Carsten Holler- Experience

When Hal Foster wrote about the fine line between site specific work and tourist site in "Artist as Ethnographer," I thought of Carsten Holler show at the New Museum last October. I did not see the show, but I remember reading about how, due to popularity, the museum extended its run  and about the lines visitors had to wait in to ride the slide he installed. These lines, viewing windows throughout the slide, and the waiver visitors have to sign before participating in any of his experiences (which also included the taking of pills and the opportunity to feel your nose grow) add to the spectacle.  

Stephanie Pierce

Stephanie Pierce approaches painting with perceptual problems foremost in mind. In order to explore her visual questions, she has arrived at a form which defies traditional representational conventions while still being entirely about seeing, and the experience of perceptual reality. Although her work is deeply indebted to her teacher, Ann Gale, there's a lot of unique work to see on her website. Neil Plotkin also interviewed her for the  Painting Perceptions blog here. A quick quote from the interview: "I feel like if anything, the paintings are like these confessions of all my inability, or some kind of record of how I struggle to understand something or come to process this thing I see."

Sam Durant

Of the many stellar works at Documenta 13,  I think Sam Durant's sculpture Scaffold, located within the Karlsaue park, resonates with the themes we've been discussing in class.  

Durant states:  
Because of the intricacy and complexity of this structure, it may not be immediately apparent as to exactly what its origins are or how it is to be used; while children use it as a play structure, adults, perhaps attracted by its architectural novelty can slowly discover its origins and meaning. While some might see a resemblance to constructions in an adventure playground from the 1970’s, the sculpture is actually made up of a combination of reconstructed gallows (or scaffolds as they were once called) that were used in executions of significance throughout U.S. history. Through this formal uncertainty there is an attempt to signify both the free play of childhood and the ultimate form of control, capital punishment.

http://www.samdurant.com/

Hamburger Bahnhof- Anthony McCall

Was thinking a bit about Anthony McCall's "Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture" from this summer in Berlin in relation to the readings.

Amanda Ross Ho- Untitled Nothing Factory

Some information about Untitled Nothing Factory by Amanda Ross Ho. Other work of hers references the studio, but sometimes seems like her main audience is other artists. This work seems to engage with a much more diverse audience through hands on participation.

Gabriel Orozco

Some brief recorded comments from the artist about individual works, courtesy of the Tate Modern.