Accession II: Eva Hesse's Response to Minimalism Author(S): Anne Swartz Source: Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Vol

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Accession II: Eva Hesse's Response to Minimalism Author(s): Anne Swartz Source: Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Vol. 71, No. 1/2 (1997), pp. 36-47 Published by: Detroit Institute of Arts Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41504934 Accessed: 18-01-2016 23:27 UTC

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This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure1. EvaHesse, American, 1936-70,Accession //, 1967;galvanized steeland rubbertubing, 78.1x 78. 1 x78.1 cm (303/4 x303/4 x 303/4in.). Founders Society Purchase,Friends of ModernArtFund and MiscellaneousGiftsFund (79.34).

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Accession II: Eva Hesse's Response to Minimalism

AnneSwartz, The Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia

Throughouther sculptural work, Eva Hesse As a reactionagainst the emotional and sculpturessuch as AccessionII as mere (1936-70) respondedto therigidity of gesturalexcesses of Abstract Expression- pointedreactions to thedominance of Minimalismby tangling, binding, compli- ism- thedominant American art move- Minimalistboxes and grids, in factthese cating,and enclosing space to underscore mentof the 1940s and 1950s,in whichthe formswere much more pervasive interests theexpressive possibilities inherent in painterlyor expressive processes of the forHesse. They were evident in herworks abstractsculpture. Her nonconformist artistare left in evidence - Minimalist on paperas earlyas 1960,appearing in approachfacilitated the development of a artistsof the early and mid-1960s em- Untitled(1960-61; fig.2), as wellas uniquesculptural language, and she intro- ployedhard-edged, geometric forms to severalothers from 1963-65, such as the ducedinto sculpture new strategies and createunified, reductive sculptures. humorouslytitled abstract collage And He tacticsthat have been much imitated.1 In However,by 1965artists began introduc- Sat ina Box (1964; fig.3). The use ofthe herseries entitled Accession , Hesse used the ingvaried propositions, such as tension geometricbox reverberatedwith her cubeform, which had been popularized by andsoftness, into their art, signaling the psychologicalexperiences of domestic Minimalistartists, as an eroticand humor- beginningof the end of Minimalism. Post spacesas a wife.Further, the incorpora- ous device.With the second work in the Minimalism,in contrast to Minimalism, tionof the soft, flaccid materials of textile series,Accession 7/(1967; title page and emphasizedtactile sensual surfaces, and its productionstemmed from her experience fig.1), nowin thecollection of the Detroit inceptionhas beenassociated with Hesse's as a textiledesigner in 1960and her Instituteof Arts, Hesse was reactingagainst art.This movement reacted against the encounterwith discarded remnants and theseverity of Minimalism, but in a positive sterilityof Minimalism, celebrating instead objectsin theabandoned textile factory waythat allowed her to exploreabsurdities curved,gestural lines and forms. Its art is sheused as a studiowhen she was in ofself, obsession, and fetishism and that evocativerather than literal; it invades the Germany.2Therefore, Accession II is part asserteda dynamicfemale presence. The viewer'sexperience, communicating the ofa processitself, one ofa seriesof sculpturealso revealsher exposure to textile artist'sinner sensibilities through tactility, experimentswith boxes, windows, and manufactureand her concern with domestic sensuality,and content. Mirroring the grids. spaces. politicaland social rebellions of the mid- andlate 1960s,Post-Minimalist art, In 1967,Hesse began to explorethe AccessionII consistsof a five-sided, includingHesse's, foregrounded possibilitiesof the box as a containerof industriallyfabricated exterior made of unpredictability,indeterminacy, infinity, mysteryand ambivalence. That summer, galvanizedsteel screens through which mutability,chaos, heterogeneity, disjunc- shecreated painted papier-mache boxes, Hesse poked30,670 short pieces of silver- tion,subjectivity, diversity, and pluralism. InsideI andInside II (figs.4-5). InsideI coloredrubber tubing. She foldedthe tubes Artistssuch as Hesse promotedradical containsan interlaced,chaotic painted backthrough the screen, interlacing them spatialmetaphors for the body and the self. twineand wire mass, while Inside II throughthe shell of the sculpture. The result containstwo weights wrapped in cord. is a humorous,absurd, and tactile contrast How didHesse cometo sucha radically The viewermust look inside to discover betweenthe hard geometric framing cube of innovativeconclusion when the rest of the thecontents and contemplate their theexterior and the repetitive soft, sensual, avant-gardeart world was primarilystill significance,interacting mentally or seeminglyinfinite contents of the interior. focusedon hardgeometry? Accession II emotionallywith the notion that only Hesse defiedthe simplified rigid form of evolvedout of the box andwindow forms importantobjects are enclosed in or thegrid in Accession II bycomplicating its thatHesse hadexperimented with in her protectedby boxes. Hesse continued interior;this was a defiancethat intersected drawingsand small works on paperof the usingthe box-as-container in a seriesof withher rejection of contemporary earlysixties and resulted from her critique glassdisplay cases shecreated for small Minimalism. ofthe art of Surrealism,Expressionism, samplestructures and test models for andPop Art.While it is possibleto read

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure.2. EvaHesse, American, 1936-70,Untitled, 1960- 61; inkwash and gouache, 15.2x 11.4 cm (6 x 4'/2 in.).Estate ofEva Hesse, CollectionofJohn Eric Cheim,New York.

