Hanne Darboven (Artist) 3/14

Work


Hanne Darboven, Kulturgeschichte 1880-1983 (Cultural History 1880-1983), 1980-83. Installation view at Dia:Beacon, Beacon, New York. Lannan Foundation; long-term loan. Photo: Florian Holzherr.




Hanne Darboven, Hommage à Picasso, Installation view
Photo: © Mathias Schormann
Copyright © Deutsche Guggenheim




"Ein Jahr: 1970", 2007




"Ein Jahr: 1970", 2007, Silkscreen Print on Zanders Classic 115 g, 43 sheets and one Index, each 21,0 cm x 29,7 cm, in custom made folder, printer: Thomas Sanmann, Hamburg, bookbinder: Klaus Winterscheidt, Hamburg, signed and numbered




Bio

Hanne Darboven was a German conceptual artist, who created huge volumes of indexical work based on the concepts of time, mathematics, and chronicling history. Darboven's work often created a tactile representation of time, removing the abstractness of its dimensionality, in exchange for a more complicated, physical abstraction. Historical and cultural issues imperative to Germany's history are revisited in an all-inclusive, truthful and unbiased manner; embedded in Darboven's organized mass of mathematical drawings and images.

Quotations


" Political, poetical, historical and biographical themes, however, were always integrated also – a tight interleaving of life and work characterizes Hanne Darboven’s specifically subjective point of departure that distinguishes her from other exponents of minimal art of her generation. Her collections of source material amounted to shelves full of folders, to complete musical pieces composed from notes derived from her system of mathematical constructs. "

http://cgi.klosterfelde.de/user-cgi-bin/artists/?s1=Hanne+Darboven&s2=02-text

" Although she lived in almost total solitude, her work became part of a collective effort to replace the discrete art object with Conceptual Art, grounded in ideas and actions...Her books and mounted images, painstakingly handwritten, embody not only an abstract span of time but also the actual time of the artist’s labour."

Ring, Nancy. "MoMA | The Collection | Hanne Darboven. (German, 1941-2009)." MoMA | The Museum of Modern Art. Grove Art Online, Oxford Press, 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2011. .

Relates


My work relates to Darboven's in its treatment of the element of time and measurement. I am trying to portray time in alternative ways using digital video and obvious representations. The measurement of the time I am interested in deals with issues of chronicling and indexing, based on the subject being measured, but also the device used to measure the subject. I am trying to explore artists who have created work conceptualizing time and measurements, so I can develop new approaches to producing work relative to my concepts. I would like to employ an additional level of media separate from the video that portrays the data collected during the filming process, editing process, and maybe even viewing process. Presentations like those of Hanne Darboven are very inspiring, due to the level of determinacy and overall work.


Interview

Interview with Dan Adler, who published Cultural History: 1880-1983 (1983) , an edition of the One Work Series by Afterall Books.
http://www.magentamagazine.com/1/features/adler-interview


Gallery






http://cgi.klosterfelde.de/user-cgi-bin/artists/?s1=Hanne+Darboven

Data (Idea) 3/10

Defined

da·ta (dt, dt, dät)

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

1. Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions.

2. Computer Science Numerical or other information represented in a form suitable for processing by computer.

3. Values derived from scientific experiments.

4. Plural of datum.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Quotations

"We are thrilled to have digital photos, digital music, and correspondence through email, but we don't usually realize the value of these pieces of data until they are lost to us. In the physical world we take steps to protect this kind of information, putting it into photo albums or treasure boxes and treating those containers carefully. In the virtual space however, we often don't take steps to protect these most valued possessions."

Gage, Zach. "Data." Stfj 3.0. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. .

"A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding."

Gibson, William. "Data Quotes - BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. .

Annotated Bibliography

Dougherty, William C. "Can Digital Resources Truly Be Preserved?." Journal of Academic Librarianship 36.5 (2010): 445-448. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.

This article discusses digital data and issues surrounding preservation of this data. Preservation methods often are digitally-based, which I found really interesting when reading this article. If you make a copy of something digital, to preserve that which is not physical, what protects the copy? And how do you truly differentiate between the original and the copy? Did you clone something, and what happens to the cloned? I think the question of physicality and reality are really interesting and the article asks very probing questions within these issues.

Relates

This topic relates to my work because I am interested in the juxtaposition of organic and virtual data. Organic data, to me, is the inherent toolbox of humanity, which is collected and used for decision making. Issues such as sexual selection are present in this type of instinctual data-mining. Obviously, virtual data is computer/digitally based, and seemingly removed or even opposite from the discussion of organism instincts and sensibilities. However, I see them as equal on the basis of manipulation and fragility. Cloning, genetic mutation, viruses, etc. All of these topics I think about can relate to both sets of data. I understand, at this point, that data is the link in my work.

Zach Gage (Artist) 3/7

Work

Lose/Lose - Gallery Video from zach gage on Vimeo.

Killing Spree from zach gage on Vimeo.

Temporary - Gallery Version from zach gage on Vimeo.

