DOCSLIB.ORG

Art & the Anthropocene

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Art & the Anthropocene Art & The Anthropocene Processes of responsiveness and communication in an era of environmental uncertainty A project submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Jennifer Holly Rae (Jen Rae) M.A. (Public Art), B.F.A. School of Art College of Design and Social Context RMIT University March 2015 DECLARATION I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; and; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Jennifer Holly Rae 13 March 2015 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their dedicated guidance and support during my candidature: Associate Professor Linda Williams (Primary Supervisor) Simon Perry (former Secondary Supervisor) Dr. Irene Barberis-Page (Secondary Supervisor) Professor Lesley Duxbury Thank you to my colleagues of The Riparian Project, Nicola Rivers and Amanda Wealands, for all of your enthusiasm, industriousness and rigor in shaping the project over the past 4+ years. I would also like to recognise support for The Riparian Project from the following: The Centre for Sustainability Leadership RMIT University SEEDS program including Marcus Powe and Ian Jones The School for Social Entrepreneurs Russell Wealands and The Yea Wetlands Trust and Committee of Management The Yea Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAG) members Pilot project partners Mary Crooks and Liz McAloon from The Victorian Women’s Trust For technical and logistical support, thank you to Thomas Ryan, Erik North, Michael Wentworth-Bell and Alan Roberts. I am also thankful for the emotional support of family and friends in Melbourne and back home in Canada including Geneva Claesson, Ashley Middleton, Robert Middleton, Lyndal Osborne, John Freeman, Claire McLarney, Maeve O’Rourke, Ulrika Rylander, Yaron Maron and Dr. Marnie Badham. To my partner Sally Beattie – I am grateful for your incredible generosity and unconditional support throughout this journey. Thank you immensely. And lastly to Olive – thanks buddy for just being the best dog ever. I would also like to acknowledge my appreciation for the financial support I received during my candidature including bursaries from Canada’s INDSPIRE Institute (formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation), an Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2010/11), and an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) Scholarship. ii Per ardua ad astra In loving memory of James Duncan Rae Father, maverick, mentor & friend 1923 - 2014 iii iv ABSTRACT This practice-led research project explores processes of cultural response to The research offers new knowledge in two ways. First, in the processes of the communication of complex environmental issues through two main forms response and communication in the production of public artworks, which of process-based art production: one in the private studio in the form of explore local issues such as water protection and security, to large-scale drawings and the other in the public sphere through varied approaches. It drawings that address broader ecological issues influencing global climate examines some of the prevailing human activities and cultural mythologies change. And, secondly in the exegesis, where the findings of process-based art that led us to the current ecological crisis and highlights some of the critical production and contextual research contribute to the field of environmental challenges environmental communicators face in communicating the findings art discourse. It also offers methods of approach for artists and science of climate science to diverse audiences. I have sought to emphasise the communicators to work together in addressing some of the greatest significance of affective communication methods in conveying complex and environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. often-contentious environmental issues, and the role art may contribute to this exchange. The aim of this research is to underscore some of the opportunities for artists to engage as interlocutors and mediators within the network of environmental communication. Accordingly, the research examines some of the historical precedents of environmental art and how contemporary artists approach both local and global environmental issues. v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Unless stated otherwise, all artworks, photographs and illustrations are by Jen Rae. ____ COVER Exponential growth/Exponential decay (detail), 2010, digital Maritime New Zealand. Retrieved 1 December 2014 Boland, National Oceanic and Atmospheric photograph. from Stuff.co.nz, Administration (USA). Retrieved 20 January 2015 <http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/rena- from Flickr, <https://flic.kr/p/7zehDC>. Available crisis/5833206/12m-clean-up-fund-deliberately- under a Creative Commons Attribution License CHAPTER I wound-down>. Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0, <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- Fig. 5 Potential policy-relevant tipping elements in the nd/2.0/legalcode>. Fig. 1 Johannes Gutenberg 1449 first movable durable climate system this century, 2014, illustrated map. bronze type printing workshop, n.d., photograph. The subsystems indicated could result in tipping Fig. 9 Promotional image for the film, The Age of Stupid, Image courtesy of Jorge Royan. Retrieved 1 point responses rising from anthropogenic climate showing actor Pete Postlewaite at his archival December 2014 from Wikimedia Commons, forcings. Within this century, critical thresholds computer, 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Munich_ could be surpassed altering the future fate of the Creative Greenius, -_Deutsches_Museum_-_07-0596.jpg>. Available system for millennia. Illustration by Jen Rae. Map <http://creativegreenius.files.wordpress.com/2009/0 under a Creative Commons Attribution License adapted from LENTON, T.M., HELD, H., 3/age-of-stupid.jpg>. Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported, KRIEGLER, E., HALL, J.W., LUCHT, W., Fig. 10 Svalbard Globale frøhvelv/Svalbard Global Seed <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- RAHMSTORF, S. & SCHELLNHUBER, H.J. 2008. Vault from the outside, 2008, photography. sa/3.0/legalcode>. Tipping elements in the earth’s climate system. Courtesy of Mari Tefre/Svalbard Globale frøhvelv. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Fig. 2 Yuken Teruya, Corner Forest, 2005. Installation of Retrieved 2 December 2014 from Flickr, the United States of America, 105, 1786-1793. toilet paper rolls. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from <https://flic.kr/p/7nYgQr>. Available under a Yuken Teruya Studio, Fig. 6 A toppled Moai in front of Ahu Tongariki, Easter Creative Commons Attribution License <http://www.yukenteruyastudio.com/projects- Island, 2009, photograph. Courtesy of Robin Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0, 1/coner-forest>. Atherton. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from Flickr <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- Fig. 3 Yuken Teruya, LVMH – Louis Vuitton, 2005. <https://flic.kr/p/7a7XXW>. Available under a nd/2.0/legalcode>. Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-NC- Disposable paper bag and glue. From the Notice – Fig. 11 Inside the seed vaults at the Svalbard Globale ND 2.0, <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- Forest paper bag sculpture series. Retrieved 1 frøhvelv/Svalbard Global Seed Vault, 2013, nc-nd/2.0/legalcode>. December 2014 from The Saatchi Gallery, photograph. Courtesy of Matthias Heyde. Retrieved <http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/yuk Fig. 7 Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing, Ice Watch, 26 - 2 December 2014 from Flickr, en_teruya_louis_vuitton.htm>. 29 October 2014, Copenhagen City Hall Square. <https://flic.kr/p/oPxKwd>. Available under a Fig. 4 An aerial photograph of the MV Rena leaking oil One hundred tonnes of arctic ice. Reproduced with Creative Commons Attribution License and almost capsizing, 2011. The 37,000 tonne permission from the artist. Retrieved 1 December Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0, container ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in 2014 from Olafur Eliasson, <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- the Bay of Plenty in October 2011, causing the worst <http://olafureliasson.net/icewatch>. nd/2.0/legalcode>. ecological maritime disaster in New Zealand history. Fig. 8 Tangled rope and debris from the Great Pacific Fig. 12 Svalbard Globale frøhvelv/Svalbard Global Seed Photograph reproduced with permission from Garbage Patch, 2003, photograph. Courtesy of Ray Vault, 2008, diagram. Image courtesy of Statsbygg vi Norway. Retrieved 2 December 2014 from The Ashleigh Johnson) and pademelon (courtesy of of Rohan Cleave. Reproduced with permission from Gustavian Weekly, Gustavus Adolphus College, Andy Mason). Photographs reproduced with Melbourne Zoo. Retrieved 3 December 2014 from <https://weekly.blog.gustavus.edu/files/2008/04/see permission from Jennefer MacLean, Tolga Bat the Australian Museum, d-vault.jpg>. Hospital. <http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Lord- Howe-Island-Stick-Insect-hatching-at-Melbourne- Fig. 13 Drawing research for the Myth of Progress, studio Fig. 22 The Tolga Bat Hospital, Atherton, Queensland, Zoo>. photograph. 2013, photographs. They work to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured bats and for the conservation of Fig. 30 Birth of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
Load more

Recommended publications
  • September/October 2016 Volume 15, Number 5 Inside
    SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 5 INSI DE Chengdu Performance Art, 2012–2016 Interview with Raqs Media Collective on the 2016 Shanghai Biennale Artist Features: Cui Xiuwen, Qu Fengguo, Ying Yefu, Zhou Yilun Buried Alive: Chapter 1 US$12.00 NT$350.00 PRINTED IN TAIWAN 6 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 C ONT ENT S 23 2 Editor’s Note 4 Contributors 6 Chengdu Performance Art, 2012–2016 Sophia Kidd 23 Qu Fengguo: Temporal Configurations Julie Chun 36 36 Cui Xiuwen Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky 48 Propositioning the World: Raqs Media Collective and the Shanghai Biennale Maya Kóvskaya 59 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Danielle Shang 48 67 Art Labor and Ying Yefu: Between the Amateur and the Professional Jacob August Dreyer 72 Buried Alive: Chapter 1 (to be continued) Lu Huanzhi 91 Chinese Name Index 59 Cover: Zhang Yu, One Man's Walden Pond with Tire, 2014, 67 performance, one day, Lijiang. Courtesy of the artist. We thank JNBY Art Projects, Chen Ping, David Chau, Kevin Daniels, Qiqi Hong, Sabrina Xu, David Yue, Andy Sylvester, Farid Rohani, Ernest Lang, D3E Art Limited, Stephanie Holmquist, and Mark Allison for their generous contribution to the publication and distribution of Yishu. 1 Editor’s Note YISHU: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art PRESIDENT Katy Hsiu-chih Chien LEGAL COUNSEL Infoshare Tech Law Office, Mann C. C. Liu Performance art has a strong legacy in FOUNDING EDITOR Ken Lum southwest China, particularly in the city EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Wallace MANAGING EDITOR Zheng Shengtian of Chengdu. Sophia Kidd, who previously EDITORS Julie Grundvig contributed two texts on performance art in this Kate Steinmann Chunyee Li region (Yishu 44, Yishu 55), updates us on an EDITORS (CHINESE VERSION) Yu Hsiao Hwei Chen Ping art medium that has shifted emphasis over the Guo Yanlong years but continues to maintain its presence CIRCULATION MANAGER Larisa Broyde WEB SITE EDITOR Chunyee Li and has been welcomed by a new generation ADVERTISING Sen Wong of artists.
    [Show full text]
  • Mafia Motifs in Andrea Camilleri's Detective
    MAFIA MOTIFS IN ANDREA CAMILLERI’S DETECTIVE MONTALBANO NOVELS: FROM THE CULTURE AND BREAKDOWN OF OMERTÀ TO MAFIA AS A SCAPEGOAT FOR THE FAILURE OF STATE Adriana Nicole Cerami A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (Italian). Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Dino S. Cervigni Amy Chambless Roberto Dainotto Federico Luisetti Ennio I. Rao © 2015 Adriana Nicole Cerami ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Adriana Nicole Cerami: Mafia Motifs in Andrea Camilleri’s Detective Montalbano Novels: From the Culture and Breakdown of Omertà to Mafia as a Scapegoat for the Failure of State (Under the direction of Ennio I. Rao) Twenty out of twenty-six of Andrea Camilleri’s detective Montalbano novels feature three motifs related to the mafia. First, although the mafia is not necessarily the main subject of the narratives, mafioso behavior and communication are present in all novels through both mafia and non-mafia-affiliated characters and dialogue. Second, within the narratives there is a distinction between the old and the new generations of the mafia, and a preference for the old mafia ways. Last, the mafia is illustrated as the usual suspect in everyday crime, consequentially diverting attention and accountability away from government authorities. Few critics have focused on Camilleri’s representations of the mafia and their literary significance in mafia and detective fiction. The purpose of the present study is to cast light on these three motifs through a close reading and analysis of the detective Montalbano novels, lending a new twist to the genre of detective fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Art Magazine Issue # Sixteen December | January Twothousandnine Spedizione in A.P
    contemporary art magazine issue # sixteen december | january twothousandnine Spedizione in a.p. -70% _ DCB Milano NOVEMBER TO JANUARY, 2009 KAREN KILIMNIK NOVEMBER TO JANUARY, 2009 WadeGUYTON BLURRY CatherineSULLIVAN in collaboration with Sean Griffin, Dylan Skybrook and Kunle Afolayan Triangle of Need VibekeTANDBERG The hamburger turns in my stomach and I throw up on you. RENOIR Liquid hamburger. Then I hit you. After that we are both out of words. January - February 2009 DEBUSSY URS FISCHER GALERIE EVA PRESENHUBER WWW.PRESENHUBER.COM TEL: +41 (0) 43 444 70 50 / FAX: +41 (0) 43 444 70 60 LIMMATSTRASSE 270, P.O.BOX 1517, CH–8031 ZURICH GALLERY HOURS: TUE-FR 12-6, SA 11-5 DOUG AITKEN, EMMANUELLE ANTILLE, MONIKA BAER, MARTIN BOYCE, ANGELA BULLOCH, VALENTIN CARRON, VERNE DAWSON, TRISHA DONNELLY, MARIA EICHHORN, URS FISCHER, PETER FISCHLI/DAVID WEISS, SYLVIE FLEURY, LIAM GILLICK, DOUGLAS GORDON, MARK HANDFORTH, CANDIDA HÖFER, KAREN KILIMNIK, ANDREW LORD, HUGO MARKL, RICHARD PRINCE, GERWALD ROCKENSCHAUB, TIM ROLLINS AND K.O.S., UGO RONDINONE, DIETER ROTH, EVA ROTHSCHILD, JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC SCHNYDER, STEVEN SHEARER, JOSH SMITH, BEAT STREULI, FRANZ WEST, SUE WILLIAMS DOUBLESTANDARDS.NET 1012_MOUSSE_AD_Dec2008.indd 1 28.11.2008 16:55:12 Uhr Galleria Emi Fontana MICHAEL SMITH Viale Bligny 42 20136 Milano Opening 17 January 2009 T. +39 0258322237 18 January - 28 February F. +39 0258306855 [email protected] www.galleriaemifontana.com Photo General Idea, 1981 David Lamelas, The Violent Tapes of 1975, 1975 - courtesy: Galerie Kienzie & GmpH, Berlin L’allarme è generale. Iper e sovraproduzione, scialo e vacche grasse si sono tra- sformati di colpo in inflazione, deflazione e stagflazione.