The intensityof the manufacturing process herchildhood. Born in Hamburgin 1936to forthe Accession works motivated Hesse a Jewishcriminal lawyer and his wife, tohave the next box, Accession III (fig.8), Hesse andher older sister escaped Nazi producedentirely by assistants. Her friend Germanyon a children'strain to Doug Johns,a plasticsfabricator on Staten Amsterdamwhen the artist was onlytwo Islandat Aegis Reinforced Plastics, helped yearsold.9 The girlswere joined by their coordinatethe production of the third box. parents,who had also secretlyleft Ger- Thisbox was largelike Accession II but many,and after a sojournin London,the madeof transparent fiberglass and clear familyfinally settled in NewYork City. plasticrather than metal and opaque, dark Becauseof difficulties in languageand rubber.Accession III tooka longtime to adjustmentin their new country, Hesse's makebecause each of the 28,000 holes had fatherwas unableto workas a lawyerand to be individuallydrilled and filled with insteadsold insurance. Her parents' tubing.Begun in thesummer of 1968,it marriagecould not withstand this disloca- was notcompleted until that fall.6 This tionand trauma, and they divorced in 1945. box was notas successfulas itspredeces- Herfather remarried soon after, but her sors.Hesse recognizedthe problems in mother,anguished by the war and the • AccessionIII , evenreferring to thework family'sdisplacement, committed suicide as "tooright and too beautiful," noting that inJanuary 1946. herinterests were really elsewhere: "I'd largerworks. Begun in August 1967, they liketo do a littlemore wrong at this Hesse's intenseemotional life was domi- werecompleted by 1968and included point."7The translucencyofthis sculpture natedby connections to otherpeople. She workssuch as Untitled(fig. 6). didnot convey the same sense of mystery struggledsimultaneously with constant fear andambiguity as theother Accession ofloneliness and of failure to developan In thefall of 1967,Hesse madethe first works.Therefore, Hesse returnedto the individualidentity. She worriedshe would workin her Accession series, Accession I formand material of the first two when sufferfrom instability and depression, as (fig.7).3 She tooka grid-perforated, shemade the fourth and fifth works in the hermother had. Every January, around the uncoveredbox form,probably a found series,Accession IV andAccession V (figs. anniversaryof hermother's death, she object,4and wove five-inch pieces of 9-10). Bothwere done in 1968and both wouldbe particularlyanxious. Friends rubberhose into the box. She filledevery weresmaller, like Accession /.8 Due to its wouldmake an effortto distract her so that holeand left the ends of each tubeloose, exteriorbox, Accession V shewould not be overwhelmed.Hesse also freein theinterior. Hesse likedthe orange-colored waving has a chromatic feltinfluenced whatshe saw as her resultsof this first threaded box formso greater impact. by father'sintense Germanic muchthat she had one fabricatedin a compulsive- WhileAccession II can be viewedas a ness.10She wantedto stabilizethese largersize atArco Metals in NewYork ofHesse's artistic opposingforces. Dr. SamuelDunkell, her whereher friend, artist and critic part experimentation, City, andformal as formost of her life, remarked Robert hadbeen Into development, explorations, psychiatrist Smithson, working. wellas herreaction to the of thatHesse describedrelief in her thissecond box shethreaded the austerity learning 30,670 italso several of and could rubberextrusions - a time-and labor- Minimalism, encapsulated symptoms anxiety depression personalconcerns of Hesse as a female be linkedto illnessrather than personal intensiveprocess.5 The result,Accession 1 artistand proto-feminist. Her adult life was experience.1She diedfrom a braintumor //,was so intriguingthat Hesse continued definedby the tempestuous experiences of at theage ofthirty-four, still devoted to her toexplore this form. artand with a life-affirmingattitude.

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure3. EvaHesse, American, 1936- 70,And He Sat in a Box, 1964;collage with ink, gouache,andwatercolor, 76.2x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in.). UlmerMuseum, Ulm.

Hesse knewshe was interestedin artfrom a resultof the multiple roles expected of a veryyoung age anddecided to followher heras a woman.An oft-quotedsentiment inclinationeven though her lowest grades revealsthat she felt overworked and injunior high school were in thatsubject. unhappyin her marriage: "I cannot She tookevening classes at theArt Students be so manythings . . . Woman,beautiful, League,New York, when she was inhigh artist,wife, housekeeper, cook, saleslady school.12During the 1950s she matured as all thesethings. I cannoteven be myself, an artist,attending several schools. Hesse norknow what I am. I mustfind some- studiedwith significant figures in American thingclear, stable and peaceful within arteducation, including Josef Albers, the myself. . ,"14Yet even at thispoint of Bauhausartist who taught at Yale School dissatisfactionwith her marriage, her work ofArt and Architecture, where she received developedinto a seriesof drawings of herB.F.A. in 1959.After graduating from eroticmachines and then into even more Yale,Hesse movedback to NewYork and playfulforms when Hesse began exploring livedin theBowery, where she met and sculpture. befriendedmany artists and critics, includ- - ingClaes Oldenberg,Carl Andre, Robert Hesse's realbreakthrough as an artist andSylvia Mangold, Lucy Lippard, Robert hertransition from painting to sculpture- Ryman,Mel Bochner,and Sol LeWitt. occurredin 1964-65when Doyle was Hesse hadher first gallery exhibition at age invitedto makeart for F. ArnhardScheidt, to a Germantextile manufacturer twenty-fiveand immediately began wealthy abroad,separated from friends and familiar andart collector. Abstract receivecritical attention. Doyle'slarge surroundings.Not surprisingly, these weretoo Expressionist-inspiredsculptures anxietiesinitially stymied Hesse's artistic met Tom to so Scheidtmoved In April1961, Hesse sculptor expensive transport, production.Yet Hesse turnedto sculpture andHesse to Doyle,whom she married in November Doyle Germany,allowing whenDoyle suggested that she try some- hersenior themto set studiosin an abandoned ofthat year. He was eightyears up thingnew and experiment with the abun- in near andalready established in theNew York art textilefactory Kettwig-am-Ruhr, dantabandoned materials lying around their affectedher Diisseldorf.This location fortuitous world.Her marriage to Doyle proved factory/studio. She manipulatedthese her artisticdevelopment over the next five years. forHesse's development,stimulating elementsof textile manufacture - strings, As shenoted in herdiaries, she felt both interestin the physical nature of soft cords,wires, and threads - intoreliefs to and materialssuch as and shehad professionallydominated by Doyle string cloth; produceher first three-dimensional works personallydistressed by the agitated and a largesupply of these discarded materials ofart.15 competitivenature of their relationship. availableto her at thetextile factory. over Hesse also expressedconcern Doyle's Atthis point, Hesse's artbegan to evolve She This ofHesse's artistic drinkingand public boisterousness. stage development rapidly.She developeda highlypersonal as artist didnot come She had bemoanedher difficult dual role easily. personal vocabularyof images, at onceabsurd and "It is as anxietiesto overcome when she returned andwife of an artist,noting: sensual,finding her main sources of an artist'swife to associatedin hermind with difficultas itis saidto be Germany, inspirationin Surrealism,Abstract Expres- her demiseand her mother's andan artistalso. Notalways for the reasons family's sionism,and finally Pop Art.From the first Free The suffered one thinkshowever it is notall 'The depression. failingmarriage twoshe learned about strategies and forms as evenmore while Hesse and were Life.'"13Indeed, she expressed fatigue Doyle forexpressing themes of autobiography and eroticism.Hesse was particularlyintrigued

