Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Antiillusionproc 61 Whit
Antiillusionproc 61 Whit
Andre
Asher
Benglis
Bollinger
Duff
Ferrer
Fiore
Glass
Hesse
Jenney
LeVa
Lobe
Morris
Nauman
Reich
Rohm
Ryman
Serra
Shapiro
Snow
Sonnier 't
Tuttle
Anti-Illusion Procedures/ Materials
:
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Finally,we are most indebted to the artists
whose cooperation and willingness to make
works for this show made the exhibition
possible.
Carl Andre
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Lynda Benglis
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sculpture is a displayed act as much as
an exhibited sculpture. Serra
it is
10
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John Duff
11
Rafael Ferrer
12
The fact that so many artists were
wilhng to risk challenging the
terms
within which they have operated in
the past in so direct a manner became
one of the primary reasons for holding
the exhibition. Connoisseurship
became a secondary issue— how can an
artist make a sculpture or paint a
picture without opportunity to reflect
on its perfectability? Whether it is
good or isn't depends entirely on see-
ing it in place, which isn't possible
in a museum. So the answer is that
the artist cannot reflect on his work
in the usual manner under the condi-
tions I have described. And since
serious artists care very much about
what they can and cannot do, it
became apparent that these artists
cared about a set of ideas which
included responses to materials, time
and creative acts which absolved them
from other more traditional responses
to their work.
One of the most conservative or
traditional properties of modern art
is its reliance on style. The signature
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individual artist the area within which
he could develop his
artists in this exhibition
to slip around
art. Most of the
have chosen
style, (it's difficult to
ignore or defeat ) by concentrating
,
13
adjustment to their living conditions
is often audacious, the following re-
marks are perhaps pertinent. Artists,
particularly sculptors, are faced with
enormous problems, such as procure-
ment and storage of materials, storage
of unsold works, transportation costs,
not to mention the time and cost of
completing large works. Those who
teach are fortunate enough to have
the use of student help and often the
facilities of the university or art school
where they teach. Most are not so
fortunate and as a result much of their
early work does not survive intact.
Bitter as this may be, even more bitter
are the crippling effects of not being
able to produce on the development
of these artists. The most obvious way
to develop is by working through as
many problems as ambition, time and
money will allow. The effects of being
able to work through a series of
problems quickly, in full scale, was
remarked on by Richard Serra who
commented, ". . . so I was able to dis-
card a lot of ideas while working
through ten or twelve pieces in Europe
and I also discovered what I wanted
to do for a particular piece to be shown
."
here. . .
increase and the piece goes on. The objective content is never relinquished.
The rhythm of endurance becomes a presence, a meditation, a location. We
are free to come and go, within our own time. As we wish. There are no
commands, no directions, no theatrical gestures. The journey is already ove
or it never happened. The notes refer only to themselves. The composer is
not involved with pointing to himself or articulating his own emotions, his
own psychology. The listener is free to deal with the experience directly.
Pilir
fS^I^SI
ir::BH^. -
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happen fast. It's as if the furor
poeticus of the Futurist Manifesto
had become the guiding principle of
all activity. One becomes acutely
Eva Hesi
16
Morris fill out a kind of cast of influ-
ences for many of the artists included
in the exhibition. It is Robert Morris
who provided a significant minority
of the artists with intellectual stimu-
lation, attention and help through
his writing about their art, teaching,
and organizing an exhibition of their
works. It was Morris who established,
17
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Neil Jenney
19
20
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Barry LeVa
21
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Robert Lobe
22
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23
Anti-Illusion : Procedures /Materials There must, it seems to me, be soi
by Marcia Tucker hum.an activity which serves to hi
tip orientations, to weaken and fr.
trate the tyrannous drive to order 31
prepare the individual to observe ^
the orientation tells him is irrelevi
but what may very well he relevar
That activity, I believe, is the activ
artistic perception.— Morse Peckh;
Man's Rage for Chaos.
,
3ur approach to works of art has been chaotic, or anarchic. Such an art three-dimensional self-contained
,
Dased on certain assumptions about deprives us of the fulfillment of our and fashioned from relatively durable
he nature of art. One of these assump- aesthetic expectations and offers, materials, such as stone, metals,
ions has been that art creates order instead, an experience which cannot plastics or wood.The methods tradi-
rom the chaos of experience; it is be anticipated nor immediately under- tionallyemployed in the making of
Dresumed that our understanding of stood. By negating prior orientations, sculpture have been those of welding,
I work of art is equivalent to our grasp our personal aesthetic values are also carving, molding or joining, and the
)f the formal or conceptual order challenged. If, then, no preconceived resultant works have focused on a
inherent in it. order reveals itself to our scrutiny, we harmonious balance of parts to the
The present exhibition challenges this
must ask if there are other ways in whole. Certain pieces in the exhibition
iupposition. We are offered an art which a work of art can be meaningful. appear disordered and unharmonious.
hat presents itself as disordered, It has been assumed until recently
that sculpture is, by its very nature,
Robert Morris
VpfM*
.:.vS*;-;y
This does not mean that the elements new concerns with time, gesture, ma- empirical reductive analysis based on
employed have no relationship to each terials and attitudes take precedence. the physical properties of a painting.
other but rather that such relation- Painting, which has been dependent This reduction of a painting to its
shape of the canvas and makes its two- Lynda Benglis' paintings are poured
dimensionality explicit. Greenberg's onto the floor, with no boundaries or
definition of painting is, then, an
Bruce Nauman
27
i.
