Lecture Notes: Art and Politcs (04-1-2005)

1. Politics:

字源：politics – polis(城邦)
定義：a. 管治形式(國家、政府)；b. 權力(國家、政府、階級、性別、種族 --> 制度、文化)

2.Art and Politcs:

a.鼎
b.皇帝、貴族畫像 --> 當權者、有錢人畫像/藏品

3.New Public Art and Art Activism:

a . Introduction:
Ralph Brancaccio ,”Y," 1998, Steel and Aluminum, 10’ x 6.5’ base plate 5’ x 5’, Providence Washington Plaza

"Y" a sculpture project, co-sponsored by the New York foundation for the Arts, uses the form of the form of the letter -Y- to question the human condition. Large sculptures of the letter -Y- are created in colored metal with a word engraved on each side. This project poses in public places the question "Y STARVATION," "Y WAR," "Y DISCRIMINATE," etc., to provoke a thoughtful response to these various issues; while questioning, why do we live so comfortably with our existence. The completed project will eventually consist of twenty-one sculptures. The first is installed in New York City, from April 1998 through to October 1998, at the Ruth Wittenburg Triangle, located on Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Avenue and Ninth Street. This sculpture reads "Y Discriminate." The second of the twenty-one "Y" sculptures will be a part of CONVERGENCE XI. It will be located in Providence Washington Plaza, Downtown Providence Rhode Island.

b .examples

i. Hans Haacke: And You Were Victorious After All(1988) [http://www.ac.aup.fr/ggilbert/contentpages/monumentalmeanings.html] - Hans Haacke is an artist who creates site-specific public art installations. In Haacke's words,

The social and political character of the exhibition local plays a role, as do the architectural peculiarities of the space. In fact, the symbolic qualities of the context are often my most essential materials. A work made for a specific site cannot be moved and exhibited elsewhere. The significance of its physical elements as well depends frequently on the context (91).

In 1987, Haacke was invited to create a new public art work for the Styrian Fall Festival in Graz, Austria. Anticipating rejection, he submitted a proposal to re-shroud the Mariensäule (Column of the Virgin Mary) with a copy of a cloth Nazi obelisk that had originally shrouded the Column in 1938. The Column is one of Graz’s older monuments, it rises in a square at the south end of Herrengasse, the most prominent street in Graz, that erected late in the 17^th century.

In 1938, Hitler had conferred on Graz the title Stadt der Volkserhebung (City of the People’s Insurrection起義) for being the foremost Nazi sympathizer in Austria. During the ceremony in 1938, the Column had been covered with a black cloth obelisk that carried the Nazi insignia and read UND IHR HABT DOCH GESIEGT (And you were victorious after all). In addition to the original text, Haacke’s obelisk included the following:

The vanquished of Styria: 300 Gypsies killed, 2,500 Jews killed, 8,000 political prisoners killed or died in captivity, 9,000 civilians killed during the war. 1,200 missing, 27,900 soldiers killed(80).

Haacke’s proposal was accepted and the work was fabricated and installed as part of the exhibition Points of Reference.

During the night of November 2, just one week prior to the close of the exhibition, Haacke’s piece was firebombed. The majority of the fabric was destroyed along with the statue of the Virgin that stood atop the column. The local and national press, as well as the German press, reported the firebombing. Richard Kriesche, an artist from Graz, call for a 15-minutes silent demonstration at the ruin at noon on the following Saturday. About a hundred people belonging to the local art community came and discussed the meaning of the event with the crowd of Saturday shoppers that had gathered around. For days afterwards, inspired by a lay apostolate, leftist politicians, students, and others left flower and lit candles by night at the foot of the burned obelisk.

Through the simple act of re-installing a replica of a political monument lifted from a difficult period in the city’s history, Haacke’s piece re-charged the space and the column in several ways. 1) It drew attention to the events of that time and allowed viewers and residents to directly re-experience the obelisk. 2) Haacke’s brief historical statistics (those who died or were killed during the Nazi occupation) directly counter and reveal the truth behind Nazi activities during the period. 3) In Haacke’s opinion, the firebombing was both a political act and one against art and freedom of expression. 4) The firebombing questions the extent to which political and social beliefs have changed since 1938. Police discovered that two Nazi sympathizers living in the area had destroyed the work. 5) The contemporary beliefs of individuals and the community were revealed through dialogues in the press and between individuals. All of these actions and events deepened the impact and meaning of the work.
ii. Joseph Beuys : Sept mille chênes pour Kassel(1982)
iii. Suzanne Lacy: Inevitable Associations(1976)
iv. Together We Can Defeat Capitalism: Capitalism Stops At Nothing(1998)

v. Other Questions:
作為裝置的店鋪：Prada NY 旗艦店Prada Soho、東京青山Prada
Aestheticization of Politcs:《心繫家國》(2004)、《開國大典》(1989，導演：李前寬　肖桂雲)、開國大典紀錄片段

4. 討論：
Nikeground Project(2003) by 0100101110101101.ORG and Public Netbase : Karlsplatz in Vienna, starting from 1^st January 2004, Karlsplatz is going to be called Nikeplatz (Nikeground). In preparation of the name change a Nike Infobox has been set up on Karlsplatz: a hign teach multipurpose container acting as display stand, open office and lounge.

5. Reference：

Jennifer Belle, “Y,: The Art Critic”, Drawing Us in. Beacon Press(2000).

Nina Felshin ed., But is it art? : the Spirit of Art as Activism. Seattle : Bay Press(1995).

Catherine Grout著，姚孟吟譯：《藝術介入空間》，臺北：遠流出版社(2002 年)。

Anna McCarthy, Ambient Television : Visual Culture and Public Space. Durham : Duke University Press(2001).

Prepared by 小西