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure4. Figure5. EvaHesse, American, EvaHesse, American, 1936-70,Inside /,1967; 1936-70,Inside II,1967; acrylicpaint over papier- acrylicpaint mixed with machl,twine, andwire sawdustover wood, papier- overwood, 29.8 x 29.8 x machl,cord, weights, and 30.5cm (11 3/4 x 1 1 V4 x 12 acrylic,13.3 x 17.8cm in.).The Estate ofEva (5'/4 x7.7 in.). The Estate Hesse,Courtesy ofThe ofEva Hesse, Courtesy of RobertMiller Gallery, TheRobert Miller Gallery, NewYork. NewYork.

box formof Accession II - withits plea- surableinterior of handwoven plush ten- taclescontrasted and contained within a hard,fabricated exterior grid - relates stronglyto themale fetishizing of female genitalia(which are often referred to in slangas a "hairybox," a descriptionthat also appliesto thissculpture).

AccessionII mightalso be termeda fetish in theword's general definition: anything to whichextra value or power has been attached.These excesses manifest as byartists who pursued energetic disjunc- to associatethat pleasure with a potentially erotic,or characteris- tions, or ironic situation.Hesse met magical, omnipotent strangeincompatibilities, unpleasant Oppenheim tics.A boxed stimulatedesires for Yetshe worked in 1965when she was in andre- object gestures. independently, Europe and without foridentification with the marked itin her consumption,sovereignty, ownership, looking upon diary,clearly showing Likethe Surrealist that workof other artists and without the boththe andthe « possession. object specifically impact meeting object sucha herselfwith artistic hadon her engenders compulsiveresponse, aligning anyparticular sensibility.17 Hesse's invitessuch movement. sculpturesimilarly projectionsof fantasy. Created by the Eroticismis an integralcomponent of the repetitiveaction of poking the strands into FromSurrealism, Hesse appropriatedan physicalityof Hesse's work,figuring into thescreens, this work begins with a box, emphasison theirrational and on thebreak- herart through her fetishistic forms and butit ends wherever the viewer imagines. ingof boundaries. She borrowedmethods use oftactics that evoke a compulsive of dismemberment,and dis- as the desire disjunction, response(such compelling The and natureof as wellas the of to touchthe fromthe viewer. Both complicated repetitive placement, employment object) AccessionII revealsHesse's own obsessivetactics that relied on or ofthese are evident in Accession II. In compul- prompted sivenessin the tubesin and a fromthe Freudian a fetishis weaving vinyl subsequentcompulsive response psychoanalytictheory, outof the and be deemed viewer.In Surrealistartists an that oracts as a sub- perforations may makingobjects, object symbolizes fetishisticin itself.This behavior has a withthe viewer's inner stitutefor sexual thus for frequentlyplayed organs, allowing oferotic to itin its obsessivedesires: the Surrealist often the of sexual ontoan component gratification object displacement feelings andrestrictive control. featuresa mixof elementsin- inanimate Freudadmitted that while rigidrepetition sculptural thing. has relatedHesse's tendedto theviewer's unconscious individualizedsentiments can resultin the Lippard convincingly provoke obsessionfor to an autoerotic effectsthat could fetishizationof thereare repetition responseby engendering objects, specific desirethat substituted for the lack of her notbe ordetermined, such as elic- between expected relationships particularobjects mother'slove.19 itingthe viewer's sexual fantasies.16 An ex- andgenitalia. Freud designated containing ampleof such a workis MeretOppenheim's objectsas symbolsof female genitalia, Hesse's compulsivenessis depicted in a Object(1936; Museumof Modern Art, New includingboth the vagina and the womb. portraitby her friend, artist and critic Mel York).To makeit, Oppenheim covered a He describedboxes, cases, cupboards, and Bochner.In Portraitof Eva Hesse (1966; teacup,saucer, and spoon with fur, creating ovensas vaginasor uteri, and rooms as fig.1 1), Bochnerplaced the concept of a symbolevoking an oraleroticism under- fetishesrelating to women.18Thus, in its enclosureat theepicenter of her "cosmol- linedwith disgust, since the viewer is forced definitionand demarcatioh of space, the ogy,"explaining, "I selectedthe word