format other than that estabUshed by allowing the application of pigment least be painted. Tuttle's Octagons
the colored Uquid rubber she uses— become the subject of the work.
to (1968) are dyed. Unstretched, cut
they are neither stretched nor hung. Each brushstroke affords a raw, canvas shapes are hung on the wall
Her primary interest in color relation- immediate and spontaneous gesture or placed on the floor, their wrinkled
ships is expressed in terms of the whose intimations have nothing to do surfaces unequivocally denying
process of pouring, eliminating any with narrative nor formal configura- illusion.
a priori theoretic framework. tion. Moreover, he uses plain or cor- If all traces of representation or
Robert Ryman purifies painting to a rugated paper, rejecting even the use illusion are eliminated from painting
further extreme by eliminating color of stretched canvas as a pictorial itwould seem that formal relation-
as a formal element and concentrat- convention. ships of line, color and shape would
ing on the act of putting paint on a Even the least stringent definition remain crucial. However, these works I
surface. He uses white paint only, would indicate that to qualify as a suggest that if analytical relation-
painting, a surface must at the very
Pendulum. Music
For microphones, amplifiers, speakers and performers turn up each amplifier just to the point where feedback
occurs when a mike swings directly over or next to its
2, 3, 4 or more microphones are suspended from the which
speaker. Thus, a series of feedback pulses are heard
ceiling by their cables so that they all hang the same
will either be all in unison or not, depending on the
distance from the floor and are all free to swing with a
gradually changing phase relations of the different mike
pendular motion. Each microphone's cable is plugged
pendulums.
intoan amplifier which is connected to a speaker. Each
Performers then sit down to watch and listen to the
microphone hangs a few inches directly above or next
process along with the audience. fc
to its speaker.
The piece is ended some time after all mikes have come
The performance begins with performers taking each
to rest and are feeding back a continuous tone by per-
mike, pulling it back like a swing, and then in unison
formers pulling out the power cords of the amplifiers.
releasing all of them together. Performers then carefully
-Steve Reich 8/ 68
f
PIANO PHASE
PlftKO I
riKH» E
29
-^
ships, as well as any dependence upon the world. Much of the work in this Eva Hesse, for example, has found
a geometric support, are eliminated, exhibition denies this premise and that because she is concerned with
it is stUl possible to make a painting. disorients us by making chaos its creating personal forms, she must use
structure. The pieces shown cannot, only materials that she can make
work of art offers us various
If a therefore, be precisely understood in herself. The plastic, fiberglass, rub-
components, arranged and assembled terms of our previous experience of berized cheesecloth and gauze from
into a coherent whole, there is the "art". They are not attempts to use which her pieces are modelled are
assumption that such order is mean- new materials to express old ideas or neither cast nor molded. They are
ingful, either in terms of the work evoke old emotional associations, but made by putting the raw material on
itself or in terms of our experience of to express a new content that is totally the floor and shaping it, adding layers
integrated with material.
-
Robert Rohm
30
J
** - *
until the proper substance is attained. materiality that has little to do with
The result of using only colors and the substance of past sculptural
shapes intrinsic to the materials is forms. To a similar end, Robert
that the work has both a strong Morris, Barry Le Va and Alan Saret
presence and a provocative, other- have used scale and figure-ground
w^orldly quality. Her pieces are draped, relationships which are imprecise and
hung, extended or propped, but look alterable. Neil Jenney employs tin foil,
unlike anything "real". plaster, peanuts and fungus in his
Keith Sonnier's flock and neon pieces work, subverting traditional ideas of
also depend upon a new idea of
volume and substantiality in sculp-l
ture. His work not only appears
fragile, but can actually rot away.
Robert Ryman
lere is, in the exhibition, no illusion- appearances and gestural modes by work is, therefore, open-ended and
jiTi that is relevant to the past tradi- means of which physical things are difficult to discuss without the frame-
m of art. We are presented with a presented to our consciousness. work of an historical perspective. It
methods will accord with the en- various activities and processes- *
deavor. Richard Serra continually propping, bending, leaning, rollinjjfcl
asks questions about his own work: sawing, splattering. He avoids illul
what is it? how does it look? what sion, representation and especially
construction in order to concentra
34
*i 1 what is being done. Since the em- maximum potential change, incorpo- arts the mobile relational character
*i lasis is on the activity, the piece rates an element of actual time into a of single notes to series, individuated
^i lUst be analyzed in terms of the kind sculptural mode. actions to the fabric of a narrative
iii
work that has gone into its making. Music, film, theater and dance have sequence, or single steps to a total
;rra avoids permanently joining been considered separate from the configuration of movement.
