Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: Dan Graham at the Inhotim Institute of Contemporary Art and Botanical Gardens Bryan Barcena Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATER & DANCE EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE: DAN GRAHAM AT THE INHOTIM INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND BOTANICAL GARDENS By BRYAN BARCENA A Thesis submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2013 Bryan Barcena defended this thesis on March 22, 2013 The members of the supervisory committee were: Lauren Weingarden Professor Directing Thesis Robert Neuman Committee Member Adam Jolles Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking the members of my thesis committee, Drs. Lauren Weingarden, Robert Neuman, and Adam Jolles. I would like to recognize my thesis director, Dr. Lauren Weingarden, for inviting me to journey with her to a far-away and magical place. Her enthusiasm, encouragement and wisdom were invaluable to the process of writing this thesis. I am beyond grateful that our interests coincided and that I have benefitted from her mentorship throughout my graduate studies at FSU. I am also especially thankful to Dr. Robert Neuman for offering his warm and thoughtful support during my graduate studies. It was through his guidance that I was able to develop as a scholar and I am eternally grateful. I am also thankful to Kathy Braun for providing much- needed technical support and guidance to the thesis-writing process. I would also like to thank my Brazilian colleague Adriano Gomide for his contributions to the thesis. I am particularly thankful to Rodrigo Moura and Roseni Senna, as well as the various staff members at Inhotim who aided my study. I am forever in debt to my parents, Lorenzo and Ofelia Barcena, for offering me unflinching support, generosity, and, of most value, the drive to pursue my passions. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to acknowledge my partner and best friend, Erick Lopez, for his wholehearted support despite the many barely-intelligible conversations about mirrors, site-specificity, and Brazilian jungles. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTO THE MIRROR .................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER TWO: BETWEEN THE MIRROR AND SOLID GROUND ............................... 30 CHAPTER THREE: EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE..................................... 47 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 67 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 70 A. FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. 70 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .................................................................................................... 88 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Dan Graham, Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve, 2002, mirrored glass and stainless steel, 7’ x 23’ x 16’. ...................................................................................................................... 70 Figure 2: Inhotim Institute and Botanical Gardens (Aerial View), Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil. ............................................................................................................................................ 71 Figure 3: Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, 1981, COR-TEN Steel, 120’ x 12’ x 2.5”, Federal Plaza, New York City. ............................................................................................................................. 71 Figure 4: Thomas Hirschhorn, Bataille Monument (Partial view), 2001, mixed media, dimensions variable. ..................................................................................................................... 72 Figure 5: Dan Graham, Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve (Installation View), 2002, mirrored glass and stainless steel, 7’ x 23’ x 16’. Brumadinho, Brazil, Inhotim Institute of Contemporary Art and Botanical Gardens. ........................................................................................................... 72 Figure 6: Dan Graham, Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve (Detail), Source: Fernanda Ribeiro, Belo Horizonte – Inhotim. 2007. .................................................................................................. 73 Figure 7:Rikrit Tiravanija, Untitled 2002 (he promised), 2002, chrome and stainless steel, approximately 116” x 472” x 236” ............................................................................................... 73 Figure 8: Liam Gillick, Fluctuation Screen, 2000, anodized aluminum and white opaque Plexiglass, 8’ x 12’ x 1’. ............................................................................................................... 74 Figure 9: Lacaton & Vassal, Palais de Tokyo (Interior), 2002, Paris, France. ............................. 74 Figure 10: Dan Graham, Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve (Installation View).......................... 75 Figure 11: Dondel, Aubert, Viard and Dastugue, Palais de Tokyo (Exterior), 1937.................... 75 Figure 12: Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970, indigenous rock and sediment, 1550’ x 15’ ..... 76 Figure 13: Richard Serra, Tilted Arc (installation view at Federal Plaza, New York), 1981, COR- TEN Steel, 120’ x 12’ x 2.5” ........................................................................................................ 76 Figure 14: Thomas Hirschhorn, Bataille Monument (Partial view), 2002, mixed media, dimensions variable, Kassel Germany. ......................................................................................... 77 Figure 15: Dan Graham, Octagon for Münster (Installation view), 1987, Stainless steel and glass, 104” x 144” ................................................................................................................................... 77 v Figure 16: Dan Graham, Two-way Mirror Cylinder Inside Cube, 1991, stainless steel and glass, 8.5’ x 36’ x 36’, Dia Center for the Arts, New York. ................................................................... 78 Figure 17: Dan Graham, Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve (Installation view at Madison Square Park, NY, 2002). ........................................................................................................................... 78 Figure 18: Bernardo Paz de Mello (b. 1949) ................................................................................ 79 Figure 19: Cildo Meireles, Red Shift, 1967-1984, mixed media. ................................................. 79 Figure 20: Janet Cardiff, Forty Part Motet, 2001, sound installation in 40 channels, 14’ x 7’. ... 80 Figure 21: Map of Inhotim with location of Dan Graham’s Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve marked........................................................................................................................................... 81 Figure 22: Claude Glass. ............................................................................................................... 82 Figure 23: Olafur Eliasson, Viewing Machine, 2001, stainless steel, 12’ x 6’ x 2’. ..................... 82 Figure 24: Matthew Barney, De Lama Lâmina, 2004, forest tractor, ficus, high density polyurethane, polyvinyl and nylon screen 52’ x 25’ x 18’ ........................................................... 83 vi ABSTRACT My thesis explores the relationship between Dan Graham’s installation (b. 1942) Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve (2002) and its location at the Inhotim Institute of Contemporary Art and Botanical Gardens in Brumadinho, Brazil. Visitors who encounter upon Graham’s installation are confronted by a reflection of their own image set within an idyllic, even artificial, garden landscape. The triangular structure refracts and transposes the viewer’s reflection through layers of semi-translucent glass thus creating an increasingly distorted and confusing vision whereby the bodies of its visitors seem to collide, overlap, and become kaleidoscopic amalgamates. By engineering this disconcerting visual encounter, Graham invites viewers to share in a communal experience set within the unique environment at Inhotim. This thesis inserts Graham’s installation work into new conceptual and historical frameworks that prioritize the viewer’s experience over the artist’s intention. In this light, I detail the psychological effects experienced by visitors