    [Show full text]
  • The La Trobe Journal No. 95 March 2015 End Matter
    Notes 115 Notes Des Cowley, Robert Heather and Anna public – books, serials, pamphlets, music Welch: Editors’ introduction scores – but also works published in 1 Johanna Drucker, The Century of Artists’ other formats such as CD and DVD. The Books, New York: Granary Books, 1995, p. 1 Northern Territory, Tasmania and Western Australia include web-based publications. Helen Cole: Public collections of artists’ books 10 trove.nla.gov.au in Australia 11 Noreen Grahame was the first gallerist in Australia to actively promote artists’ 1 Any discussion of artists’ books is dogged books. Her first major exhibition of by the question of definition. This article artists’ books was in 1991 and, at this adopts a broad definition that includes time, she encouraged artists represented unique works, limited and commercial by the gallery to create their first artists’ editions, codexes, altered books, book books for the show. She organised five objects and everything in-between. It does Artists’ Books and Multiples fairs in not include zines, however, as institutions generally treat these separately. Brisbane, in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2 Noreen Grahame, ‘The gallerist’s 2007, and presented Australian artists’ perspective’, paper presented at ‘The books at the Sydney Works on Paper Trouble with Artists’ Books’, Siganto Fair and the London Artists’ Books Foundation seminar, State Library of Fair. In 1994 Grahame extended into Queensland, 4 May 2013. A podcast of the publishing catalogues and artists’ books. seminar is available at: www.slq.qld.gov. Her catalogues for exhibitions and artists’ au/_slqmedia/video_and_audio_content/ books fairs constitute the most important art-and-design/siganto-seminar, accessed 21 sources of documentation of artists’ books November 2014 in Australia of this time.
    [Show full text]
  • Old Furnace Artist Residency: Art Is a Conjunction Jon William Henry James Madison University
    James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Masters Theses The Graduate School Spring 2016 Old Furnace artist residency: Art is a conjunction Jon William Henry James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019 Part of the Fine Arts Commons, and the Sculpture Commons Recommended Citation Henry, Jon William, "Old Furnace artist residency: Art is a conjunction" (2016). Masters Theses. 105. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/105 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Old Furnace Artist Residency Jon Henry A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts School of Art, Design & Art History April 2016 FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair : Greg Stewart Committee Members/ Readers: Stephanie Williams Rob Mertens Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Intro ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Conceptual Background ...................................................................................................... 8 Pushback ..........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Morris, Minimalism, and the 1960S
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 1988 The Politics of Experience: Robert Morris, Minimalism, and the 1960s Maurice Berger Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1646 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book.
    [Show full text]
  • Art Analysis
    Art Analysis Joseph Beuys 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks), starting 1982 In 1982 Joseph Beuys began his action/installation of 7000 Private collectors bought the stones, thereby financing the Oaks at the seventh edition of the contemporary art show planting of an oak tree in Kassel. This city is an extremely Documenta (held once every five years in Kassel) and it was symbolic place since it used to be the centre of arms pro- only finished, symbolically, by his son Wenzel at the next duction for all of Germany, a fact which caused it to be razed Documenta in 1987, one year after the artist’s death. to the ground during the Second World War. In reality this is a temporally undefined piece since its dura- Through this work, Beuys speaks of the need for a new and tion is programmed for only as long as the final surviving tree lasting alliance between man and nature but also of the of the 7000 mentioned in the title. Potentially this work could need to eradicate wars and to turn destructive energy into last until the end of the current ecosystem. building for society. On March 16, 1982 Beuys planted the first oak tree in the Today all the oak trees have been planted and the basalt centre of the Friederich Square in Kassel, right in front of the blocks put in place. Friedericianum, the building that traditionally hosts the main At the basis of 7000 Oaks there is a concept of transforma- section of the Documenta show. tion, an aspect that concerns both time, expressed symboli- The action originates from the following system: 7000 prism- cally through the oaks growth, and space, which undergoes shaped blocks of basalt coming from Kassel’s mining area were change as the trees develop.
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Beuys' Unknown Gastrosophy Author(S)
    The extended art of eating: Joseph Beuys' unknown Title gastrosophy Author(s) Lemke, Harald SANSAI : An Environmental Journal for the Global Citation Community (2007), 2: 53-65 Issue Date 2007-03 URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/108252 Right Type Journal Article Textversion publisher Kyoto University ῍ῌ The extended art of eating: Joseph Beuys’ unknown gastrosophy H6G6A9 L:B@: Abstract: The German artist Joseph Beuys is well known for his notion of “extended art”. This article focuses on Beuys’ lesser known extended “art of eating”, through which we may understand his philosophy of food or gastrosophy. Focusing on three universal food practices and their political and philosophical implications, Beuys presented home cooking as a potential art of living, foodstuffs as art objects, and the ecological rebirth of agriculture as a “social sculpture”. By suggesting that alternative methods of farming and biotechnology are necessary if the global economy and methods of agricultural production are to be run in accordance to principles of social justice and sustainability, Beuysian gastrosophy helped to prepare the humanistic and ecological foundations for Germany’s Die Grünen (Green) party ῌ a party of which Beuys was a founding member. For Beuys, modern industrial society’s transformation depended not solely but essentially on the question of whether real changes could be made in agricultural production, our consumption patterns and, ultimately, in the way we eat. This “way” is portrayed by Beuys’ extended art of eating as an ethically or gastrosophically correct everyday cuisine. Keywords: “der erweiterte Kunstbegriff” (extended notion of art), philosophy of food, aesthetics, “eat art”, Joseph Beuys, environmental ethics Introduction Any attempt to discuss a philosophy of food ῌ or “gastrosophy” ῌ must start with the theoretical challenge of a relatively new discipline in Western philosophy, namely food ethics.
    [Show full text]
  • On Minimalism + Meditation
    On Minimalism + Meditation CIRCA GALLERY OCT 24TH, 2018 9:27 AM Lindsy Halleckson Silent Search - No. 26, 2015 CIRCA Gallery Contemporary minimalism as a style and practice is intertwined with meditation from start to finish. The artist often begins the creation of the piece by meditating, or falls into a meditative state while making the piece. On the other end of the process, the viewer can use the minimal nature of the artwork to guide their meditation, or after casually viewing the work may slip into an unintentional state of meditation. MINIMALIST PAINTING IS THE PLACE TO BEGIN MEDITATION THROUGH ART. CIRCA’s current exhibition depth of [color] field focuses on minimal, monochromatic, color field paintings that facilitate this kind of looking or mindful observation­­—looking into a piece, rather than at it. The very nature of minimal artwork allows the viewer to more easily move into a meditative state, where reality fades and all that remains is the observer and the painting. Without a specific visual subject or topic, the mind is much more open, unencumbered, and blank while viewing. The deep, saturated color of pieces like Brad Durham’s Without Shadows pull the viewer in and guide their eye deep into its textured layers. While other surfaces, like the subtle shifts and perspective-bending color transitions in Lindsy Halleckson’s Silent Search series, make a space for the eye to truly rest, almost as if out of focus. Brad Durham Without Shadows, 2017 CIRCA Gallery INTENTIONAL OBSERVATION IS ESSENTIAL. It’s no secret that the majority of the population dislikes minimalist art.
