In class we have talked about Richard Serra's "Tilted Arc" a number of times. Although I acknowledge Prof. Folland's and many others' criticism that the work is arrogant and impractical, I think the work raises some very interesting points and is actually quite successful in what it seeks to accomplish. Critics of the work argue that the minimalist structure is arrogant and speaks only to a bourgeois audience in its lack of representation and its siting is disrespectful because it causes a daily inconvenience for the people that must circumvent it while they navigate the plaza on the way to work. I think the criticism of the work is the perfect demonstration of Serra's intent: to make people intimately aware of the spatial relationships that govern everyday life. In this respect the work functions much the same as Ball-Nogues' "Feathered Edge", which I have previously blogged about. Furthermore, while the siting of the work presents an inconvenience for pedestrians it is precisely due to that inconvenience that the pedestrian becomes the viewer and as the viewer is forced to reconcile with the art work.
Richard Serra describes the function of "Tilted Arch": "The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. As he moves, the sculpture changes. Contraction and expansion of the sculpture result from the viewer's movement. Step by step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes." It is precisely because the "the entire environment changes" that so many people don't like the work. On one level, I can appreciate this criticism because in all likelihood the plaza was a much more pleasant environment before the wall was erected; however, to dwell on this is to miss the point. The wall forces the viewer to analyze all elements of the built environment with the logical conclusion being that many of the structures we dismiss and therefore accept may actually be hugely inconvenient and many spaces may be more pleasant without the structures that currently occupy them. The wall should force all viewers to reevaluate the spatial uses contemporary society has deemed acceptable. The viewer should not focus on how nice the plaza was before the wall, but rather should imagine how pleasant that plaza was before Manhattan was developed and it was still a natural environment. The conclusion should not be "let's remove the wall", but "let's reevaluate the spatial uses contemporary society has deemed acceptable." The work should prompt questions, such as, are our current uses of space in tune with nature? And, is the way that modern society consumes space sustainable?
Ultimately, I think the work is uncompromising in its refusal to yield to convenience and practicality but why should it? The Eiffel Tower was originally considered an eye-sore but is now a world-renown and much beloved symbol of Paris. The point is many of the structures contemporary man has erected could and probably should be written off for the same reasons that "Tilted Arc" was so maligned, yet they get a free pass because viewers have not been trained to critically analyze the structures that occupy their everyday life. "Tilted Arc" on the other hand is held to a higher standard of criticism because that is what the concept of the work asks viewers to do. Therefore it should not be a surprise that when viewers actually think critically about the built environment they disapprove of it. This is Serra's point after all. It is just unfortunate that society has not applied the same level of scrutiny to all structures; if we did, a lot more structures would be removed due to popular demand.
Bianca D’Amico’s Sheela’s Gig is inspired by the artist’s encounter with the Sheela Na Gigs, medieval figurative carvings of naked women with exaggerated vulvas that were recently discovered in Churches in England and Ireland. Although the use and importance of these figures remain unresolved, some theorists have suggested that they are fertility symbols, while others believe that they express contempt of female sexuality.[1] Female sexuality has long been a subject of great taboo. Only during the last 50 years has female sexuality even been considered an acceptable topic of conversation. On one hand, popular media has frequently portrayed the sexually empowered female as a slut, while on the other hand, the women’s movement has had the effect of making the debate over female sexuality very serious and academically based. As a result of the academic nature of the debate, many people are not being involved in the discussion. In attempts to remedy this problem, the Sheela’s Gig installation takes a playful approach to female sexuality. In its playfulness, Sheela’s Gig makes the debate over female sexuality less serious and, therefore, allows the sexually empowered female to exist without as much scrutiny. Furthermore the debate about female sexuality becomes more accessible through her art because the discussion is not so academically oriented. In regards to the lighthearted nature of her investigation D’Amico writes, "When first discovering the Sheelas I was thrilled by the carvings' contortionist abilities and aggressive yet welcoming pose. The combination of their opening vulvas and the possibilities surrounding their signification felt to me like the perfect invitation - an 'open door' to jump into. An invitation to befriend, extend or create a contemporary narrative for these carvings. My work deals with notions of feminism and the Sheelas have allowed me to visually reflect my emphasis on female sexuality and pleasure in a subversive yet playful way. They're partners in crime, parading their sexual parts in a happy marriage with all the other characters in my art world."[2]
Aesthetically, the installation recalls the humorous hyper-sexualization of works by Jeff Koons, 1970’s female video artists such as Dara Birnbaum, and the aggressive brushstrokes and bright colors of De Kooning’s Woman series. However, with regards to De Kooning, D’Amico’s content differs from his aggressively sexualized women, which are congruent with the modern man’s fears of a liberated female sexuality. D’Amico’s female forms do not pander to man’s fear of the sexualized woman but rather facilitate a wider acceptance of the post-millennium woman’s right to sexual pleasure. Her celebration of female sexuality refutes and erodes the negative connotation associated with the popular notion of the sexualized female as promiscuous.
