Ketchup and Blood: Documents, Institutions and Effects in the Performances of Paul McCarthy 1974-2013 Harriet Curtis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Drama Queen Mary, University of London November 2014 1 Abstract Since the 1970s, the work of Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy (b. 1945) has included live performance, video, sculpture, kinetic tableaux, and installation. Tracing the development of McCarthy’s work between 1974 and 2013, I undertake a critical discussion of the development of performance in relation to visual art practices. Using one artist’s work as a guide through a number of key discussions in the history of performance art, I argue that performance has influenced every aspect of McCarthy’s artistic practice, and continues to inform critical readings of his work. My thesis follows the trajectory of McCarthy’s performance practice as it has developed through different contexts. I begin with the early documentation and dissemination of performance in the Los Angeles-based magazine High Performance (1978-83), which established a context for the reception of performance art, and for McCarthy’s early work. I then examine specific examples of McCarthy’s practice in relation to his critical reception: live performances and videos from the 1970s are discussed alongside critical readings of his work influenced by psychoanalysis; and the wider public recognition of McCarthy’s object-based art in the 1980s and early 1990s. I then look more broadly at the recent trend of re-enacting historical performances in the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time project (2011- 12), as a mode of engaging with performance history and exploring how histories of ephemeral art are re-iterated over time. Finally, I discuss a number of McCarthy’s recent exhibitions and installations that mobilises a wider consideration of the histories of performance and ephemeral practices in art institutions. McCarthy’s work is firmly established in the art world, and I argue that his work also provides a significant touchstone for histories of performance. I look historically at how McCarthy’s work has been documented, disseminated, curated, and re-performed, and open wider discussions about ways of engaging with performance history. In turn, I complicate the relationship between performance and the art world; between ephemeral art and object-based art practices; and between scholarly engagements with performance history, and the public presentation of performance in curatorial practices and institutional contexts. 2 Statement of Originality I, Harriet Curtis, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or supported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indicated. Previously published material is also acknowledged below. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of the thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. Signature: Date: 12 August 2014 Details of collaboration and publications: Harriet Curtis, ‘Restaging Feminism in Los Angeles: Three Weeks in January (2012): Three Weeks in May (1977)’, n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal, 34 (July 2014), 77-85. Harriet Curtis, ‘Performance Legacies in Print and Practice: High Performance Magazine, 1978-1983’, Platform, 8.1 (Spring 2014), 29-43. Harriet Curtis, ‘From Painting to Performance: Figuring the Abject in Los Angeles Art’, (review of L.A. RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy, by Michael Duncan), Art History, 36.1 (February 2013), 224-26. 3 List of Images Image 1: Paul McCarthy, Hot Dog (1974), live performance, Odd Fellows Temple, Pasadena, performance photograph Image 2: Paul McCarthy, Tubbing (1975), video still Image 3: Paul McCarthy, Assortment, The Trunks, Human Object and PROPO Photographs (1972-2003) Image 4: Paul McCarthy, Dirty Dotty, Yellow (1991), PROPO photographic series Image 5: Paul McCarthy, Human Object (1982), wooden box, foam, rubber, plastic PVC pipe, stool, sex toy Image 6: Paul McCarthy, Monkey Man (1980), live performance, DTLA Performance space, Los Angeles, performance photograph. High Performance Magazine Archive, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Image 7: Paul McCarthy, Monkey Man (1980) live performance, DTLA Performance space, Los Angeles, performance photograph. High Performance Magazine Archive, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Image 8: Paul McCarthy, The Garden (1992), installation: latex rubber and foam mechanical figures, artificial turf, trees, foliage and rocks Image 9: Paul McCarthy, MOCA Man (1992), latex rubber, foam, clothing, wig, wood, artificial turf, saw horses Image 10: Paul McCarthy, The King (2011), multi-media installation; acrylic on canvas, wooden stage, lighting, life cast 4 Contents Acknowledgments 7 Note on the Text 8 Introduction 9 Chapter One: Documenting Performance in Los Angeles: High Performance Magazine, 1978-83 68 High Performance: Initial Aims and Objectives 73 Alternative Spaces of Representation: Artists’ Magazines in the 1970s 78 Why Not L.A.? High Performance and the New York ‘art capital’ 88 Diversity and Censorship in High Performance 99 What Happened to Art Criticism? Critical Writing and High Performance 119 Chapter Two: The Construct of Reality and Absurdity: Violence, Vomit and Disgust in Paul McCarthy’s Performances of the 1970s 131 Sailor’s Meat (1975) and Tubbing (1975): Representations of Trauma and Violence 134 Ketchup = Blood: The Vocabulary of Images and Materials in McCarthy’s Performances of the 1970s 145 Architecture of the Body/The Body as Architecture 150 Paul McCarthy’s Theatre of Regression 158 Ritual and Performance 172 Vomit and Disgust as Political Affect in Hot Dog (1974) and Tubbing (1975) 183 Chapter Three: Performing Objects: Objects and Sculpture in Paul McCarthy’s Post-performance Years, 1983-92 195 Retirement from Performance: Seeking a Popular Avant-Garde? 212 Exhaustion and Labour: The Object as Stand-in for the Artist 221 The Garden (1992) 237 Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s (1992) 261 5 Chapter Four: Re-performance and Performance Art History in Los Angeles: Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 276 Pacific Standard Time: Stated Aims and Outcomes 279 Re-performance 294 Re-performance in Paul McCarthy’s Artistic Practice 303 L.A. RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles, 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy 315 Under the Big Black Sun: California Art, 1974-1981 322 PST Performance and Public Art Festival & Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in January (2012) 336 Conclusion: Paul McCarthy’s Video and Installation Works, 2008-13 350 Paul McCarthy’s Low Life Slow Life: A History of Practice and Influence 353 Pig Island (2003-11), The King (2011), Cut Up King (2011) 360 WS and Hauser & Wirth’s 2013 Spring Programme 366 Bibliography 373 Images 390 6 Acknowledgments This project was funded by a College Studentship from Queen Mary, University of London. Additional financial support for a research trip to Los Angeles in 2012 to undertake primary research and conduct interviews was provided by the Queen Mary Central Research Fund (now the Postgraduate Research Fund). I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Glynne Wickham Scholarship fund, which contributed to travel expenses for a conference presentation at Stanford University in 2013. Dominic Johnson supervised this project, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank him for his support and mentorship throughout the project. It would have been impossible without his guidance, encouragement and generosity. A number of organisations and individuals gave me their time and enabled access to archival resources during my research. I gratefully acknowledge the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Tate Library, Hauser & Wirth, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Exhibition Archive. I would also like to thank Linda Frye Burnham, Michael Duncan, Paul Schimmel, Kristine Stiles, and John C. Welchman for their time, and generosity in discussing my project. I would also like to thank other members of staff in the Department of Drama, for their support and guidance throughout my PhD, particularly Huw Marsh, Michael McKinnie, Daphne Rayment, Catherine Silverstone, and Kim Solga. And also to thank my PhD colleagues for their support and solidarity. My thanks in particular to Charlotte Bell, Cat Fallow, and Sarah Thomasson for their invaluable feedback, encouragement, and friendship. My thanks to family and friends for their love and support, particularly my parents, Alison and Keith Pettit, Tom McLenachan for reading work in progress, and Chloe Arnold, Jessica Benson-Egglenton, Eve Castle, and Jack Cornish for their friendship, and newfound love for performance art. 7 Note on the Text The text of this thesis follows the conventions recommended by the Modern Humanities Research Association