City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 1988 The Politics of Experience: Robert Morris, Minimalism, and the 1960s Maurice Berger Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1646 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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THIS REPRODUCTION IS THE BEST AVAILABLE COPY. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE POLITICS OF EXPERIENCE: ROBERT MORRIS, MINIMALISM, AND THE 1960s by MAURICE BERGER A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, the City University of New York. 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11 COPYRIGHT BY MAURICE BERGER 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Ill This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Art History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. [signature] date Chairperson of ExaminingE f a m Committee [signature] date Executive Officer [signature] [signature] [signature] Supervisory Committee The City University of New York Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. tv Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the following people for their support, advice, and encouragement. Each has made a significant contribution to the development of this dissertation: Patricia Falk, Ruth Limmer, Margo Viscusi, Rosalind Krauss, E. C. Goossen, Wayne Dynes, Vincent Longo, Robert Huot, Leo Castelli, Ann Gibson, Yvonne Rainer, Jeanne Siegel, Sherrie Levine, Barbara Kruger, Donna Shalala, Tilden LeMelle, Marianne Hall, William Gilson, Pip Wurmfeld, and Lucy Morris. Several of my colleagues at the City University and elsewhere have generously discussed aspects of my argument with me, and I should like to acknowledge them: Maud Lavin, Therese Lichtenstein, Kathy O'Dell, and Brian Wallis. The valuable insights of my dissertation co-advisors Professors Linda Nochlin and Yve-Alain Bois resulted in a constant and lively discourse about the complex theoretical and historical issues surrounding the work of Robert Morris. Additionally I would like to thank Professors Rose-Carol Washton Long and Donald Kuspit for the important advice they offered me as readers on my dissertation committee. Professor Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Long, in her capacity as Executive Officer of the Doctoral Program in Art History of C.U.N.Y., generously supported me throughout all stages of the dissertation process. As teacher, as colleague, and as friend, the support and guidance of Professor Sanford Wurmfeld, Chairman of the Department of Art at Hunter College of C.U.N.Y., has been unfailing; his efforts went far in making this dissertation possible. The support of my friend and colleague Mason Klein must be acknowledged on many counts: throughout all stages of this dissertation he has offered important critical and editorial advice. It was through my many discussions with him that the central issues of my argument were first shaped. And finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Robert Morris. He generously opened his archives to me, spent hours discussing the art and politics of the 1960s, and patiently fact-checked this dissertation. Without his vigilant attention to the intricate demands of my work, this project could not have been completed. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS nag£ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION Robert Morris Outside the Institution of Art History ......................... 1 CHAPTER ONE Against Repression: Towards a Minimalist Aesthetic ............................ 17 I. The Ground of Development: 1956-1960 ................................. 18 II. Strategies of Subversion: The Duchamp Imperative ................. 24 III. Spaces without Centers: Shifters, Indexes, and Traces .............. 35 II. The Phenomenal M atrix ............................................................44 IV. Base Concerns: Sexuality, Repression and the Horizontal Axis.. 56 CHAPTER TWO Changing the Discourse: Phenomenology, Performance, and the Aesthetics of Production .............................................................................. 86 I. The Critical Threshold: Formalism's Resistance ............................. 87 II. Morris Dancing: The Aesthetics of Production ............................ 94 III. Anti-form: Sensuality and the Dissolution of the Art Object 125 CHAPTER THREE Art as Protest: The Vietnam War, the Museum and the Ecological Movement ............................................................................... 159 I. Redefining the Institution: The Museum as a Space of Dissent.. 160 II. Art Outside the Museum: Land Reclamation, Earthworks, and Ecology....................................................................................... 182 EPILOGUE A Circle in Search of its Center: Robert Morris in the Space of the Labyrinth ................................................................................... 209 ROBERT MORRIS: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................240 ILLUSTRATIONS.............................................................................. 256 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Vl1 List of Illustrations (Measurements: except as indicated height before width before depth) Figure oaee 1. Robert Morris, LJJqx, 1962, mixed media, c. 12 x 18 in. 256 Photo: Courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery. 2. Robert Morris. Untitled (Box with Lock). 1963. painted 257 bronze, 13x7 1/2 x 3/12 in. Photo: Rudolph Burckhardt. 3. Robert Morris, Untitled, c. 1955-57, oil on canvas, dimensions 258 unknown. Destroyed. 4. Robert Morris, Litanies. 1961, ink on paper, 22 x 18 1/4 in. 259 5. Robert Morris, Column. 1961, painted plywood, 96 x 24 260 x 24 in. 6. Robert Morris, Box with the Sound of its Own Making 1961, 261 walnut, 9 x 9 in. Photo: Rudolph Burckhardt. 7. Marcel Duchamp. Etant donnes: 1 ° la chute d'eau. 2° le gaz 262 d'eclairage. 1946-66, mixed media, c. 95 1/2 in x 70 in. 8. Robert Morris, Fountain. 1963, mixed media, 35 1/2 x 13 x 263 14 1/2 in. Photo: Karl Stroher. 9. Robert Morris, Wheels. 1963, wood and metal, 48 x 48 x 36 in. 264 10. Robert Morris, Card File. 1963, mixed media on board, 265