^ lything; thus, his lead pieces deal because they involve time
plastic arts Ithas been thought that music creates
ith a functional rather than formal as well as space. They are therefore itsown suspended temporality, de-
''^
ilationship of parts. His concern with impermanent, temporal manifes- pendent upon the elements of rhythm
^i hat he calls "arrested moments", tations whose duration is dependent and silence. Musical time has thus
^ lat is, fixing a piece at its point of upon the artist rather than the ob- been considered different from "real"
em
server. However, the plastic arts have time. For Philip Glass and Steve
begun to share with the performing
35
:
Reich, actual time is a crucial factor and focuses attention instead on the exists in my oivn work, hi one way,
in their music; it no illusion of
offers material of the sounds and on their all we knoiv is now . . . The ivork must
temporality other than that which performance. Both composers are he experienced in terms of its material
exists in the performance of their personally involved in the temporal presence.
pieces. They have no beginning, evolution of their work since they The tense of memory is the present,
middle or end— only the sense of an play their own music, accompanied by and the tense of prophesy is now. Time
isolated present. This constant present a limited number of other musicians. is an illusion. The now is inescapable.
existsbecause of a deliberate and Carl Andre, in a recent symposium Andre has also used repetition to
unrelenting use of repetition which (March, 1969), discussed the ques- create an isolated present in his sculp-
destroys the illusion of musical time tion of time in his sculpture
ture. He uses uniform parts which
Nothing is timeless, but it's an idea are placed in identical relationships to
that haunts us .something that
. .
Richard Serra
36
each other, without welding, joining physical gesture— bouncing from a appeared suddenly in locations
or construction of any kind (except corner, walking through a wallboard (stairs, elevators, etc. ) around the
foran occasional use of magnets). channel, bouncing a ball— is problem- city, totally altering an environment
These parts, or "sections", become the atic; that is, it questions the nature of from one minute to the next. No
units in the creation of scale. Scale time itself. fastening, arranging nor ordering
then becomes the focus of the piece; In a recent exhibition, Robert Morris of any sort was involved.
it acquires temporality because it altered a piece daily, allowing the For many of these artists, the impli-
cannot be visually or physically en- materials to dictate the addition and cations of time indicate a new attitude
compassed by the viewer in a single subtraction of elements in the piece. toward the creation of non-precious
glance or motion. Rafael Ferrer has made anonymous, objects. Some works come into being
In Bruce Nauman's extended-time but highly personal gestures that are at the moment of their execution in a
pieces, the repetition of an isolated dependent upon split-second timing specific location and cease to exist
for their impact; several tons of leaves
37
when they are removed from that sparing in his use of technical mani i
J'^
the artist also dictates the temporal a single note, a single action (such i
eliminates the illusion of a duration senting what is seen. "I'm interested mat
Joel Shapiro
the
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tr
ac:
tioi
he)
Michael Snow
40
selves. The choice of material is gesture is communicative and remains If aesthetic priority is given to neither
allowed to dictate the final form of succinct even in the final product. form nor object, the results are even
the object. A young West Coast sculptor, Michael more disruptive. In Neil Jenney's
Asher, uses material which deliber- "environments", all elements are
For Alan Saret, the scattering, hang-
ately subverts sculptural definitions. either totally unaesthetic or in a con-
bunching of material
ing, piling or
Just as "painting" appeared to be a stant process of change. All elements
becomes an expressive gesture. The
"triumph of mind over matter" is not necessary condition of painting, are so commonplace that their juxta-
tion which is foreign to him; rather, are non-visible; they are made of objects, but, unlike the Dadaists, he
he is drawn into the very process of columns of air. The forms are per- has little interest in making an aes-
41
^
nor sculpture— or they are both. Robert work, making the figure-ground i lerevei
Rohm's string sculpture has its origins lationships usually found in pain 115s iin
with which he has been working of the enormous scale of the wort
simultaneously, but by hanging string and their indeterminate format, tfichare
and rope grids and collapsing portions require the spatial participation c
of them, his pieces challenge their the viewer in a similar way to Ancfci
own geometry. They can be read as pieces.Thus, they make certain pi jistrai
From 1966 to 1968, Barry Le Va's A different kind of physical concei alis
the floor. The floor became a ground the act of assembling. Lobe's visu
itainwo
upon which particles of potential system is direct and non-concepti
change, flow and mobility were de- "You can't make art", he says, "ou
ployed. Fluid elements, such as sand other people's literature." His stru" '^n
and oil, have been added in his recent tures, made of mats (which serve
locate each piece ) wood, springs
,
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ley consist of
vindow-screen, fiberglass rop
Jod strapping— yet draw atten ion
; and .».- .-
.# m
iiD non-literal, indefinable gestu es.
though every physical procesi and
iterial is presented in a matte '-of-
,
jl
;t way, a complex, mysterious iy
n-referential image results.
^
'*
rtain works in the exhibition, then,
Keith Sonnier
^'-^^
! about time, distribution, pro ;ess
m
43
within these means, to express a qual- existential decision eliminates work comes a performer. No interpretation
ity of existence or an attitude toward which has organic or associative isavailable; therefore, no ambiguity
one's experience of the world. referents. Her pieces are complex occurs. A one-hour videotape of
Eva Hesse, as early as 1965, created objects which connect to our lives, yet Nauman walking back and forth in
chaos in her pieces from the premise have no meaning outside themselves. this wall-board channel (a separate
of a perfect system. More recently, in Bruce Nauman's Performance Area, work, not shown in the exhibition)
her fiberglass buckets, rubber wrap- while not a "sculpture",
is not a found indicates his attitude toward his own
pings and translucent curtains, she object either. Rather, it is entirely experience of the world. His pieces
has been concerned with "making specific, forcing the observer to accept are about himself without being auto-
something which is nothing, yet the work the way it is given. Its use is
biographical, highly personal without
becomes something". This kind of also specific, unlike a found object,
since anyone who enters the work be-
being psychological, perverse vdthout spatial fluctuation. When working others, meaning can be found in an
being sadistic. with neon, the results are non -iconic; expressed intention. In all cases,
by wrapping one light source ( a bulb ) meaning and material cannot be
Keith Sonnier's configurations are
with another (neon tubing), each separated. h
more formal than Nauman's, but also
plays against and transforms the
have an element of aesthetic eroti-
When our aesthetic norms are chal- Kichard'
-?«-*»
Richard Tuttle
45
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51
Carl Andre 1968 Dwan Gallery, New York, Mr. Isi Fisezman, Antwerp. Will
Born Quincy, Massachusetts, 1935. "Language 11." Haus Lange Museum, Krefeld,
Studied with Patrick Morgan, 1953; 1968 Dusseldorf, "Prospect '68." Germany.
with Frank Stella, 1958. Worked on 1968 Kassel,"4.documenta." Mr. Kasper Konig, Cologne.
