Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla

Jennifer Alloraborn 1974, Pennsylvania, USA
lives and works in San Jan, Puerto Rico
Guillermo Calzadilla
born 1971, Havana, Cuba
lives and works in San Jan, Puerto Rico


For the 26th Kaldor Public Art Project in Australia, internationally renowned artist duo Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla present the celebrated project Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on 'Ode to Joy' for a Prepared Piano in the State Library of Victoria’s Cowen Gallery. Presented to great acclaim at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Stop, Repair, Prepare combines sound, performance and sculpture, a captivating new experience for audiences. For this piece, the artists carved a hole in the center of a grand piano, through which a pianist plays the famous Fourth Movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, usually referred to as “Ode to Joy.” The performer leans over the keyboard and plays upside down and backwards, while moving with the piano across the vast atrium. The result is a structurally incomplete version of the ode—the hole in the piano renders two octaves inoperative—that fundamentally transforms both the player/instrument dynamic and the signature melody, underlining the contradictions and ambiguities of a song that has long been invoked as a symbol of humanist values and national pride.

Summary –Hal Foster

In this essay examines three contemporary artists whose work uses the concept of archives, he choose to look at Thomas Hirschhorn, Sam Durant, and Tacita Dean while there are many artists use archival today.

The first and probably the most notable function of archival art is to “make historical information, often lost or displaced, physically present. To this end elaborate on the found image, object, and favor the installation format. Foster suggests that while art has absorbed much of the language of the digital age, like “inventory,” “sample,” “share,” and “interactivity,” archival art remains an obstinately physical calling for “human interpretation, not mechanic reprocessing.

The three artists he mentioned made very different archival works. The first he pointed is Thomas Hirschhorn who creates direct sculptures, altars, kiosks, and monuments. Each of these installations focuses on historical figures, such as artists and philosophers, and attempt to “expose different audiences to alternative archives of public culture. Tacita Dean uses many mediums to recall “lost souls” in her work. Foster notes that archival artists are “often drawn to unfulfilled beginnings or incomplete projects” a theme undoubtedly present in Dean’s work, she presents the past as always incomplete. In one example of her work she retraces the steps of a stowaway girl and records the coincidences that seem to echo the girls journey that ended in a shipwreck. The last artist Foster discusses is Sam Durant. Durant is similar to Dean in that he uses multiple mediums in this work but differs in that his source material is much more eclectic pulling from the histories of rock-and-roll, art, architecture, literature, social activism, as well as others. He often pairs these materials in a way that seems to encourage disorder. One example is his citing of Smithson’s Partially Buried Woodshed installed on the campus of Kent State, the site of the shooting of four students by National Guardsman.

The move to turn excavation sites into construction sites is welcome in another way too, it suggest a shift away from a melancholic culture that views the historical as little more than the traumatic.

Clock Time summary

In this article, Rosalind E.Krauss pointed about the Christian Marclay and his one of his most latest artwork The Clock. The technical support is commercial sound film from which he has extrapolated that process into pure synchoronicity. This work is also a compilation of film clip.

The Clock a 24 hour running combination of film clips which while being projected relate to each exact time of day. In The Clock , we confront what must be called another of the underlying conditions of film-synch time. The clock synch-time joins viewer and screen in the manner of what the film scholars call interpellation. In attracts the audience and makes them thinking about the time and the space they are in, however by watching the work they also lose track of time by thinking about it. Marclay’s The Clock exploits the cutway as its “plot” unfolds through the sights of the dials displayed on clocks and watches.

The Clock by Marclay has some relationship with the real time. The Clock’s simultaneity, enacted by the synchronous gearing of reel time into real time. Marclay manages this by turning to suspense as the extended dilation of the now effect, transforming the reel time of film into the real time of waiting.

The John Kaldor Family Collection

 The gallery of NSW is now holding Australia's most comprehensive representation of contemporary art from 1960 till now. And in May 2011, they opened their new contemporary galleries, featuring the John Kaldor Family Gallery. In 1968, the textile businessman and art collector John Kaldor invited Jeanne Claude and Christo to Australia to wrap the rocky coast of Little Bay in Sydney.

For more than 50 years, John Kaldor has been Australia’s most passionate collector of international contemporary art, developing lasting relationships with some of the most important artists of our time. More recently, Kaldor has donated his family's personal collection of more than 200 works to the art galler of New South Wales in Sydney. The 200 works include in-depth representation of christp and Jeanne-Claude, Jeff Koons ,Sol LeWitt, , Robert Rauschenberg and Ugo Rondinone also among others. There’s also a focus on Pop art and a strong thread of German photography including some excellent works by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Thomas Struth, Andreas Gurksy and Thomas Demand.These works spanning 50 years of works from the leading artists of our time.

The collection of John Kaldor Family has done a great donation for the NSW Gallery, The first display from the Kaldor Collection features works by Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Donald Judd, Carl Andre and others, moreover it will be a number of commissioned and newly installed site-specific artworks, including five vast installation by Ugo Rondinone. A lot of major works would also be shown from artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Mike Parr, Anselm Kiefer, Doris Salcedo, Rosemary.....

Summary---Relatins between Conceptual and Performance art.

In this artical which is written by Frazer Ward talks about the relations between the conceptual art and performance art. For the conceptual art's factions have frequently been at odds, usually over definitions and often after the fact. For the performance art can be simply defined as a form of art happens at a particular time in a particular place where the artist engage in some sort of activites  and befor an audience.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s there was considerable overlap between these categories.Here is two wroks, the first one is Ian Burn's MirrorPiece (1967) and the other one is Vito Acconci's Step Piece (1970). In these two art works it shown some relationships between the conceptual art and performance art. Also some performance art may be challenge some of limitation of the conceptual art.

The mirror piece , I think it belongs to the conceptual art,it is demanded a new kind of attention and mental participation from the viewer. To do this can let the viewer to see oneself's seeing Further, the notes explain thework in terms of the interaction between the spectator'srecognition of the mirror'snormal function
function as art, referringto the display and its "intentional"
of the mirrorwith the notes and diagrams as a concept.

The Step piece, it can be defined as a performance art work. We can simply find out that this is piece is a kind of photography of a man step on the chair. it seems like he want to performace something to the viewers.Rosalind Krauss suggested that they may be no necessary opposition  between conceptual and performance art.

To sum up this, if the works shows the desire of an embodiment that could not ground the subject of conceptual reason, they might be status as performance at once confounds that desire. However, I think any kind of arts have the relations.

Annonated Biblography----Jenny Holzer

Jenny Holzer

The Art History Archive.(2012). Jenny Holzer.[On-Line] Available:http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/contemporary/Jenny-Holzer.html

This reference provided the biography of Jenny Holzer. The basic informations are all mentioned in this reference. Such as she was born in 1950 in Ohio. Her study period is very long which go through the general art in Duke university, painting, printmaking and drawing at the Chicage Uni. BFA at Ohio uni in 1972 and the BFA at the Rhode Island School in 1975. It also provide what kind of artist Jenny Holzer is . Moreover it also provide some of her art works in this reference like Truisms, Living Series.

John BuckWLD.(2012). Jenny Holzer's Truisms: Word Art of The 80s - From New York's Streets To The Gallery.[On-Line] Available: http://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list_view?list_id=49774&start=0&show=25  and Collection Online. (2012). Jenny Holzer. [On-Line] Available:http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search=holzer&page=1&f=quicksearch&cr=1 

Both of these two references are talking abou Holzer's first public work ----Truisms. It mentioned the information of this art work and provide a lot of  why she made this work and how to express it. Here is the image of the selection of the Truisms.

Untitled (Selections from Truisms, Inflammatory Essays, The Living Series, The Survival Series, Under a Rock, Laments, and Child Text), 1989. Extended helical tricolor L.E.D. electronic-display signboard, site-specific dimensions.
Of the 250+ truisms that appear to exist, I put my favorites at the top in a bold font. They're followed by all the others I could find. Don't expect Plato, Socrates, Will Rogers or Mark Twain. Bear in mind, Holzer was an artist - not a philosopher. Her truisms - whether you find yourself in accord, rolling your eyes or questioning their contradictory sentiments - are intended to merely inspire thought.