The content of D’Amico’s art is very similar to some of the more sexualized works of Jeff Koons such as his early 1990’s series of erotic images produced with then-wife Ilona. Like Koons, she relies on the kitsch, everyday objects, to present a work that is both sensational but also decidedly more accessible to a greater diversity of people. Unlike Koons, D’Amico incorporates nature into her work. For example, the Sheela’s Gig installation includes a rather large painting of a nude female whose genitalia are articulated by real plants. The connection is clear: sexuality is natural. While her articulation is somewhat different from Koons the message is similar: to deny sexuality is to deny life.Jeff Koons, Ilona on TopJeff Koons, Woman with Dolphin and Monkey
There is also a video component to the installation that recalls Dira Birnbaum’s Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman. Situated between the legs of the large painted female is a box containing video images, balls of yarn, and pieces of wood. The video resembles an erotic workout video on acid. In the video one woman is bent over while the other is thrusting an attached penis behind her. The notion of a woman thrusting an artificial penis is subversive because it refutes man’s sexual power while the bright colors oversaturated colors reaffirm the prominence of media in contemporary society. Although there is a distinct critical element to the video, the colors are meant to amuse and the imagery is meant to be humorous. Birnbaum’s film emphasizes the exploitation of women’s bodies through repetition and the role of technology, the media, in defining gender roles. Similarly, D’Amico uses repetition and attention-grabbing colors to emphasize the media’s role in defining popular conceptions about female sexuality. D’Amico’s reversal of gender roles pokes fun at the media’s debasing portrayal of sexualized women as sluts while the sexualized man is regarded as somewhat of a heroic icon.Dira Birnbaum, "Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman
Ultimately, the viewing of D’Amico’s work is fun and often hilarious much like the work of Koons; however, don’t write off D’Amico’s work as simply humorous or kitsch because within the work’s sensationalism the artist delivers a deft critique of repressed sexuality and the media’s role in defining the acceptable practices of sexuality. It is precisely the accessibility of D’Amico’s work that is so exciting because, like Koons, it invites a larger, more pedestrian audience to consider the complicated issues surrounding the taboo nature of female sexuality.
Check out this video from MOCA about the digital and mechanical process used to create Feathered Edge. The simple fact that MOCA and the artists chose to include a video revealing the making of the Feathered Edge indicates that Ball-Nogues emphasize the process as much as the final product of their work. The Making of Feathered Edge
With this video I was most interested in the similarities between Ball-Nogues' work and that of the California Light and Space artists in that they both emphasize the organic conditions that effect the viewing experience and, to extrapolate, all of our experiences. Video with Robert Irwin
The new installation by Ball-Nogues Studios entitled Feathered Edge further explores the obsession that Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogue have with impermanent architectural design. With the third installation in a series entitled “Suspensions”, Ball-Nogues have continued to explore the ability of everyday materials to modulate space in a sensational manner that encourages social interaction; however, Feathered Edge builds upon their past works by combining digital technology, mechanized production, and hand-craft techniques.
