For Celestial Bodies– The PLAN, we look at four artists that are known as minimalists, but approach their investigations into space, mass and the motion of earth-bound bodies in different ways. Dan Flavin electrifies the gallery space using fluorescent light — the light washes over the entire space creating a new, light-weight environment. Richard Serra on the other hand, uses cor-ten, or weatherproof steel walls to create twisted and torqued alleyways that seem crushingly heavy. Collaborators Peter Fischli and David Weiss present a global pop spectacle contained in a pristine world. We’ve suggested an order for you to experience the installations below, but you can choose to visit them in any order!
Dan Flavin: Series and Progression
David Zwirner Gallery - 519 West 19th Street (between 10 & 11 Ave)
until December 23, 2009
Richard Serra: Blind Spot /Open Ended
Gagosian Gallery - 522 West 21st Street
until December 23, 2009
Peter Fischli and David Weiss
Matthew Marks Gallery - 522 West 22nd Street
until January 16, 2010
1.
Dan Flavin: Series and Progression
Experience it…
Dan Flavin. alternating pink and “gold”, 1967. Pink and yellow fluorescent light. 8 ft (244 cm) high; length variable. Photo by Cathy Carver © 2009 Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York.
Step into the light! Starting at 519 West 22nd St, enter Dan Flavin’s work titled alternating pink and “gold”. This large-scale installation fills the entire room. You are in an immersive environment of light and color.
- Take note of how the color and light intensity change as you walk around “in” the sculpture
Exit the gallery and walk west to the next entrance at 525 West 19th St. As you enter the gallery, stand in the entry way for a moment and notice the progression of colors from room to room. The intensity of the color becomes more diffuse when you’re standing in the middle of the room — walk through all three and pay attention to the affect it has on your eyes.
In each of the 3 rooms, there are 3 individual sculptures all untitled from 1968.
- Notice the different color combinations, the number of lights, and the arrangement of them to form the sculpture. Also notice where they are placed on the wall and the resulting effect of the light and color radiating out into the room.
“the nominal three was not a fixed composition, but rather a concept—whose premise had enormous implications for a form of art that could be drawn out from an idea.” Michael Govan, “Irony and Light,” in Dan Flavin: The Complete Lights 1961 – 1996. Many artists use systems as a starting point for exploring larger ideas. The number 3 has been used by artists throughout art history — as a stand in for the supernatural, as an architectural unit, as a symbol.
Walk back towards the gallery entrance, and make a right to continue your exploration of Flavin’s work.
From the middle gallery, again look ahead to the next gallery room and take note of the color and intensity of the light. In these 4 later works, untitled (for John Heartfield) 3a-3d, 1990, he continues to utilize serial form, color combinations, arrangement - but now lights are projecting out from the wall.
- As you approach the final gallery space, what color do you see?
Installation view, Dan Flavin: Series and Progressions, David Zwirner, New York, 2009. Photo by Cathy Carver © 2009 Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York.
It is untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection), 1974 is a type of sculpture by Flavin called a “barrier”. Instead of being mounted on the wall, the sculpture stretches across the floor and blocks our passage across the room. It heightens our perception of the surrounding architecture.
- What shape is Flavin repeating over and over in this sculpture? Notice how when you stand at the beginning of the piece, it seems like it can extend forever.
More on Flavin:
2.
Richard Serra: Blind Spot /Open Ended
This is ARTime’s lo-fi video of the experience of walking through a Serra sculpture. No photographs are allowed, so we had to take this video on the DL. You can check out an official video of the installation on Gagosian’s website here:
BLIND SPOT / OPEN ENDED - video
For more than 40 years, Richard Serra has been making sculptures that have challenged and more recently amazed viewers! He began in the 1990s to bend and curve gigantic steel plates to enclose and shape space to create a new type of sculpture for us to move around and through.
You can see interviews and installations of Richard Serra on Art21 here: http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/serra/
Experience it…
As you enter Gagosian Gallery, note your very first impressions of seeing the 2 sculptures: Blind Spot (2002-2003) on your left and Open Ended (2007-2008) on your right. Consider their shape, scale, weight, surface texture, and color.
Choose one and walk around it. Notice the beautiful varied surface of the Cor-ten steel which is allowed to naturally rust and in the process forms a stable patina.
When you come to an opening (did you expect to find one?), enter it.
- As you walk through the sculpture, how does your body and mind feel as the free-standing weighty walls tower above you and the space bends and curves, expands and contracts.
- How does it feel not to be able to see what’s ahead and not be certain where you are going and where you will end up?
Walk through the other one and compare the experience. Keep in mind that Serra is very interested in “the body moving through various durations” and “every time you take a stride… you have to deal with your memory and your anticipation.”
Talk about…
As you walk around and inside the monumental sculptures, it’s hard to know what the entire work looks like.
Both sculptures consist of 6 steel plates placed in a concentric pattern and utilize two of Serra’s favorite shapes: a spheroid and torus. “To better understand these forms,” Hal Foster has written, “picture a column or (better) a doughnut: its outside edge will describe a spheroid section, while it’s inside edge will describe what is called a torus…”
Check out Serra’s related drawings in the small gallery room adjacent to the sculptures and/or the exhibition poster behind the reception desk. The aerial views allow us to see the sculptures in their entirety.
- Is it what you imagined?
- What do the shapes make you think of?
Draw it…
Bring a sketch pad and pencil and draw the different shapes of the sculpture you see as you walk around it. When you are inside the sculpture, look up and draw the different shapes you see created by the shifting walls of the sculpture. At home, you can make your sketches into a flip book to capture the changing views of the work as you move around and through it.
3.
Peter Fischli and David Weiss - Sun, Moon and Stars
In this installation, Fischli and Weiss present a collection of reproduced advertisements collected from magazines from around the world. They present 759 photos on minimalist table tops and grouped by color and content. You can read more here:
Below is a recoding of a conversation we had in Matthew Marks Gallery on Saturday, November 7. This is our first attempt at creating a video in a gallery space, so please forgive us for the difficult audio and the shaky video. With more practice, we’ll be shooting like pros in no time. And be sure to check back — we’ll be adding more videos over the next couple of weeks.
More on Fischli and Weiss: