nevertheless, she persisted.: Minimalism (the Minimal Field- Art and Polemics in the 1960s)

die fahne hoch (raise high the flag)- frank stella
1959

six mile bottom- frank stella
1960, 118x71 in.
not a rectangle, not a black square in the middle- it's a hole
lines = raw canvas showing through, the grey/white = paint
shows you exactly how it's made by copying/responding to the shape of the canvas,
doesn't transcend it, lend itself to copying, to a lesser approach
what would greenberg say about this: lacks expressive quality that elevates it

-frank stella uses very thick canvas= 3 1/2- 4 inches off the wall
-changes how you interact w it in space
-uncomfortable amount of space btwn painting & wall --> first steps of painting becoming an object
-depth pushes it from painting

donald judd:

-he doesn't make his own object, fabricators make it w his specifications

-based on own logic of construction
-designed minimalist furniture

judd coming out of abstract expressionist painting, what's he taking from it?

-paint on a surface, paint acts as paint
-industrial materials
-more non-objective works bc nothing is representational; it is what it is
-big, american scale

chose just one color & painted everything that color

neither painting nor a sculpture
extreme formal elements

day bed- donald judd
furniture may look like sculpture &
the sculpture might look like furniture to confuse the "line"

clean & well integrated artwork in his living space
(but he was a slob & there's no dresser)
how does the minimalism of the room integrate w living? ignores the down & dirty

sculptures used to be on pedestals but judd takes that away & puts things flat on the ground or on the wall
primary structures exhibit: marker in art history

primary structures exhibit dress

robert morris

box for standing- robert morris
structure that mimics an upright coffin, he fits just right in it
sculptural (existing in space) but not sculpture
background in theatre; can build props= marriage btwn theatre & art
exists in time like a performance
continuously creates theatrical interactions

green gallery show- robert morris, 1964
objects activate/highlight the space
triangle for the corner
less of distinct objects/sculptures
don't exist in the language of sculpture, not individualized
dependent on the space
all one color, like judd

michael fried: if the idea is that the artist curates how the viewer sees/interacts w the work, then the artwork stops existing once viewer is not there; accuses minimalism of being theatrical
minimalism isn't necessarily geometric shapes but it is industrial in nature, color is inherent, new materials, big, depends on/curates viewers

lever- carl andre
bricks in a straight line coming out of the wall
primary structures
ties back to architecture
creates a low boundary
texture, color, logic of structure is inherent to material

12th copper corner- andre
steel slats in the corner
curates how you move through the space (whether you walk on it or walk around it)

when andre had his first international exhibit in london, the critics had a field day. they went to construction sites & compared his work w bricks there. the thing is that andre is still artful w his work. he puts it together in a certain way & they are all the same colors & purposeful
avant-garde practice: making things that are invisible, visible; making things that are unknowable, knowable
minimal work calls attention to the power of the exhibition space

Sol LeWitt: