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    Nicholas Dieter
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    Bishop Claire_Heightened Perception

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    141 views34 pages

    Bishop Claire - Heightened Perception

    Uploaded by

    Nicholas Dieter

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 34
    HEIGHTENED PERCEPTION ‘yaceisnot therefor the eyeontis nota plete one wats tolvenlt Went ‘spacer apaintedcofn four lving bees Listy Carsten olleehovand(Light Wall) 200 comprises anintensly bright barapeof flashing lights whos harsh impacton therein isalostintolerable for mor thana few mites Several thotisandightbulb lash incessantly a7. ta fequency thatseynchronoustothatofbaln activity and thereby capable ofinducing visa hallucinations inthe viewer Entering this envionment unbearablefor some people The bulbs generatean oppressive het while the relntleslighting asus not only the eye bt als the est, generating sound pulse to equal the visual averstilusthat bears down upon us ea work {zsignedto dslocateand dsoiet, but which also regis the presence of the ‘ewerinorderto generateiseffectHaller(bag6t) describes Lekaoonfand Frlated pieces a¢°machines or devices intended o synchronise with the vistors in Pde produce something together with them, Theyare not objects thatcan be ven a“meaning®ofthelrown!The workis therefore incomplete without our ‘iret patcpation, "Holler began to produc thistypeof work nthe mix9905harnesing the viewer's physi nd mental engagement via machines wd installations that provoke stertionsof consciousness andcast the stability fur everyday eteptin nto doubt. lve Rom 1993 isa smallspace in which tmake Tove ‘under the influence of phenyethylanine PEA) without touching the ground ‘tcomprisestwosexhameses mattress pia ndsyringe containing PE the cereal produced by the body when in oe. Png Machine 998 owe the ‘ieworto be strappedinto aharnessandy incites above atoom, able to coal the speed but nt the direction of hisor herjourey. Like Halle’ Slides adult ied ‘version ofthe chilre’s playground rderelocated insides gallery the Fj ‘Machine indesasenseofbodly ewphoria what the art alts miatare of ss ndsenselesenen that leases ts from the gravitational certainty of alli Holler has described himselazan orthopacdist who makes afl is for paris of yourbody that you dort evenlenow you've lost This comment [ighlightsdhefeclings of iy elation and disaation thatcan occur when {nferactng with hi werk fercepions understood to be something able andslippry-not the funethn of adetached gare upon the word fom 2cented Consciounes, ut integral to theentire body and nervoussyetem. function thatcanbesrong footed st amoment’s notice Hiller art permits glimpses of ‘the world ftom adcally diferent perspectives under he aflunceofdrgs oradisorientingenvionment~andinthitwayaimstoinduce doubt about the ‘yerystractureof what we take toberedity Although t times thevewer may {eel ke alaboratory at thiswork, Hallé aimslessto prescribe particolar ‘uteomeor gather data sina sclentifc experiment than to providea lyf arena forunigue perceptual discoveries. MevioauPonty and mlnimalsm The 9s was the decade when thstype of workfrstbegan to emerge Its indebted to Minimalist slp and ois theoretical reception by rst sl ets in New York at hl i, lor whom the writings of rench phllecopher Maurice Merleau Ponty (1908-61) were of decisive influence In The Phenomenology of Poretion (943). Merlest-Ponty addressed what he sasafundamentadvision n Western pilosophy’s understanding othe human subject. He argued that subject and objec are not separ entities bt ‘ae eciprocally intertwined and inerdependen-One ofthe key claims of ereat onty's phenomenology sthat the thing isinseparable fom person fetoiving and can never beactually in itel becauseitstandeat the other end of our gre orat he terminus ofasensory exploration which invest [ih humanity” The perecving subject and the perceived objet are therefore ‘onsideredas two systems applied upon ane another asthe wo alvesofan ‘orange’! The second key claim of Merlo Ponty that perception ina simply Savertion of vison, but invlvesthe whole hod. The inter relationshi between ‘yselfand the wold sa matter of embodied pereeption, becase what perceive Iseoesarly dependent on my beingat any one moment physically present in ‘matical cumstances that detemnine how and wht tisthat perceive donot se lpacelaccordngtoitsexeiorenveopeliveitfrom the inside {am immersed int Afterall the word eal around me, notin front ofme™ Although Meteau Ponty wrote about artan several ocasions his focus was on painting at evidence of how the body ie inscrbed in tesurmoundings. Hiseseays ‘Gézann’s Doubt (2545) and Bye and Mind (19gboth urn to panting at amanifertatonofthe wayin which we elt othe worldin general By contest, ifthe arts dseussed inthis chapter use Merea: ont’ ies sto amine ‘ourexperienc of particular typeof asain. forthe ats painting tediates the world and does not allow the viewer to experience perception fat and Thischapter therefore deals wth works that drastically change the way in which Merea Ponty himself exemplified his deas with regaed to artiste production. tstellingtha this shit occurs nthe early 960s when panting Appeared to reach exhaustion. The