Pennsylvania Railroad, 1960-64. 1968 Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag,
Dr. Peter Ludwig, Aachen, Germany.
Lives in New York. "Minimal Art."
One-man exhibitions
1968-69 The Museum of Modern Art, Bibliography
New York, "Art of the Real Raynor, Vivien. "In the Galleries: Exit
1965 Tibor de Nagy Gallery,
USA 1948-1968," (travelling Hofmann Left, Enter Albers Right,"
New York.
exhibition). Arts, Vol. 39, No. 5, February 1965,
1966 Tibor de Nagy Gallery,
New York. 1968 Dwan Gallery, New York, p. 54.
1968-69 Munich, "Karl Stroher Carl Andre," Art News, Vol. 64,
1967 Dwan Gallery, New York.
Collection," (travelling No. 4, Summer 1965, p. 21.
1967 Konrad Fischer Gallery,
exhibition). Lippard, Lucy R. "New York Letter:
Dusseldorf.
1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, April-June 1965," Art International
1968 Miinchener Gobel Manufactur,
"OpLosse Schroeven," ("Square Vol. 9, No. 6, September 20, 1965,
Munich.
Pegs in Round Holes"). pp. 58-59.
1968 Galerie Heiner Friedrich,
1969 Kunsthalle, Bern, "When Grossberg, Jacob. "In the Galleries
Munich.
Attitudes Become Form." Carl Andre," Arts, Vol. 39, No. 10,
1968 Wide White Space Gallery,
1969 Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, September-October 1965, p. 72.
Antwerp.
"Minimal Art," (travelling Bourdon, David. "The Razed Sites of
1969 Gemeentemuseum, den Haag.
exhibition ) Carl Andre," Vol. 5, No. 2, October,
1969 Dwan Gallery, New York.
1966, pp. 15-17.
Collections
Group exhibitions Graham, Dan. "Carl Andre," Arts, Vol.
1964 Hudson River Museum and Larry Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield,
66, No. 9, January 1968, pp. 34-35.
Bennington College. Connecticut. Gilardi, Piero. Flash Art, Roma, 15
1965 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New Mrs. Vera List, New York. January/ 15 February 1968, p. 2.
York, "Shape and Structure." Poses Art Institute, Brandeis Mellow, James R. "New York Letter,"
1966 Jewish Museum, New York, University, Waltham, Mass. Art International, Vol. 12, No. 2,
"Primary Structures." Maud Morgan, Cambridge, February 1968, pp. 73-74.
1966 Dwan Gallery, New York, "10." Massachusetts. Claura, Michel. "Andre," Lettres
1967 Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, "10." Mr. John Powers, New York and francaises (Paris), October 1968.
1966 Institute of Contemporary Art, Aspen, Colorado. Miiller, Gregoire. "In the Parisian
Boston, "Multiplicity." Desert," Arts, Vol. 43, No. 3,
Mr. and Mrs. Frits Becht, Hilversum,
1967 Institute of Contemporary Art, December /January 1969, p. 52.
Holland.
University of Pennsylvania,
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hirsh, Beverly By the artist:
Philadelphia, "Aromatic
Hills, California. "Frank Stella," Sixteen Americans.
Minimalism." Prei
Crafts, New York, "Monuments, Manny Greer, New York. Born Los Angeles, California, 1943. Yorl
Tombstones, and Trophies." Patrick Lannan, Palm Beach, Florida. Lives in Venice, California. Feb]
1967 Dwan Gallery, New York, "Scale Heiner Friedrich, Munich. Group exhibitions Picard
Models and Drawings." Museum of Contemporary Art, 1968 University of California at San Das
1967 Los Angeles County Museum of Chicago. Diego Art Gallery, San Diego, Ma
Art, Los Angeles, "American "New Work / Southern
Mr. Karl Stroher, Dormstadt, iro,(
1
: : : . : : : : : : : : : : .: :
Das Kunstwerk, Vol. 5-6, February- 1969 C.A.A.M., University of Puerto 1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
March, 1968, p. 6. Rico, Mayaguez, "FRARMR-
1969 Galerie Ricke, Cologne.
Baro, G. "American Sculpture A New : ROREEROFIBSEATERLR," 1969 Kunsthalle, Bern.
Scene," Studio International, (Robert Morris, Rafael Ferrer). 1969 New School for Social Research,
and
January 1968, p. 15. 1969 Kunsthalle, Bern, "When New York, "An Evening of Live/
Brunelle, Al. "Reviews and Previews Attitudes Become Form."
Electronic Music."
William Bollinger," Art News, Vol. 1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam,
67, No. 9, January 1969, p. 17. "Op Losse Schroeven," ("Square
E!va Hesse
Pegs in Round Holes").
