THINK TANK AESTHETICS THINK TANK AESTHETICS Midcentury Modernism, the Cold War, and the Neoliberal Present PAMELA M. LEE The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Garamond Premier Pro and Trade Gothic by the MIT Press. Endpapers: Patricio Guzmán, still, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzmán, Atacama Productions. Courtesy Icarus Films. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lee, Pamela M., author. Title: Think tank aesthetics : midcentury modernism, the Cold War, and the neoliberal present / Pamela M. Lee. Description: Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019017908 | ISBN 9780262043526 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Art–Political aspects–History–20th century. | Modernism (Aesthetics) | Research institutes. | Neoliberalism. Classification: LCC N72.P6 L44 2020 | DDC 701/.17–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019017908 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 d_r0 Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1: Aesthetic Strategist 2: Pattern Recognition circa 1947 3: 1973; or, the Arche of Neoliberalism 4: Open Secret: The Work of Art between Disclosure and Redaction Coda Notes Index Plates List of figures Introduction 0.1 Robert McNamara, date and location unknown. Courtesy the Library of Congres… 0.2 Leonard McCombe, “A Valuable Bunch of Brains,” Life magazine, May 1959. Cou… 0.3 RAND Corporation, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, California. Photo courtes… 0.4 “Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship,” RAND Corp… 0.5 John Chamberlain, a questionnaire seeking answers sent to the employees of … 0.6 Richard Serra, Leo Castelli in Prisoner’s Dilemma, 1974, detail. © Richard … 0.7 An excerpt from A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates, RAND … 0.8 Paul Baran, “On Distributed Communications,” RAND memorandum, 1964, detail.… 0.9 Ludwig von Bertalanffy, detail of brochure, Society for the Advancement of … Chapter 1 1.1 Hoover Tower of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanfo… 1.2 Leonard McCombe, Albert Wohlstetter’s home pictured in “A Valuable Bunch of… 1.3 Julius Shulman, photograph of the Wohlstetter house, Josef Van der Kar, arc… 1.4 Julius Shulman, photograph of the Wohlstetter house, Josef Van der Kar, arc… 1.5 Cover of Partisan Review with articles by Wohlstetter and Clement Greenberg… 1.6 Gerd Arntz, Isotype diagram based on principles by Otto Neurath. Courtesy A… 1.7 Meyer Schapiro and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behav… Chapter 2 2.1 Edward Lynch, portrait of Margaret Mead, c. 1950. Courtesy Library of Congr… 2.2 Portrait of Ruth Benedict, undated. Courtesy Archives and Special Collectio… 2.3 Margaret Mead, Soviet Attitudes toward Authority, commissioned by the RAND … 2.4 Hermann Rorschach, Rorschach inkblot, 1922. Courtesy Yale University, Harve… 2.5 Cecil Beaton, “Model Wearing a Pale Blue Ballgown by Irene,” Vogue magazine… 2.6 Lee Krasner, cryptography display, 1942. © 2018 Pollock/Krasner Foundation/… 2.7 Josiah H. Macy Conference, 1953. Courtesy the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. 2.8 Comic samples. Margaret Mead Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. 2.9 Cover, catalogue of exhibition “Bloodflames,” organized by Nicolas Calas, H… 2.10 Cover (designer unknown), Theodor Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality, P… 2.11 Margaret Mead with Lenora Schwartz, drawing completion test, Manus Islands… 2.12 Margaret Mead with Lenora Schwartz, drawing completion test, Manus Islands… Chapter 3 3.1 Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM), Karlsruhe, Germany. © Foto: ZKM | Zentr… 3.2 Palacio de la Moneda, Santiago de Chile. Courtesy Miguel Hernandez/CC-BY-SA… 3.3 or-am (Catalina Ossa and Enrique Rivera), Multinode Metagame, 2007, ZKM, Ka… 3.4 or-am, Multinode Metagame, 2007, ZKM, Karlsruhe, detail. © or-am, © Foto: Z… 3.5 or-am, Multinode Metagame, 2007, ZKM, Karlsruhe, detail. © or-am, © Foto: Z… 3.6 Stafford Beer, Gui Bonsiepe, et al., Operations Room (Opsroom), Cybersyn, S… 3.7 Portrait of Stafford Beer with cigar, undated. Image courtesy Gui Bonsiepe. 3.8 Portrait of Gui Bonsiepe, undated. Courtesy Gui Bonsiepe. 3.9 Portrait of graphic designers for the Opsroom, from left to right: Pepa Fon… 3.10 Stafford Beer, Gui Bonsiepe, et al., Opsroom, Cybersyn, Santiago de Chile,… 3.11 Stafford Beer, Gui Bonsiepe, et al., data feed screens in the Opsroom, Cyb… 3.12 Stafford Beer, Gui Bonsiepe, et al., “Staffy,” the viable system model, Op… 3.13 Stafford Beer, Gui Bonsiepe, et al., Panel of the Future, Opsroom, Cybersy… 3.14 First meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, Switzerland, 1947, F. A. Hayek … 3.15 Fred Ludekens, illustration from F. A. Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom in Cart… 3.16 Aleksandr Rodchenko, Workers’ Club, International Exhibition of Decorative… 3.17 Aleksandr Rodchenko, reconstruction, Workers’ Club, Kunstmuseum Liechtenst… 3.18 Aleksandr Rodchenko, Spatial Construction # 12, The Oval, from the series … 3.19 Gui Bonsiepe, design prototype, Santiago de Chile, 1971–1972. Courtesy Gui… 3.20 TC 100, stacking catering service, 1959. Manufacturer: Rosenthal AG. Produ… 3.21 Photograph of participants, symposium on “Principles of Self-Organization,… 3.22 Legend to photograph of participants, symposium on “Principles of Self-Org… 3.23 Ludwig von Bertalanffy, detail of brochure, Society for the Advancement of… 3.24 Installation view of Eden Medina (with Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller),… 3.25 Patricio Guzmán, still, La Battala de Chile: La Insurrección de la Burgues… 3.26 Patricio Guzmán, still, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzmán, Atac… 3.27 Patricio Guzmán, still, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzmán, Atac… 3.28 Patricio Guzmán, still, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzmán, Atac… 3.29 Patricio Guzmán, still, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzmán, Atac… Chapter 4 4.1 Jenny Holzer, from series Redaction Paintings, 2005–ongoing. © Jenny Holzer… 4.2 Jamal Cyrus, Cultr-Ops on Wax, 2015. Courtesy the artist and Inman Gallery,… 4.3 Cover, Leonard C. Lewin, Report from Iron Mountain, 1967. (Also plate 6.) 4.4 Jill Magid, installation view from “Article 12,” neon and transformer, Stro… 4.5 Jill Magid, I Can Burn Your Face, 2008. Image courtesy the artist, LABOR, M… 4.6 Jill Magid, detail, Hacked Book, unredacted copy of Becoming Tarden exhibit… 4.7 Trevor Paglen, Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center #2, Groom Lake, N… 4.8 Trevor Paglen, Untitled (Reaper drone), 2010. Courtesy the artist and Metro… 4.9 Trevor Paglen, from The Other Night Sky, 2010–2011. Courtesy the artist and… 4.10 Trevor Paglen, Artifacts (Anasazi Cliff Dwellings, Canyon de Chelly, Space… Coda 5.1 Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, The Death of Cato of Utica, 1797. © Beaux-Arts de P… 5.2 David H. Koch Plaza, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: Geoff Kap… Plates Plate 1 Installation view of Eden Medina (with Nikolaus Hirsch and Michael Mül… Plates 2–3 Patricio Guzmán, stills, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzm… Plates 4–5 Patricio Guzmán, stills, Nostalgia de la luz, 2010. © Patricio Guzm… Plate 6 Cover, Leonard C. Lewin, Report from Iron Mountain, 1967. Plate 7 Jill Magid, installation view from “Article 12,” neon and transformer,… Plate 8 Jill Magid, I Can Burn Your Face, 2008. Image courtesy the artist, LAB… Plate 9 Jill Magid, detail, Hacked Book, unredacted copy of Becoming Tarden ex… Plate 10 Trevor Paglen, Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center #2, Groom L… Plate 11 Trevor Paglen, Untitled (Reaper drone), 2010. Courtesy the artist and… Plate 12 Trevor Paglen, from The Other Night Sky, 2010–2011. Courtesy the arti… Plate 13 Trevor Paglen, Artifacts (Anasazi Cliff Dwellings, Canyon de Chelly, … Plate 14 Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, The Death of Cato of Utica, 1797. © Beaux-Art… Plate 15 David H. Koch Plaza, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: Geo… Acknowledgments This book took root at Stanford University and could not have been written without that institution’s largesse and support. Stanford’s Cold War imbrications are writ large across the following pages thanks to the extraordinary archives of its resident think tank, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. But far more than that, a debt of gratitude is owed to friends and colleagues with whom I worked at Stanford for over two decades from the Department of Art and Art History and across campus. In 1997, I came to know Michael Marrinan and Jody Maxmin at the Nathan Cummings Art Building; together they provided support and advice to their new colleague. I also thank Alex Nemerov, as current Chair of the Department; Nancy Troy, as former Chair; and Pavle Levi, Richard Meyer, Scott Bukatman, and Jean Ma for their friendship and collegiality. Elis Imboden and the staff in the Department of Art and Art History generously enabled my research in countless ways. Many thanks to Debra Satz, the former Associate Dean and now Dean of the Humanities and Sciences. Thank you to many colleagues in Faculty against the War, especially David Palumbo-Liu for discussions on rational choice theory and the humanities. I acknowledge the late Stanford economist and national security expert Henry (“Harry”) Rowen (1925–2015), president of RAND during some of its most embattled years. Harry graciously shared memories of his think tank colleagues and their aesthetic inclinations and was nothing but receptive when asked a seemingly eccentric line of questions by an art historian. Elsewhere on “The Farm,” as Stanford is known within the community, deep bows to Fred Turner in the Department of Communication for his friendship, spirit and intellectual camaraderie, whether delighting in the work of Norbert Wiener or grousing about Silicon Valley.