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 4 wrap'because it is botha nounand a verb, ofrepetition is an especiallyinteresting sensibilities.Yet when Hesse triedto an objectand a process.That contradiction, absurdhyperbole.25 When Hesse was contendwith the bravado of Jackson orcoincidence, seemed to me tobe at askedwhy she often repeated forms in a Pollock'sart, a greatertension ensued. In the'center' of Eva's work."20Bochner singlework, she replied, "Because it exag- contrastto him, she worked on an intimate brokethe idea downinto several strata, gerates.If somethingis meaningful,maybe scale.Like Pollock, she wanted to create a eachcircle representing some nuance of it'smore meaningful said ten times. It's transparencybetween the presence of the enclosureor connection. In effect,this notjust an estheticchoice. If somethingis materialsand the process of constructing the reproductionof Hesse's processimaged as absurd,it's much more greatly exagger- work.29In herwork, she left elements of a stringof synonyms resembles the present ated,absurd, if it's repeated."26 Lippard productionevident in obviousreference to interpretationofAccession //, which definedthe word "accession," used in the thepresence of the artist. She also made focuseson hercompulsive behavior of title,as "increasedby something added," obviousher intention to emphasizeher role obsessivelyrepeating an activity. whichexactly describes Hesse's processin as artistthrough her use ofabsurd opposi- expandingthe form of this enclosed box.27 tions. The constructionofAccession II was a con- Compulsivetactics, such as therepetitious tinuinginterest of Hesse's.21 Even when pokingof tubing through a box inAcces- Hesse combinedSurrealist and Abstract shereturned from her first hospitalization sionII, areprevalent in Hesse's earliest Expressionistinfluences with yet another in 1968for the brain tumor that would reliefsand sculptures, such as thecon- source,Pop Art.This was an unusual eventuallyprove fatal, she continued with trolledand repeated coiling of Ringaround combinationfor a Post-Minimalistartist therepetitive task. Art critic and curator Arosie(1965; MartinBernstein Collection, in the1960s. She andher artist friends RobertStorr was astonishedby the devo- Birmingham,Mich.) and An Ear ina disdainedPop's artificialityand tionthis involved: "That the artist resumed Pond(1965; RobertM. KayCollection, commerciality,even though they had an andpersevered in thisendeavor after her Rumson,N.J.). associationwith Roy Lichtenstein, one of firstcollapse makes the poignancy of this TomDoyle's teachers. However, according 'markingtime' - andso byanalogy the AbstractExpressionism was an even to Lippard,for Hesse theperiod from 1962 hopefulobstinacy of all humanprojects moreimportant source than Surrealism until1964 "reflect[ed] a confusion perhaps pittedagainst time - achinglyapparent."22 forHesse's inclusionof autobiographical rootedin a conflictbetween loyalty to the HelenHesse Charash, the artist's sister, subjects.She admiredthe accomplish- innerimagery of Gorky and de Kooning notedthat compulsivity was a largepart of mentsof Abstract Expressionist artists. andthe brash newness of Pop."30 In theirupbringing and that their father, as a Twoof the movement's basic tenets are particular,Hesse was attractedto Andy self-employedinsurance salesman, was a relevantto Hesse's art:an interestin Warhol'sart, especially his deadpan "workaholic,"staying up nightsand con- artisticexpression of the inner self and a attitude.31She especiallyadmired the soft, tinuingto workin hisbathrobe.23 Eva concernwith the activity of the artistic sexuallyprovocative forms of Claes Hesse'songoing interest in repetitivepro- process.Hesse workedto internalize Oldenburgand Yayoi Kusama (an artist cess stemmedfrom her relish for the com- whatshe saw as theimportant issue for oftenloosely associated with Pop Art).32 pulsiveact. In a 1965letter to hergood Willemde Kooningand Arshile Gorky: the The humoroustitles of Hesse's firstseries friendRosie Goldman, she noted: "/ creationof a personalizedart that incorpo- ofreliefs that she made in Germanyreflect finallytook a screen,heavy mesh which ratedactivity and gesture into the aesthetic. theplayfulness of Pop: RingaroundArosie, is stretchedonto a framelike so and taken Earlyin hercareer, she painted in a style Oomamaboomba, C -Clamp Blues , and [s/c]cord which I cutinto smaller pieces. dependentupon both artists.28 The EighterfromDecatur. Pop providedHesse I soakthem in plaster and knoteach piece freedomand sweep in her sculptures withan outletfor the humorous expression througha hole and aroundwire. It is com- representan appreciationof their sensuous of absurdstatements. pulsivework which I enjoy."24This notion treatmentof formsand their passionate

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure6. EvaHesse, American, 1936-70,Untitled, 1967- 68;glass and metal case containingsixunits of latex,wire, rubber cords, plastermold, 37.1 x 26 x 26cm ( 145/8 x 10'/4 x 10'/4 in.).Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford,Conn.,The LeWittCollection (T.L.146.1976:318).