Born Hamburg, Germany, 1936.
John Duff Collections Studied Yale University, 1959
Born Lafayette, Indiana, 1943. Ponce Museum of Art. B.F.A.; Yale Norfolk FeUowship, 1957;
Studied San Francisco Institute University of Puerto Rico Museum. Cooper Union, New York, 1954-1959.
B.F.A. Lives in New York. C.A.A.M., Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Lives in New York.
Pan American Union, Washington,
D.C.
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
Lester Avnet Collection.
53
One-man exhibitions 1969 Institute of Contemporary Arts, items and the events they realize,
1968 Fischbach GaUery, New York. Philadelphia, "Plastics and provided they exist together, is
1969 Ricke Gallery, Cologne. New Art." theatrical. This goes beyond the
Group exhibitions 1969 The Museum of Modern Art, visual image .—Summer 1968.
1961 John Heller Gallery, New York, New York, "New Methods, New Ideally, my sculpture exists unseen.
Three Young Americans." Media," (travelling exhibition).
-Summer 19681
1961 Wadsworth Atheneum, 1969 Finch College, New York, "Art Lives
Bibliography Minneapolis.
Michigan, "Made of Plastic."
Kramer, Hilton. Review: Eva Hesse,
1968 John Gibson Gallery, New York, Bibliography
The New York Times, November
"Anti-Form." Rose, Barbara. "Gallery Without
23, 1968.
1968 American Federation of Arts, Walls," Art in America, Vol. 56,
Perreault, John. "The Materiality of
"Soft Sculpture," (travelling No. 2, February-March 1968.
The Village
Matter," Voice,
exhibition). Daniele, Fidel A. "Some New Los
November 28, 1968.
1968 Leo Castelli Warehouse, New Angeles Artists," Artforum, Vol. 6,
Last, Martin. "Reviewsand Previews:
York, "9 at Leo Castelli." No. 7, March 1968, p. 47.
Eva Hesse," Art News, November
1968 Milwaukee Art Center, Livingston, Jane. "Barry Le Va
1968.
Milwaukee, "Options," (travel- Distributional Sculpture,"
Mellow, James. "New York Letter:
ling exhibition). Artforum, Vol. 7, No. 3, November
Eva Hesse," Art International,
1968 Moore College of Art, Philadel- 1968, pp. 50-54.
Vol. 13, No. 1 January 1969,
,
phia, Pennsylvania. E:
pp. 53-54.
1969 Whitney Museum of American Robert Lobe S(
54
: : . ; : .. . : : : :
Robert Morris 1967 California State College, Los Lippard, Lucy R. "New York Letter,"
Born Kansas City, Missouri, 1931. Angeles, "New Sculpture and Art International, Vol. 9, No. 2,
Studied University of Kansas City; Shaped Canvas." March 1965, p. 46.
Kansas City Art Institute, 1948-1950; 1967 The Museum of Modern Art, Rose, Barbara. "ABC Art," Art in
California School of Fine Arts, 1951 New York, "The 1960's: America, Vol. 53, No. 5, October-
Reed College, Oregon, 1953-1955. Painting and Sculpture from the November 1965, p. 63.
Lives in New York. Museum Collection." Friedman, Martin. "Robert Morris,"
One-man exhibitions
1967 International Institute Torcuato essay in exhibition catalogue. Eight
di Telia, Buenos Aires. Sculptors: The Ambiguous Image,
1957 San Francisco.
Dilexi Gallery,
1958 DUexi Gallery, San Francisco. 1967 Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1966, pp. 18 + 20-21.
1963 Green Gallery, New York.
1964 Galerie Schmela, Dusseldorf.
"Kompass III." Antin, David. "Art and Information,
1964 Green Gallery, New York. 1967 Solomon R. Guggenheim 1 Grey Paint, Robert Morris," Art
:
1965 Green Gallery, New York. Museum, New York, Fifth News, Vol. 65, No. 2, April 1966,
1966 Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles. Guggenheim International pp. 22-24.
Exhibition, (travelling Factor, Don. "Los Angeles: Robert
1967 Leo Castelli Gallery, New York.
exhibition ) Morris," Artforum, Vol. 4, No. 9,
1968 Stedelijk van Abbemuseum,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands. 1968 Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, May
1966, p. 13.
1968 Leo Castelli Gallery, New York. Second Buffalo Festival of the Friedman, Martin. "Robert Morris
Arts Today, "Plus by Minus Polemics and Cubes," Art
1968 Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris.
1969 Leo CastelU Gallery, New York. Today's Half-Century." International, Vol. 10, December
1968 Gemeentemuseum, Den Hague, 1966, p. 23.
Group exhibitions "Minimal Art." Rainer, Yvonne. "Don't Give the Game
1963 Green Gallery, New York. 1968 Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul, Away," Arts, Vol. 41 No. 6, April
,
1963 Cordier & Ekstrom, Inc., New France, "L' Art Vivant 1965- 1967, pp. 44-47.
York, "Sight and Sound." 1968." Rainer, Yvonne. "A Quasi Survey of
1963 Wadsworth Atheneum, 1968-69 The Museum of Modern Art, Some 'Minimalist' Tendencies in
Hartford, Connecticut, "Black,
New York, "Art of the Real USA : the Quantitatively Minimal Dance
White and Grey." 1948-1968," (travelling Activity Midst the Plethora, or An
1965 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New exhibition ) Analysis of Trio A," Minimal Art: A
York, "Shape and Structure."
