The Artist Character : a Study of the Visual Artist in Popular Fiction

Master of Art Theory University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts THE CHARACTER: A STUDY OF THE VISUAL ARTIST IN POPULAR FICTION , --- . .. ,- By Gabriella Holok 2003© ORIGl'.'iAI.ITY ST ATDIE!\T · 1 hereby declare that 1h1s subm1ss1on 1s my own work and to the best of my knowledge 11 contains no malenals previously published or wnllcn by another person. or subs1an11al proportions of malcnal which have been ac.epted for the award of any other degree or diploma al UNSW or any other educatwnal mslltullon. except where due acknowledgement 1s made 1n the 1hes" Any contnbu11on made to the research by others. w11h whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere. is exphc11ly acknowledged m the thesis. I also declare that the mlelkctual conlenl of this thesis is the product of my own work. except 10 the extent that assistance from others m the project's design and concepllun or m style, presentat,on and linguistic expression 1s Abstract This is a study of the artist as a character in popular literature, film and television. I have outlined three models of depiction in the evolution of the fictional artist character: the maudlin artist of early popular literature, the clownish and suspicious artist of the screen and the ironically distanced artist of late twentieth century film and television. In the course of this study I argue that all configurations of the artist in these examples of popular fiction are constructs (positively or negatively) informed by standard patterns of representation. I term this construction the fictional generic artist. I locate this study in notions of the artist in the media, a relatively recent and largely unexplored field of inquiry, in addition to the expansive art historical and theoretical discourse on the myth of the artist, an oft chartered territory that art history has largely left barren in the wake of unprecedented demystification in the 1960s. In the first part of this study I question the level of influence the art historical positioning of the artist as a mythical creature has had on the fictional construct. It was found to have a profound effect on the artist, fictitious or otherwise, resulting in a slippage between what is perceived as real and fictional and therefore situating the generic artist as a character able to traverse the restrictive bounds of fiction. The second part of this study argues that the fictional representation of the artist on screen encompasses the majority of the dichotomous generic patterns outlined in popular literary fiction, yet are presented in a negative form. In the third part of this study of the artist as character in popular fiction, suggest the beginnings of a counter generic artist from the construct that I have outlined in the first and second parts of this inquiry. This tentative counter generic artist seeks to highlight its fictional nature and thus discredits notions of truth in the artist of popular fiction. JlclnowCetfoements Firstly I must express my thanks to the University of New South Wales for providing me with the research scholarship that supported me financially over the entire period of this project. I would like to thank Graham Forsyth for his supervision over these long years, his constructive criticism and input towards the thesis was invaluable in shaping the final product. I would also like to extend my thanks to the School of Art History and Theory academic staff and postgraduates who had participated in the work-in-progress seminars when I presented papers. Their important insights allowed me to re-evaluate and define my focus. However, my greatest thanks go to my family and friends for their patience and support throuehout this time. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ...................................................................i PART ONE ARTIST FICTIONS: The Generic Artist ............................................................... 1 The Absolute Artist ................................................................... 2 The Murgerian Bohemian ............................................................. 12 Generic Patterns in the Artist of Popular Literature ........................... 20 PART TWO THE GENERIC ARTIST: Beyond the Page ............................................................... 54 The Artist's Identity and the Problematic Artwork .............................. 58 The C'lolvn Artist ..................................................................... 64 The Object of Suspicion ............................................................. 80 The Artist is Dead! The Suspicious Victim in the British Murder- M_vste1:v ............................................................................... 91 Cm:v Grant and the Ironic Artist .................................................... 96 PART THREE THE GENERIC ARTIST CHALLENGED .............................................. 101 The Animated Artist ................................................................ 105 Myth ofAdolescence ............................................................... 112 The MTV Artist and the Rock/Pop Star .......................................... 114 Pecker, the Anti-Artist ............................................................. 127 Relishing Television and the Costumed Commercial Artist ................... 134 CONCLUSION .................................................................... 144 NOTES .............................................................................. 148 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................ 157 Written Documentation ............................................................ 157 Filmography ........................................................................ 163 Television References .............................................................. 165 THE CHARACTER: INTRODUCTION A crowd has gathered. Men. women and children hush on entrance to the circle that has formed around the artwork. Their indifferent mouths curl into smiles as the frenzied activi~v on the screen is reflected in their eyes. I see. I know. I enjoy. The screen goes h/ank. A barely audible unanimous sigh passes through their lips. The group s/ow(v scatters. But wait! The white letters A - R -T - I - S - T emerge out of the blackness of the screen, signaling a repeat performance. Those who lingered resume their viewing position once again, while newcomers by-pass the static photographs, paintings and sculptures that fill the remaining gallery space to join them. I see. I know. I enjoy ... 1 It was this reaction I used to describe the Art Gallery of New South Wales visitors when Tracey Moffatt's 'Artist' ( 1999) was exhibited at the 2000 Biennale of Sydney, the same year I began my study of the visual artist as a character in popular fiction through an honours dissertation entitled THE JUVENILIZED ARTIST: Image and Imagination in the Rebel with a Cause. The short film, solely constructed out of carefully edited film (and some television) extracts, seemingly showcased the entire array of attitudes towards fictitious and real-life artists in mainstream cinematic history, culminating in a rapturous symphony of art destruction. Whether Moffatt's motives were to distance herself: as a post-modernist artist, from these popular depictions (which would account for the artwork being commissioned rather than personally edited by the experienced filmmaker/artist) or she envisaged it as merely a farcical rendering of the portrait of the artist in popular visual culture, Motfatt's motives are not my immediate concern. My inten.:st in the video artwork is located in the keen interest expressed by the art gallery visitors and how their pull towards the images before them made ARTIST one of the most popular pieces of art in the exhibition. The success of ARTIST is interesting simply II because of the attraction (I see), comfort (I know) and appeal (I enjoy) towards an image(s), despite the stereotypical nature of the artists in the short film, has the potential to lure the public away from the productions of genuine exhibiting artists. Rather than being occluded by the false reality played out on screen, the juxtaposition of image after image of increasing irrationality on the part of the artist, functioned to reiterate the artificiality of the representations to the audience, but made them compelling all the same. In an untitled interactive installation at the Galerie Hohenthal und Bergen in Cologne, 1994, Martin Beck similarly presented four separate videos on artists and their works that had previously been broadcast on Austrian television (two documentaries on living artists, a dramatization, and a feature film on Angelica Kauffmann and Egon Schiele). On the tables in front of the four monitors that played each video in full, Beck included a text in which he discussed the representation of art and artists in film and television. In this text he posed questions to the gallery visitors such as "How is what makes an artwork artistic communicated in an artwork - just as being an artist is communicated by a person?" and "What do artists make when they are not making art'?"~ In different ways both Beck and Moffatt's artworks addressed themselves to the social context of art and artists through the popular representations of artists. However, I am writing from the position of the non-artist and not necessarily writing with practising artists as a potential target audience. My primary concerns are therefore not focused upon the reasons why Tracey Moffatt and Martin Beck would experience the necessity

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