Exercise 1: Place. London: Thames and Hudson by Dean, T, and Millar, J. (2005)
Summary of the essay:
Initial reading of the essay was easier than I thought it would be once I got into the rhythm of the text. I was introduced to a concept I hadn't considered before, how place is something we don't generally contemplate in terms of explanation. And how, like time,’place’ can be multi-dimensional in definition. The text is rich in etymology and philosophy, a lot of which I have never heard before, with reference to at least 20 artists, philosophers, astronomers and other historical figures, that I am yet to research. I do think the explanation of the word ‘landscape’ was somewhat irrelevant because it didn't really integrate itself into the narrative of the text. But I did appreciate the relevance to space and how the definition of ‘place’ could have evolved through time, because of developing understanding of space and time. It’s hard to decide if I agree or disagree with the authors because it is very heavily laden with history and based on factual information about the terms of ‘place’.
Reading the essay helped me to form my own opinion about what ‘place’ is, something I haven't processed before. It prompted me to consider my original perception of what I assumed ‘place’ to be and really delve into what it could truly mean. I came to the conclusion that, like time, place lends itself to a huge range of measurement and meaning.
Research point
Make a list of the artists mentioned in Dean and Millar’s essay. Look up at least one piece by each of the artists mentioned whose work incorporates text. How many of these pieces are relevant to the theme of ‘place’ and how do they reference place? Make notes in your learning log.
- Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, ONWARD TO THE VICTORY OF COMMUNISM! 1974
References to Russia with the use of language and the colour ‘red
Created during the cold war which was iconically between Russia and the US.
- Ian Hamilton Finlay, Ian Hamilton Finlay, The Present Order, (1983), Little Sparta, Lanarkshire
Referenced in the essay itself
Site specific art
A lot of his work incorporates text
- Alec Finlay, Southwark Park Galleries 2018
The poems themselves could be describing a sense of place.
Most of the artists work is poetic and literary
- Douglas Huebler, Site Sculpture Project, Windham College Pentagon, Putney, Vermont 1968
Explores this specific location
The pentagon on the map is the location site of the college
This artwork is representative of 5 collections of soil mixed with resin (from each of the points on the pentagon) and later reburied in the campus grounds.
- Dan Graham, Fish pond/swimming pool 2012
This is a print of the sculpture and the artists original design with textual labelling
The art reflects the artists ideas on intermixing species within the same place
- Joachim Koester, The magic mirror of John Dee, 2006
Artist focuses on the spiritual and physical and explores the dimensions between those two places
Photograph of John Dee’s mirror ( an Elizabethan mathematician/philosopher/occultist), a sense of place in history and religion.
Not specific to a place other than historically and spiritually?
- Doug Aitken - vulnerable, neon lit lightbox
This artist uses wording in a lot of their work
This piece could be a reflection of the state of the earth’s ocean in terms of pollution and describing the planet’s condition.
Personifying a place with emotion
- Jane and Louise Wilson
I was unable to find any of their works that contained text. However I did look at their artworks, mostly photography. They are known for their works reflecting Chernobyl and the events of that place.
- Roni Horn, thicket no.1 1989/1990
The piece was created to express the artists opinions on being present within a place
The piece was designed in a way so as to make the viewer walk around, prompting them to move and observe within the space.
10. Alexander and Susan Maris
I was unable to find any specific artworks involving text by these artists, though I did see a lot of their photography work on various locations, so I can see their work is heavily influenced by ‘place’.
11. Graham Gussin
- The artist has done a collection of works involving neon words.
- This one does not have a lot of information, but after researching the artists other work I learnt that his work involves themes of space and our location within space and time, echoing the thoughts in the essay. ‘Someplace sometime’ directly refers to the openness of and possibility of time and location.
- It's open to interpretation and makes the viewer wonder it’s potentials in meaning.
12. Mette Tronvoll, Nairobi #5, 2016
Although this piece is not directly involving any text, it does offer text within the piece which gives indication of location and theme.
This artist works a lot with photography in various locations around the world, creating a vast range of portraits.
The photography gives personality and identities to locations
13. Marine Hugonnier Art for Modern Architecture, 2010
This modern artist used a collection of newspapers with specific events and locations, and integrated them with blocks of colour to simulate the work of Ellsworth Kelly.
The newspapers were chosen with memorable and well known events specific to places in the world. Similar to the essays point of how we can remember a location based on its famous historical events.
Comments
Post a Comment