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Ciel variable Art, photo, médias, culture
Tangible and Intangible Lines Henry Lehmann
Cartographie Article abstract Mapping Henry Lehmann aborde la production conceptuelle de Bill Vazan en Number 76, June 2007 considérant Worldline comme une oeuvre incontournable. Évoquant les pierres taillées de l’artiste, l’auteur définit la ligne comme étant un élément URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/20724ac central de son travail. Tracée, brûlée ou sculptée, la ligne parcourt et unit tant les oeuvres conceptuelles de Vazan que les objets d’art qu’il construit. See table of contents Lehmann y voit des références à l’information, à une ligne de pensée, à un geste artistique, au temps, à une forme de décoration, à un outil scientifique, à une tradition artisanale et même à un symbole platonique.
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ISSN 1711-7682 (print) 1923-8932 (digital)
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Cite this article Lehmann, H. (2007). Tangible and Intangible Lines. Ciel variable, (76), 20–23.
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This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE LINES HENRY LEHMANN
hetitl ewa s as brief and streamlined asth epiec e - thansequence so fPlatoni cdot san da nalmos taestheti c itself, called simply Worldline. With this flourish of pencil markings and elements of collage unearthly 1971 project, based on the ultimate from the other art spaces around the world partici invisibility of pure line and on its infinite con pating in the overall project. ceptual reach, Montreal artist Bill Vazan truly But Vazan's best-known "medium," his all- Tlaunched his career. Of course, most of this line, time trademark, are small boulders, the artist's tangibly linked up at assorted art spaces around the preferred "objets-trouvés", theoretical geometric world, had to be imagined, but sod o other lines,suc h points so swollen and overgrown that they go from asth e equator and longitudinal grids. the infinitely tiny to ponderous, time-stopping Certainly, Worldline, with its economics of physical presence. The whole Worldline notion can Henry Lehmann teaches art at means to put all of NASA to shame, sets out in no easily be physically contained in apil l casing; for the Vanier College in Montreal and writes unclear terms the thrust of Vazan's entire career. It rock pieces, a large dump truck might be necessary, weekly art reviews for The Montreal wasjus t amatte r of time before the notion of line and as it was for Mayor Drapeau's demolition of Gazette. the points from which it is theoretically constructed Vazan's 1976 Corridart work. would begin,i nVazan' s hands,t o metamorphose, and Assembled in rows, Vazan's rocks suggest Known internationally for his Land to assume metaphorical dimensions. lines and line theory, while they also refer even Art works, Bill Vazan (Toronto, Vazan's essential approach, like that of count more strongly to massive fortifications, not only of 1933) has played an important role less cutting-edge artists in the late 1960s and 1970s, the military sort but, above all, of areligiou s nature. in the Canadian art world. His played on dramatic counterpointing or dovetailing Indeed, on at least one level, Vazan's work is about works have been exhibited through ofth etangibl ean dintangible .Wha tcam et o distinguish religion, in the larger sense of sacred synchronicity out North America and abroad. In Vazan from other land art practitioners was the with the highest cosmic forces. Perhaps it is in this 2001, the Musée national de beaux- intensity of hi s obsessio nan d theunceasin g persistence celestial clock, both logical and mythical, that rea arts du Québec mounted an impor with which he revisited and revised his conceptual son and eternity intersect. tant exhibition titled Bill Vazan. geography (activities that he pursues to the present Indeed, Vazan came to know precisely how to Ombres cosmologiques. This exhibi day). However, he never subjects it to division; situate imagined eternity - something by definition tion was also presented at the instead, he multiplies and expands it to attain unknowable - in a contrasting three-part framework Kelowna Art Gallery in British cosmic proportions, in which even our planet seems ofa typ eo ftim etha t is conceivabl e - beginning,middle , Columbia (2002), the Canadian a tad shrunken and small. and end, or prologue, action, and conclusion. Many Museum of Contemporary Photo If one of Vazan's preoccupations has been of Vazan's land-works physically include written graphy of Ottawa (2003), the Nickel with invisibility and logical certainty - we trust that records of their earlierplannin g stages,wit h build-ups Arts Museum of Calgary University his world line is precisely that - another focus has of smudgy numbers, letters, and graph lines; the in Alberta (2004), the Centre d'ex been on physical reality that is not altogether a sketching out of concepts and the so-called finished position de l'Université de Montréal function of belief, knowledge, or pure theoretical art are intentionally spliced together. In conceptual (2004) and the Musée régional de la geometry and cartography. For all its majestic vast- art in general, all items somehow attached to the Côte-Nord (2005). ness, Worldline