Framing Site Specific Art.

Upon reading Genealogy of Site Specificity, what first came to mind was the Statue of Liberty. As beautiful and massive as the sculpture is, a portion of its beauty can be contributed to it's placement. Historically, this sculpture is one of the first sights of millions of immigrants arriving to the shore's of the United States pursuing the liberation and freedom that the sculpture defines. To place it elsewhere would devalue it's purpose, or even change it's concept. I do believe the setting in which art is becomes the frame work of the piece. We interpret art based from its own history, our knowledge of it's style and it's cultural context. In a sense I do agree to the statement in this article "If you have to change a sculpture for a site there is something wrong with the sculpture." Although I also believe there are chameleon type art such as those that tend towards abstract that embodies different meanings as their placement changes. There are those traveling exhibits that take sculptures and paintings from their place of birth into galleries unalike. In these cases I don't think the work itself is so much altered but the environment is tampered with to meet the needs of the art. Lighting arrangements , specific placement of the work, or setting in an open or enclosed space are a few gallery adjustments to suit a piece. The viewer as well offers a certain aspect to the completion of the work relying on their opinions or relationship to the piece.

The article mentioned, "institutional framing of art, in other words, not only distinguishes qualitative value: it also reproduces specific forms of knowledge that are historically located and culturally determined." I'm reminded of visiting the Eiffle Tower and how it was the centerpiece of a city designed symmetrically. It's iconology alone almost demands it's presence in Paris and no place other. It's both devaluing and humoring to know there's a Paris, Texas with a cheap rip-off of an architectural phenomenon. ( I think I might have to visit there as well.) There is a physical upkeep of site specific art that does contribute to the value of a piece. This article gave an example of a performance involving keeping the stalk white setting of a gallery stalk white. Artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles does maintenance on her hands and knees cleaning a museum that takes on a hierarchical role in her concept of labor relations versus the pristine settings of art. So to take the quote from Robert Barry "to remove work is to destroy the work" in many instances is very much true. Although because an environment is not ageless there is a continuous upkeep of a piece surroundings, so that the piece maintains it's same effect.

Eiffle Tower in Paris, France. Centerpiece of the city and historically iconic, worldwide.

Eiffle in Paris, Texas. Conceptual to name of the small town but has a devalued purpose.

Minimalist with a lot on their mind: Pierre Huyghe and Jenny Holzer

There seems to be a connection between Jenny Holzer and Pierre Hughe's work. I would describe both of their work as minimal, but full of a questionable concept. In one of Pierre Hughe work a truism is projected on a wall and revolving doors circle in front of it while opening and closing. For the viewer, the concept would seem abstract and one could assume multiple meanings. He described that the revolving opening and closing doors created an environment where there was no inside or outside in a sense of no bounderies. This concept makes the work powerful by simulating a thought that to many is unreal, we all have our bounderies. His work relies heavily on the emotional landscape and less on the narrative. In this way the viewer becomes the artist as well by creating their own reality. He said his exhibition is never the end, its more of a starting point to go somewhere else. Thats how I perceive his work. Since there is little narrative my mind makes something of what I see and maybe a lot of it is led on by confusion.

Jenny Holzer, from my standpoint, is minimal in landscape but has a strong emotional impact on few words. Her truism's although entertaining at times seem to lack a visual prescence although they are usually done in large scale. She's the artist that I have chosen to do my own work based off of because I feel as though adding a visual along with strong words could be even more powerful. I did love one of the works she did in scrolling text on the ceiling in a glass building and how the text reflected off the windows. I think the art of her technology is interesting but I believe it should be taking to the next level of being visually pleasing. She uses the same font and same white color on most of her work. I wonder what the effect would be if these two components were to change. Maybe even the use of a different medium or combination of words an images done in the same projection matter. All in all her minimal style and thought provoking truisms have inspired to put my own twist to her work.