1969 Vancouver Art Gallery, Critical Anthology, Gregory
1965 Green Gallery, New York, Vancouver, Canada, "New York Battcock,ed., New York, 1968,
"Flavin, Judd, Morris, Williams." 13." pp. 263-264 + 266-267 + 269-273.
1966 Institute of Contemporary Art, Sauerwein, Laurent. "Two Sculptures
1969 Institute of Contemporary Art,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, "Plastics and New by Robert Morris," Studio
Philadelphia, "The 'Other'
Art." International, Vol. 175, No. 900,
Tradition."
1969 C.A.A.M., University of Puerto May 1968, p. 276.
1966 Jewish Museum, New York,
Rico, Mayaguez, "FRARM- Beeren, W.A.L. "Robert Morris,"
"Primary Structures." Museumjournaal, Serie
RROREEROFIBSEATERLR," 13, No. 3,
1966 Finch College, New York, "Art 1968, p. 135.
(Robert Morris-Rafael Ferrer).
in Progress."
1969 New Jersey State Museum, Leering, J. "Robert Morris 2 L Shapes
:
1967 The Detroit Institute of Arts, December 5, 1963, pp. 63-64. "Notes on Sculpture," Artforum, Vol.
Berrigan, Ted. "Reviews and 4, No. 6, February 1966, pp. 42-44.
Detroit, "Color, Image and
Form." Previews Robert Morris," Art
:
"Dance," The Village Voice, Part I,
1967 Los Angeles County Museum News, Vol. 63, No. 10, February February 3, 1966, pp. 8 + 24-25,
of Art, Los Angeles, "American 1965, p. 13. Part II, February 10, 1966, p. 15.
Sculpture of the Sixties," Judd, Donald. "In the Galleries
( travelling exhibition )
Robert Morris," Arts, Vol. 39, No. 5,
February 1965, p. 54.
"Notes on Sculpture, Part II," Bibliography Performing and listening to music
Artforum, Vol. 5, No. 2, October "William Geis and Bruce Nauman A :
thatis a perceptible, gradual process
1966, pp. 20-23. Two-Man Exhibition," San resembles:
"Notes on Sculpture, Part III," Francisco Art Institute, San turning over an hour glass and watch
Artforum, Vol. 5, No. 10, Summer Francisco, 1966. (A mimeographed
ing the sand slowly run through to
1967. article about the artists, by the
the bottom;
Recent Works
"Portfolio: 4 Sculptors, GaUery at the time of the exhibition,
pulling back a swing, releasing it, and\
and Statements by Four Young September 26-October 22, 1966).
Americans," Perspecta (The Yale Monte, James. "Bagless Funk," essay observing it gradually come to rest;
Architectural Journal ) No. 1 1 in exhibition catalogue, "American placing your feet in the sand by the 110 (!l
1967, p. 53. Sculpture of the Sixties," Los ocean's edge and watching, feeling m
"Anti Form," Artforum, Vol. 6, No. 8, Angeles County Museum of Art, and listening to the waves gradually
April 1968, pp. 33-35. Maurice Tuchman, ed., Los bury them. iittit
1966 San Francisco Art Institute, Pincus-Witten, Robert. "Reviews: ance or through some electro-
San Francisco, (two-man). New York," Artforum, Vol. 6, No. 8, mechanical means is not finally very
1966 Fischbach Gallery, New York, April 1968. pp. 63-64. important. One of the most beautiful
"Eccentric Abstraction."
concerts I ever heard consisted of four
1966 San Francisco Museum, San
Steve Reich composers playing their tapes in a
Francisco, "New Directions."
1967 Los Angeles County Museum of
Born New York,1936. Studied Cornell dark hall. (A tape is interesting when
Art, Los Angeles, "American
University, Ithaca, New York, 1957 it's an interesting tape.)
B.A., philosophy; Juilliard School of
Sculpture of the Sixties,"
Music, New York, 1958-1961; Mills It's quite natural to think about
( travelling exhibition )
College, Oakland, California, 1963: musical processes if one is frequently
1968 Kassel, "4.documenta."
1968 Allen Art Museum, Oberlin,
M.A., music. Lives in New York. working with electro-mechanical
Ohio, "Three Young Americans." sound equipment. All music turns out
Music as a Gradual Process
1968 Leo Castelli Warehouse, New to be ethnic music.
York, "9 at Leo Castelli." I do not mean the process of composi-
Musical processes can give one a
1968 American Federation of Arts, tion, but rather pieces of music that
direct contact with the impersonal ^
Exhibition. infinite canon in traditional music.) completely control all that results,
1969 Kunsthalle, Bern, "When but also that I accept all that results
Attitudes Become Form." I am interested in perceptible
without changes.
1969 Sledelijk Museum, Amsterdam, processes. I want to be able to hear the
"Op Losse Schroeven," ("Square process happening throughout the John Cage has used processes and has
Pegs in Round Holes" ) sounding music. certainly accepted their results, but
the processes he used were more com-
To facilitate really close perception, a
process should happen very gradually.
