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The Role of the Artist and the Influences of Patronage in Site-Specific Art

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The Role of the Artist and the Influences of Patronage in Site-Specific Art The Role of the Artist and the Influences of Patronage in Site-Specific Art J. A. Reveler A thesis submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2009 The University of Brighton in collaboration with the University for the Creative Arts Contents Page Preface 1 Acknowledgements 8 Author’s Declaration 9 Part One: Research Methodology 10 Research into the Development of Site-specific Art since the Late 1960’s 11 Methods used to Initiate, Conduct and Document the BT/Cellnet, Farnham Library Garden and “Picnic/Taking A Walk” projects. 17 Comparative Research Methodologies 23 ------------------------------- Introduction to Part Two: The BT/Cellnet Project 39 The Formal/Object-based BT/Cellnet Project: Reflecting on Site-Specificity Through Practice 42 Conclusions 53 -------------------------------- Part Three: Introduction - The Historical Context 58 Chapter One: Formal/Object-based Site-Specific Art 63 Fulcrum (1987) Broadgate London, Sculptor: Richard Serra 63 Formal Description 63 Site-Specificity 65 Patronage 73 Conclusions 81 i Chapter Two: A Community-Based Approach to Site-Specific Art 87 Defining the Term ‘Community’ 89 Observations on the History of Community-Based Art in the UK 93 Site-Specific Community-Based Art Projects: Two Case Studies 100 Colour in the Community (1997) In collaboration with the Long Tower Trust, Derry, Northern Ireland. Artist- Maoliosa Boyle. 100 Jeremy Deller’s “Battle of Orgreave” (2002) Film Directed by Mike Figgis in Collaboration with Artangel Media and Channel 4. 103 Conclusions 107 Chapter Three: A Performative Approach to Site-Specific Art 121 Performance Art: A Brief Historical Perspective 123 A Performative Approach to Site-Specific Art: Two Case Studies 128 Mark Dion’s “Tate Thames Dig” (1999) Millbank, Bankside, and at the Tate Gallery in London 128 Rikrit Tiravanija, “Demo Station no.4” (Nov. 18th ‘04 until Jan 25th ’04) at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. 133 Conclusions 138 ------------------------ Part Four: The Community-based Farnham Library Garden & the Performative “Picnic” Projects: Reflecting on Site-Specificity Through Practice 147 Introduction 147 ii The Farnham Library Garden Project 148 Conclusions 160 The “Picnic” Project 165 Conclusions 173 ----------------------------- Analysis of Research Outcomes 177 The Influence of Patronage 177 Methodology 187 Role of the Artist 192 Role of the Audience 198 Future Developments 200 ------------------------------ Bibliography 202 Appendices: Appendix 1: The BT Cellnet Project 211 Appendix 2: The Farnham Library Garden Project 216 Appendix 3: The “Picnic” Project 225 ------------------------------- Accompanying Material: Attached CD (inside back cover) CD: Documentation Relating to the BT/Cellnet, Farnham Library Garden & “Picnic” Projects (A) Introduction to the BT/Cellnet, Farnham Library Garden & “Picnic” Projects: ------------------------------ iii (B) BT/Cellnet Project ------------------------------ (C) Farnham Library Garden Project ------------------------------- (D) “Picnic” Project (Later renamed “Taking A Walk”). ------------------------------ (E) Index of Names ------------------------------ (F) 2003 Farnham Library Garden Brochure ------------------------------ (G) 2004 Farnham Library Garden Brochure ------------------------------ (H) 2005 Farnham Library Garden Brochure ------------------------------ iv Abstract This practice-based research examines the developments in site-specific art since the 1960’s. Its purpose is to critically explore the influence of patronage and the role of the artist on practices within this field and it has been achieved by adopting a binary strategy, which combines “research into art” with “research through art.” (Frayling 1993:5). This has involved the construction of an individually tailored methodological framework consisting of a textual examination of historical case-studies conducted in conjunction with the organisation and running of practical projects (the BT/Cellnet project, the Farnham Library Garden and “Picnic” projects). Devised both as site- specific art ventures and as case-studies, these projects broadly encompass three distinctive historical modes of site-specific art - Formal /Object-based, Community-based and Performative – which have successively emerged to predominance over the past fifty years or thereabouts. The aim was to produce empirical comparisons in order to reflexively investigate the ways in which patronage, coupled with the role played by the artist, has impacted on the form and content of site-specific art. While there are numerous observations made in this document, this research suggests that