Art21 (2007). "Inflammatory Essays," detail (1979–82). [On-Line] Available: http://www.pbs.org/art21/images/jenny-holzer/inflammatory-essays-detail-1979%E2%80%9382

In this reference, it talked about the details of the infalmmatory Essays. it explain why Holzer use a lot of first person in her art work.Often, I’ll use the first person in my work. I will assume that voice. Or I will represent many people in the first person. There are lots of I’s and You’s in the ‘Inflammatory Essays’, but they’re not me. They’re many different voices on a host of unmentionable subjects. Said by Holzer.


Artconnected (2009). Jenny Holzer, Selections from the Living Series (1989). [On-Line] Available: http://artsconnected.org/resource/90593/jenny-holzer-selections-from-the-living-series-1989
In this resource, it has mentioned about the selection of the Living Series which is made by Holzer and provide some details of this selection.For the work Selections from the Living Series, she engraved a different message on each of the twenty-eight white granite benches. The provocative messages are often contradictory and do not necessarily reflect the artist's own opinion. Holzer's installation offers visitors a place to rest as they think about what they have read and the role that language plays in contemporary society. The benches are arranged in a square, allowing this part of the Garden to be used for performances or other events.

summary enchantment

Kurt Schwitter began a new example of an enchantment-type in the 20^th century during 1919-1937 and he built this in his home. By watching this kind of art works, viewers can watch them very close and feel like inside the art works.

The enchantment-type installation can be defined as its name, it has the magic to attract people’s attention and people can really feel the work. For example, when people walk into a large cathedral, the installation can transport its viewer into a state of awe and serious. Moreover , some kind of transformation might even occur whereby the visitor is converted, as it were, to the vision of the creator. 

In the enchanted space, many artists like to use unusual physical possibilities to enhance viewers visions because they can envelope the viewer very completely. For example, like Kabakov said, we can imaging that the ceiling and floor as the sky and the earth. The 1920s is a very important time for the installation work. During that period, there are many things happened, the most important was that the installation was a violently anti-aesthetic statement, with individual works serving a larger purpose.

 In 1955, just after the world war 2, the next great example of an enchantment, though not found in an art context but could be said to be the Disneyland opened in California. It should be the single most significant and influential force in shaping a large American public's expectations about similar experiences. Enchanment format is particularly the province of nomadic, local artist who enjoy international citizenship at massive biennale type exhibition. 

UNMONUMENTAL SUMMARY

After a long period of hiatus which is about 40 years, the sculpture leads the contemporary art again. The sculpture can be presented by many ways such as carved, glued or sewn, a sculpture work also can be any size, any weight. It can be small as a teacup or huge like a small ship. It can be light as a piece of paper and also can heavy as a sack of concrete. It express that the sculpture work can be very free and conceptive.

Using found objects to make some sculpture work is also already started in european during the 20th century. The combination of all kinds of different objects that make the sculpture works more lively. For seitz, he use the already-made parts pieces or entire objects that retained theiridentities even they combine together as a single work. It might be called Juctanosition.  In recent years, the aesthetie is not dominated by free-form flotation but by strategies of swimming-to wit. Further more it also said that a sculpture can be really done as an art work or only contact with the moment. The personalized in sculptural reached a level unprecodented on the other hand most intentionally un-private. There is a lot of new sculptures use the piecemeal, jury-rigged or put-together state lens a distinct sense of contingenc. Such as Kristen Morgin's pulverized lion, Urs Fischer's melting female nude and Elliott Hundley's toppled column. All of these works make direct reference to destruction of the symbols of artistic permanence.

To sum up, the sculpture leads the contemporary art again. However, the recent sculpture art works have changed a lot with the old one. In unmonumentality, the sculpture lacks the timelessness, massiveness and public significance. It meant to describe a kind of sculpture that is not against these values.Sculpture arts becomes more free, no steadfast form. Moreover, it said that we should open the eye sight, have our individual opinions. The new arts are different form the post arts.