reaction.As Doylehas pointedout, LeWitt All opposedthe extreme masculinity and was a calmingfigure, a soothingpresence; brutal,dominant positioning of art charac- hiswillingness to discussothers' ideas teristicof Minimalism, although Hesse's aboutart, as wellas hisown, made him a interpretationswere informed by a femi- verydear friend and companion.34 Lippard nistsensibility. Lippard considered Surre- notesthat Hesse's interestin serialarrange- alismthe major influence on suchworks. mentcan be directlylinked to theirfriend- Arguingthat all theartists in the show ship.35While Hesse's grid, box, and retainedan interestin abstractform rather windowforms evolved out of her own the- thanrepresentation, she used Hesse's maticstudies, her realization of the hairy sculpturesas an importantfocal point in However,rather than simply reiterating box inAccession II seemslike a gestural herwritings related to theexhibition.40 thestylist features of Surrealism, Abstract counterparttothe austerity of LeWitt's Expressionism,and Pop, Hesse developed ubiquitouscube forms.36 Anne Wagner has It is notsurprising that Lippard was the herartistic sensibility as sheindependently effectivelycharacterized the tactile quality firstto discuss openly and explicitly erotic encounteredthe various avant-garde ofAccession IF s interiorsurface as a con- themesin Hesse's art.Her conception of conceptionsthrough her education at Yale trastto minimalforms: "[Hesse reframes] thisexhibition was basedprimarily on andvisits to museumsand galleries. Her theindustrialized real of the Minimalist Hesse's workand the manner in which dailymilieu proved her greatest source objectinto the surreal of incomplete sexual- Hesse seemedto be "workingboth within ofinspiration, especially after she and ized form."37 andoutside of the current geometric Doylemoved to theBowery in 1963and tendencies."41Taking her cue from metfellow emerging artists. As Lippard Criticsfirst noted Hesse's focuson process, Hesse's sculpture,Lippard "began looking indicates,"Hesse had something different eroticism,and content when Lucy Lippard forother artists confronting that dialec- incommon with each of her [artist] includedHesse's work in the1966 exhibi- tic."42Lippard wrote in hercatalogue friends;her art relationships tended to be tion"Eccentric Abstraction." Early that essaythat Hesse's worksexemplified the as complexas herpersonal ones."33 These year,Lippard had recognized a trend "Surrealist'reconciliation of distant friendshipswould lead to otherimportant amongseveral unaffiliated artists whose realities.'"Hesse harmonizeddifferent associationswith repercussions for Hesse's sculpturedeviated from the hyperstructural, images or structuraleffects to integrate art,as whenRobert Smithson introduced reductivistforms preferred by Minimalist formand content. Lippard noted that herto Doug Johnsand industrial plastic artistsin the mid-1960s.38 Years later, Hesse's sculptures,despite their simplicity manufacture.Incorporating all ofthese Lippardwrote about "Eccentric Abstrac- andlimited use ofcolors, possessed "an influences,Hesse developed her own soft tion":"I was nottrying to 'createa move- intenselypersonal mood," which differen- biomorphicabstract style, simultaneously ment,'but rather to indicatethat there were tiatedthem from Minimalism. Most divergingfrom and responding to the emotiveor 'eccentric'or erotic alternatives importantly,Lippard asserted that Hesse strongformal influence of then-dominant to a solemnand deadset Minimalism which hadcreated something new: "Omitting Minimalism. stillretained the clarity of that notion."39 excessivedetail and emotive color, but She recognizedthese works as thebegin- retaininga tentative, vulnerable quality in The rigidcube and serial repetition of ningof a moveaway from Minimalism. thesimplest forms, she accomplishes an formsdominated the work of numerous Eroticand soft forms, which are tradition- idiosyncratic,unfixed space . . ."43For Minimalistartists, including Sol LeWitt. allyassociated with femininity, were high- Lippard,recognition of this nebulous LeWittconformed to a modelof purity and lightedin theexhibition, which included spacewas crucialbecause it implied that primacyin hisart, against which Hesse's worksby both male and female artists. Hesse's artsuggested a radicalnotion of workcan be readas bothextension and

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure7. EvaHesse, American, 1936-70,Accession /,1967; aluminumandrubber tubing,23.2x 36.2 x 36.2 cm(9 >/b x14 V x 14 '/4 in.). CollectionofThe Israel Museum,Jerusalem, Gift ofHelen Hesse Charash, NewJersey, toAmerican FriendsofThe Israel Museum. infinity.The exhibitionmarked an impor- tanthistorical moment in American art ofthe 1960s by announcing a trend in whichthe artists' work was motivatedby Minimalism,but separate from it.

Hesse's citationof Minimalist linearity and rigidityin Accession II accentuatesthe conventionalposition of women artists, and byextension, women's relations to culture: because,as AliciaOstriker has noted, womenartists have been excluded from developingtheir own tradition, they have hadto appropriatemasculine artistic language.44Yet in her use ofsoft materials, Hesse radicallyrevised her Minimalist sources.Though an assessmentof soft as femininemay be consideredstereotypical currentstandards because it by promotes theprivate, and the discounted provided to interactwith this sculpture in a playful an idea ofan essentialfemale it quality, importantvehicles for Hesse to enacther way.A stillfrom a filmmade by Dorothy wouldhave been foran artist acceptable effortsto distinguishher work. Accession Beskindof Hesse in herstudio (fig. 12) workingin the1960s. Hesse lookedat one II indicatessuch a difference,because in documentsHesse loweringher head into ofthe most formsfrom the 48 prominent itshe created a sculpturalobject and space thebox WhenAccession II was shown masculinetradition of Minimalist and art, thatinvolves the body, makes reference to in 1968,the desire to touchit overwhelmed thedevice of elaboration revised through encloseddomestic spaces, and employs itsviewers. The sculpturewas partially its themto advance implications,adapting weavingforms.46 In Accession 77, Hesse damagedas peopleleaned on itand lowered herown artistic AnnaChave 49 development. was specificallyinterested in thecontain- childreninto it has outthat Accession II can also pointed mentof spaceas thatenclosure impacts be readas a of it point expression,calling on thebody. Lippard noted that Hesse AccessionII introducesa new metaphorical a "voicebox," another physiological movedinto the lower floor of her apart- modeof making textiles, one thatappeals featureto whichthe form of this work has ment,which consisted of two small rooms, in theabundance of the interior and defies a resemblance45 Hesse took purposely in orderto create the comforting enclosure theorder implied by the controlled segmen- the masculine ofthe smooth,hard, edge ofa nestor womblike space. Hesse tationof the exterior framework. Hesse and itinto a box Minimalistcube changed commentedat thistime, "I workonly knewtextile production from her work as withan interiorof abundant cords. downstairs.In mycorner. It is really a textiledesigner. Though weaving has crowdedwith work and tools and all sorts historicallyfunctioned as an outletfor Hesse's withfeminism related dialogue ofparaphernalia. Feel less lostand lonely women,it remains connected to scenarios to herdesire to finda differentartistic therethat way. Upstairs is unknown thatdefine their impotence, because imagethan that espoused by Minimalism. unfamiliarto me."47She was awareof the women'swork is so economicallyand Feminism'scelebration of the personal, spatialimpact that Accession II hadon the sociallyundervalued. As SandraGilbert and bodyand even allowed her own body SusanGubar have noted, "Like Ariadne, Penelope,and Philomela, women have used

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Notes

Allworks Eva Hesse of Figure8. by reproducedbypermission EvaHesse, American, TheEstate ofEva Hesse. Accession 1936-70, III, Theauthor wishes tothank Lose and Swartzfor 1968;fiberglass andplastic Jay Lynn 76.2x 76.2 x 76.2 theirsuggestions duringthe preparation ofthis article and tubing, Ellen Landauforher advice and cm(30 x 30 x 30 in.). ProfessorG. LudwigMuseum, Cologne. encouragement. Photo:Rheinisches 1. Bildarchiv,Cologne. Thispoint isevidenced bythe thesis oftwo recent exhibitionsthatdealt with Hesse's legacy inthe work of youngerwomen artists. SeeIn the Lineage ofEva Hesse (Ridgefield,Conn.:The Aldrich Museum ofContemporary Art,exh. cat., 1994); and L. Zelevansky, Senseand Sensibility: Women Artists andMinimalism inthe Nineties (NewYork: The Museum ofModern Art,exh. cat., 1994), 8-10. 2. L.Norden, "Getting to'Ick': To Know What One Is Not," in EvaHesse: ARetrospective (NewHaven, Conn.: Yale UniversityArtGallery, exh.cat., 1992), 61-62, 72 n. 36. 3. Seethe four notebook pages where theartist sketched out thetechnical aspects ofthe early works ofthe Accession series(reproduced inL. Lippard, EvaHesse [New York, 1992],213). 4. B.Barrette, EvaHesse: Sculpture (NewYork, cat. raisonn6,1989),138. andneedles both to ratherthan historical theirlooms, thread, simplyreiterating any 5. defendthemselves and silently to speakof conceptof the female as victim.Here, Hessedid not additionally knotthe extrusions asAnna C. themselves."50Weaving confers a silent Hesse exploitedthe possibility of a radical Chavementions; shesimply poked them through thescreen womento contend with their refusalof that (seeA. C. Chave, "Eva Hesse: 'AGirl Being a Sculpture,'" power,allowing paradigm,accomplishing inEva Hesse 1992 [note 2], 111). limitationsby providing an alternativemode a newform for expressing a feminist ofexpression to male-dominatedart.51 aestheticfeaturing absurdity and compul- 6. Barrette1989 174. However,for a veryfew women artists, sion.Hesse's abstractsculpture deviated (note4), notablyHesse, weaving has offereda mode fromthe dominant standard, defining a 7. to usurpthe male tradition. In Accession//, distinctrealm with feminist alternatives. Asquoted inC. Nemser, ArtTalk: Conversations with12 WomenArtists 212. themonotonous tedium of weaving has been Duringthe feminist movement of the (NewYork, 1975), complementedby a profusionof cords, 1960s,women's bodies and traditionally 8. simultaneouslydemonstrating pleasure in defined"women's work" were increas- Perhapsboth Accession IVand Accession Vwere made on a scalebecause ofHesse's healthin traditionalweaving and expansive, infinite inglyused by artists as metaphoricve- muchsmaller failing 1968,when she was first hospitalized forproblems related possibilities. hiclesfor the female/feminine experience. tothe brain tumor thatwould eventually provefatal. Eva Hesse was engagedin developingher Hesse'sAccession II works the ownmodes of at thisvery time 9. against expression Thisaccount ofHesse's was thus to minethose for familyexperiences developed normof what is expectedin artmade by and began subjects fromthecomprehensive chronology - which includes women.The sculpturesuggests the potent inspiration. excerptsfromHesse's diaries, journals, andnotebooks - in expressivenessof the "female experience,"

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure9. EvaHesse, American, 1936-70, Accession IV, 1968;galvanized steeland rubbertubing, 20.6x 20.3 x20.9 cm (8 '/g x8 x 8 '/4 in.).Ethelyn andLester Honig,New York.

thecatalogue ofthe 1992 retrospective exhibition atYale UniversityArtGallery (see H. Cooper, "Chronology," in EvaHesse 1992 [note 2], 19-50). Itwas also developed frommy notes onher diaries, journals, andnotebooks in theEva Hesse Archive atthe Allen Memorial ArtMuseum, OberlinCollege, Oberlin, Ohio. The author would like to Figure10. thankChristine Mack, Registrar, andKimberlie Gumz EvaHesse, American, Fixx,Assistant Registrar, atthe Allen Memorial Art 1936-70, Accession V, Museumforfacilitating accessto the Eva Hesse Archive; 1968;galvanized steeland andBarry Rosen and Helen Hesse Charash forpermission rubbertubing, 25.4x 25.4 toreference thearchive andreproduce images byHesse. x25.4 (10 x 10x 10in.). Fora moreextensive discussion ofHesse's artand the WadsworthAtheneum, themespresented here,refer toA. Swartz, "Psychosexual Hartford,Conn.,The StrategiesofEnclosure andEntanglement: Re-Reading LeWittCollection BourgeoisandHesse" (Ph.D. diss., Case Western Reserve (T.L.146. 1976:320). University,1996). 10. Inher diaries, Hesse diagrammed theopposing mother and andmotivated Hessein her art (S. LeWitt, interview by father inher life, this New seealso the impulsesoperating " calling dynamic author,York, N.Y., February 16,1994; the"force conflicting Eva":Underlying Theme/ correspondencebetweenHesse and LeWitt inLippard conflictingforcesinside Eva /1] mother force: unstable/ 1992[note 3], 34-35). Additionally, Lippardacknowledged creative/sexual/ threatening mystability/ Sadistic - Doyle'srole in facilitating Hesse's progression frompainter Aggressive/2]father, stepmother force:good, little girl/ tosculptor (ibid., 28). obedient/neat,clean, organized/ masochistic" (diaryentry, May1966 [Oberlin, Ohio.: Eva Hesse Archive, Allen 16. MemorialArtMuseum, Oberlin College], box2, item 5, R.E. Krauss, Passages inModern Sculpture (NewYork, 52). 1977),123. 11. 17. S.Dunkell, interview byauthor, NewYork, May 5, 1994. Diaryentry, June 1965 (Hesse Archive [note 9], box 2, item 7). 12. "It'sAll Yours," Seventeen Magazine (September 1954): 18. 140.Hesse had ajob at Seventeen Magazine in1954, and S.Freud, "The Interpretation ofDreams," pt.2, and "On theeditors decided tofocus onthe artistic talents oftheir Dreams,"inThe Standard Edition ofthe Complete youngintern inthe article. PsychologicalWorksofSigmund Freud, trans. J.Strachey, vol.5 (London,1953-74), 354, 683. In a recentarticle, 13. BrionyFerdiscussed Hesse's sculpture asbeing "of the HesseArchive (note 9), box 2, item 6. body,"orreferencing theunified corporeal presence ofthe body,asdistinct fromthe substitution involved in 14. fetishization(B.Fer, "Bordering onBlank: Eva Hesse and Ibid. Minimalism,"ArtHistory 17,no. 3 [September1994]:426). Basingher discussion onthe theories ofpsychoanalyst 15. MelanieKlein, Fer proposes thatHesse's sculptures are Legsof a WalkingBall(1965; Estate ofEva Hesse), a moremetaphorical thanliteral and declares thatthey are not wall-relatedpaintedand pasted cord on masonite relief, fetishes(ibid., 442), discounting Freudian theory asan isan example ofone of these first sculptural experiments. appropriateconceptual model for looking atthe work (424). TomDoyle described thedetails ofHesse's artistic WhileI certainly agreewith the polysemous aspects of developmentinGermany andher initial experiments with Hesse'sabstract sculptures andsee a strongconnection three-dimensionalreliefs(T.Doyle, interview byauthor, betweenKlein's theories andthe metaphors ofHesse's art, NewYork, N.Y., February 15,1994). Itseems perhaps Hesse'ssculptures havestrong relationships tothe body and questionabletoaccept the word ofthe artist's estranged dohave fetishistic implications underscoring theconceptual husband,whose description ofhimself asinfluencing the relationshiptoFreudian psychoanalytic theory. artistcould be taken asan attempt towrite himself into thehistory ofHesse's art. But his importance toHesse iscorroborated bySol LeWitt, whoalso encouraged

