Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) was an American artist, linked to various art movements such as Conceptual Art and Minimalism (1). LeWitt was in the forefront of a radical aesthetic practice, reacting to the Abstract Expressionism movement of the 60s. His work is said to advocate equality, accessibility, open exchange, and public space, all core elements of democracy. Emphasising the importance of the concept or idea, his works are executed by others to strict instructions. LeWitt’s wall drawings redefined the way by which art could be purchased and owned, criticising the proprietary rights imposed by his fellow artists. LeWitt regarded copying as “the most sincere form of flattery” and insisted that anyone could copy his wall drawings, as long as the copier follows his instructions (2).
LeWitt also valued the processual aspects of making art, stating that “If the artist carried through his idea and makes it into visible form, then all the steps in the process are of importance. The idea itself, even if not made visual, is as much a work of art as any finished product.” (3) In June 1967 he published his “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” in Artforum, where he wrote “All intervening steps, scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed work models, studies thoughts, conversations, are of interest. Those that show the thought process of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product” (4).
LeWitt has been and continues to be a strong influence on new generations of young artists, including myself.
Links:
Sol Lewitt Retrospective, Mass Moca
Sol Lewitt on Lisson Gallery
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- Sources:
(1) Wikipedia.org. 2011. Sol Lewitt. Available from URL: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Lewitt#cite_note-0. Downloaded [08.02.2011].
(2) Garrels, Gary, ed. 2000. Sol Lewitt: A Retrospective. pp. 369-371. New Haven and London: Yale University Press
(3) Lisson Gallery. Sol Lewitt. Available from URL http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/sol-lewitt/works/. Downloaded [08.02.2011].
(4) Lewitt, Sol. “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art”. Artforum Vol. 5, no. 10, Summer 1967, pp 79-83. Available in parts from URL: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SWu4SB92fHMC&pg=PA846&lpg=PA846&dq=sol+lewitt+art+in+theory&source=bl&ots=rRtBBwoIPo&sig=7caOOwL0wSneseAtmd2WvlZyIKE&hl=en&ei=6HZRTYfYGcbOswbfoPjWBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=paragraphs%20on%20conceptual%20art&f=false
(5) Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yves-Alain Bois and Benjamin H.D. Buchloch. 2004. Art Since 1900. London: Thames & Hudson. pp 470-474.
Did you catch a cold?
“Catch a Cold Open” is the first exhibition ever to be hosted at Premiss.
Premiss is an experimental, artist-driven, non-profit, ‘non-gallery’, right below a white-cube gallery managed by Tag Team Studios, located in an old, cold, charming but nonetheless condemned building in Bergen, Norway.
We wanted to avoid the traditional white-cube sterilisation by maintaining most of the original details of the space, allowing for a direct dialogue with the surrounding atmosphere instead of alienating the works from the outer world. Ellen Ringstad‘s site-specific, reductive, formal experiment entitled ‘Yellow’, made entirely of found materials – plastic bags filled with shredded paper – was mounted in a ’found’ hole in the wall, next to a long line of mirrors, left-overs from previous tenants. Rasmus Hungnes‘ ‘Waste Line’, is, as the title suggests, literally a long line of found waste, placed on the green, worn-out cement floor. These two trashy, immobile installations were emphasized by Eric Alvin Wangel’s silent aesthetic video piece, projected directly onto the wall, subtly reminding us that time is quietly, inevitably ticking.
The non-gallery opening was marked by the serving of warm vegetarian soup, freshly home-baked bread and waffles, which may have prevented our guests from catching that anticipated cold.
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Plastic Waste Polychrome
Ellen Ringstad. Detail of Plastic Waste Polychrome (2011), still in the making, consisting of layer upon layer of the artist's own plastic waste.
Have you been following my blog? If so, you may have noticed how concerned I am with waste. This concern is best exemplified through my ongoing dialogue and occasional quarrels with Waste Line, who is, much to her misfortune, literally a line of waste. Contrary to popular belief, Waste Line has numerable questions about her origins and wherabouts in life, which is more than can be said about certain humans individuals.
You might be surprised to read that my intentions with waste are not entirely based on environmental idealism. This waste frenzy was likely triggered by a not-so-admirable intention: capital; or rather lack thereof. In order to make art, a poor student like myself desperately needs materials, preferably without paying much for them. Come to think of it, it must have started earlier because I remember how my Grandmother, who lived and survived the two great wars on this continent, saved all sorts of materials and then turned them into new, smart things. Perhaps it is her fault that I’ve been collecting all kind of useless stuff, “just in case”. It seems both my grandmother and I have a lot in common with squirrels.
At least my grandmother made useful stuff, while I make art. However, I believe there is an important message in this kind of artistic expression. Found materials automatically say something about the society in which we live. As reflected citizens, one must inevitably raise the inconvenient questions about the way we live. How will our patterns of consumption affect the future? My grandmother, like so many others of her generation, learned the hard way. I’m trying to learn from her so I’ll be prepared for tougher times.
The photograph above is a detail of my new painting in the making, entitled Plastic Waste Polychrome, which will be approximately 300x200cm. It will be made entirely of my own melted plastic waste reminiscent of Waste Lines gone by, reminding me of just much how much I consume. It also references the works of Robert Rauschenberg.
Waste Line
Plastic Waste Line by Ellen Ringstad
Waste Line is a conceptual and dynamic art piece conceived by Bergen-based artist Rasmus Hungnes.
He says the project was inspired by my organic waistline, which he carefully examined during a visit to my studio. At the time, not long ago in fact, this week-end to be exact, I was working on a sculpture/installation, entitled Organic Waste, and I suspect his funky idea is related to that sculpture also.
My studio is rather trashy, filled up with poor materials patiently waiting to be used. And so the efficient artist did not waste any time: he constructed the first Waste Line, which is literally, as the title suggests, a line composed of waste. They “can be made at any time of the day, anywhere, by anyone, in any size, by anybody, by everybody and each and every one (…). If you make a Waste line yourself, please submit it here and I will post-it”, he declares on his dedicated blog. In an interview with me, he reveals how it would be nice if it became a huge, international, open-source, internet phenomenon. So if you want to be amongst the first to share lines, please do so on http://www.waste-line.tumblr.com/.
I thought this was a wonderful idea, and so I contributed with my first lines today. Since Rasmus was inspired by me, I am allowing myself to be inspired by him (being an open-source project and all). So every day, starting tomorrow, I will take a photograph of my own personal daily waste, except excrements and such, and, just out of curiosity, I will measure its lebgth and weight. The idea then, is to make a photographic exhibition, installing a long, long, long, long line of photographed waste lines.
And speaking of lines. Here’s a quote from the book Flatland – A Romance of Many Dimensions, a satirical novella by Edwin A. Abbott, which can be downloaded for free from this site.
“I began to move my body out of Lineland. (…) when I had at last moved myself out of his Line, he cried in his shrillest voice, “She is vanished; she is dead.” “I am not dead,” replied I; “I am simply out of Lineland, that is to say, out of the Straight Line which you call Space, and in the true Space, where I can see things as they are.” (1)
Now….Let the rat race begin!
- Sources: (1) Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland. 1884. A Romance of Many Dimensions. Second edition. Available online from URL: http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~banchoff/Flatland/ [Downloaded 2011-01-12].