    [Show full text]
  • Minimalism Post-Modernism Is a Term That Refers to Events After the So
    Post-Modernism - Minimalism Post-Modernism is a term that refers to events after the so-called Modern period. The term suggests that we are now using what we learned in the “modern” period, but mixing it with ideas from the more distant past. A major movement within Post-Modernism is Minimalism Minimalism mixes some Eastern philosophical principles involving chant and meditation with simple tonal materials. Basic definition of Minimalism: sustained or repetitive use of simple (often tonal) materials. The movement began with LaMonte Young (b.1935); he used simple textures and consonant materials; often called trance music. Terry Riley (b.1935) is credited with first minimalist work In C (1964). The piece has repeated high C’s on piano maintaining simple pulse. Score has 53 short motives to be played by a group any size; players play all 53 figures, repeating as many times and as frequently as desired. Performance ends when all players are done with all 53 figures. Because figures change in content, there is subtle but constantly shifting texture all the time. Steve Reich (b. 1936) prefers to call his music “Structural” not minimal. His music is influenced by his study of African drumming. Some of his early works use phasing, where a tape loop is set up: the tape records first sounds made by performer; then plays them back while performer continues to play. More layers are added, and gradually live sounds get ahead of play-back. Effect can be hypnotic: trance-like. Violin Phase (1967) is example. In Mid-70’s Reich expanded his viewpoint and his ensemble: Music for 18 Musicians is a little like In C, but there is much more variation in patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • “Classical” Minimalism
    from Richard Taruskin, “Oxford History of Western Music Volume V: Music in the Late Twentieth Century; Chapter 8: A Harmonious Avant-Garde?”. Retrieved 4/29/2011 from oxfordwesternmusic.com. “CLASSICAL” MINIMALISM For many listeners, the most characteristic and style-defining aspect of In C is the constant audible eighth-note pulse that underlies and coordinates all of the looping, and that seems, because it provides a constant pedal of Cs, to be fundamentally bound up with the work's concept. Like much modernist practice since at least Stravinsky, it puts the rhythmic spotlight on the “subtactile” level, accommodating and facilitating the free metamorphosis of the felt beat —for example, from quarters to dotted quarters at the twenty-second module of In C—and allows their multiple presence to be felt as levels within a complex texture. It may be surprising, therefore, to learn that the constant C-pulse was an afterthought, adopted in rehearsal for what seemed at the time a purely utilitarian purpose (simply to keep the group together in lieu of a conductor), and that it was not even Riley's idea. It was Reich's. Steve Reich came from a background very different from Young's and Riley's. Where they had a rural, working-class upbringing on the West Coast, Reich was born into a wealthy, professional- class family in cosmopolitan New York. Like most children of his economic class, Reich had traditional piano lessons and plenty of exposure to what in later years he mildly derided as the “bourgeois classics.” He had an elite education culminating in a Cornell baccalaureate with a major in philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Influence of India on Colonial Tasmanian Architecture and Artefacts
    The influence of India on colonial Tasmanian architecture and artefacts Lionel Morrell Background India has a long history of connections with Australia. Long before Captain Cook set foot on southern shores, cloth from ‘the Indies’ had traded its way from Gujarat and Coromandel down through the Indonesian archipelago to be traded with Aborigines by Makassar seamen negotiating seasonal camps to collect trepang, fish and pearl. According to Sharrad in Convicts, Call Centres and Cochin Kangaroos 1 it was men like Mitchell and Lang, from the 1820s on, who retired to land grants in Van Diemen’s Land and later other parts of Australia, who brought with them the verandahs of the Raj that became part of Australian architecture, and familiarity with India. As early as 1824, an attempt was made to found an institution for the sons of Anglo- Indians and British men in Van Diemen’s Land. Following the Indian mutiny of 1857, there was a rise in the numbers of Anglo-Indians settling in Australia, There were 372 Indian-born registered in 1881 2. Among them was Dr John Coverdale, born in 1814 in Kedgeree, Bengal, who was a medical practitioner at Richmond for many years. The term ‘Anglo-Indian’ was first used by Warren Hastings in the eighteenth century to describe both the British in India and their Indian-born children. 3 The first Anglo-Indian to settle in Tasmania was Rowland Walpole Loane in 1809, followed by many others, including Edward Dumaresq, a retired Indian Army officer who bought Mt Ireh in 1855 and lived there until his death in 1906 at the age of 104; Charles Swanston, who first came to VDL in 1828 on leave because of ill-health from his position as military paymaster in the provinces of Tranvancore and Tinnevelly in India and eventually settled here permanently in 1831 and Michael Fenton, who joined the 13 th Light Infantry in 1807 and served in India and Burma until 1828 when he sold his commission and emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land.
    [Show full text]