Sculptors and Their Use of Space beyond the Gallery - Article Example

Sculptors and their use of Space beyond the Gallery In almost all cultures and throughout history, different forms of sculpture have existed. Sculptures are art works that are three-dimensional in nature. Today, they are often made by forming plastic or hard materials by different processes such as modelling, casting, welding, assembling, sewing wroughting, and carving or by a combination of the above mentioned processes. Sculptures are in the modern day made of virtually any material the most common being metal, earth, plastic, wood and paper. This paper seeks to analyze how sculptures have used space beyond the gallery, while also exploring issues that have risen in sculptural history. The paper will more specifically concentrate on public art and earthworks or land art. Also, special mention will be made of art works by Robert Smithson and Richard Serra in the discussion. Use of Space in Sculptural Work In sculptural work, there are two main elements that play important roles, and that are in fact only separable in thought; space and mass. A sculpture is made of solid material and occupies space. In three main ways does the element of space enter the design: the material used either moves through or extends into space; it may enfold or enclose space to create voids and hollows within the art work. Materials may also relate across space with one another. Other supporting elements in sculptural work include colour, volume, surface, shade and light. Land Art Land art, also known as earth art or earthworks involves inextricably linking art to landscape1. Earth art is virtually found in every country in America and Europe. The art has also found its way in Africa, and more especially in South Africa. Today, land art has been accepted as part of public art although the term is often misused to refer to any kind of art – even those that are not related conceptually to avante-garde. Unlike conventional sculptural works where sculptures are positioned in a place, land art uses landscape as the specific means of artistic creation2. In other words, the work of art frequently is created in the open and left to change subject to natural erosion and away from civilization. The existence of land art can be traced in the United States back in the late 60s. Art works of this nature were first created in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada deserts. At the end of the 60s in the USA, land art came into being, possibly as a protest against plastic aesthetics, artificiality and heartless commercialization of art. Outside the grip of the commercial art market, exponents of earthworks created monumental projects in the landscape and rejected the museum setting. The art was then inspired by concept art, and minimal art. It is generally accepted that the sudden appearance of earthworks in the late 60s was as a reaction by artists, most of who were in their late twenties, to increased political activism, and the birth of women’s liberation and environmental movements according to Kimmelman3 . Land art with time has come to be inspired by minimal and modern movements such as minimalism, cubism and De Stijl. Joseph Beuyss, Constantin Brancusi, Isamu Noguchi and other renowned sculptors have also been sources of inspiration to earthworks in the modern day. In 1941, for example, Isamu Noguchi designed, in New York, a contoured playground which has greatly influenced environmental sculpture, landscape architecture and contemporary earthworks In 1969, famous artists exhibited their land arts at Cornell University’s White Meuseum of Art. The artists included Gunther Uecker, Jan Dibbets, David Medalla, Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Neil Jenney, Richard Long, Dennis Oppenheim, Hans Haacke, James Turrell, Robert Morris and. Robert Smithson. James Turrell is credited for having possibly made the largest earthwork in modern times. He reshaped the earth that surrounded, in Arizona, the Roden Crator volcano4. Jeanne-Claude and Christo are two famous land artists who pioneered in wrapping landscapes, buildings and monuments in fabric5. The concept of social sculpture by Joseph Beuys greatly influenced earthworks. In 1972, the artist embarked on his 7000 Eichen project in which he planted 7000 oak trees. This project had numerous similarities to the processes of earthworks. Australian artist Andrew Rogers has greatly contributed to land art through his Rhythms of Life project6. This is considered the greatest contemporary earthwork in the world in terms of size. The project forms a chain of geoglyphs, or stone sculptures, in twelve sites around the world. The project is located in dissimilar exotic places ranging from altitudes of 14, 107 feet to below sea level. In each site, a number of geoglyphs - up to three- are located with their sizes widely varying, and the largest occupying close to 430,560 square feet7. In Africa, Strijdom van der Merwe has been on the forefront in developing the art of earthworks. Based on historical events, South Africa’s Mama Africa earthwork is sixteen meters long, three meters high and seven meters wide, and is part of a botanical garden that is privately owned. Robert Smithson’s Earthworks The Spiral-Shaped Jetty Robert Smithson’s most famous and best known piece of all his earthworks is the Spiral Jetty created in 1970. In this piece, the American artist arranged algae, soil and rock to make a 1500 feet long spiral jetty that protruded into Utah’s Great Salt Lake8 . The visibility of the land art quite much often depends on the fluctuation in the lake’s water levels. The earthwork is often covered and uncovered completely by water since its formation. The spiral jetty is best seen in aerial view from an aeroplane. Yet another of Smithson’s wonders is The Material of Time which is a sculpture that literally weighs over 1,000 tonnes9. The art is a centrepiece for the Guggenheim Museum north of Spain. The Gravel Mirror In 1968, Smithson formed the gravel mirror – a land art that exists in a gallery space and not in the open environment. The gravel mirror is made of gravel and dust piled beside a gallery wall that is partially mirrored. It is quite simple in form and the materials used are simply concentrated and marked with cracks. This land art and others created by Smithson characteristically have with minimalism, an affinity. The piece is also quite related to Arte Povera with regard to the traditional use of materials in a manner that may be considered worthless or inartistic. According to Miwon Kwon10, past site specific art (whether assimilative or interruptive) has much given itself up to environmental context, and has formally been directed and determined by it. The work of art hence was identified by its location. For example, a person who wants to view the spiral jetty has to go to the northern part of Utah or be satisfied with seeing the land art by photographic descriptions. In a similar ways, Robert Barrya’s wire installations, without being destroyed could not be displaced. According to Kwon who is an architectural theorist and professor, Richard Serraa’s objections are both shrill and unoriginal. Miwon also relates the art to an “any-time” theoretical teardown in the site’s immutability rather than on the political climate of the time11. Also, in respect of the jetty, Kwon claims that the museum space was not a likely competitive concept in the fight for space identity. Public Art Public art commonly refers to any artistic work planned and formed using any media specifically for staging for being sited in the public domain. Public art is normally accessible to all and located outside of buildings in the open environment. Within the world of art, public art occupies a significant position especially amongst commissioning bodies, public art practitioners and curators. It mainly signifies a special working practice and usually has much to do with collaboration and community involvement, and site specificity. Public art may also extend to include works of art that are exhibited in public space such as buildings that are open or accessible to the general public. Although architecture and architectural detail fall within the domain of public art, civic statuary, monuments and memorials are considered the most obvious and oldest forms of the art. In contemporary times, more and more aspects of the built environment have become acceptable candidates for public art or its location. Examples of public art include graffiti, lighting and street furniture12. It must however be noted that public art is not only related to physical objects. Street theatre, procession, poetry and dance, for example, may also fall within the gambit of public art. Public art sculptures are usually made of materials that are easy to care for and durable. This is done purposefully to avoid effects of chemicals, harsh physical conditions and vandalism. Many public arts are meant to exist only temporarily and are thus constructed out of ephemeral materials. Works that are meant to be permanent, however, arte sometimes integrated with landscaping and architecture especially when creating or renovating sites and buildings. Artists such as Richard Long have afforded the freedom to use outdoor sites to make works that are large to an extent of being unfeasible for art galleries. Richard’s work entitled “The Path is the Place in Line” is one such example. Other artists in this category include Anthony Gormley and Andy Goldsworthy. The Works of Richard Serraa Much like Anish Kapoor, Richard Serra is widely associated with public art, and more specifically with enormo-sculpture13 . Enormo-sculptures are works of art that are large beyond looking; the viewer has to walk through or around the art to see it in full. Richard is famous for making totemic steel slabs. He is also associated with art works made of rusty torqued steel like the “Open Ended” mazelike sculpture. According to Clarke14, Richard characteristically explores, beyond size, the weight, form, and volume of a material and relates it to human bodily space in his works. This is accomplished by disorienting, enveloping and overwhelming the person that views the sculpture. According to the artist, his art is more about how one understands experiences and sensations brought about by the duration of movement of the body through space. For example, when one gets lost in the “Open Ended” they have to deal with their positioning relative to their personal psychological subjectivity. In this sense duration is vital since time is one element that defines one’s individuality. Richard’s tiled arc is a sculpture made of rusting mild steel. Slightly curving in nature, the art piece is 120 feet long and 12 feet high. By blocking the Federal Building Plaza, the sculpture hampered easy access to the building and thus in a way represented artistic incarceration. The piece gives a view of defenceless pedestrians trying to access or leave the building and is therefore site specific15. While some quarters have argued that