Our trip to Margaret Boozer’s Red Dirt Studios was a huge break from the tradition of our Friday class. Rather than head off to a huge cultural institution in Washington, DC, which no doubt has a budget in the multimillions and a large staff, Red Dirt Studios was incredibly modest and exuded an incredibly organic and intimate feel. After meeting with one of Margaret’s friends in the development world, we got a fantastic tour of the studio, during which we got to take in the extensive differences between Red Dirt and, for example, the Kennedy Center. Even the most fundamental differences between the two inherent in architecture evoked an incredible sense of closeness and humility. Whereas the Kennedy Center is comprised of monumental halls with soaring high ceilings, huge chandeliers, exquisite marble, and enormous windows, Red Dirt Studios had cement for flooring, look-a-like garage doors as windows and doors on one side of the building, and regular fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs in simple light fixtures.
Margaret took us around her studio and proceeded to explain the medium through which most of her works are executed: clay. All of a sudden, I understood the name of the studio—Red Dirt (forgive my sheer stupidity). Most of what we were surrounded by was incredibly different and varied pieces that employed different colors of clay to make different pieces. For example, hexagons shaped pieces were repeated in a pattern that created a sense of possibility through repetition, almost as if the piece were a polymer or string of carbon atoms. Next, Margaret showed us a new piece she is working on that utilized porcelain as a filter for light on a screen. It mimicked papyrus or Japanese scrolls in its ability to transmit light yet also change its form. Lastly, Margaret showed us a slideshow of many of her other pieces of work. Many of these had been commissions or sold to private galleries or collectors. Some of her stunning work included a clay transformation of a fireplace façade, an exploration into the merging of the outdoors with the indoor gallery space paradigm, but most interesting a look at a piece called “Dis/integration.”
The title alone presents quite the intellectual debate—is the piece more focused on the process of decomposition and hence deconstruction, or is it more interested in the integration of the material into the external world? Is it inclusive or deconstructivist in theory? Margaret then explained that the impetus behind the piece was to dissect the relationship between nature and materials, thereby putting into question the importance, significance and relevance of materiality at its most fundamental form. By creating a sculpture made out of clays of different sizes, colors, levels, and shapes, Margaret sought to construct and design a piece that was both visually and intellectually stimulating throughout the course of its deconstruction. By inserting a sculpture made of natural materials into the wider spectrum of nature, does it comment on the experience of imposing human desire and motivation onto the external world, or is it a look into the many different forms of nature not only as sculpture but also as separate realms?
While I wish Margaret would have spent more time discussing her personal and emotional reasons for creating the sculpture pieces that she showed us, they all were very interesting and visually appealing. I look forward to hearing and seeing more from her. She already has enjoyed press coverage by distinguished arts writer Michael O’Sullivan in the Washington Post. The piece “Dis/integration” is incredibly evocative and exciting, and I’m going to try my best to get down and see it in my last two weeks in Washington, DC.
www.margaretboozer.com
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
News: Thursday, April 26
Some pretty exciting new stuff!
Newsweek: One of Us? (Astronomers have made an astonishing discovery—a new planet that sounds a lot like Earth. Maybe we aren’t alone, after all.)
NYTimes: New Hampshire Senate Approves Civil Unions
NYTimes: Hollywood’s Shortage of Female Power
NYTimes: Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons
Washington Post: Panel Urges Schools To Replace Junk Foods
Slate Magazine: Mind Reading-- Slate's special issue on the brain, neuroscience and neuroculture
Slate Magazine: Energy Deficit Disorder-- Examining the latest trend in extreme dieting.
Newsweek: One of Us? (Astronomers have made an astonishing discovery—a new planet that sounds a lot like Earth. Maybe we aren’t alone, after all.)
NYTimes: New Hampshire Senate Approves Civil Unions
NYTimes: Hollywood’s Shortage of Female Power
NYTimes: Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons
Washington Post: Panel Urges Schools To Replace Junk Foods
Slate Magazine: Mind Reading-- Slate's special issue on the brain, neuroscience and neuroculture
Slate Magazine: Energy Deficit Disorder-- Examining the latest trend in extreme dieting.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Project Proposal
Here is the proposal that I just wrote for my final project. The presentation is due in three weeks, and the paper in four. Let's hope it works out!
