why important. Leading members: Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi, John McHale, William Turnbull. ICA (Institute of contemporary art) wanted to connect modernist art, architecture, design. Themes: auterity after WWII, Cold War, technological advances, European modernism, appeal of American mass culture. "This is Tomorrow"; held at Whitechapel Gallery in London, no 1 aesthetic dictated exhibit. -the Venice Biennial of 1964; winner, its peculiarity, its importance -Richard Hamilton. 1964 shift to America (Pop art), Robert Rauschenberg wins first prize. controversial, deemed "cultural colonisation", Rauschenberg exhibited only 4 pieces, once declared the winner more pieces were added. Edoardo Paolozzi: I Was a Rich Man's Plaything (1947), Bunk (1950 -71), There was a sex appeal portrayed in the pop art. -Mimmo Rotella: Marilyn (1963), Marilyn Monroe dies in 1962 at age 36. -Tano Festa: Italian painter, and photographer, 1938 -1988, Obelisco - 1963, The Creation of the Man (1963), Idea comes from Duchamp. -Comparison of Mimmo Rotella's, Hamilton's and Andy Warhol's Marilyns (those on the .ppt presentations). Please use on your short answer a proper vocabulary including words such as referent and simulacrum. How you take a mass produced image and make it personal. Took image from the street (decalogue) Rotella Other one was that he had images that everyone knows what stylized them. So the referent is marilyn she died bringing back her memory/idea/symbol. Simulacrum- repetition of something which devalues it Hamilton Warhol's marilyn turns her into an icon because he uses gold- greeks icons and virgin mary American Minimalism. Movement emerged in New York in 1960s, artists renouncing recent art they perceived as stale/academic. Favored cool over "dramatic", anonymity over expressive excess of Abstract Expressionism. Industrial materials, making art more accessible to the people because it is composed of fabricated parts. Materials can stand for themselves.

NEO-DADA: Rauschenberg & Johns

-Neo-Dada applied to works of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Allan Kaprow, who initiated radical shifts to modern art in 1950s. Known for useage of mass media and found objects, performance. Rebelled against emotional style of Abstract Expressionism, mundane subjects. Paved way for Pop art, Minimalism, Conceptualism. cold war climate, Neo-Dada mocked and celebrated consumer culture, encouraged viewers to look beyond traditional aesthetic standards & interpret meaning through critical thinking rather than internal emotions, believed viewer's interpretation of a work- not artist's intent- determined it's meaning and use of chance, found objects, mass media. -Relationship between Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage. Rauschenberg met John Cage in 1951 in New York, Cage was in his late 30s. Cage was established avant-garde composer and Rauschenberg was just starting out. Cage inspired by: 'White Paintings'relationship flourished at Black Mountain College, Cage looked to Rauschenberg to inform about how art should engage with intrusions of natural world, how artists could work with ever-changing nature of surroundings. Rauschenberg's Combines were created for Cage in response to a request for a performance. Cage's thinking was influenced by Zen Buddhism, celebrating passivity against the strain/ thrust of "action". chance/randomness are universal modalities that structure the university.

NOUVEAU REALISM: Yves Klein & Arman

-Nouveau Realism: an artistic movement founded in the 1960's by Pierre Restany. Associated artists used assemblage , collage, painting Key figures: Marcel Duchamp, Arman, Jean Tinguely, Mimmo Rotella, Yves Klein Avant-garde movement, manifesto by Restany Nouveau Realisme & Fluxus was French response to American Pop art -Yves Klein: An artist of the Nouveau Realism movement, French artist, Important figure for post-war European art, Leading member of Nouveau Realism movement, Pioneer in the development of performance art -Arman: An artist of the Nouveau Realism movement, French born, american artist A painter, Originally used objects for the ink or paint traces th2ey left as the paintings itself He is best known for his "accumulations" and destruction/ recomposition of objects

