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Parafictional Artists. from the Critique of Authorship to the Curatorial Turn

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Parafictional Artists. from the Critique of Authorship to the Curatorial Turn Parafictional Artists. From the Critique of Authorship to the Curatorial Turn Emma Brasó A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Royal College of Art for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. July 2017 Copyright statement This text represents the submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal College of Art. This copy has been supplied for the purpose of research for private study, on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. 2 Abstract This thesis examines the intersection of authorship and fiction in artistic practices from the 1980s until the present. Based on a series of examples of imaginary or partially fictional artists who are, nevertheless, able to function as authors in the contemporary art world, the thesis proposes the term “parafictional artists.” The concept of the parafictional, coined by the art historian Carrie Lambert-Beatty, is here revised to emphasize the capacity of these artists to interact with the art world in a plausible manner despite the disclosure of their imaginary nature. Such interactions include exhibiting and selling works, giving interviews, publishing books, or performing under their own name. Rather than focusing on why numerous artists from a broad geographic background have decided to employ fictional authorial strategies, this thesis explores a different set of questions: How does the extended practice of developing and exhibiting parafictional artists reflect as well as modify the ways in which contemporary authorship functions in todays’ highly institutionalized, mostly global, art world? And, what are the consequences of the introduction of these fictional explorations into artistic identity for the interpretation, presentation, and encounter with artworks? In order to answer the above questions, the thesis is divided in two parts. Part I utilises an art historical framework to propose interpretative models to analyse parafictional artists. Starting from the critique of authorship and its articulation by new art history in the 1980s, the thesis applies revised ideas on the importance of biography and intentionality to a number of selected case studies, including Reena Spaulings, Barbara Cleveland, Robbie Williams, The Atlas Group, and the three Janez Janšas, amongst others. Part II brings these debates up to date and questions the working logic of the critique of authorship from the 1990s onwards. This second part draws a parallel between the emergence of parafictional strategies and of curating as a professional activity and discourse, as a consequence of changes in the organization of the art world. The thesis concludes by examining a series of exhibitions and argues for a curatorial understanding of parafictional artists that, beyond critique, contributes to the production of knowledge through fiction. 3 Contents Introduction 12 Overview 12 The Atlas Group 14 Fiction as a contemporary art methodology 21 My name is Legion: for we are many 32 No-Tag. Anonymity, Pseudonymity and Alter Egos 36 Thesis structure 40 PART I Chapter 1. The artist in new art history 45 The critique of authorship 45 The “life and work” paradigm: rethinking the modern biographical method 49 An identity for the artist 55 The expressive interpretation: reorienting intentionalism 60 Interiority versus exteriority 63 Beyond the academy 67 Chapter 2. Modes of the biographical 70 Parafictional artists and biography 70 Authenticity in and beyond the artist’s body 71 Reena Spaulings 73 Barbara Cleveland 79 Donelle Woolford 85 Erica Scourti 93 Copyright or the economic conditions of authorship 99 Juan Trepadori 101 Monty Cantsin 105 Luther Blissett 107 Robbie Williams 111 4 Chapter 3. Agents without intention 118 Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša 118 A philosophical enquiry 127 You are Janez Janša, too 133 Over-identifying with “that” Janez 137 Exhibiting documents, performing Trust 145 The intention of interpretation 153 PART II Chapter 4. Fiction(s) in/of the contemporary art world 155 A networked structure 155 The curator’s authorship 160 No “free” space 167 A fiction of inclusion 171 Ethics of deception 174 Chapter 5. Curatorial understandings of fiction and authorship 183 The curatorial turn 183 Option A. Invite artists to experiment with identity 189 Option B. Choose authorial fictionality as the theme of the exhibition 196 Option C. Explore anew the intersection of fiction and authorship 204 Conclusions 216 Fiction and critique 216 Authorship and the curatorial 218 Bibliography 223 5 List of illustrations Figure 0.1. Dr. Fald Fakhouri, Already Been in a Lake of Fire_Notebook Volume 38, digital colour prints, 1999, The Atlas Group Archive. Installed at the exhibition Trust in Fiction, CRAC Alsace, Altkirch, 2016. Photograph by the author. 15 Figure 0.2. Souheil Bachar, frame from the single channel video Hostage: The Bachar Tapes (English version), 2001, The Atlas Group Archive. 