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Figure11. MelBochner, American, born1940, Portrait ofEva Hesse, 1966; pen and ink, 19.1x 19.1cm (71/2x71/2 in.).Collection ofMel Bochner,NewYork.

23. 32. H.H. Charash, telephone interview byauthor, December 12, OnOldenbuig, seeLippard 1992 (note 3), 197; A. C. 1996. Chave,"Eva Hesse," inEva Hesse 1992 (note 2), 1 14 n. 11; M.Berger, "Objects ofLiberation: TheSculpture ofEva 24. Hesse,"ibid., 129-30, 135n. 46. On Kusama, seeLippard Thesculpture Hesse described inthis letter nolonger exists, 1992(note 3), 197. Doyle explained theimportance of butthe process resembles thatused for the construction of KusamatoHesse, noting thatKusama lived inthe Bowery AccessionII(E. Hesse to R. Goldman, December 14,1964, nearthem, and he remembers Hesse's interest inthe latent withunderlines byHesse, asquoted inLippard 1992 [note eroticismofKusama's useof a repetitiveprojecting phallus 3],28-29, 36 fig. 44). motifinher sculptures (Doyle 1994 [note 15]). Hesse probablysawKusama's work exhibited atthe Greene 25. Gallery;according toLippard, it"constituted someof the Theliterary theorist J.Hillis Miller has noted that such a mostmemorable artin New York inthe early 1960s" modeofcontinued repetition accomplishes a rebuff tothe (Lippard1992 [note 3], 217 n. 41). In an article onKusama, readerorviewer ofan artwork: "Repetition mightbe DanaFriis-Hansen mentions that"Hesse was a neighbor definedasanything thathappens tothe line to trouble or andconstant visitor"; however, noone has corroborated that evenconfound itsstraightforward linearity:returnings, Hesseand Kusama's relationship wasso involved (D.Friis- knottings,recrossings, crinklings toand fro, suspensions, Hansen,"Yayoi Kusama's Feminism," Art& Text 49(1994): interruptions,fictionalizations . . . Without theline there 55). isno repetition, butrepetition iswhat disturbs, suspends, ordestroys thelinearity ofthe line and plays with its 33. straightforwardlogic"(see J. H. Miller, "Ariadne's Thread: Lippard1992 (note 3), 200. Repetitionandthe Narrative Line," International ColloquiumonInterpretation ofNarrative [Buffalo, N.Y., 34. andToronto, 1976], 157-59.) Doyle1994 (note 15). 26. 35. E.Hesse, asquoted inNemser 1975 (note 7), 211. Lippard1992 (note 3), 200-201. Itis interesting thatthe youngerofLe Witt's two daughters isnamed Eva. LeWitt 27. wasinfluenced byHesse inhis art as well, particularly in Lippard1992 (note 3), 104. Lippard probably drewthis WallDrawing #46(Vertical lines, not straight, nottouching, particulardefinition fromone of Hesse's many notes onthis uniformlydispersed withmaximum density, covering the 19. seriesofworks. entiresurface ofthe wall), a drawing thatthe artist intended Lippard1992 (note 3), 188. tocover one wall of a gallerywhen installed (SolLeWitt 28. Collection).Itserved asa memorialtoher, asit was 20. Thispoint isapparent inthe gestural treatment ofthe figure completedinthe month ofher death (May 1970) and shown M.Bochner tothe author, December 16,1992. andthe lateral composition ofUntitled, anoil painting of soonafter inan exhibition thatLeWitt dedicated toHesse. 1960(The Estate ofEva Hesse; reproduced inEva Hesse LeWitthasremarked thatvariations inthe linear forms of 21. 1992[note 2], 145, pl. 7). thiswork - as opposed tohis usual reliance onregular lines - Lippardcontemplated thepsychology involved inthis andforms were directly influenced byHesse's emphasis recurrentbehavior inwomen's art:"The relationship of 29. onordered permutations (LeWitt1994 [note 15]). Hesse's bindingandwrapping forms anda compulsivepersonality SeeHesse's remarks in"Fling, Dribble andDrip," Life closerelationship withLeWitt isalso confirmed byher doesnot seem tohave been specifically explored in (February27,1970): 66. sister(Charash 1996 [note 23]). psychologicalliterature, butitdoes show up peculiarly often inart by women. One wonders whether Hesse's cord-bound 30. 36. shapeshad their origins inan activity orin a projected Lippard1992 (note 3), 21. Myreading ofHesse's forms asa pointofcontrast tothe imageofthe finished work Thereisalso the possibility masculinityofMinimalism's reductivist sculptures is thatsuch activity isconnected tothe judeo-puritanical work 31. influencedbyAnna C.Chave's interpretation ofMinimalist ethicinwhich Hesse was raised; 'ifit isn't difficult, itisn't Hessecommented onher attraction toAndy Warhol's artin rhetoricasfocused on"macho" qualities such as brutality, worthdoing'" (Lippard 1992 [note 3], 217 n. 33). Nemser1975 (note 7), 224. Robert Storr also mentioned this domination,destruction, mass,strength, territory, authority, interest(seeR. Storr, "Do the Wrong Thing: Eva Hesse and andmastery (A.C. Chave, "Minimalism andthe Rhetoric of 22. theAbstract Grotesque," inEva Hesse 1992 [note 2], 90). Power,"ArtsMagazine [January 1990]: 44-63). R.Storr, "Do the Wrong Thing: Eva Hesse and the Abstract Lipparddescribed someof Hesse's discussions withfriends Grotesque,"inEva Hesse 1992 (note 2), 94. aboutWarhol (see Lippard 1992 [note 3], 19-20). 37. A.M. Wagner, "Another Hesse," October 69(summer 1994):67. See also idem, Three Artists (Three Women) (Berkeley,Calif., 1996), 258.