AMERICAN MINIMALISM

-Russian Aesthetics in American Minimalism: constructivism movement beginning 20th cent Russia, russian counter-response to cubism, Vuctemas (school)- taught artists to create works directly to market to improve Russian industry (idea of progress), commentary on socialism -Judd: rejected traditional painting and sculpture, idea of the object as it exists in environment. Created works comprised of single/repeated geometric forms produced from industrialized, machine-made materials (absence of artist's touch), impersonal/factory aesthetic -Morris: focused on art's interaction with viewer, simple geometric shapes stripped of metaphorical associations. Mid 60s created sculptures of repeated geometric form, forced viewer to consider arrangement, scale, forms, perception. -Andre: distanced sculpture from processes of carving, modeling, constructing. Created works that involved sorting & placing. Believes sculpture is exploration of matter. -Flavin: considered himself "maximalist", used readymade objects dadist style of Duchamp, work consists of arrangement of fluorescent lights, interaction of light and color. -Serra: medium of welded steel, how art might relate intimately to a specific setting. -The Phenomenology of Perception by Merleau- Ponty and Minimalism aesthetics: Ponty and Minimalism aesthetics

Carl Andre, Magnesium-Zinc Plain, 1969

18 zinc plates, 18 steel plates. Joined together without altering physically. Intended to be walked on by viewer, to feel the difference between metals industrial/ mass-produced materials associated with minimalist art

Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965

3 chairs: 1 real chair, picture of a chair, and then the definition of the chair. Truly describing a chair in 3 different ways. An example of Conceptional Art.

Maurice Marleau-Ponty

A French phenomenological philosopher. His main interest was the constitution of meaning in human experience and he wrote on perception, art, and politics.

Indexical Mark

A mark on the art not made by the artist but by the surroundings, meaning it was not done or intended by the artist. Ex: dust collects on the art Big Black Crack)

Piero Manzoni, Achrome (Bread Rolls), 1961-62

A step beyond Monochrome (one color or from)=Achrome: meaning white, it is the absence of color. Composition is orderly. Painting and plaster. Iconic objects (bread rolls), especially for an Italian artist. This is the typical bread produced in Milan. Not consumerist object, humor & satire involved. Simulacrum of object, devalues the object itself.

Combines

An artwork that incorporates various objects into a painted canvas surface, creating a sort of hybrid between painting and sculpture. Items attached to paintings might include photographic images, clothing, newspaper clippings, ephemera, or any number of three-dimensional objects. The term is most closely associated with the artwork of American artist robert Rauschenberg who coined the phrase to describe his own creations. Rauschenberg's combines explored the blurry boundaries between art and the everyday world.

Gestalt

An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.

Robert Rauschenberg, Black Market, 1961

Assemblage-two or more pieces assembled together. Random objects in suitcase on floor given & taken by viewers (indexical mark-, unofficial exchange). The viewer has power in how this piece appears to the next viewer. Chaotic yet follows a theme. Rauschenberg was living in New York at the timepiece reflects energy of busy city (urban) Luggage was open, you were allowed to put something in the luggage then take something out of the luggage for yourself, and write on the white boards the transaction you completed. He worked on it to a certain point, and then allowed the public to complete the rest of the work.

*Assemblage

Assembling different materials together. A 3-dimensional alternative to collage- a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a surface various materials not normally associated with one another. Both the process and the product of art-making, referring to an act of putting various fragment together, in order to compose a piece. The process often involved the use of discarded objects, found objects, remnants, or scraps.

Flavin, Monument for Vladimir Tatlin, 1960's

Aura of lights, recovers idea of something else. Presented in a dark room, piece has presentness.

Alberto Burri, Composition, 1953

Burri was a doctor in WWII where he began to paint and use materials available. After returning to Italy, he dedicated himself to art. He created art that reminded him of the WWII-men coming home with no limbs & wounds. Sacks and stitching reference the human flesh and his knowledge of anatomy. Assemblage of different pieces of fabric and then he would destroy and rip them and then hard tar or paintings emerge from behind. These are visually reminders of wounds.