Richard’s works are largely abstract, the artist has maintained to the contrary (Penelope, 1999). His constructions are hugely minimalist, self supporting, emphasize the nature and weight of materials and are usually made of large sheets or rolls of metal in a scale that makes the viewer appear as a dwarf. Sometimes, controversies surround public arts – these being as a result of diverse factors. Some factors may include the wide and varied nature of the viewing public, differing understanding and familiarity with the art itself and its syntax, the artist’s desire to provoke, civic oversight, and issues related to public safety and use of public spaces, funds and resources. Richard’s titled arc, for example, in 1989 was, from the NY City plaza, removed after some workers complained that it caused disruption in their routine duties. Role of Public Art Sculptures are virtually found in almost every street, building façade and city square in the modern world. Sculptures are closely associated with the built environment and last longer than paint in their connection with public functions. Sculptures, in the past, quite rarely belonged to the gallery and instead were found in other arenas where different conventions were followed in their making and placement16. In essence, outside the gallery, sculptures perform a task of filtering something beyond their artistic appearance17. The durability of sculptures in public places and outdoor sites is important if they are for commemorative purposes18 . The memorials were for the preservation of names of the people that they were supposed to commemorate. Sculptures have been used to demarcate, mark, embellish and record. Sculptures have also been used to beautify or decorate the environment. Buildings such as the Technical University, the Law Courts, and Town Hall in Stockholm for example were decorated by artists like Sydney Gibson, Ivan Johnson, Gustave Sandgberg and others19. Some public art pieces are made in a way that encourages the physical participation of the audience. One example of such is the architectural centrepiece positioned in the front of Ontario Science Centre. This permanent art piece is both a hydraulophone and a fountain20. Visitors can hence play the instrument can therefore play the instrument at whatever time by blocking its water jets thereby forcing water through a number of mechanisms that produce sound within the sculpture. Yet another example of an interactive sculpture is the Federation bells in Melbourne that is also designed in the form of a musical instrument. Political ends have been expressed by use of public art. Notable examples are manifested in the spread of propaganda through use of public art especially by previous authoritarian artistic approaches during China’s cultural revolution during Mao’s time and Stalin’s Soviet Union in unique ways depict an environment of suppression. In societies that are more open, artists often use public art to establish a censorship free way of getting into contact with viewers or to promote their ideas21. Intentionally, art may be ephemeral and with spontaneous quality as in the case of performance pieces and temporary installations. Such works of art may be displayed characteristically in urban areas without authorities’ consents. They may, however, with time achieve official recognition. Examples of such a case include the early works of Haring Keith along NY City Subway on advertising poster holders and those of Fekner John on billboards22 . Such sculptures have provided a means of effecting communication beyond and within distressed groups, within the wider community. In fact, some sculptures of this kind have proved important in fostering dialogue and bridging rifts in the social fabric that may have brought about the original misunderstandings. Conclusion Sculpture has undergone extensive change over time. Sculpture as an art has continued to be a vital artform across the world. Religious devotion has been marked by the use of sculpture in many cultures. Extremely modest compassion, creativity, conceptual manifestations of content and form, and modernist abstraction has been part of sculptural history. Artists such as Richard Serraa and Robert Smithson have made significant contributions to art by their sculptural works and by their use of space as an element of art. Sculptures have played unique roles some of which include decoration, to communicate discontent and for religious devotion. References Clarke T. (2007) Exhibit Review: Richard Serra at MOMA, retrieved 26th November, 2009 http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/exhibit-review-richard-serra-at-moma/page-2/ Eleanor H. (2009) Andrew Rogers Geoglyphs, Rhythms of Life, Edizioni Charta srl, Italy. Grant K. (2004) Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art, University of California Press, California. Kastner J. (1998) Land and Environmental Art, Brian Wallis, Boston. Kwon M. (2005) Place After Another: Notes on Site, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Malden, Masachusetts. Kimmelman M. (2005, June 24) Sculpture From the Earth, But Never Limited by It, The New York Times. Penelope C. (1999) Sculpture 1900-1945: After Rodin, Oxford University Press. Potts, A. (2000) The Sculptural Imagination: Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, Yale University Press. Weilacher U. (1999) Between Landscape Architecture and Land Art. Basel Berlin Boston. Williams R. (2000) After Modern Sculpture: Art in the United States and Europe, UP Manchester. Read More