consisted in fact of no more - or less planning, making, dissemination, and, possibly, dismantling of a given work of art are theoretically drilled lines, cruelly "burned" into the stone, The works presented here were exhibited encompassed within it. Ultimately, an art form announce the very real role of time in the making of at the centre vox (Montréal) from May becomes "everything" in a conceptualist worldview his work. Obviously etched with a power drill, the 5th to June 23rd 2007. alert to all types of ecology and relatedness. lines pit modern, fast-forward mechanical time with Like some other conceptual artists of his the seeming endless time that it took for the rock to generation - Hans Haacke and Michael Heizer - be made. Such temporal contrasts and frictions Vazan dramatized the notion of inter-connectedness, abound in Vazan's personal psychic "quarry." and of open systems and open forms not delineated by Certainly, for all the visual and conceptual aclea r outer edge.Vazan' s art, however, is characterized economics of a typical Vazan piece, it becomes clear by a sense of here-ness, as opposed to there-ness; to anyone scanning the artist's long career that lines Worldline is spellbinding even if we can't imagine its have as many shades of meaning as the whole colour extension around the globe. As well, Vazan gives us scale. Line functions as information, as guiding the sense that "invisible" elements, such as pure thread, as visual expressionist gesture, as time, as space, are in fact arranged according to a preor decoration, as scientific tool, as a link to craft tradi dained order, a possibly secret language demanding tions, and as Platonic symbol. to be cracked wide open. This magical mixture of themes and psycho Certainly, it is in the give-and-take between logical sequencing does not deconstruct into its physical and conceptual notions that we arguably simple ingredients because the final resonance of any discern an individual style in work such as Vazan's. given Vazan piece includes a sense of the artist's On the other hand, the inferred - or perceived - presence presence, if only as the shadow that we see in some of of a higher order, logical or other, tends to de- his photographs. He, too, is an object, just as the inert individualize conceptual art, land art, and other forms stones or shallow edges of sand are in his celebrated pages 18-19 Bus Ride UI39 (Boulevard Pie IX, of art. Ironically, that leaves us with the artist's actual footprints in the beach. Of course, also separating Montréal), April 22 1970 name,a last vestige of the "artist's touch" and certificate Vazan out as original is his apparent need to cause contact sheets that the work is, indeed, original, one of a kind. things, people included, to materialize - to have a 51 x 61 cm courtesy of centre VOX, Montreal Achieving perfect balance between idea and sense of identity, one that continues to grow. This is in form - information to be read and mass to be felt, as in contrast with the "dematerialization" obsession of pages 20-25 the inherently attractive, textured surfaces on the many conceptual artists. As well, it is opposed to, Vbnge Street Walk, Toronto. 1969 163 ektachromes stone - is,o f course,Vazan' s first aim.Tha t this balancing and in conjunction with, that lowest common courtesy of centre vox, Montreal act might lead through a time warp into a transcendent denominator of all forms, the single point, so utterly conceptual, yet so crucial to the whole psycho- 401 Coming and Going, 2006 - 2007 felt realm of immensity and sacredness is, no doubt, (details) the next step.Th e third is,arguably , getting the viewer conceptual act of seeing shape. digital images to "grab hold" of any number of usually available courtesy of centre vox, Montreal linesi n agive nVaza n piece and to metaphorically follow Résumé Page 22 it into an imagined labyrinth of prehistory and an age Montreal Walks (artist notes), n.d. courtesy of centre vox. Montréal blessed by strict faith in the "basics" such as time, Henry Lehmann aborde la production conceptuelle de Bill interval, space, sun, stone, and fire. For example, Vazan en considérant Worldline comme une œuvre incon Page 23 where do the wriggly intaglio lines in some of the tournable. Évoquant les pierres taillées de l'artiste, l'auteur Bus Ride #139 (Boulevard Pie IX, Montréal), April 22 1970 boulders lead? Back to human beginnings or forward définit la ligne comme étant un élément central de son contact sheets toward a heightened sense of the artist's personal, travail. Tracée, brûlée ou sculptée, la ligne parcourt et unit 51x61 cm moment-to-moment involvement in his work? tant les œuvres conceptuelles de Vazan que les objets courtesy of centre vox. Montreal
In a way, the organic-looking, curved mark d'art qu'il construit. Lehmann y voit des références à l'infor Page 25 ings reiterate both the role of nature in Vazan's mation, à une ligne de pensée, à un geste artistique, au Intercommunication Lines. 1 968/ 2002 Ink and geographical map work and the artist's equally strong allegiance to temps, à une forme de décoration, à un outil scientifique, à 82 x 1 13 cm culture - and the man-made. Furthermore, the une tradition artisanale et même à un symbole platonique. courtesy of centre vox. Montreal
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