Falling from the Grip of Grace The Exhibition as a Critical Form since 1968 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in The Graduate School of The Ohio State University By James T. Voorhies, Jr. Graduate Program in History of Art The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Professor Aron Vinegar, Advisor Professor Lisa Florman Professor Ron Green Bill Horrigan ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Copyright by James T. Voorhies, Jr. Summer 2012 ! Abstract Falling from the Grip of Grace is an analysis of the exhibition as a critical form of art with special consideration to the role of the spectator. It charts a history of exhibitions from 1968 to the present to explore how we arrived at a moment when critical art faces many challenges, not least of which is competing with the art institutions that give it voice. It is the first sustained study to critically analyze connections between late- Modernist artistic strategies engaged with the exhibition form and subsequent dispersal of those strategies into curatorial practices at major institutions and biennials. Artists such as Robert Smithson, Michael Asher and Group Material initially expanded the spectator’s involvement in art to encompass the spatial and temporal contexts of the exhibition. This change signaled a definitive fall from the modernist aesthetic regime of pure visuality, or state of “grace” to use Michael Fried’s term, by placing greater emphasis on integrating engagements between art, spectator and institution. This dissertation interweaves the legacy of work by these artists and that of curator Harald Szeemann to examine contemporary art, institutions and biennials that involve the spectator in exhibition-making processes. New Institutionalism, a critically reflexive mode of curatorial activity, emerged in the 1990s out of a combination of these approaches and in conversation with the relational art promoted by curator Nicolas Bourriaud. New Institutionalism and relational aesthetics were originally interested in ii reconfiguring and expanding the exhibition of art into something more active, democratic, open and egalitarian, something other than standardized exhibition methods of displaying objects. A release from the influence of modernist aesthetic criteria did not, however, alleviate the need to hold art accountable for its fertile position for rethinking how things can be and function differently. My analyses draw on the theoretical project of Jacques Rancière to define and locate an aesthetics in contemporary art forms that take into account the role of the spectator. Within the context of Rancière’s theoretical project, I examine work by Thomas Hirschhorn, Anton Vidokle, Maria Lind, e-flux and Office for Contemporary Art Norway. I demonstrate why their art and exhibitions matter and why they signal steps toward producing an aesthetics of the political. The work studied in this dissertation proposes alternative models for connecting art with its public. By building upon developments of the late 1960s, this work leads us to question the role and function of art and its institutions. Constant questioning is necessary, especially today, because global capitalism assigns a market value to lived bodily experiences in the industry of contemporary art. We are again at a crossroads, with the need to consider the critical efficacy of art in order for it to remain alive, relevant and potent. Through the ideas put forward in this dissertation, I argue that that challenge is carried forward to the present moment by the exhibitions examined here. iii Acknowledgments I have had the good fortune of working with a number of individuals, artists and institutions during the conception and completion of this dissertation. I would like to first express gratitude to my advisor, Professor Aron Vinegar, for his careful guidance, knowledge and patience throughout the course of this project. It has also been a privilege to work with Dr. Lisa Florman whose seminars and conversations have been invaluable in the development of my ideas, and Dr. Ron Green who introduced to me a vast world of experimental film and the means to understand it. I am also grateful to Bill Horrigan whose work at the Wexner Center for the Arts has enriched my intellectual experience and creative development. Many people supported my work during the research of this project. I am grateful for associations with Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco; Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Ohio State University; MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts; Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bennington College in Vermont; and Machine Project in Los Angeles. At these institutions I have had the pleasure of engaging with brilliant individuals, art and exhibitions that have deeply affected the course of my thinking. My interactions with the following individuals or iv working with their art at these institutions have taught me many things about the rich intersections of art, life and ideas, all of which have filtered in some way into this dissertation: Mark Allen, Philip Armstrong, Michael Asher, Mary Jo Bole, Julia Bryan- Wilson, Fulvia Carnevale, Sarah Cowles, Lisa Dent, Everett Fahy, Sam Gould, Thomas Hirschhorn, Jens Hoffmann, Walter Liedtke, Laura Lisbon, Catharina Manchanda, Stephen Melville, Dennis McNulty, Anedith Nash, Ann Pibal, Sarah Pierce, Morgan Puett, Robert Ransick, Tim Rietenbach, Jon Rubin, Ralph Rugoff, Suzanne Silver, James Thornhill and Darren Waterston. I am also grateful to John Ewing for help with the careful editing of this text. I sincerely appreciate the friendship of Susan Cross, Mary Lum, Todd Mauritz, Jennifer Reynolds, Michele Snyder, Salli Swindell, Cassandra Troyan and Brenda Tucker who have listened carefully about and supported the progress of this dissertation. I am immensely grateful to my boyfriend Nate Padavick whose support and encouragement made this dissertation possible. v Vita January 5, 1970 ..............................................Born, Cambridge, Ohio 1992................................................................B.A. History of Art, The Ohio State University 1995................................................................M.A. History of Art, The Ohio State University 1998................................................................Visiting Faculty, History of Art, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco 1999–2001......................................................Curatorial Assistant, Brooklyn Museum, New York 2001–2005......................................................Associate Administrator, European Paintings, Modern and Contemporary Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2003–2005......................................................Adjunct Professor, Critical Studies, Parsons The New School for Design, New York 2005–2006......................................................Deputy Director, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco 2006–2010......................................................Director of Exhibitions, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio 2010–present ..................................................Visiting Faculty, Visual Arts, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont vi Publications Voorhies, James. My Dear Stieglitz. Letters of Marsden Hartley and Alfred Stieglitz, 1912–1915. University of South Carolina Press, 2002. Voorhies, James. A Handbook for the Immaterial Worker. New York: Printed Matter, 2011. Fields of Study Major Field: History of Art Minor Field: History of Avant-Garde Film vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii! Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. iv! Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Publications .................................................................................................................. vii! List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii! Introduction: “WARNING” ................................................................................................ 1! Falling from the Grip of Grace ........................................................................................ 8! The Exhibition as a Critical Form since 1968 ............................................................... 17! Chapter 1: The Rise of the Exhibition as a Form ............................................................. 22! Staging Grounds ............................................................................................................ 22! Robert Smithson: The Time to See Non-Sites .............................................................. 25! Against a “Manneristic Modernism” ............................................................................. 27! The Non-Site as Exhibition ........................................................................................... 34! Michael Asher: The Gallery as an Experiential Environment ...................................... 40 Other Frames for the Viewer ....................................................................................... 46