Art practice …a review

1. Art practice…a review We can recall that art practice covers 3 aspects: artmaking; art history; art criticism. Since meeting Duchamp, we realise that artmaking need not necessarily be solely about manipulation of materials, but about ideas. Duchamp marked the earliest example of this art which privileges ideas over aesthetics (Conceptual Art), though it was not known as that in his time. We’ll be investigating conceptual practice further in coming weeks. Duchamp, Hat rack, (suspended from ceiling, so non-functional), Originally 1917, lost and reconstructed 1964.

2. ARTMAKING Modernism was characterised generally by new, sometimes disturbing approaches to content, representation and techniques. Various art movements arose during this Modern period. They were referred to as the avant-garde and challenged the mainstream of the day (Academy and Salon.) Eduard Manetused everyday contemporary subjects in his paintings, scandalising the public and Salon; the world he represented was one of contemporary people, including those kind of people considered ‘not nice’, and depicted with loose brushwork with bright light that flattened their forms, and odd perspective that drew people’s attention to the surface of the painting. In doing so, it reminded them that it WAS indeed a painting, rather than a window on the world. The Impressionists were interested in capturing the effects of light, and applied their paint in impasto daubs in a rapid manner. They often worked en plein aire. Their paint came in tubes for the first time, allowing one to work outside more easily – an example of technology changing the way art could be practised. Note the loose brushwork on the woman’s dress, and the relaxed postures of two contemporary figures, Representing a world of leisure. The description of light in this image is also interesting. Manet, On the Beach, 1874.

3. New technologies, and exposure to the art of foreign cultures gave rise to new ideas thatchanged artmaking practices… Photography became popular from the last quarter of 19th century and revolutionised how people saw the world. The photograph could capture a perfect likeness, which changed the role that painting and drawing had occupied. Colour lithographs (end 19th cent.): a printing process that enabled large, coloured images to be printed easily and cheaply. The poster was born, and was utilised for advertising. Japanese aesthetic (Japonisme): Japanese artworks and products came to Europe in 2nd half of 19th century and were hugely influential. Flattening of form; simplification of form; strong tonal variation; elevated angle of perspective; strong outlines were all qualities of Japanese art. Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge, La Goulue, (‘The Glutton’, name of the can-can girl)1891, poster

4. Collage: The Cubists – Picasso, Braque, Gris – were the key players who brought this technique into mainstream practice. Bits of paper, wallpaper, even chair caning were glued onto the surface of the work, becoming a formal element within the work, but also making a reference to the world in which the Cubists were living…a Modern world of the ephemeral; the disposable. These works were created with an eye to the aesthetic. They were carefully planned, not random. The also incorporated text for the first time, another innovation which changed the way we ‘read’ a work. The text on the image sometimes itself actually contributed to the meaning of the work, often employing a pun or word joke. The effect of all this? Total ruin of pictorial illusion. The dream was over forever. This is not your breakfast table. The painting is not smooth, blended, modelled and illusionistic. You are looking at an art object. Juan Gris, Breakfast, 1914, Gouache, oil, and crayon on cut-and-pasted printed paper on canvas with oil and crayon. 80.9 x 59.7 cm.

5. Marie McMahon, You are on Aboriginal Land, 1984, screen-print. Screen-printing: a cheap, easy and quick technique of art-making. It involved simplification of forms, because of the use of stencils to produce shapes, and dramatic tonal variations. It was often used to promote political causes – Gay Rights; Feminism; Green concerns; War protests; Aboriginal rights. Co-operatives and community groups were often involved with screen printing techniques as it was cheap. Often text was involved, as a message was being sent or information shared. Photomontage: collage using photographic images. An innovation from the Dadaists, often used for political purposes especially in Berlin Dada. John Heartfield: The meaning of the Hitler salute: little man asks for big gifts, photomontage magazine cover, 1932

6. Assemblage:A 3-D creation using everyday objects. Used by Dadaists; Duchamp (coined the phrases ‘readymade’, ‘assisted readymade’; ‘readymade from a distance’) as an ‘anti-art’ statement. The Surrealistversion was the ‘Surrealist Object’) with the intention of shaking the viewer into a space where some inner truth or different reality could be accessed. Both groups were disenchanted with Western conventions and so-called ‘civilisation’ in the wake of WW1. For all these artists to varying degrees, aesthetics or formal values were secondary to the ideas behind the work. Assemblages of all kinds raised issues of skill; the hand of the artist; originality; and the symbolism and meaning inherent in everyday objects. Man Ray, Self portrait assemblage, 1916, Photograph of assembled objects and handprint, approx. 10cm x 7cm

7. Hans (Jean) Arp, collage with squares Arranged according to the laws of chance, 1916-17 Use of accident; games of chance: used by Dadaists; Surrealists. These ideas are a direct – and deliberate - contradiction to the conventional Academic approach, which involved a lot of planning and designing. Max Ernst, The entire city, frottage and painting, 1935. Frottage: used by Dadaists, involved laying a piece of paper over a textured surface and rubbing pencil/charcoal over it to get an image dictated by chance.