CONCEPTUAL ART

Celebrated commonplace objects & everyday people, aimed to elevate popular culture to a level of fine art. Concept that there is no hierarchy of culture, art may borrow from any source. Believed that the articulation of an artistic idea suffices as a work of art, expanded boundaries of art. Recognize that all art is essentially conceptual, emphasized by reducing material presence =dematerialization.art does not need to take physical form. Definition first appeared in 1966-67 among the English art group Art and Language. Joseph Kosuth - most important representative Intended the art to be a "PROPOSITION PRESENTED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ART AS A COMMENT ON ART". Conceptual Art before conceptual art: examples of Duchamp, Klein, Manzoni Joseph Kossuth. Use of printed matters and magazines in conceptual art (Ed Ruscha and Dan Graham), Cesare Pietroiusti: Example of conceptional artist Forme paradossali di scambio (Paradoxical Forms of Exchange), 2008, Wall made $1 and $20 bills soaked in acid, the bills get destroyed over time, started with the ink disappearing, then the bill starts to disintegrate, Eating money (2007), Ikon, Gallery, Birmingham, The work of art is what has been processed by the artist and then is eventually delivered to the public.

Alberto Burri, Cretto in Gibellina, 1981 - 85

City of Gibellina completely destroyed by earthquake, Burri began in 1981, was not completely finished until 2015. "Negative" of town, I connect this to Robert Mans' Statement of Aesthetic Withdrawal as a negative of the art, which in this case is the village itself. No one can reproduce what was lost, but Burri makes a statement from this opportunity and creates a different feel, but still maintaining an artistic aesthetic

Yves Klein, The Void, 1959

Conceptual. Klein's sensibility, he becomes his art. Piece consists of empty gallery, frame of already existing cabinet in blue. Creation of ambience, and experience. The invitations were created by Pierre Restany, and guests were served blue cocktails that turned their urine blue, after they had left the exhibition. They consumed the artist, as Yves Klein is/has created this experience.

Piero Manzoni, Living Sculpture, 1961

Declared bodies to be art by means of a pedestal, whoever steps onto the pedestal becomes a living sculpture and object of art for the time being. Turning a living creature or women into art. Manzoni made the body the material. Going beyond ready-made. Staged photography, the artist displays his signature which is his power. When God created a women he leaves his mark on her- he leaves his signature on the women making a living women into a sculpture.

Dan Flavin, Diagonal of May 25 1963 and Monument Tatlin, 1964

Diagonal of May 25 (1963) Monument Tatlin (1964). Dark room with a super bright neon light the light make a much larger statement.

Yves Klein, Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility, 1959 - 69

Documentation of empty space in the form of a check, in exchange for gold. Instructions attached, the buyer of these pieces could burn the check, and Klein would throw half the gold exchanged into the Seine. Ritual performed in front of a critic/dealer, museum director, 2 witnesses. Early example of conceptual art. Artist had a vision and meaning behind the piece.

Paolozzi, I was a Rich Man's Playing, c. 1947, collage on card (36x23)

Done right after the WWII. "Pop" goes with the sound of the gun Sexual allusion- red dress, cherry pie (offering a sense of satisfaction). Plane that references the war that just ended but also the male organ. Coca-cola:Repetition creates detachment The elements of examine

Cesare Pietroiusti, Eating money, 2007,

Eating Money, 2007, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. Work of art that was set up as a performance. Offering on auction the work- which is two bills (money- euros). Eat the money, chew the money, and then poop the money?What do you get? What is the idea behind this? The work of art has been processed by the artist. It is taken by the artist and eventually delivered to the public. Something that is processed by the artist is something that has literally gone inside of the artist and something that the public has to wait for

Jasper Johns, White Flag, 1955

Encaustic, oil, newsprint, and charcoal on canvas. An american flag painted white. Monochrome (work done in one color or form), shape & form of object it is representing, removing obvious colors. Only at close view can the viewer recognize the collage (newsprint, paper, fabric). Price est. $20mil 1998. "Pop art", use of popular image, something instantly recognizable and american. Perception and how it can change when looking at something. Uses Tautology with Flag series, in a sense simulacrum.

John Cage

He did the 4 minute and 33 second silent composition where he sat at a piano and only opened his book, sat there, and at the end everyone clapped. The only sound was the surrounding and the audience- awareness of happening and matter of chance. 273 seconds total equals a total void. Study of chaos and chance.

Hamilton, Homage to Chrysler Corp, 1950's

Image that reflects the Chrysler company (produces cars) The image of the lady New vision of the world The appeal of women and cars

Nominalism

In the practice of Duchamp- giving names to things that are not art in order to make them art

Ductus

Includes the direction, sequencing, and speed with which the strokes making up a character are drawn. The hand of the artist.