Avant-Garde at the Hirshhorn: Cutting Edge or Behind the Curve?
Since opening in 1974, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has been the beacon of international modern and contemporary art for the Smithsonian Museum. With a collection of over 14,000 works from renowned artists such as Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, Willem de Kooning, Sol LeWitt, Anneé Olofsson, Joan Miró, and Dan Flavin, the Hirshhorn has served as a forum for artistic and intellectual dialogue, inquiry, and presentation over the past thirty-three years. Benefactor Joseph H. Hirshhorn donated his extensive and incredibly sought after collection to the Smithsonian, and an Act of Congress established the Museum as a part of the Institution in 1966. Hirshhorn’s collection of exquisite sculpture and paintings helped lay the groundwork for the creation and continual refinement of a space devoted completely to contemporary works. But the question remains: is the Hirshhorn, as seen through its exhibitions and presentations throughout history, on the cutting edge of the contemporary art world, or does it merely act as a showcase for what had recently been coined “avant-garde?”
Before delving into the posed question regarding the Hirshhorn’s exhibition history, one must first define what is meant by the word “avant-garde.” The word comes from the French language and in its most base form means “front guard,” or “vanguard.” However, the word has been appropriated to refer to the experimental nature of a subject, idea, or media, mostly pertaining to the arts. When discussing what it means to be avant-garde, one hears words like, “unorthodox,” “daring,” or “radical,” which present an edgy side to innovation. Does this mean that any new artistic, literary, or musical material that is produced is necessarily avant-garde? Absolutely not. In order to be authentically avant-garde, a work must push the boundaries of art, and by extension the public’s concept of what is art. Avant-garde art is most certainly tied to time and history, in that works that had once been considered daringly innovative are now in the canon of the contemporary.
To get a sense of the avant-garde, look at the work of Pablo Picasso or Marcel Duchamp. Picasso was one of the leaders of the Cubist movement of the early twentieth century, which sought to deconstruct representational portrait techniques by painting a subject from multiple points of view. Planes and angles intersect, objects within the subject are dissected, and most pieces of the work are rearranged, and hence recontextualized. The reason for doing this was to spark the discussion of paradigm and point of view—obviously a piece, scene, or subject can be seen from multiple viewpoints, but what happens when these views penetrate each other? By reordering the elements of the painting, does it bring clarity to the subject in a larger context? And then in 1917, Marcel Duchamp employed a urinal from a public men’s restroom, laid it on its side and displayed it as a piece of art. Why is this radical, daring, or innovative? It challenged the conventions of art and its conceptualization. The important aspect of the avant-garde that one must remember is that it represents the novel within its relative context.
US Cartoonist Al Capp once said, “[Abstract art] is a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.” Utilizing this logic, Joseph Hirshhorn was simply a man with too much money and too little knowledge, thereby motivated by a force that made him spend lavishly and with abandon. It negates the idea that Joseph Hirshhorn was actually a rather educated, thorough and thoughtful collector of international modern and contemporary art. Starting out collecting French Impressionist pieces, he soon moved to start collecting works by living artists throughout America and Europe. Also, what distinguishes Mr. Hirshhorn from many of his collecting contemporaries is the fact that he would build relationships with young artists, and then would buy out all of their exhibited works in gallery shows. This motion to buy each piece could be interpreted as carelessness; however, Mr. Hirshhorn saw incredibly potential and promise from these artists, so he was hoping for two things: first, that they would be better off financially so that they could continue creating, and secondly that when they became famous he would be the owner of many of the coveted works. While this didn’t always work, it is how we have such a large amount of works by luminaries of the past century.
My project is going to look at three facets of the avant-garde in relation to the Hirshhorn Museum. First, I want to examine Joseph Hirshhorn’s role in selecting these pieces that he thought were innovative and radical. I plan on conducting interviews with the head librarian, sculpture conservator Lee Aks, and hopefully registrar Barbara Freund. By focusing in on Mr. Hirshhorn’s relationship to the avant-garde will, I believe, lead to many interesting discoveries in regards to the early exhibitions at the Museum.
The next phase of the project will look at the first four years of exhibitions at the Hirshhorn Museum. It will proceed from the Inaugural Exhibition (10/4/74 – 5/12/76) to the Louis M. Eilshemius exhibition (11/9/78 – 1/1/79). I will only examine the exhibitions that were organized by the Hirshhorn Museum, because that will give a good look into the minds and ideas of the early curators. While I would love to be able to examine the non-Hirshhorn organized exhibitions, I do not think they will yield as fruitful information as the internally driven exhibitions. Even so, I will make a point to mention them and give a quick overview, because otherwise it would create an incomplete portrait of the first four years of the Hirshhorn Museum’s exhibition calendar.
The last phase of this project will focus on the exhibitions of the last four years at the Hirshhorn. It will begin with the Hirshhorn-organized “Gyroscope” exhibition. This exhibition celebrated the Museum’s permanent collection and included exhibition titles, “Why do some artists use universal symbols?” “How can an artwork exist in more than one place at once?” “How are bronze sculptures made?” and “Why do many artists work without color?” For this part, I will try to conduct interviews with current curators Kerry Brougher, Anne Ellegood, Kristen Hileman, Valerie Fletcher and Milena Kalinovska. Also, I will try to email and get in touch with Professor Alan Wallach from the W&M Art History Department, as well as his wife, who had been a curator at the Hirshhorn for quite some time. Also, I look forward to talking with my editor Vanessa Mallory, web specialist Jennifer Wentz, graphic designer Bob Allen, communications director Gabriel Riera, and my immediate supervisor Gabriel Einsohn to get a better look at how the Museum portrays itself through marketing and the internet. By doing this I will get a better sense as to the art historical reasons behind the exhibitions, and then the ways in which the Museum wants to present itself publicly.
Throughout these phases I will make sure to retain the focus of refining, defining, evaluating, and analyzing the role of the avant-garde to the art works and exhibitions. I am especially interested in seeing two types of exhibitions: retrospectives and brand new shows. For example, the “Ana Mendieta” exhibition that ran from late 2004 into early 2005 looked specifically at the work of her career from 1972 until 1985. However, the recent “Directions—Virgil Marti and Pae White” was an exhibition where two contemporary artists were invited to transform the Hirshhorn lobby with new artwork. One of the questions that I hope to tackle is this: can works in a retrospective be seen of as avant-garde in the present, or are they only historically avant-garde? Because the nature of the avant-garde is temporal, can it extend a short time period and still be totally significant? These questions will be focused through the lens of the Hirshhorn Museum, and I look forward to understanding the presentation and distribution of modern and contemporary art over the past thirty years in Washington, DC.
Avant-Garde at the Hirshhorn: Cutting Edge or Behind the Curve?
Since opening in 1974, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has been the beacon of international modern and contemporary art for the Smithsonian Museum. With a collection of over 14,000 works from renowned artists such as Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, Willem de Kooning, Sol LeWitt, Anneé Olofsson, Joan Miró, and Dan Flavin, the Hirshhorn has served as a forum for artistic and intellectual dialogue, inquiry, and presentation over the past thirty-three years. Benefactor Joseph H. Hirshhorn donated his extensive and incredibly sought after collection to the Smithsonian, and an Act of Congress established the Museum as a part of the Institution in 1966. Hirshhorn’s collection of exquisite sculpture and paintings helped lay the groundwork for the creation and continual refinement of a space devoted completely to contemporary works. But the question remains: is the Hirshhorn, as seen through its exhibitions and presentations throughout history, on the cutting edge of the contemporary art world, or does it merely act as a showcase for what had recently been coined “avant-garde?”