8. Iron and steel; large plates of glass: In architecture, the advent of these commercially available materials through end 19th century / early 20t, and the development of a steel skeleton allowed high rise buildings to be built, starting in Chicago and New York. (The invention of the electric elevator also made this possible.) Large amounts of glass could be used as walls in high-rises because of the steel structure. This vastly increased the amount of light. Use of prefabricated objects in building meant buildings, especially in post WW1 Europe, could be cheaply and quickly built for a rapidly expanding population where much housing had been destroyed by war. Bauhaus design (between World Wars in Germany) was centred around creating objects for mass production which were first of all functional, simple, streamlined, without decoration or ornament, and unapologetic about the new materials that were being used. Bauhaus designs extended from architecture to textiles; furniture And domestic objects. Marianne Brandt, teapot, 1924.

9. What does an art critic do? (thanks to Craig Malyon, Revise in a Month HSC Visual Arts, 2002) • Evaluates the qualities of an artwork; • Examines how the artist has developed and produced art; • Explains the artwork, to help the audience understand and appreciate. • The critic may use any combination of frames, and refer to the conceptual framework, to make all this clear and informative to the audience. In the ‘short answer’ HSC questions, you are acting as an art critic, teasing out the qualities you can see in the works shown; looking for meanings through symbols and representations within the artwork; comparing works; considering the relationships between artworld agencies (conceptual framework) etc.

10. For the exam you need understand the role critics play, and be able to refer to specific critics and what they have said. We will be introducing more critical writing over the next several weeks. We have already looked at Clive Bell, who in 1914 introduced the idea of Significant Form. (If you missed this session, please review the PowerPoint on Wiki: 20th Cent Expressions 3). Bell was asking ‘what IS art, really?’He claimed: • There is something particular about all artworks, no matter what they are (architecture; a bowl; tapestry or painting) - or when they were created. Something they all hold in common. • This something he refers to as ‘Significant Form’. By this he means the combination of line; composition; tonal variation; colours etc. He doesn’t further explain this for us. (!!) He is annoying. Hagia Sophia, Turkey, created c. 400 AD – an ancient artwork possessing significant form.

11. He cites ‘primitive art’ as the best art. (Art from Japan, and from tribal cultures in the Pacific and Africa was becoming more widely available for viewing at end 19th century.) Primitive art has these important characteristics: • Absence of representation; • Absence of technical swagger; • Sublimely expressive form. Bell believed that ‘formal significance’ was lost when the artist got too preoccupied with exact representation, and being clever. New Guinea War Hook, n.d. Primitive art was seen as having other concerns – spiritual and poetic – rather then worrying over much about accurate representation.

12. He believed that ‘descriptive painting’, painting that had a narrative (told a story) was less interesting. (For instance, History painting.) If it WAS interesting, then it wasn’t because of the story or because of the actual figures themselves, but only because of the significant form. Jean-Leon Gerome, The cock fight, 1846. A ‘descriptive’ painting that was too concerned with a story and accurate representation.

13. Bell claimed that art need not be in any way involved with the everyday, or with the events of the real world. Nor did the viewer need to know anything about the culture they were in. He believed art was above all that nonsense. Bell was claiming, then, that art was set apart from the world. Various art movements (especially Abstract Expressionism in the US) and critics (especially Clement Greenberg) agreed with this idea. What do we think of this idea? (And by the way, do we think ‘Primitive’ art didn’t relate to it’s time and place?) Bell was writing this essay in association with an exhibition of post-impressionist art, like Van Gogh’s. Van Gogh, The olive trees, 1889

14. Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977): Modern Times, 1936. As the 20th century progressed, film became increasingly more significant as a visual art form, and could involve itself with, and represent, the everyday, just as the Impressionists had in their day. The properties of the medium were closely linked to emerging and developing technologies. In the segment, look out for commentary on Modernity: • Interaction between men and machines; • Unfair working conditions, a common problem; • The ‘Bauhaus styling’ of the feeding machine, designed for function and simplicity, showing off the materials from which it was created; therefore supremely beautiful

15. HSC Question….. Q: Explain how Jeffrey Smart and Glenn Murcutt have responded to the world around them in these artworks. Plate 3: Jeffrey Smart, born 1921, Australia, living in Italy. Morning, Yarragon siding, 1982–4. Oil on canvas, 100 × 134 cm. Smart painted this picture from a photograph he took of a railway station while travelling in country Victoria. A siding is a section of track off the main railway line. It is used for loading, unloading and storing trains.

16. This house was commissioned by the Magney family to be built on the location oftheir favourite coastal camping site. Plate 4: Glenn Murcutt, architect, born 1936, Australia. Magney House, 1982–4, Bingie Point, New South Wales. Corrugated iron, steel, glass and brick.