56
f
: : : .
positional ones that could not be heard 1960's, some recent rock and roll and 1964 Royal Marks Gallery, New York.
when the piece ivas performed. The other new musics may make us aivare 1966 University of Rhode Island,
process of using the I Ching or ofminute sound details because in Kingston.
imperfections in a sheet of paper to being modal (constant key center, Group exhibitions
determine musical parameters can't hypnotically droning) they naturally 1957 Columbus Gallery of Fine Art,
be heard when listening to music focus on these details rather than on Columbus, Ohio, "May Show."
composed that xvay. The compositional key modulation, counterpoint and 1957 Bodley Gallery, New York.
process and the sounding music have other peculiarly luestern devices. 1958 Columbus Gallery of Fine Art,
no audible connection. Similarly, in Nevertheless, these modal musics Columbus, Ohio, "Harry Rich,
serial music, the series itself is seldom remain more or less strict frameworks
Paintings; Robert Rohm,
Sculpture."
audible. (This is a basic difference for improvisation and/ or expression.
1959 Dayton Art Institute, Dayton,
between serial, (basically European) They are not processes.
Ohio, "Artists of the Dayton
music and serial (basically American) Area."
While performing and listening to
art, ivhere the perceived series is 1959 Detroit Art Institute, Detroit,
gradual musical processes one can
usually the focal point of the work.) "155th Annual of American
participate in a particularly liberating
Painting and Sculpture,"
What I'm interested in is a composi- and impersonal kind of ritual. Focus-
( travelling exhibition )
tional process and a sounding music ing in on the musical process makes
1961 Flint Institute of Art, Flint,
that are one and the same thing. possible that shift of attention aivay
Michigan, "Masterpieces in the
from he and she and you and me out- Midwest."
James Tenney said in conversation,
wards towards it. 1961 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
fSM "then the composer isn't privy to
-Steve Reich, October 1968 Art, Philadelphia, "156th
I anythi7ig". I don't know any secrets
Annual of American Drawings."
of structure that you can't hear. We Appeared frequently as composer/
1962 Aegis Gallery, New York, "Tenth
all listen to the process together since performer at the San Francisco Tape
Street U.S.A."
quite audible, and one of the Music Center, 1964-65.
it's
1962 Whitney Museum of American
reason's it's quite audible is because Collaborated with artist William T. Art, New York, "Annual
it's happening extremely gradually. Wiley in creating theatre event Over Exhibition of American Drawing
Evident Falls first presented at the and Sculpture."
The use of hidden structural devices Hansen Gallery, San Francisco, 1968. 1963 Rhode Island School of Design
in music never appealed to me. Even
Performed recently at Yale University, Museum of Art, Providence,
when all the cards are on the table "Sculpture in the Collection of
New Haven, Connecticut; New School
and everyone hears what is gradually the Artist."
for Social Research, New York; School
happening in a musical process there of Visual Arts, Fall Gallery series; The 1963 Bundy Art Gallery, New York,
are still enough mysteries to satisfy Museum of Modern Art, New York; "First Sculpture Annual."
all. These mysteries are the imper- the Orchestral Space Festival, Tokyo. 1963 Lever House, New York,
sonal, unintended, psycho-acoustic Sculptor's Guild exhibition.
Scores published in Source, No. 3, and
bi-products of the intended process. 1964 New School for Social Research,
in John Cage's recent book of collected New York, Contemporary
These might include harmonics, scores. Notations.
Sculpture.
difference tones, sub-melodies heard
Works 1964 Royal Marks Gallery, New York,
within repeated melodic patterns,
1966 Come Out, recorded on C.B.S. "Sculptor's Drawings."
stereophonic effects due to loud-
Odyssey Records. 1964 Aspen Art Gallery, Aspen,
speaker or listener location, slight 1967 Piano Phase, recorded by Toshi Colorado.
irregularities in performance, etc. Ichiyanagi and Yukio Tsuchiya 1965 Bundy Art Gallery, Waitsfield,
on Victor of Japan. Vermont, "Aspen Artists."
I begin to perceive these minute
It's Gonna Rain (1965) andViolin 1966 Whitney Museum of American
details when I can sustain close
Phase (1967) recorded by Paul Art, New York, "Annual
attention and a gradual process
Zukof sky on a Columbia Records Ip Exhibition 1966: Contemporary
invites my sustained attention. By to be released in July of 1969. Sculpture and Prints."
"gradual" I mean extremely gradual; 1966 Providence, Rhode Island,
aprocess happening so slowly and
Robert Rohm "Rhode Island Arts Festival."
gradually that listening to it resembles 1966 Obehsk Gallery, Boston,
Born Cincinnati, Ohio, 1934. Studied
^watching a minute hand on a watch— Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, "Obehsk 66."
you can perceive it moving after you 1956: B.I.D.; Cranbrook Academy of 1969 New Jersey State Museum,
stay with it a little while. Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1960. Trenton, "Soft Art."
Lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Many modal musics like Indian clas-
sical, John Coltrane's during the early One-man exhibitions
1963 Aspen Art Gallery, Aspen,
Colorado.
Robert Ryman 1969 Washington University Gallery 1969 Whitney Museum of American
Born Nashville, Tennessee, 1930. of Art, St. Louis, "Here and Art, New York, "Contemporary
Studied Tennessee Polytechnic Now." American Sculpture: Selection
Institute, 1948-1949; George Peabody 1969 Kunsthalle, Bern, "When II."
College for Teachers, 1949-1950. Attitudes Become Form." 1969 The Museum of Modern Art,
Lives in New York. 1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, "New Media, New Methods,"
"Op Losse Schroeven," ("Square ( travelling exhibition )
One-man exhibitions
Pegs in Round Holes" ) 1969 Washington University Gallery
1967 Bianchini Gallery, New York.
1969 North Carolina Museum, of Art, St. Louis, "Here and
1968 Galerie Heiner Friedrich,
"American Association of Now."
