JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
We made over a dozen 16mm films of various lengths and four major installations: A Portrait of Ch... more We made over a dozen 16mm films of various lengths and four major installations: A Portrait of Chicago, The Windy City, 1967/68. Art Institute of Chicago Target Discount Store, 1970. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Astronauts on the Moon, 1972. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Ruckus Manhattan, 1975-76. Brooklyn Museum; Children's Museum of Denver; Nagoya City Art Museum; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio; Film Museum Potsdam, Germany; and collection of the artists A large part of our largest installation, Ruckus Manhattan, was recently destroyed in storage, including the World Trade Towers. What will happen to the rest of the pieces is part of the legacy puzzle without any plans.
Since the year 2000, artists have increasingly employed tools, methods, and aesthetics associated... more Since the year 2000, artists have increasingly employed tools, methods, and aesthetics associated with scientific practice to produce forms of art that assert themselves as kinds of experimental and empirical knowledge production parallel to and in critical dialogue with science. Anthropologists, intrigued by the work of art in the age of its technoscientific affiliation, have taken notice. This article discusses bio art, eco art, and surveillance art that have gathered, or might yet reward, anthropological attention, particularly as it might operate as an allied form of cultural critique. We focus on art that takes oceans as its concern, tuning to anthropological interests in translocal connection, climate change, and the politics of the extraterritorial. We end with a call for decolonizing art–science and for an anti-colonial aesthetics of oceanic worlds.
Tracing aspects of the complex history of Gestalt theory in the US, this essay follows what I dub... more Tracing aspects of the complex history of Gestalt theory in the US, this essay follows what I dub a "traumatic phenomenology" as it emerges in the yeasty postwar domain between psychology and art. Gestalt had burgeoned in the German Republic, applying itself to the clinical population of WW1 veterans; its emergence in the US was supported by a talented diaspora of refugees from fascism, who then inspired legions of artists and art visitors (no longer simply *viewers*) -- notably Doug Wheeler -- as well as space travel engineers. Wheeler's *Synthetic Desert*from the 1970s, newly realized in 2015, is a key case study in this exploration of phantom phenomena, sensorial cures, and anticipated trauma.
Response to the editor's prompt: are biennials only for elites? In answering the question in the... more Response to the editor's prompt: are biennials only for elites? In answering the question in the negative, this short essay reflects on the Berlin Biennial of 2018, "We don't need another hero."
The work of Anicka Yi prompts a reconsideration of "bio-art," so named by Eduardo Kac around the ... more The work of Anicka Yi prompts a reconsideration of "bio-art," so named by Eduardo Kac around the turn of the millennium, as a new kind of *biofiction.* This neologism works to connect the work of contemporary artists such as Yi -- complicating biochemistry with feminism, ethnicity, and the non-human -- to the century-plus practice of theoretical biology in the tradition of Jacob Uexkull. Rather than bioart's emulation of lab-bench practices and white coats, biofiction plunges us into a world that is always already entangled, coeval, and polyvalent.
The emergence of "cybernetic sculpture" in the 1960s, I argue, contributed an important concept t... more The emergence of "cybernetic sculpture" in the 1960s, I argue, contributed an important concept to our contemporary technosphere: the idea that the viewer would be surrounded by a machinic ecosystem, and would have to intuit her way to triggering the machine's response. These feedback loops, with their intensely gendered politics built in, could then be the basis for cybernetic feminist critique in the 1990s.
Returning to considerations from a 2002 essay for _Res_ on Posthumous Smithson, this essay broade... more Returning to considerations from a 2002 essay for _Res_ on Posthumous Smithson, this essay broadens the frame to theorize an "artist function" in parallel to Foucault's "author function."
How systems art came to MIT and interacted with the "systematic" architectural education develope... more How systems art came to MIT and interacted with the "systematic" architectural education developed in the postwar 20th century.
How do art historians, critics, curators, and desiring viewers create artists? This essay explore... more How do art historians, critics, curators, and desiring viewers create artists? This essay explores this process, initiated by the artist -- in this case Robert Smithson. Smithson's styling of an early set of works as "preconscious" helped set the stage for his posthumous reputation; a process that remains ongoing for this influential theorist and artist.
"Light Speed: Dan Flavin at the National Gallery" examines the minimalist work as a kind of emoti... more "Light Speed: Dan Flavin at the National Gallery" examines the minimalist work as a kind of emotional compression, in the context of Flavin's highly romantic writings and drawings for the well-known fluorescent works.
Why is a blind visitor the recurring (notably fictitious) trope confronting modernity's massive i... more Why is a blind visitor the recurring (notably fictitious) trope confronting modernity's massive international exhibitions? This essay analyzes the figure as a call to theory, in its anti-ocular incarnations.
By some accounts, biennials dominate contemporary art. This essay digs beyond the ahistorical cl... more By some accounts, biennials dominate contemporary art. This essay digs beyond the ahistorical claims of "contemporaneity" to suggest the longer history of these event structures.
est professeure d'histoire de l'art pour les programmes d'histoire, théorie et critique dans le d... more est professeure d'histoire de l'art pour les programmes d'histoire, théorie et critique dans le département d'architecture du Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Elle étudie l'art moderne et contemporain avec une orientation actuelle pour ses modes de circulation. Son prochain livre, The Global Work of Art, sera publié en
We argue that the global becomes a required optic during the Cold War, when bloc politics contrib... more We argue that the global becomes a required optic during the Cold War, when bloc politics contributed a new relation to continents, peoples, and cultures previously excluded from the canon of art history. The role of Africanists is particularly important, contributing to the broadening of media and method in the practice of art history in the United States.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
We made over a dozen 16mm films of various lengths and four major installations: A Portrait of Ch... more We made over a dozen 16mm films of various lengths and four major installations: A Portrait of Chicago, The Windy City, 1967/68. Art Institute of Chicago Target Discount Store, 1970. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Astronauts on the Moon, 1972. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Ruckus Manhattan, 1975-76. Brooklyn Museum; Children's Museum of Denver; Nagoya City Art Museum; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio; Film Museum Potsdam, Germany; and collection of the artists A large part of our largest installation, Ruckus Manhattan, was recently destroyed in storage, including the World Trade Towers. What will happen to the rest of the pieces is part of the legacy puzzle without any plans.