Upon entering the MOCA gallery at the Pacific Design Center, the viewer is surprised by a seemingly endless form of colorfully dyed string hanging from the ceiling. The work initially appears to be rather haphazard in its assembly, but it quickly becomes apparent that the complexity of this form could only be achieved through a meticulous design and assembly process. The process began with new computer software that was developed in collaboration with Pylon Technical to create “custom parametric modeling tools” which allowed the artists to explore the spatial configurations that the string is capable of.[1] After the digital rendering of the project was finalized, a machine was built specifically to cut and dye the string segments. Finally, the digital design and the mechanized production were married through a labor-intensive process of installation. On their website, the artists write that they use “the prowess of the computer to push the limits of the hand.”[2] The computer aids in the design process and enables the artist to create forms that would be too complex without software, but it is their own knowledge of the properties of string that conditions the digital design. The resulting work creates an impermanent form constructed of 21 miles of strategically dyed string that is designed with the aid of digital software and mechanic process but still responds to natural forces like light, wind, and movement.
In contrast to the intensive design process, the installation has an organic quality to it as the strings occasionally sway as a result of movement in the gallery and the form is conditioned by light and other atmospheric conditions. When viewed from different perspectives within the gallery, the form of the work changes with the orientation of the viewer. Therefore, Ball and Nogues, have utilized mechanical processes to guarantee complete control over the resulting form of the string catenaries yet those highly manipulated catenaries have a life of their own that is inherent in the properties of the string material. The artists have effectively created an architectural form that is at once permanent and adaptable to changes in its environment. Feathered Edge makes a statement about the versatility and resulting sustainability of architecture as it becomes clear that everyday materials can be re-imagined for an infinite variety of uses, each of which reinforces the longevity of the material because its value is multiplied with each reincarnation of the material.
According to a statement on the artists’ website, the viewing experience is constantly changing because “the gallery space becomes activated by people, movement, and light.”[3] This statement clearly aligns Ball-Nogues with the aims of California’s Light and Space movement of the 1970’s. Consider a quote by California Light and Space artist Robert Irwin, “I’ve seen shadows more beautiful than anything I’ve ever made, there’s a richness in being aware of it. It’s totally free, it’s there all the time.”[4] Just as the Light and Space artists shifted the focus away from the glorification of the artist to the sensory experience of the viewer, Ball-Nouges’ design envelopes the viewer within the viewing experience so that the work focuses on the reinterpretation of space. In this paradigm the glorification of the artist-genius is not a concern, but rather the ability of a designed space to bring viewers together in revelry of the space. The artwork of both Ball-Nogues and Light and Space artists, such as Robert Irwin, encourages the viewer to take this new knowledge about the relationship between form and space and to apply it to their everyday lives so that they have a heightened awareness of the forms that define our common experiences. Feathered Edge proves that form is most likely intentionally constructed to create a deliberate experience yet frequently the perception of the form is conditioned by forces that cannot be controlled by the designer such as the amount of people in a space or the way shifting patterns of light the aesthetic quality of a form. With Feathered Edge, Ball-Nogues were explicity aware of these changes in environmental conditions and their impact on the perception of the work.
Within the gallery context, the work forces a reevaluation of the empty spaces that exist throughout the conventional gallery experience that can be defined by two-dimensional imagery hung on walls. The string is not the primary focus, but rather it serves to emphasize the negative space that exists between the catenaries and throughout the gallery and our everyday lives. The ephemeral three-dimensional forms created by the string patterns further asks the viewer to reevaluate vacant space and the radical way that design can transform perceptions of a space.
A Sheela Na Gig
Bianca D'Amico, Polaroid from "Sheela's Gig"
De Kooning's Woman on Bicycle
Jeff Koons, Woman with Dolphin and Monkey