Munich.
1968 Konrad Fischer Gallery,
Abstract Artists." 1969 New Jersey State Museum,
Bibliography Trenton, "Soft Art."
Dusseldorf.
Lippard, Lucy R. "The Silent Art," Art 1969 Kunsthalle, Bern, "When
1969 Fischbach Gallery, New York.
Group exhibitions
m America, Vol. 55, No. 1, January- Attitudes Become Form."
February 1967, p. 63. 1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam,
1965 American Express Pavilion, "Op Losse Schroeven," (Square
Waldman, Diane. "Reviews and
New York World's Fair, Previews Robert Ryman," Art Pegs in Round Holes" )
New York.
:
58
: . : : : : : :
Kunstwerlz, April 1967, p. 23. (Andre, Morris," The New York Times,
Systemic," Art Neivs, Vol. 65, No. 6,
Morris) December 22, 1968, p. D 31. (Bollinger
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Morris, Robert. "Notes on Sculpture,
Part III," Artforum, Vol. 5, No. 10, Sonnier)
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Summer 1967, pp. 24-29. Smith, Larry. "Flexible Constructions:
October 1966, pp. 20-23.
Gilardi, Piero. Essay in Flash Art, Roma, Floppy & Wonderful," The Village
Lippard, Lucy R. "Rejective Art," Art
15 January/ 15 February, 1968, p. 2. Voice, Vol. 14, No. 17, February 6,
Interyiational, Vol. 10, No. 8, October
(Andre) 1969, p. 13. (Bollinger, Hesse, Morris,
1966, p. 35. (Andre, Morris)
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Antin, David. "Another Category: Eccen-
"The Dematerialization of Art," Art Kozloff, Max. "9 in a Warehouse," Art-
tric Abstraction," Artforum, Vol. 5,
International, Vol. 12, No. 2, February forum, Vol. 7, No. 6, February 1969,
No. 3, November 1966, pp. 56-57.
1968, pp. 31-36. (Andre, Morris) pp. 38-42. (Bollinger, Hesse, Morris,
(Hesse, Nauman, Sonnier)
Hahn, Otto. "Ingres and Primary Struc- Nauman, Saret, Serra, Sonnier)
Lippard, Lucy R. "Eccentric Abstraction,"
tures," Artforum, Vol. 6, No. 6, Miiller, Gregoire. "RobertMorris Presents
Art International, Vol. 10, No. 9,
February 1968. (Andre, Morris) Anti-form," Arts, Vol. 43, No. 4,
November 1966, pp. 28 + 34-40.
Smithson, Robert, "A Museum of Lan- February 1969, pp. 29-30. (Bollinger,
(Hesse, Nauman, Sonnier)
guage in the Vicinity of Art," Art Hesse, Morris, Nauman, Saret, Serra,
Bannard, Darby. "Present-Day Art and
International, Vol. 12, No. 3, March Sonnier)
Ready-Made Styles," Artforum, Vol. 5,
1968, p. 21. (Andre, Morris) Pomeroy, Ralph. "New York: Moving Ros
No. 4, December 1966, p. 33.
Morris, Robert. "Anti Form," Artforum, Out," Art and Artists, January 1969,
Vol. 6, No. 8, April 1968, pp. 33-35. p. 56.
Dienst, R. G. "Austellungen in New York,"
6-7 (XX), April-May 1968, pp. 23-78.
(Andre, Serra)
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: :
Kramer, Hilton. "The Emperor's New Perreault, John. "Art: Disturbances," Catalogues
Bikini," Art in America, Vol. 57, No. 1, The Village Voice, Vol. 14, No. 25, Lippard, Lucy R. "Eccentric Abstraction,"
January/February 1969, pp. 49-55. January 23, 1969, p. 18.
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(Andre, Morris, Saret, Serra, Sonnier) Tillim, Sidney. "Letters," Artforum, Vol.
(Hesse, Nauman, Sonnier)
Gilardi, Piero. "Microemotive Art," 7,No. 6, February 1969, p. 8.
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Johnson, E. H. and Spear, A. T. "Three
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Young Americans," (Oherlin College
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Vol. 7, No. 1, September 1968, pp. cism?", Neiv York Magazine, Vol. 2,
in Art and Technology in Collaboration
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GUardi, Piero. "Primary Energy and the Karp, Ivan. "Here and Now," Arts, Vol.
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Hutchinson, Peter. "Earth in Upheaval, (Hesse, Morris, Nauman, Rohm, Saret,
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61
Officers and Trustees
Flora Whitney Miller, Chairman of the Board
David M. Solinger, President
Flora Miller Irving, Vice President
Alan H. Temple, Secretary and Treasurer
Arthur G. Altschul
John I. H. Baur
Armand G. Erpf
B. H. Friedman
Lloyd Goodrich
W. Barklie Henry
Michael H. Irving
G. Macculloch Miller
Roy R. Neuberger, Emeritus
Mrs. Laurance S. Rockefeller
Robert W. Sarnoff
Benno C. Schmidt
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Mrs. John Hay Whitney
Museum Staff
52 Michael Asher
6, 52 Lynda Benglis
8, 53 William Bolhnger
10,53 JohnDuflP
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