15 Figure 0.3. Anonymous, frame from the single channel video I only wish that I could weep, 2002, The Atlas Group Archive. 16 Figure 0.4. Installation views of No Tag. Anonymity, Pseudonymity and Alter-Egos, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, 2009. 37 Figure 2.1. Reena Spaulings, The New Dealers, oil on canvas, 2013. 74 Figure 2.2. Reena Spaulings, The Belgian Marbles, marble, 2012. 74 Figure 2.3. Reena Spaulings, Enigma (Flag), aluminium flag pole, tablecloth from Christopher Wool’s opening at Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, 2008. 74 Figure 2.4. Brown Council, frame from the video This is Barbara Cleveland, 2013. Courtesy of the artists. 81 Figure 2.5. Brown Council, frame from the video This is Barbara Cleveland, 2013. Courtesy of the artists. 81 Figure 2.6. Remembering Barbara Cleveland, 2011, exhibition view. The image shows a moment from the video with the same title. Courtesy of the artists. 83 Figure 2.7. Brown Council, frame from the video Remembering Barbara Cleveland, 2011. 83 Figure 2.8. Brown Council, frame from the video This is Barbara Cleveland, 2013. Courtesy of the artists. 84 Figure 2.9. Brown Council, frame from the video This is Barbara Cleveland, 2013. 84 Figure 2.10. Donelle Woolford, Still Life with Chair Canning, scrap wood, enamel paint, acrylic resin, chair canning, and graphite on canvas, 2010. 86 Figure 2.11. Abigail Ramsay as Donelle Woolford in Double Agent, ICA London, 2008, and studio view of Jennifer Kidwell as Donelle Woolford, Harlem, 2008. 86 Figure 2.12. Donelle Woolford, Dick’s Last Stand, performance, 2014. 88 Figure 2.13. Donelle Woolford, Joke Painting (detumescence), ink, paper glue, and gesso on linen, 2013. 88 6 Figures 2.14. and 2.15. Erica Scourti, The Outage, 2014. 96 Figures 2.16. Erica Scourti, The Outage, 2014. 97 Figure 2.17. Liliana Porter, untitled (with string and wrinkle), embossing wrinkled and cut paper, yarn, 1970. 102 Figure 2.18. Liliana Porter, untitled, 1970. 102 Figure 2.19. Juan Trepadori, both works untitled, n.d. 103 Figure 2.20. Juan Trepadori, untitled, etching on paper, n.d. 103 Figure 2.21. My CV borrowed from www.bioswap.net. 112 Figure 2.22. Robbie Williams, Solo Show, 2008, exhibition view at MAMbo, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, 2008. 114 Figure 2.23. Robbie Williams, Solo Show, 2014, exhibition view MAMbo, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, 2008. 114 Figure 2.24. Robbie Williams, Solo Show, 2014, exhibition views at MAMbo, 10th Shanghai Biennale, 2014. 116 Figure 3.1. Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Mount Triglav on Mount Triglav, photograph of performance, 2007. Courtesy Aksioma—Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana. 120 Figure 3.2. Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Signature Event Context, online view, 2008. 120 Figure 3.3. Frame from the film My Name is Janez Janša, directed by Janez Janša, 2012. 123 Figure 3.4. Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Troika, 3 SDS membership cards, 3 ID cards and 3 Mastercards, 2013. Installation view at Calvert 22, London. 123 Figure 3.5. Janša over the English Channel with his Friends on Tour, promotional poster, 2014. 126 Figure 3.6. Abdulbari Kutbi, Pirouette Robots, and Abigail Hunt and Kieren Reed, Liminal, 2015. Installation view at the Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury. Photograph by Kieren Reed. 129 Figure 3.7. Abigail Hunt and Kieren Reed, Liminal, plywood blocks, 2015. Photograph by Kieren Reed. 130 Figure 3.8. Rosana Antolí, Disobedient Silences, performance, 2015. Photograph by Kieren Reed. 131 Figure 3.9. Opening of the exhibition Agency without Intention at the Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury, 15 October, 2015. Photograph by Kieren Reed. 132 7 Figure 3.10. Frames from the film My Name is Janez Janša, directed by Janez Janša, 2012. 135 Figure 3.11. Presentation of the project Trust at Turner Contemporary, Margate, December 2014. Photograph Louisa Love. 147 Figure 3.12. Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša, “Certificate of Authenticity,” part of the project Trust, 2015. Courtesy: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana. 148 Figure 3.13. Window of Aksioma project space, Ljubljana, 2015. Photograph by the author. 150 Figure 3.14. Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša, “Greece, I ♥ Germany on VISA,” part of CREDITS series, 2013. Courtesy: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana. 150 Figure 4.1. Installation view of More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness, SITE Santa Fe, 2012. Works by Sharon Lockhart (front) and An-My Lê (back). 177 Figure 4.2. Installation view of More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness, SITE Santa Fe, 2012. Works by Thomas Demand (back) and The Yes Men (front). 177 Figure 4.3. Installation view of Lester Hayes Selected Work, 1962—1975, Triple Candie, New York, 2006/07. 179 Figure 4.4. Installation view of Lester Hayes Selected Work, 1962—1975, Triple Candie, New York, 2006/07. 179 Figure 4.5. Installation view of David Hammons: The Unauthorized Retrospective, Triple Candie, New York, 2006.
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