This content downloaded from 67.115.155.19 on Mon, 18 Jan 2016 23:27:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 38. Inan article relating tothe exhibition, Lippard included Hessewith Louise Bourgeois, H.C. Westermann, Lindsay Decker,Jean Linder, Bruce Nauman, Keith Sonnier, Frank LincolnViner, Alice Adams, Don Potts, and Gary Kuehn (L.Lippard, "Eccentric Abstraction," ArtInternational 10 [November1966], 28, 34-40; and idem, Eccentric Abstraction[NewYork: Fischbach Gallery, exh.cat., 1966]). 39. Lippard1992 (note 3), 83. 40. Seenote 38 and L. Lippard, From the Center: Feminist EssaysonWomen 'sArt (New York, 1976), 48-49. 41. Lippardwasalso stimulated bythe work ofFrank Lincoln Viner(ibid., 70). 42. Ibid.,70. 43. Lippard,"Eccentric Abstraction," 1966(note 38), 28. Hessewas represented in"Eccentric Abstraction" bythree works:two of the black, scatological papier-machg pieces createdimmediately afterher return from Germany in 1965- Several ,a shiny wall-related hanging (Saatchi Collection,London), andLong Life ,a matte,floor-related sculpture(destroyed atthe request ofthe artist) - and MetronomicIrregularity II,a painted wood and Sculp- metalwall-related workmade forthe exhibition, especially 47. 50. Figure12. consistingofmultiple partsinterconnected bycotton- Asquoted inLippard 1992 (note 3), 105. S.M. Gilbert andS. Gubar, TheMadwoman inthe Attic: coveredwire location Filmstill of Eva Hesse (present unknown). TheWoman Writer andthe Nineteenth-Century Literary andAccession II, 48. Imagination(NewHaven, Conn., 1979), 642. Anna C. 44. fromFour Artists: Robert Asreproduced inFour Artists: Robert Ryman, EvaHesse, Chaveused the writings ofGilbert andGubar tocritique the Ryman,EvaHesse, Bruce AliciaOstriker describes howwomen must usurp the BruceNauman, Susan Rothenberg ,produced anddirected weavingmotifs underscoring Hesse'ssculptural methods masculinetradition because reinforcesmale Nauman,Susan Rothenberg language byM. Blackwood, 47min. (New York: Blackwood (seeA. C. Chave, "Eva Hesse," inEva Hesse 1992 [note 2], (seenote 48). Dorothy Levitt dominance:"wemust also have in our power to'seize Productions,1987),videocassette. 108-9). speech'and make itsay what we mean" (A. Ostriker, Beskind,Photographer. "TheThieves ofLanguage: Women Poets and Revisionist 49. 51. Mythmaking,"Signs:Journal ofWomen andCulture in Thereissome controversy aboutthe damage these viewers R.Parker, TheSubversive Stitch: Embroidery andthe Society8,no. 1 [1982]: 69, 71). didto the sculpture, assome parts ofthe work required Makingofthe Feminine (NewYork, 1989), 11. refurbishment,butthere are inconsistencies abouthow much 45. conservationwasnecessary. Lippard andBarrette bothstate A.C. Chave, "Eva Hesse," inEva Hesse 1992 (note 2), thatthe work was seriously damaged while onexhibit in 111. 1968in Milwaukee andChicago (see Lippard 1993 [note 2], 103;and Barrette 1989[note 4], 140). However, Helen 46. Cooperdisagrees: "Although ithas been thought thatthe Hesse'ssister, Helen Hesse Charash, notes that Hesse was piecewas badly damaged . . . fewer than ten lengths ofvinyl verymuch aware ofthe women's movement ofthe 1960s [sic]extrusion weremissing atthe end of the exhibition andunderstood itsimplications forher as an artist (accordingtoits present owner, who purchased thework (Charash1996 [note 23]). directlyfromthe artist in1969)" (H. Cooper, "Chronology," inEva Hesse 1992 [note 2], 50 n. 30).

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