IBK

International klein blue, deep blue hue first mixed by Yves Klein, was able to distance himself by instructing models to paint with their bodies (Anthropometries)

Anthropometries

Klein employed female models as "living paintbrushes" to make this work and others in his Anthropometry series, named after the study of human body measurements. "In this way," the artist said, "I stayed clean. I no longer dirtied myself with color, not even the tips of my fingers." Klein directed the models, covered in International Klein Blue—his patented blue paint—to make imprints of their bodies on large sheets of paper. He staged the making of Anthropometries as elaborate performances for an audience, complete with blue cocktails and a performance of his Monotone Symphony—a single note played for twenty minutes, followed by twenty minutes of silence

Referent

Latin for bringing back- the object or idea to which a word or phrase refers

Hamilton, My Marilyn, 1960's

Marilyn represents a well known subject. Also subject to privatization. Different between American pop and European pop: more human relationship with the product. Piece done from photographs that had already been published. Artist takes these famous images of Marilyn and makes it private (selects and turns it into his own) Personalized and a feeling of love- less iconic and more felt

Piero Manzoni, Merda d'artista, 1961

Merda d'artista= Artist's Shit. This work was considered shocking at the time. Consists of 90 tin cans, each filled with 30 grams of "feces". Relationship between art production and human production. Intimate, personal to the artist. Act of mockery against the art world, artists, critics. Manzoni's father possible told him "your work is shit". Idolization of artists, and commentary on the value of anything they might create. Aura of an artist's work: Some artists developed an aura that could be compared to the ora of saints. The viewer is suppose to trust the artist the way that people trust the church.

Tano Festa, Obelisco, 1960's

Model wood that simulates an actual Obelisc. How is this an object of affection? Homage to this place.

Sol Lewitt, Modular open cube, 1969

Modular open cube (1969). This artist claims anyone can make his work. He gives credit to anyone who works for him.

Mimmo Rotella, Marilyn, 1963

Nouveau Réalisme- collage, "pop". Use of advertisement posters, 'double decollages', movement of abstract expressionism. Invited by Restany to join Nouveau Realisme movement. Marilyn reflects a personal memory.

ED RUSCHA, Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations, 1962

Page and single photograph from the photo-book, Twenty- Six Gasoline Stations, 1962.. Producing exhibitions for art was so expensive that artists started using books, photographs, and magazines to convey their work. Photographs of gasoline stations all over the US. This is more like a catalog- simple display of the aesthetics Similar to the work with "Red"

Joseph Beuys, How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, 26 November 1965

Performance documentation. His idea was that the artist was a type of magician- someone who delivered a certain type of truth. He painted his face in golden leaf (turning himself in a holy image) and he used all of the iconography that he invented for himself. In front of this image the viewer is invested in the aura of it even though nothing is going on. Suggest healing potential of art, sense of hope for the future.

Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953

Personal approach to ownership, collaboration. Art by removal of what was considered 'art'. Original piece done by respected contemporary (act of humor, destruction, homage?). Without description (Jasper Johns) the viewer would not know what they were looking at. Deskilling (procedure of getting rid of skills that the artist belong to-how to make and create things with different mediums). Erased the drawing and by doing this he let other things emerge. What emerged; marks of the pencil, dirt that marked the paper, dust that gathered because it wasn't covered, the shadow of people passing in front of it.

Alberto Burri, Big Black Crack, 1977

Removal of the ductus clearly seen in earlier works. The indexical mark: a mark on the art not made by the artist but by the surroundings, meaning it was not done or intended by the artist. The paint dries, it is left up to chance, not completely, he steps away from his work. Similarities between this work and cretto in Gibellina (1981-85) Made of clay and he let it dry without having any interference of the artist and when it dries this material created natural cracks on its own.

Arman, Le Plein, 1960

Response to Klein's Le Vide, took place in same gallery. Dadaist use of found/discarded objects. Worked by accumulation. Arman collected items from the streets of Paris and filled the entire visible gallery space. The viewer could only see through a window, unable to enter.

**Ready Made

Seeking an alternative to representing objects in paint, Duchamp began presenting objects themselves as art. He selected mass-produced, commercially available, often utilitarian objects, designating them as art and giving them titles. "Readymades," as he called them, disrupted centuries of thinking about the artist's role as a skilled creator of original handmade objects. Instead, Duchamp argued, "An ordinary object [could be] elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist." The readymade also defied the notion that art must be beautiful. Duchamp claimed to have chosen everyday objects "based on a reaction of visual indifference, with at the same time a total absence of good or bad taste...."2In doing so, Duchamp paved the way for Conceptual art—work that was "in the service of the mind,"3 as opposed to a purely "retinal" art, intended only to please the eye.

Jean Tinguely, Homage to New York, 1960

Self-destruction of a massive piece in front of audience at MoMA. He created a sculpture from accumulation out of junk in NYC, turn it into a machine, and allow it to self district. Collaborators included Rauschenberg. Piece was 27 minutes long, guests took what was left before FD stopped the destruction. Majority of elements were thrown away. Homage to a city that keeps rebuilding, notes on consumerist culture emerging in the 60's (pop art), destruction is inevitable. It was homage to NYC- implying that NYC would destroy itself.

Pino Pascali, Stone (Pietra), 1960's

Stone (Pietra) - 1966 Pelo - 1968 Made of fiberglass Gave the piece an attitude

Yves Klein, Antropometries and monotone symphony, 1960

Symphony consisting of one note, three naked models rolled themselves in 'Klein Blue' paint. Models opposite orchestra, piece lasted 20 minutes, reaching a meditative/spiritual state. Anthropometries series shows female body as art, as paintbrush or print. Klein removes himself from the piece itself, become the conductor/director but not controller.

Sol Lewitt, Red Square, White Letters, 1960's

Tautology (same thought). You have exactly what you say/ what you see is what you get. Describes what you are looking at Conceptional Art. Based on geometric shape/very simple.

Yves Klein, Requiem (Blue Monochrome), 1961

This color was done for a specific reason. 'International Blue Klein'-it is its own color, also the color of the international gothic style and this is the most expensive color to work with. Medieval thinking behind the blue: this color represented the highest possible goal, highest maximum of perfection. Lapis color represented God in art history, divinity, highest level of devotion from painter. Curved angle of the corners, sense of space, infinity, cloudless sky. This specific shade of blue cannot be completely accurately reproduced on screens/print, must be viewed first hand for intended effect.

Richard Serra, Two Cuts, 1970's

Two pieces of iron cut differently from one another.

Robert Morris, Statement of Aesthetic Withdrawal, 1963

Typed and notarized statement on paper and sheet of lead mounted in imitation leather mat, 44.8 x 60.4 cm. MoMA, Gift of Philip Johnson. Icon of the old piece (exactly the same as what it used to be- exact trace of other piece) and then he connected this piece with a statement. The piece that was made of Philip Johnson was transported into something that is no longer a work of art. ***You can decide what is a work of art as well as what is not a work of art It is evidence of what he bought- even though he didn't pay for it

Index

Whatever happens by chance not by the conscious artist ex: Big Black Crack

Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today's home so different, so appealing?, 1956

Why does America have a lot of pop art and abstract art while Europeans remained without it? American pop art=shameless & consumerism. English and Italian pop art have a trace of traditionalism nostalgia. Products of consumerism is clear. High art and low icons coming together. This image was used as the cover of the catalogue of the first pop art exhibition that was held in London Art has to do with the change of society (post world war): African american music was becoming popular at the time, ford car tag, a victorian painting, movies. A bigger generation, more free time, more freedom, teenagers with money, cars= sex in cars. Collage: The placement of everything is sexual. Cut outs for advertisements (the bodybuilder, the lollypop cut out, the clip of the hooker). People became extremely fascinated with these every day icons (guns, comics, mass produced products). Society was invested in products coming from the United States (ex: canned ham in the image)

Simulacrum

an image or representation of someone or something.

Donald Judd, Untitled, 1960's

believed physical space was more powerful than painting on flat surface. Part of minimalist movement. Work has mathematical components, material is central focus.

Tautology

taut=same ology=thought Repeating the same things in different ways, art works in the context of art itself ex: 3 chairs