Zach Gage, Hit Counter 2008-10



Bio

Zach Gage is a mixed media artist who deals with issues such as information, technology, and the virtual through viral media and performative work. In 2010, Gage received a lot of press for his Graduate MFA Thesis work from Parsons, called Data. In this work, Gage discusses issues of data storage, dependence, and living and remembering in a virtual context. The work consisted of several components which illustrated conceptually the idea of separation from the reality of the physical world. The purpose is to draw attention to the ways in which online data can "enrich our lives beyond convenience."



Quotations

"As a society, we are in a transitional time where we are no longer packing our memories into cardboard boxes, instead putting all of that content into digital "boxes". We do this despite having a limited understanding of how these new "boxes" work. This makes it difficult to keep track of such previously simple concepts as where our things are going, how we can use them, or even how long they will exist."

-Zach Gage Data 2010

""By way of exploring what it means to kill in a video-game, Lose/Lose broaches bigger questions," the game developers say. "As technology grows, our understanding of it diminishes, yet, at the same time, it becomes increasingly important in our lives. At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions?""

-

Conroy, Michael. "The Computer Game That Destroys Your Files (Wired UK)." Wired.co.uk – Future Technology News and Reviews (Wired UK). Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

Relates

Zach Gage's work relates to mine on a conceptual level. It explores new technology, and more specifically, the digital era. Both work uses the technology it is commenting on as the media, elevating the process to that of introspection instead of the utilitarian, and presenting it to an audience of its (digital) users. Gage's work is more performative and viewer interactive. The still images I was working on last semester were a better comparison to Gage's process, however, the video work I am doing now shares similar conceptual framework. I am interested in obsolescence and fragility, as well as a projected implosion of the over-digitalized.



Interview

http://rhizome.org/editorial/2011/feb/16/interview-zach-gage/



Website

http://www.stfj.net/

Kathy Rose (Lecture Response) 3/4

Quotation

"The beginning and the ending are important."

Rose was asked about her teaching practice in relation to performance training. She mentioned that the placement of the choreography was really important to the piece because of the impression this placement can have on the audience. I had never really considered performance art in this respect and found it very interesting when described by Rose. It almost seems like a literary story in the way the audience is hooked and sustained.


3 Words

1) Mystifying
2) Organic
3) Epic


About Kathy Rose

One thing I learned about Kathy Rose that I did not already know is the extent to her performance and dance training. From my previous research, I didn't come to the conclusion that the performances would be so choreographed and detailed. You could tell from the way she uses her body to talk that she is physically expressive, and the performances she shared with us proved it.


Answers to Questions

1) "With the gold masked figure and dripping empty-eyed face in "Queen of the Fluids; the eerily floating head in "Interiosity", and the puppet constructs in videos such as "She" and "The Inn of Floating Imagery" - I am constantly creating a pictorial female art persona, often with inspiration from the supernatural figures portrayed in Japanese theater and art." - Kathy Rose

My first question involved this quote from Kathy Rose's website. I wanted to know more about what she meant by "creating a pictorial female art persona." Rose did not talk too much about the conceptual aspect of her performances and animations. Mostly, she talked about her inspirations and other artists. However, I understood her performances and animated juxtapositions as self reflections and reactions to her Japanese inspirations and environment.

2) My second question was about the mixed media that Kathy Rose works in. From viewing her work, I realized the performance and the animation or digital video have a lot of importance and relationship to one and other. The earlier work is a great example of this because Kathy Rose's performance and animation are so organic and amoeba-like in movement. The pieces were so reactionary and powerful because of Rose's command of her body in reaction to the animated environment. I found the flatness of the work really interesting, because of the dynamic power contained within the single dimensionality of the projections. I found the projections flattened the performance visually, however, incorporated the 3D movement into a 2D plane.


Compelling Piece

The most compelling piece, I found, was Rose's The Inn of Floating Imagery. Throughout her lecture, I found the concept of "flatness" coming up continuously. In this video, the flatness really added a visual and conceptual component. The female subjects floating around in the video seemed to be holding on masks, which were suspended and bobbing freely from their necks. The mask motif along with the cut-out visuals makes an important statement in the video.

Measurement (Idea) 3/3

Defined

meas·ure (mzhr)

n.

1. Dimensions, quantity, or capacity as ascertained by comparison with a standard.

2. A reference standard or sample used for the quantitative comparison of properties: The standard kilogram is maintained as a measure of mass.

3. A unit specified by a scale, such as an inch, or by variable conditions, such as a day's march.

4. A system of measurement, such as the metric system.

5. A device used for measuring.

6. The act of measuring.

7. An evaluation or a basis of comparison: "the final measure of the worth of a society" (Joseph Wood Krutch). See Synonyms at standard.

8. Extent or degree: The problem was in large measure caused by his carelessness.

9. A definite quantity that has been measured out: a measure of wine.

10. A fitting amount: a measure of recognition.

11. A limited amount or degree: a measure of good-will.

12. Limit; bounds: generosity knowing no measure.

13. Appropriate restraint; moderation: "The union of . . . fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal" (William James).

14. An action taken as a means to an end; an expedient. Often used in the plural: desperate measures.

15. A legislative bill or enactment.

16. Poetic meter.

17. Music The metric unit between two bars on the staff; a bar.

v. meas·ured, meas·ur·ing, meas·ures

v.tr.

1. To ascertain the dimensions, quantity, or capacity of: measured the height of the ceiling.

2. To mark, lay out, or establish dimensions for by measuring: measure off an area.

3. To estimate by evaluation or comparison: "I gave them an account . . . of the situation as far as I could measure it" (Winston S. Churchill).

4. To bring into comparison: She measured her power with that of a dangerous adversary.

5.

a. To mark off or apportion, usually with reference to a given unit of measurement: measure out a pint of milk.

b. To allot or distribute as if by measuring; mete: The revolutionary tribunal measured out harsh justice.

6. To serve as a measure of: The inch measures length.

7. To consider or choose with care; weigh: He measures his words with caution.

8. Archaic To travel over: "We must measure twenty miles today" (Shakespeare).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


Quotations


"But, let them measure us by what they will,
We'll measure them a measure, and be gone."

-Shakespeare

"The sempstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground, one standing at my neck, and another at my mid-leg, with a strong cord extended, that each held by the end, while a third measured the length of the cord with a rule of an inch long."

Smith, Jonathan. "Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels: CHAPTER VI. - Free Online Library." Jonathan Swift - Free Online Library. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

Annotated Bibliography

Weinfield, Henry. "Is there a measure on earth?": Holderlin's poem "In Lovely Blueness" in light of Heidegger's essay "... Poetically Man Dwells....". Free Online Library. Web. 07 Mar. 2011.

This article analyzes the uses of measurement and interprets how measurement pertains to poetry. The article first contemplates the different settings in which the term "measurement" is applied. (Mathematics, legislation, music, etc.) Then, the author describes the similarities poetry shares with mathematics and legislation and, more overtly, music. Examples of poets who wrote on such topics portrayed the concept measurement within the subject of the poem, as well as in the form of the medium. These poets questioned humanity in relation to God, in terms of measurement of some inherent quality.


Relates

The concept of measurement applies to the work I am doing now with video. The first video visually portrays measurement in multiple contexts: physical measurement of the subject, measurement of time, and measurement of behavior of the subject. I am really interested in tools used to measure subjects and the inherent qualities these tools may share. For example, in the first video, the analog Gralab timer was measuring the subject in a very determined and powerful way. However, the second-hand was not always consistent, and tended to jerk a bit. The buzzer at the end was very jerky. The flaws in the subject being measured by a seemingly flawed device is very interesting to me. If the next screen depicted a digital timer measuring the analog's glitches somehow, what would measure the digital timer's dependence on the technological "grid?" Researching other definitions and methods for measurement as helped me think about the next video I will make.

Kathy Rose (Lecture Questions) 2/3

Question 1

"With the gold masked figure and dripping empty-eyed face in "Queen of the Fluids; the eerily floating head in "Interiosity", and the puppet constructs in videos such as "She" and "The Inn of Floating Imagery" - I am constantly creating a pictorial female art persona, often with inspiration from the supernatural figures portrayed in Japanese theater and art." - Kathy Rose

My first question regards this statement on Kathy Rose's website. What is "the pictorial female art persona"?



Question 2

Kathy Rose's work incorporates performance with different media to record, present or enhance the performance. My question is in regards to the two strands of the work: performance and visual medium. How do these two components affect each other or enhance the other component's meaning?

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (Artist) 2/28

Work


Perfect Lovers


Take-Away project


Billboard Project



Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Placebo), 1991, Museum of Modern Art.




Bio

Félix González-Torres was an American, "process-based" artist, born in Cuba, whose installations were widely acclaimed before and after his death, in 1996. Torres' work is often based on viewer participation. For example, in one of his installations, the viewers are welcomed to take the work, (a large stack of paper). The ideas are thought to have focused around regenerative life. Torres work, Perfect Lovers, pictured above, emphasizes time as something looming. This work was made in reference to him losing his partner to AIDS. Torres also died of AIDS.


Quotations


"He liked leaving things open to interpretation. . . ."

Cook, Greg. "Félix González-Torres." The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .

"At this point I do not want to be outside the structures of power, I do not want to be the opposition, the alternative. Alternative to what? To power? No. I want to have power. It’s effective in term of change. I want to be like a virus that belongs to the institution. All the ideological apparatuses are, in other words, replicating themselves, because that’s the way culture works. So if I function as a virus, an imposter, an infiltrator, I will always replicate myself together with those institutions."

FGT

Relates

I find some of my concepts relatable to those of Torres. His installations are much different in form and intended purpose than my work, however, I find myself relating my concepts of permanence and regeneration to his. I find especially similar my new video and Torres' Perfect Lovers installation. The clocks are no longer a reference tool in this work. Rather, they become a looming reminder, imposing on the viewer a sense of pending doom. This concept is similar to what I am saying in the video piece I am working on. The measuring device, as a tool used to measure human failure, holds a new power in the context of time.

Interview

http://www.artpace.org/aboutTheExhibition.php?axid=165&sort=title



Gallery

http://www.andrearosengallery.com/artists/felix-gonzalez-torres/



Félix González-Torrez Foundation

www.felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org