Before delving into the posed question regarding the Hirshhorn’s exhibition history, one must first define what is meant by the word “avant-garde.” The word comes from the French language and in its most base form means “front guard,” or “vanguard.” However, the word has been appropriated to refer to the experimental nature of a subject, idea, or media, mostly pertaining to the arts. When discussing what it means to be avant-garde, one hears words like, “unorthodox,” “daring,” or “radical,” which present an edgy side to innovation. Does this mean that any new artistic, literary, or musical material that is produced is necessarily avant-garde? Absolutely not. In order to be authentically avant-garde, a work must push the boundaries of art, and by extension the public’s concept of what is art. Avant-garde art is most certainly tied to time and history, in that works that had once been considered daringly innovative are now in the canon of the contemporary.
To get a sense of the avant-garde, look at the work of Pablo Picasso or Marcel Duchamp. Picasso was one of the leaders of the Cubist movement of the early twentieth century, which sought to deconstruct representational portrait techniques by painting a subject from multiple points of view. Planes and angles intersect, objects within the subject are dissected, and most pieces of the work are rearranged, and hence recontextualized. The reason for doing this was to spark the discussion of paradigm and point of view—obviously a piece, scene, or subject can be seen from multiple viewpoints, but what happens when these views penetrate each other? By reordering the elements of the painting, does it bring clarity to the subject in a larger context? And then in 1917, Marcel Duchamp employed a urinal from a public men’s restroom, laid it on its side and displayed it as a piece of art. Why is this radical, daring, or innovative? It challenged the conventions of art and its conceptualization. The important aspect of the avant-garde that one must remember is that it represents the novel within its relative context.
US Cartoonist Al Capp once said, “[Abstract art] is a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.” Utilizing this logic, Joseph Hirshhorn was simply a man with too much money and too little knowledge, thereby motivated by a force that made him spend lavishly and with abandon. It negates the idea that Joseph Hirshhorn was actually a rather educated, thorough and thoughtful collector of international modern and contemporary art. Starting out collecting French Impressionist pieces, he soon moved to start collecting works by living artists throughout America and Europe. Also, what distinguishes Mr. Hirshhorn from many of his collecting contemporaries is the fact that he would build relationships with young artists, and then would buy out all of their exhibited works in gallery shows. This motion to buy each piece could be interpreted as carelessness; however, Mr. Hirshhorn saw incredibly potential and promise from these artists, so he was hoping for two things: first, that they would be better off financially so that they could continue creating, and secondly that when they became famous he would be the owner of many of the coveted works. While this didn’t always work, it is how we have such a large amount of works by luminaries of the past century.
My project is going to look at three facets of the avant-garde in relation to the Hirshhorn Museum. First, I want to examine Joseph Hirshhorn’s role in selecting these pieces that he thought were innovative and radical. I plan on conducting interviews with the head librarian, sculpture conservator Lee Aks, and hopefully registrar Barbara Freund. By focusing in on Mr. Hirshhorn’s relationship to the avant-garde will, I believe, lead to many interesting discoveries in regards to the early exhibitions at the Museum.
The next phase of the project will look at the first four years of exhibitions at the Hirshhorn Museum. It will proceed from the Inaugural Exhibition (10/4/74 – 5/12/76) to the Louis M. Eilshemius exhibition (11/9/78 – 1/1/79). I will only examine the exhibitions that were organized by the Hirshhorn Museum, because that will give a good look into the minds and ideas of the early curators. While I would love to be able to examine the non-Hirshhorn organized exhibitions, I do not think they will yield as fruitful information as the internally driven exhibitions. Even so, I will make a point to mention them and give a quick overview, because otherwise it would create an incomplete portrait of the first four years of the Hirshhorn Museum’s exhibition calendar.
The last phase of this project will focus on the exhibitions of the last four years at the Hirshhorn. It will begin with the Hirshhorn-organized “Gyroscope” exhibition. This exhibition celebrated the Museum’s permanent collection and included exhibition titles, “Why do some artists use universal symbols?” “How can an artwork exist in more than one place at once?” “How are bronze sculptures made?” and “Why do many artists work without color?” For this part, I will try to conduct interviews with current curators Kerry Brougher, Anne Ellegood, Kristen Hileman, Valerie Fletcher and Milena Kalinovska. Also, I will try to email and get in touch with Professor Alan Wallach from the W&M Art History Department, as well as his wife, who had been a curator at the Hirshhorn for quite some time. Also, I look forward to talking with my editor Vanessa Mallory, web specialist Jennifer Wentz, graphic designer Bob Allen, communications director Gabriel Riera, and my immediate supervisor Gabriel Einsohn to get a better look at how the Museum portrays itself through marketing and the internet. By doing this I will get a better sense as to the art historical reasons behind the exhibitions, and then the ways in which the Museum wants to present itself publicly.
Throughout these phases I will make sure to retain the focus of refining, defining, evaluating, and analyzing the role of the avant-garde to the art works and exhibitions. I am especially interested in seeing two types of exhibitions: retrospectives and brand new shows. For example, the “Ana Mendieta” exhibition that ran from late 2004 into early 2005 looked specifically at the work of her career from 1972 until 1985. However, the recent “Directions—Virgil Marti and Pae White” was an exhibition where two contemporary artists were invited to transform the Hirshhorn lobby with new artwork. One of the questions that I hope to tackle is this: can works in a retrospective be seen of as avant-garde in the present, or are they only historically avant-garde? Because the nature of the avant-garde is temporal, can it extend a short time period and still be totally significant? These questions will be focused through the lens of the Hirshhorn Museum, and I look forward to understanding the presentation and distribution of modern and contemporary art over the past thirty years in Washington, DC.
News: Monday, April 23
Influenced by the recent events and releases surrounding Earth Day (April 22).
Energy/Environment:
NYTimes: Climate Change Adds Twist to Debate Over Dams
NYTimes: Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City
NYTimes: In Speech, McCain to Push for Cap on Emissions
NYTimes: You Are What You Grow
NYTimes: Bush Aide’s Celebrity Meeting Becomes a Global Warming Run-In (Karl Rove and Sheryl Crow at the White House Correspondent's Dinner)
Other:
NYTimes: Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s First Post-Soviet Leader, Is Dead
NYTimes: Spitzer Plans to Introduce Gay Marriage Bill
NYTimes: Africa’s Crisis of Democracy
NYTimes: When David Faced a Wounded Goliath (Theater Review)
Energy/Environment:
NYTimes: Climate Change Adds Twist to Debate Over Dams
NYTimes: Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City
NYTimes: In Speech, McCain to Push for Cap on Emissions
NYTimes: You Are What You Grow
NYTimes: Bush Aide’s Celebrity Meeting Becomes a Global Warming Run-In (Karl Rove and Sheryl Crow at the White House Correspondent's Dinner)
Other:
NYTimes: Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s First Post-Soviet Leader, Is Dead
NYTimes: Spitzer Plans to Introduce Gay Marriage Bill
NYTimes: Africa’s Crisis of Democracy
NYTimes: When David Faced a Wounded Goliath (Theater Review)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
News: Thursday, April 19
I will be gone for the weekend visiting Williamsburg, VA, so I've added a few extra news articles and editorials for today.
Washington Post: 'That Was the Desk I Chose to Die Under'
Washington Post: Breast Cancer Drop Tied To Less Hormone Use
Washington Post: Drinking Age Paradox
Washington Post: High Court Upholds Curb on Abortion
New York Times: Colleges Need a Reply. May I See Your Notes?
New York Times: The Biggest Sell Is the Audition (QVC in West Chester, PA)
New York Times: No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says
Philadelphia Inquirer: Zoo ready for cubs of a different stripe
LA Times: Hands off my chocolate, FDA!
LA Times: When ethnicity brings an unwelcome focus
Washington Post: 'That Was the Desk I Chose to Die Under'
Washington Post: Breast Cancer Drop Tied To Less Hormone Use
Washington Post: Drinking Age Paradox
Washington Post: High Court Upholds Curb on Abortion
New York Times: Colleges Need a Reply. May I See Your Notes?
New York Times: The Biggest Sell Is the Audition (QVC in West Chester, PA)
New York Times: No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says
Philadelphia Inquirer: Zoo ready for cubs of a different stripe
LA Times: Hands off my chocolate, FDA!
LA Times: When ethnicity brings an unwelcome focus
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