Since the year 2000, artists have increasingly employed tools, methods, and aesthetics associated... more Since the year 2000, artists have increasingly employed tools, methods, and aesthetics associated with scientific practice to produce forms of art that assert themselves as kinds of experimental and empirical knowledge production parallel to and in critical dialogue with science. Anthropologists, intrigued by the work of art in the age of its technoscientific affiliation, have taken notice. This article discusses bio art, eco art, and surveillance art that have gathered, or might yet reward, anthropological attention, particularly as it might operate as an allied form of cultural critique. We focus on art that takes oceans as its concern, tuning to anthropological interests in translocal connection, climate change, and the politics of the extraterritorial. We end with a call for decolonizing art–science and for an anti-colonial aesthetics of oceanic worlds.
Tracing aspects of the complex history of Gestalt theory in the US, this essay follows what I dub... more Tracing aspects of the complex history of Gestalt theory in the US, this essay follows what I dub a "traumatic phenomenology" as it emerges in the yeasty postwar domain between psychology and art. Gestalt had burgeoned in the German Republic, applying itself to the clinical population of WW1 veterans; its emergence in the US was supported by a talented diaspora of refugees from fascism, who then inspired legions of artists and art visitors (no longer simply *viewers*) -- notably Doug Wheeler -- as well as space travel engineers. Wheeler's *Synthetic Desert*from the 1970s, newly realized in 2015, is a key case study in this exploration of phantom phenomena, sensorial cures, and anticipated trauma.
Response to the editor's prompt: are biennials only for elites? In answering the question in the... more Response to the editor's prompt: are biennials only for elites? In answering the question in the negative, this short essay reflects on the Berlin Biennial of 2018, "We don't need another hero."
The work of Anicka Yi prompts a reconsideration of "bio-art," so named by Eduardo Kac around the ... more The work of Anicka Yi prompts a reconsideration of "bio-art," so named by Eduardo Kac around the turn of the millennium, as a new kind of *biofiction.* This neologism works to connect the work of contemporary artists such as Yi -- complicating biochemistry with feminism, ethnicity, and the non-human -- to the century-plus practice of theoretical biology in the tradition of Jacob Uexkull. Rather than bioart's emulation of lab-bench practices and white coats, biofiction plunges us into a world that is always already entangled, coeval, and polyvalent.
The emergence of "cybernetic sculpture" in the 1960s, I argue, contributed an important concept t... more The emergence of "cybernetic sculpture" in the 1960s, I argue, contributed an important concept to our contemporary technosphere: the idea that the viewer would be surrounded by a machinic ecosystem, and would have to intuit her way to triggering the machine's response. These feedback loops, with their intensely gendered politics built in, could then be the basis for cybernetic feminist critique in the 1990s.
Returning to considerations from a 2002 essay for _Res_ on Posthumous Smithson, this essay broade... more Returning to considerations from a 2002 essay for _Res_ on Posthumous Smithson, this essay broadens the frame to theorize an "artist function" in parallel to Foucault's "author function."
How systems art came to MIT and interacted with the "systematic" architectural education develope... more How systems art came to MIT and interacted with the "systematic" architectural education developed in the postwar 20th century.
How do art historians, critics, curators, and desiring viewers create artists? This essay explore... more How do art historians, critics, curators, and desiring viewers create artists? This essay explores this process, initiated by the artist -- in this case Robert Smithson. Smithson's styling of an early set of works as "preconscious" helped set the stage for his posthumous reputation; a process that remains ongoing for this influential theorist and artist.
"Light Speed: Dan Flavin at the National Gallery" examines the minimalist work as a kind of emoti... more "Light Speed: Dan Flavin at the National Gallery" examines the minimalist work as a kind of emotional compression, in the context of Flavin's highly romantic writings and drawings for the well-known fluorescent works.
Why is a blind visitor the recurring (notably fictitious) trope confronting modernity's massive i... more Why is a blind visitor the recurring (notably fictitious) trope confronting modernity's massive international exhibitions? This essay analyzes the figure as a call to theory, in its anti-ocular incarnations.
By some accounts, biennials dominate contemporary art. This essay digs beyond the ahistorical cl... more By some accounts, biennials dominate contemporary art. This essay digs beyond the ahistorical claims of "contemporaneity" to suggest the longer history of these event structures.
est professeure d'histoire de l'art pour les programmes d'histoire, théorie et critique dans le d... more est professeure d'histoire de l'art pour les programmes d'histoire, théorie et critique dans le département d'architecture du Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Elle étudie l'art moderne et contemporain avec une orientation actuelle pour ses modes de circulation. Son prochain livre, The Global Work of Art, sera publié en
We argue that the global becomes a required optic during the Cold War, when bloc politics contrib... more We argue that the global becomes a required optic during the Cold War, when bloc politics contributed a new relation to continents, peoples, and cultures previously excluded from the canon of art history. The role of Africanists is particularly important, contributing to the broadening of media and method in the practice of art history in the United States.
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