Janet Cardifff and George Bures Miller

Annotated Bibliography

-Engberg, Juliana, Macdonald, Anna, and Meehan, Olivia. Cinema Paradiso. South bank Victoria: Australian centre for Contemporary Art, 2007.

This book provided me with useful information on the cinematic and film devices used in the works of Cardiff and Bures Miller, particularly shedding light upon the work The Muriel Lake Incident. Cinema Paradiso described the devices of sound to enhance a work and the utilisation of this tool by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller to create atmospheric narratives and transport viewers into the mindsets of its creator.

-Scharrer, Eva. "Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller Interviewed by Eva Scharrer." C Magazine no. 87 (2005): 18-21.

This online article was an insightful interview into the intentions, opinions and thoughts of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller and their art making choices and style. This further enabled me to understand the intentions of particular works and how the initial solo artists fused together create cohesive and structurally complex installations and works complimenting both strengths of each artist.

-Milroy, Sarah. "Janet Cardiff." The Globe and Mail, Dec 29, 2001.

This online article was an informative source which covered Cardiff’s initial works as a solo artist and her later partnership with Bures Miller; it describes the initial phases of the artists, career and the rise to their success as collaboration. This source informed me of the history or brief biography of Cardiff and Miller and in doing so, allowed me to research further upon the development of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's partnership.

Bibliography

-Engberg, Juliana, Macdonald, Anna, and Meehan, Olivia. Cinema Paradiso. South bank Victoria: Australian centre for Contemporary Art, 2007.

-Scharrer, Eva. "Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller Interviewed by Eva Scharrer." C Magazine no. 87 (2005): 18-21.

-Milroy, Sarah. "Janet Cardiff." The Globe and Mail, Dec 29, 2001.

-Withers, Rachel. "Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller." Artforum 45, no. 5 (2007): 125-125.

-Hanna, Deirdre. "Janet Cardiff." Canadian Art 19, no. 4 (2002):

-Johnson, Ken. "Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller." New York Times, Apr 02, 2010

-“Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller” <http://www.cardiffmiller.com/about.html> (accessed 27/08/12)

-Fleming, Marnie. “Janet Cardiff”<http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/janet-cardiff > (accessed 30/08/12)

-Searle, Adrian. “Fire up the Killing Machine” <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/oct/23/art> (accessed 01/09/12)

- Okwui Enwezor, Ingvild Goetz. Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller: Works from the Goetz collection.

The Killing machine, 2007,

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller

Mixed media, sound, pneumatics, robotics

Rosalind Krauss- Clock time

Rosalind Krauss discusses Christian Marclay and one of his most latest works “The Clock”, a twenty-four hour running piece, comprised of fragments of commercial films which collectively transition from on to another. In Krauss’ deconstruction of the piece, she recognises not only the formal qualities and cinematic technique but also the viewer experience and audience perception and role in being a part of this semi-interactive 2010 work.

Marclay is seen through this work as taking “pure synchronicity” to new heights. Credit is given to Marclay in the films ability to smoothly transition from one scene to the next while simultaneously holding time with the real and present. Krauss uses examples of “Ideological state apparatuses” and the cinematic techniques of cutaways that add to the fluidity and worth of the work. Cutaways, used in film to inform viewers of the temporal unfolding of events within the films narrative, is utilised in Marclay’s “The Clock” as the plot of the work, where scenes of the protagonist glancing at their watch or backdrops of a ticking clock make viewers weary or conscious of time and in doing so call audiences to glance or query actual time, only to realise the film itself and the present are synchronised to the minute. With this Marclay creates a tension or form of anticipation of counting down towards something dramatic happening.

 Unlike typical films, “The clock” is seen to make to viewer somewhat part of the scene, in feeling included in the shared aspect of time, and aware of oneself in that particular moment in time also adds to the work’s value, as opposed to being purely a spectator. Derrida’s concept of “self-presence” being fiction can be seen as threatened by Marclay’s extension or exploration of this specific medium , playing on the idea of the self-present instant, the revelation of self-presence in the “ now-effect” and the notion of transforming the reel time of film into the real time of waiting.

Hal Foster- An Archival Impulse

Hal Foster covers the complex and varied concept of Archival works, understanding that the commonality that these works share is a notion of artistic practice as an idiosyncratic of delving into specific figures, objects and events in modern art, philosophy and history. Through this Foster examines varied approaches through the work of Thomas Hirschhorn, Sam Durant and Tacita Dean, which all exemplify how an archival impulse can operate internationally in the contemporary art world.

A typical approach for archival artists can be argued as purely drawing upon the past and cataloguing or organising history into the present, typically exhibited as installations, but with further examination this can be seen as only a small approach to archival impulse art. An interesting point is how the contemporary is enabled to experiment with the information we are presented with particularly how the relatable mass culture can stabilise a legibility that can then be manipulated. Furthering this idea that information in a contemporary sense can appear as a virtual readymade, implying that the ideal medium of archival art being the internet, calls for human interpretation of our interactivity with it.

Foster’s subcategorises Hirschhorn’s works into ‘direct sculptures’, ‘altars’ ‘kiosks’ and ‘monuments all of which engage with their archival materials, direct sculptures tending to aim to reconfigure a message disparate to the original purpose of the archival material, the altars which follow are seen as commemorations which can be seen as holding emotive significance, whereas kiosks are purely informational, and monuments a fusing of both concepts of information and devotion. On the contrary Foster utilises artist Tacita Dean to express the other retrospective of archival art, to pain the human soul and see the archive as failed futuristic visions. Dean looks towards drawing on the narrative of people, things and places of the stranded or forgotten. Foster furthering point through the example of the Denge “sound mirrors”, abandoned remnants of a failed futuristic vision, and Dean’s interest with archival failure. Her works are seen as a portal between the unfinished history and re-opened future. Durant is seen to represents the “theoretical” space between forms, seen as eclectic in his samplings. His work is seen as a framing of the historic of a particular, offering critical perspective and revisions of the past. His further archival developments look at advanced art, rock culture and civil rights, which he collects and re gathers the past to create new views or reassesses how we see these histories.

Foster fuses the approaches of all three contemporary artists to demonstrate the continuum of archival impulses, and advertises the alternative views of what archival impulses may involve in reopening how we see the past.

Gordon Matta-Clark

Still of "Splitting". 1974, Building cut in Englewood, New Jersey 10:50 minutes, silent, Super 8 mm film on video 

Annotated Bibliography

Lee, Pamela M. Object to be destroyed- The work of Gordon Matta- Clark. Massachusetts: The MIT press, 2000

-This book, pays homage to the under-recognised artist Gordon Matta Clark, providing an overview of his life achievements and developments to the artist he eventually became, This book was a foundation to the my research in understanding the development of the artist and important role he played in the urban environments of 1970s America.

Matta-Clark, Gordon, Gordon Matta- Clark: You are the measure. Edited by Elisabeth Sussman. Whitney Museum of American art, New York, 2007. Exhibition Catalogue

-This book, or expanded exhibition catalogue, describes the exhibition of Gordon Matta Clark that is ‘You are the measure’ presented in Whitney Museum of American Art. Describing and critically analysing many of Matta-Clark’s most well renowned and exhibited works. This source was reliable and informative, and enabled me to understand Matta-Clark’s works presence and importance within not only American art history but as a contribution to the contemporary art world today. 

The New york times Architecture Review | 'Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure

‘Timely Lessons from a Rebel, Who Often Created by destroying’ (accessed 11/05/12) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/arts/design/03matt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all   

-This Times review, further describes the works of Matta-Clark in the exhibition ‘You are the measure’.  Highlighting that although all of Matta-Clark’s works are destroyed, through his works, through the exhibition and his documentation in film, photography and saved fragments one can relive the ideas and work of Matta-Clark. Also providing a succinct overview of his life and background this source of information was useful in further understanding Matta-Clark’s work, and his unique approach to architectural art.

Walker, Stephen. Gordon Matta-Clark: art, architecture and the attack on modernism. The University of Michigan, I.B. Tauris 2009

-This book described Gordon Matta-Clark’s approach to the art world and the idea of pushing the boundaries of the art world, breaking away from the typical high modernist style and approach, and further highlights the importance of Matta-Clark’s work today, this source was useful and provided a different insight into the artist life and practice helping me understand a wider view of the artist.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lee, Pamela M. Object to be destroyed- The work of Gordon Matta- Clark. Massachusetts: The MIT press, 2000

Matta-Clark, Gordon, Gordon Matta- Clark: You are the measure. Edited by Elisabeth Sussman. Whitney Museum of American art, New York, 2007. Exhibition Catalogue

The New york times Architecture Review | 'Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure

‘Timely Lessons from a Rebel, Who Often Created by destroying’ (accessed 11/05/12) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/arts/design/03matt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all   

Walker, Stephen. Gordon Matta-Clark: art, architecture and the attack on modernism. The University of Michigan, I.B. Tauris 2009.

Heartney, Eleanor. Art & Today, London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008.

Museu D’Art Contemporani De Barcelona ‘Office Baroque portfolio- Gordon Matta-Clark in the MACBA collection’ (accessed 11/05/12) http://www.macba.cat/en/exhibition-matta-clark  

Guggenheim Foundation ‘Gordon Matta-Clark’ (accessed 11/05/12) http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?object=98.5229&search=&page=&f=Title