How Far Is Too Far? (article)

Marina Abramovic

Performing her 1975 work

Lips of Thomas at the

Guggenheim Museum on

November 14, 2005.

 

 “The artist is free to do whatever he wants without any interference.”

Since the early 1970s, performance, installation, and video art have increasingly pushed Art into new, often hazardous territory. Artists have made work damaging property, depicting sexual acts, or even injuring their own bodies. Though some audiences consider it still as an art, it is pessimistic how far art can go and be understood. 

 

 In November 14, 2005, Marina Abramovic had a re-performance of her 1975 body-art action, The Lips of Thomas, at the Guggenheim Museum. Marina Abramovic, who was naked, used a razor blade to cut a five-pointed star on her stomach, and blotted it with a white cloth. She stood and cried with wearing boots and military cap, and then, whipped herself by using a wooden staff. This process went on repetitively and continuously. In order to deliver her intention effectively, which is elevating the spirit and eliminating fear, the artist might have to choose this way of expressing art among many others. However, how the art, which pushes the audience into chaos and makes him or her to endure while observing the work, can be Art itself? The artist might respond it was not intended to provoke or harm the other person, and the body was used just as a tool. Yet, it is hard not to think as a plausible excuse and an abuse of artistic freedom.

 Yes, of course, artists are the people who have to be creative, innovative, and free. However, they have to be responsible to the public at the same time. If there is no limit of creation, art’s meaning will become less important and people will question, “What is Art?” Sometimes, it is good to be less than more.       

 

The Vocabularies in the Labels

“Ad Reinhardt”, American, 1913-1967

No.18, 1956

Oil on canvas

 

*  Monochromatic

: In this painting, Ad Reinhardt uses only dark blue colors, which seem the same when a viewer sees the painting from a distance.

* minimalist art

: The artist extracted a possibility of using complicate forms and applied sharp lines and square figures, which are simple and humble. Minimalist is the late 1960s movement in the arts that pursues simplicity by applying a spare or a stripped form to essentials.      

*  connotations of color

: Artists usually put colors as a medium of their thoughts and emotions, but in this painting, the artist tried to remove all complexity by simplifying its colors. Thus, the connotations of color mean hidden meanings of colors.

* symbolic inflection

: Ad Reinhardt did not include compositions that could be read as three-dimensional and removed colors that might bring a complicate meaning. Symbolic inflection is a strong inside meaning which can raise many questions.

 

 

“Joaquin Torres-Garcia”, Uruguayan, 1874-1949

Composition #548, 1932

Oil on board

 

* geometric grid containing abstract patterns

: Joaquin Torres-Garcia used a framework of spaced bars, which devices and composes patterns that are usually recognizable and meaningful.

* concrete embodiment of an idea

: The artist creates his own structure of the painting, which looks like accumulating an image of blocks, and this form and his way of expressing an art is unique for other people. Defining his own meaning and order by listening to his voice of the mind is the definition of this term. 

* irregular compartments

: The artist divides and separates the canvas not in the same order or shape.

* bordered niches

: Torres-Garcia puts his abstracted images into structured frames, which are like boxes. 

* muted colors

: The way of the artist’s using colors is almost grayed, and not saturated, so some viewers might think the colors are boring.

 

 

“Jasper Johns”, American, B, 1930

Numbers, 1967-1981

Etching and open-bite with pen and ink and brush and wash on paper

 

* “things the mind already knows.”

: This is the term the artist stated. Jasper Johns reworks his familiar subjects by approaching to them emotionally.

* Sensuous materials

: The media, which the artist uses, is more related to human’s heart than the intellect. Thus, it touches the artist and viewers’ senses.  

* Illusions of three-dimensional space

: By layering the numbers on top of each other, a viewer can get the image of three-dimensional, which is originally two-dimensional.

*  complex network of loose parallel

: The artist uses many lines and brushstrokes that crosshatch each other, so it is hard to distinguish the clear image inside the painting.

 

 

 

The Cape Cod Modern Houses

 A Journey to the Cape Cod, which was held on a beautiful Thursday with friends and an architect, became an unforgettable experience. The Houses, which called cottages, were humble in budget and materials, but close to nature.

 

 Late 1930s, a group of people who were wealthy and intellectual moved to Wellfleet, and began building experimental houses based on the early modern building they have seen in Europe. The community was composed of architects, their family and friends, artists, writers, and thinkers. The modern houses, which these architects built, were being formed as summer houses, that were able to capture breathtaking views and breezes. And these cottages were perching lightly on the land, so that if they are moved by certain power, it could be seemed like there was nothing on the ground before.

 According to the lecture of the trip, these modern houses’ distinguishing characteristics are transparency and dematerializing, which considers light structure. For instance, the architects applied glass curtain walls that can be opened and closed by the owners’ intentional uses, so that they could enjoy the summer lights and breezes efficiently. The architects who built these modern houses tried to recommend different diagrams of living, including nature and art. Rather to choose exotic materials, by using low budget elements, such as wood, glass, and stone, the Cape Cod houses are not only cost-effective, but also earth-friendly. Furthermore, since these houses emphasized on a functional aspect, they were built in a simple and clear way of architecture. And this character led the houses be loved and last long. Moreover, the circumstances of the era, including trees, gardens, and beach, were so beautiful that must have taken the residents’ minds.   

 

 Traveling to the Cape Cod houses meant much more than the knowledge that I have taught from classes. These modern houses, by observing closely, were extraordinary not in their appearances, but in their souls. And today, to preserve this particular diagram of living, a group including contemporary architects is trying to restore the Cape Cod modern houses. I believe that the Cape Cod can be a great source of education and a model for a productive living.