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Breaking the Box: the Alternative, Libertarian Exhibition Spaces Created by Rothko & Judd

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Breaking the Box: the Alternative, Libertarian Exhibition Spaces Created by Rothko & Judd Breaking the Box: The Alternative, Libertarian Exhibition Spaces Created by Rothko & Judd by Stephanie Anne Webb B.F.A., B.A. University of Victoria, 2001 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History in Art © Stephanie Anne Webb, 2008 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE Breaking the Box: The Alternative, Libertarian Exhibition Spaces Created by Rothko & Judd by Stephanie Anne Webb B.F.A., B.A. University of Victoria, 2001 Supervisory Committee: Dr. Allan Antliff, (Department of History in Art) Supervisor Dr. Christopher Thomas, (Department of History in Art) Departmental Member Dr. Astri Wright, (Department of History in Art) Departmental Member Dr. Dániel Biró, (Department of Music) External Examiner iii Dr. Allan Antliff, Supervisor (Department of History in Art) Dr. Christopher Thomas, Departmental Member (Department of History in Art) Dr. Astri Wright, Departmental Member (Department of History in Art) Dr. Dániel Biró, External Examiner (Department of Music) ABSTRACT An exhibition space is neither neutral nor universal and meaning is continually constructed within these mediated spaces. My thesis is an examination of two instances where artists have broken outside the box and carefully crafted unique exhibition spaces within which an intentional dialogue between art works and viewer, art works and space, content and context is established. It considers two twentieth century artists from the United States of America, Mark Rothko and Donald Judd, both of whom rethought and ultimately rejected the mediating constraints prevalent in the conventional exhibition spaces of their time. Seeking to install their work on a permanent basis outside these pre- existing, traditional spaces, the alternatives they created -- the Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas and The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, respectively -- are predicated, I argue, upon their anarchism and thus the anarchist paradigms of individual autonomy, liberty and non-coercion. In light of their politics, I assess how the core tenet of sovereignty not only had implications for Rothko and Judd -- for it fuelled the drive to create these alternative sites -- but that there are also implications for the viewer. More specifically, after an analysis of the sites I reflect upon the consequences for the spectator in terms of the following: the co-relation between anti-authoritarian ‘open’ social systems and the ‘open’ art experience; the value of directly experiencing anti-representational work; inter- subjectivity and the multiplicity of meanings; and last, the temporal nature of the embodied viewing experience. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Supervisory Committee ii Abstract iii Table of Contents iv List of Illustrations v Acknowledgments viii Dedication ix Introduction 1 Chapter One: Mark Rothko & the Rothko Chapel Commission Mark Rothko 15 The Rothko Chapel Commission 29 Chapter Two: Donald Judd & The Chinati Foundation Donald Judd 48 The Chinati Foundation 59 Chapter Three: Five Inter-Related Themes The Pursuit of Individual Autonomy 79 Anti-Authoritarian ‘Open’ Social Systems & the ‘Open’ Art Experience 84 Direct Experience of Anti-Representational Art 88 Inter-Subjectivity & Multiplicity of Meaning 92 The Temporal Nature of the Embodied Viewing Experience 99 Conclusion 112 Figures 125 Bibliography 150 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig 1: Phillip Johnson, Howard Barnstone & Eugene Aubry, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas, (1984-1971). Front façade. (Photo: Rothko Chapel). Fig 2: Phillip Johnson, Howard Barnstone & Eugene Aubry, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas, (1984-1971). Front façade. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 3: Mark Rothko, Untitled , south-east angle wall . Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343cm, 1966; Untitled , south wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 457 x 267cm, 1965; Untitled , south-west angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit- skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966, Rothko Chapel. (Photo: Rothko Chapel Org.). Fig 4: Mark Rothko, Untitled , west wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, triptych, 365 x 183 / 365 x 259 / 365 x 183 cm, 1966- 1967; Untitled , north-west angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966; Untitled, north wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, triptych, 457 x 244 / 457 x 267 / 457 x 244 cm, 1965; Untitled , north-east angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966, Rothko Chapel. (Photo: Rothko Chapel Org.). Fig 5: Mark Rothko, Untitled , north-west angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966; Untitled , north wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, triptych, 457 x 244 / 457 x 267 / 457 x 244 cm, 1965; Untitled , north-east angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966, Rothko Chapel. (Photo: Rothko Chapel Org.). Fig 6: Mark Rothko, Untitled , north wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, triptych, 457 x 244 / 457 x 267 / 457 x 244 cm, 1965; Untitled , north-east angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 344 cm, 1966; Untitled , east wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, triptych, 343 x 183 / 343 x 259 / 343 x 182 cm, 1966-1967; Untitled , south-east angle wall. Dry pigments, polymer, rabbit-skin glue and egg/oil emulsion on canvas, 451 x 343 cm, 1966, Rothko Chapel. (Photo: Rothko Chapel Org.). Fig 7: The road to Marfa, TX. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 8: The road to Marfa, TX. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). vi Fig 9: Artillery Sheds 2 & 1, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. View from the south-east. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 10: Artillery Shed 1, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Exterior front and side elevation, view from the north-west. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 11: Artillery Shed 2, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Exterior front elevation, view from the north. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 12: Artillery Shed 1, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Exterior side elevation, view from the north-west. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 13: Donald Judd, Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, installation shot. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 14: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, each box 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982- 1986, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, installation shot. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 15: Donald Judd, Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, detail of a grouping. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 16: Donald Judd, Untitled. Concrete, 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, detail. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 17: Donald Judd, Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, detail of a grouping. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 18: Donald Judd, Untitled. Concrete, 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, detail. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 19: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, each box 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982- 1986, Artillery Shed 1, vestibule, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, installation shot. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 20: Donald Judd, Untitled. Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-1986, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 21: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-1986, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 22: Donald Judd, Artillery Shed 1 window; Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). vii Fig 23: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-1986, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa; Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 24: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-1986, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa; Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-1984, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, installation shot with spectators. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 25: Artillery Shed 2, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Exterior side elevation, vestibule, view from the south-east. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 26: Artillery Shed 1, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Interior. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 27: Artillery Shed 2, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Interior. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 28: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-86, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 29: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-86, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). Fig 30: Donald Judd, Untitled . Mill aluminium, 104 x 130 x 183 cm, 1982-86, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa; Untitled. Concrete, dimensions variable, each unit 2.5 m x 2.5m x 5m, 1980-84, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, installation shot with spectators. (Photo: Stephanie Webb). viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks, first and foremost, to my supervisor Dr. Allan Antliff for his guidance, enthusiasm, wit and patience -- it is much appreciated -- to my committee members within the Department -- Drs. Astri Wright and Christopher Thomas -- for their insightful comments and careful editing and to Dr. Dániel Biró, whose keen interest in the music commissioned for the Rothko Chapel sparked interesting parallels with my topic.
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