In reply to Patricia's very well researched and interesting post on the relation of AP
and Fluxus--
You're right, Patricia, there has been, in the work of the artists represented at the
Walker show, a movement into more "conventional" notions of sculpture, a willingness to
use stone (in particular), glass, metal, etc., as well as thread, needles, and other
more minimal and humble means. Still, there's a holding on to the "ordinariness" of
dirt, through its apotheosis, marble, say--in other words, there seems to be always
some
wit active in these artists' move through, into, out of, back into, etc., the art world
per se.
To me this seems to represent a more sustainable and interesting relation to the
idea of an art world than the somewhat more intractable outsiderhood of Flux. That is,
movements that exist nomimally outside the artworld inevitably become part of the
artworld simply because the stance of opposition to the artworld is a hallowed artworld
tradition. Ergo. So the AP folks seem to have been able to assimilate this and play
with it in ways that both expand and sustain their practice and actually expand and
sustain the artworld proper. I mean, I think of the artworld as actually the home of
the
antiartworld, which indeed it is, because it's one of the few sites in the socius that
truly values sensuality, perception, courage, the new, etc. Of course it is sometimes a
corrupt place, but all sites of human action share that characteristic.
Well. And also of course being a sculptor myself and sometimes working with
"precious" materials like bronze, I do get seduced by the gorgeousness that's possible
with this stuff. I appreciate the antipuritan stance of sculptors like Luciano Fabro,
who can revel in the gorgeous, big chunks of cast glass, carved marble, etc., and then
turn around a transform a large room with a couple spools of thread.
The catalog is very well done, good text, good research, a good resource, but not as
rich in images as one might wish. I actually opted for a prettier little French book on
Fabro instead. No doubt I will regret this later. I always kick myself for not
acquiring
catalogs of Walker shows--they're always good and often sell out.
Thanks for your much more historically focused and valuable response to my little
thang.
More more!
AK