although the three modes of site-specific art investigated appear separate and distinct, it can be argued that when the influence of patronage in conjunction with the role of the artist is taken into account, all three modes become entwined. That is to say, in all of the case-studies examined in this research it has been shown that their form and content can only be fully expressed by realising they contain elements of all three of these modes of site-specificity. It can also be said that this research has demonstrated how complicated the relationship is between the artist and their patron at least within the domain of site-specific or public art practice. This indicates that the pattern and scale of the influence of patronage is as varied and as individual as are the case-studies investigated. In addition, it has demonstrated how the role of the artist has evolved from the autonomous object-maker of the Modernist era into a person who must increasingly acquire the necessary skills involved in negotiating the complexities of siting art work/projects outside the ‘art world’s’ normal institutional parameters. The Role of the Artist and the Influences of Patronage in Site-Specific Art Preface This document - the written part of the thesis - has four main components. Part one establishes the methodological approach by describing how each component of the research was developed. It continues by explaining, through making comparisons with the methods used in one of the most closely related and validated practice-based thesis, why they were employed. This was achieved by reviewing Eleni Mouzakiti’s thesis entitled: “A Plurality of Isolations”: Photography in the Subway, which was completed at the University of Derby in 2003. Further to this, in order to establish the originality of the methodological approach, it is argued that the methodologies employed have to be individually configured to suit the subject explored. Part two amounts to a reflexive report on the BT/Cellnet project which was based in practice. It should be regarded as the ‘genesis’ project on which the key issues and methodologies of this research were formulated. Part three establishes the historical context on which the research is then further developed. It is divided into three chapters, each dealing with one of three distinct modes of site-specific art developed since the late 1960’s. These are Formal/Object- based, Community-based and Performative. Each mode is explored through examining five carefully selected case studies. They are, Richard Serra’s Fulcrum, Maoliosa Boyle’s Colour in the Community, Jeremy Deller’s “Battle of Orgreave”, Mark Dion’s “Thames Tate Dig” and Rikrit Tiravanija’s “Demo Station no.4”. The text charts the role of these artists, and explores how patronage influences the form and content of their work. Part 1 four is a reflexive report on two further projects based in practice, which were undertaken as an integral element of the research. They are the Farnham Library Garden and the “Picnic” projects. They were designed in conjunction with the BT/Cellnet project to obtain empirical and comparative knowledge of the developments in site-specific art, investigated in part three. This research has been configured in order to answer two main questions: - In what particular ways has patronage influenced the form and content of site-specific art and how has the role of the artist evolved within this context? It is posited that, although the three modes of site-specific art investigated appear separate and distinct, when the influence of patronage, and the role of the artist, is taken into account, all three modes become entwined. That is to say, in all of the case studies examined in the research it is argued that their form and content can only be fully expressed by realising that they contain elements of all three of these modes of site- specificity. As Zolberg points out: …a work of art is a moment in a process involving the collaboration of more than one actor, working through certain social institutions, and following historically observable trends… like other social phenomena, art cannot be fully understood [or] divorced from its social context, and because whatever else it is, an artwork has monetary value,… derived, not solely from aesthetic qualities intrinsic to the work, but from external conditions as well. (1990: 9) Site-specific art emerged in the late 1960’s and since then has been a constantly evolving and therefore very fluid concept. There are numerous authors who have written 2 about the subject, for example, Lucy L. Lippard (1995), Suzanne Lacy (1995), Malcolm Miles (1989 & 1997), Michael Archer (1997), Douglas Crimp (1986) and Richard Serra (1994). However, no one has addressed the subject more comprehensively than Miwon Kwon in her book One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Local
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