Plenomenolog) ofercpon astranslated iio English in 7962, and The Primacy ofeceptionin rbot were seed upon by artists and critics asa way nwhich other the new asteticexpeence tiferedto the viewer by Minimalistsculpture To bein this second penealogy ofinstllationar then, itis necesary to turn to Minimalism ands statusas feraxbetven the tradition ofseulptreand instalation a. Robert Morris plywood polyhedron, Donald judd Plexiglass bores Cart Ane’ bricksaresmong the works that immediately come tomnd when wethinkofMinimalistsclpture.Theinert uneventélaessf these pieces in ‘which composition andinteralelationshipsarestrippeddown tothe simpest svometial structive, oftenleads people to proclaim tat Minimalism inhuman, ant expressive and therefore boring arom photographs one could be forgiven foragreing butin the es ourencouater with he works quite diferent As we walkarounda Minimalist sculptre, two penomenaare prompted, Fist the work heghtensourawarenessf the relationship between elfandthespacein which tis shown the popordon ofthe galley seg, Width, colourand light secondly he wok throws our attention bck onto out ces of perceiving it-thesizeand weight of ourbody ait cicummavigatesthe Sculpture These elects ariseara direct resultof the works trim thats, is Iter (non symbolic and nan expressive se of materials and preference or reucedandsimpleforms, otha which prevent pychologclabaeption sad redirect our attention external considerations In hisessayNoteson Seulpture (1966) Rober Mowisarguesthatone more factordeterminesthe quality of our lationship Minialistabjects thers, [ge works darts ratings pubic mode of interaction, while smal ork ‘encourage privacy nd intimacy. siglicant that mom Malt scupeutes, Truman nscale, The rte Michael Fin his wellknown indctmentat Minimalist selpture‘Artand Ojeethoo? (67), argued that it wasprecisly ‘Miscale tha gavesuch works's indo tage presence, not unlike thesllent presence ofanothe perso As such, Minimalist objets ae inescapably ‘masituation-one that, vitallybydefinion, includes the behoer* Thea Minimalissclltohe bolder thestened wo ofthe paradgs that acd, Tkemany eritcet that ime held des sy the autonomy othe obec (mothewond.s el sicency and independence om conten) an secondly thepurtyoeacharsicraom.edangued ta berate Minimalist at ‘hat pce ad Ue with hat ewes athe an tanportg hem teanather word twas moreakinfoeatethan oscars agumet binges om thes of terior she taneitingn atranacenent ne and plc signaled aplisthor frame Minimalstecxltorerepondsto ts tnvitonnent The expsencect vewingtl heron markedby curio {Gc these becuse cl slcs the viewers presence, lke the ttasendennstantanenumnen tht deta poperta the codon cibcholing viral ae wed the term teat to dente such vane Crospolinstn between anaes ‘Mitimaliom war immensely conttoveral at the tine of is ppesranc and detateaound continued trap thought the gos Meret Ponty wat chen invoked inimalinssuppotsto explain the wrk lle ods Sculptures wrote Rosalind Keaas in 966jwee Obviosy meat asec of Deception obec thatar tbe raped nih experience oflokngat hex? {tern sags Maer Supe s977) se agatha Raber Mocs nut Lens) 965 demonstrate how perceptual experience precedes ‘cognition: there three ental forms could eae appear qulte diferent ependingon the position ofthe workandafthe viewer Herargumentis expel indebed to Merieat-Pntyach beams takesonadfeent character ‘tcordig tothe angle from whichit sen nda host of contingent factors such Ssthelevelofsunlightthe depth ofshadows, and the varying intents ofcolour ‘even within the most nevtal shade of grey. Asks expan Sinensin) ts inpousbleto seth a these the Sc fhe object say Ions at xs raring cant momenoesps By alluding to Merleau Pony Krauss demonstrated that she understood Minimalism ta hayeraicalimplicntions forthe way in which at Badhitherto been understond py relocating the olga af an arwor's meaning 2way fam the interior he colo ndcarposition sa metaphor forthe vis payee asin, “stact Expressionist panting). Minimaliem propored thatat was nolonger rodeled‘on the privacy of paychologicl space instead, Kraussargued,t was ‘Mructred'on the pub conventionalaatreof what might be calledcultaral, spac stressing thelmterdependence of workofart and viewer, Kraus show. that Minimalist ork pointedtowardsanew model ofthe subject as'decentet ‘As argued the previous chapter inetallatonat’claim to destabilise the viewerisarecurrent theme fromthe ra7oronwards, andthe desaso underpins Kraus sappreciaton of Mlnimalisnis importance lntguingy twasnot 4 Minimals sculpture ut Michal Heizer' epic eanthwerc Dale Negative 1963 ‘hatshe considered best exemplified this dcentring tendency. Vist to Doub Negative-290,000tons of arth displaced rom cither side of desert mesa in Nevada could only everhaves partial view of this work because texted in twohalves separated by aravine Krausssaw Dale Negatives liminatonof single viewing postion se'ametphorfr te el sits known throught | ppearance tothe other. Her argument reflectsthe way in which Mele Posty ‘eae about the interdependency ofrubjectandolject came increasingly 10 Acaireanethical and political enor in he years following 196: the mut erspetivaism implicit installation at comestobe equated with an ‘manelpatory eral polities andan opposition tothe psychological igi of sccing things from one ied point of ves ‘Significantly, hearts sociated with Minimalism did ot consider thei iworktobe installation ato 3¢stwouldhave been aed at he ine, an : ‘vironment, They acknowledged that the placement ofthe workin alery ‘was important protested against the us ofthis term: That the space ofthe roombecomes ofsuch importancedacs not mesn that an environmental Suaton sbeingestablished rot Mores He immediately allowed this "atement however with he patently contradictory view that thetotlapace hopefully altered in certain desired ways bythe presence ofthe objet Morris was not alone nexpresingsuch reservations Judd felt thatthe word ‘envionment shold denote one ned work and coneladedhisreview of Mozeg's 1965 Green Gallery show in character posal fashion: hefact, thatthe exhibition comprised several sculptures didnot mean that it wasan ‘foment, boeausethereareseven separate pices I Morris madean Zasironmentt would certainly beone thing” k would eem that for these artists the word'envzonment evoked the assemblage bated works of Oldenburg and Kaprowandthe ablevux of leno and Segal~artcharactersed by symbolic and eycholoiti ten acne Such pees adopted precisely hose spect ofthe Abstract Expressionist kgacy that Minimalism sought to eiinae ‘henarative, the emotive the onganic Indeed anything remately connected tothe paychodramatc tendencies f the Happen ng stood fr the precise opposite ofthe Minimalist literal what youseeswhat youse’ aesthetic lvenen critic wereon the whole mans that Minimalistexhibition installations forged. heightened awarenes of pace that was wndenibly ‘environmental Heviewing Frank Stella's 3964 Castel show alongsde us ‘Green Gallery exibition ofthe same year, acy Lippard noted how both bodies cof workhad affected heir surrounding tosuch an extent thatthe had to be ‘alledenvironments work fatoten operate expense othe ure profound mein nvlverente Semandelby the New York schoo yaltingin the Sos Don jd was probably ot PBanninganenironmentyethiseniiton casts dentecolectivespellwhich 0 As Lippardrightl notes, contemporary panting was also beginning tostablish relationships withits place of exibition the ol, wnmodlated oious of Rank Sella hexagonaleanvasesat Castell inevitabl led the viewer toregster the eyativespacesherween he paintings The previously neutral background wall vwasactivated, and the gallery wall gave the impression of acoherent qua ‘muralist whole Thesyntax ofthese works beeame important athe Individual plstings, whose daualn now seeped att embrace the whole rom, ‘Torefet this installation shot’ dacumenting an exhibition began tobe reproduced in magazines implying thatthe sum ofthe work insnewas more important than any singe image of oe object in the show Sach photographs ‘econded the negative space between Individual works nd the nterpay amongst them, together with hos ofeontingent factoslikethe proportions of he raom andthe quality flight The aesthetics ofan exhibition’ ‘installation an ‘hang wete increasingly commented upon by citi, diet testiying tothe way inwhich thenew work shifted the vewersattentionaway fom the objets (Gethese paintings or sculptures andonto ther overall lationship teach cotherand the space In this espect Rabert Mors rg6gexhibition athe (Gren Gallery, New York isparadigmatie the simple block ike sulpites ticulate and activate the room, creating an impression of unified whale ‘asa reratthe wor installation, with te neutzal overtone ofthe exibition hang ineresingly gained cucency asthe 1960s progressed "et however panoramic installation shots could noteonvey the viewers experience ofheightenedbolly awareness when moving around the works Moris wasamong theirs temphasise the importance ofthe viewer understanding what was adcally new aboat Minimalism ‘he wrk stronger thant previous wok with itmany internal relationships Oneis Pom ri poss ees aying conto fight and patio The viewer was now considered to beas essential othe workas the room in whichit was installed, and the next generation of tts, on the Wert cost ofthe Us.took up thischallengedicecty Lghtand Space The Wes coast esposeto Minimalism focused lesson thecal debates sows abjecthood than onthe ephemeral character ofthe viewe?' sensor) (experienc. n many case, thisexperince was staged within Hinely tuned spaces ‘voided ofall material objects —assen inthe work of Robert wa, ames Trl Doug Wheeler, ruce Nauman, Marla Nordman, Lary Bel and Michael Asher ‘Thephraselight and space’ wiscoined a chasers the predilection ofthese atsteforempty inteonsin which the viewers perception ofcontingent eno") ‘Phenomena sunlight sound, temperature) became the content ofthe work. In photographic documentation many of these workslook disaeingly imilaz rom Bruce Nauman's Acti Wall97s, the MOMA installations by Michael Asher (Unita 965) and Rober Irwin Pacturel Light - Purl crn Celina ye— Level Wirer970-1),thereisa tendency foreach instalation o resemble lite more than lea, whit, ventless space, Toa degre his photographic imiaiy unproblematic sincesuch installations intended to ress mediation and Instead beexpertenced del Nevertheless closer investigation af these works andofthe divergent criticism they attra allows wstoientfy important ‘erences bebween them ‘The installations of Gobet rwin(s2928) areparagmatic ofthis

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