| […] through static images in a gallery? Is distinction
based upon duration desirable? necessary? irrelevant? 4 How can a
catalogue (which by its nature further fragments and packages time-based work) incorporate the above questioning and processing and do justice to decision making processes concerning the representation of performance addressed in the exhibition? There have been multiple bodies of work produced since the 1960s that were ephemeral in their nature, but which have been a major part of innovative contemporary art e.g. happenings, conceptual art, performance, site-specific/installation work, time based work. Many of the practitioners of this work are now of an age and with a substantial body of work that, were it to have been executed in other media (e.g. painting, sculpture etc) would fit easily into retrospective or review exhibition models and traditions. These practices and artists have consistently challenged art-world conventions of containment, presentation, packaging and pigeon-holing. The danger now is that if artists do not research the questions outlined in the questions section above, then curators will either inappropriately present this work, reverting to conventional forms of presentation which then fetishizes the documentation as a stand-in for the work, or more likely, this work will be ‘written out’ of contemporary exhibition-making and art histories. For example 'Out of Actions: Between Performance and the Object, 1949-1979' at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, 1998, ended up fetishising the left-over materials from performances. Similar things have happened with the works of Joseph Beuys. The touring exhibition of his multiples, and the Tate Modern’s presentation of his work, indicate curatorial choices emphasizing his sculpture and his material objects over his ephemeral and performance works - which are arguably his most important. In some instances, for example, Carolee Schneemann, Vito Acconci, and Chris Burden, key earlier works are now widely known only in the format of single iconic images, which are repeated in different publications. In some cases such images are entering the market place as large framed photographs and sold as artworks by the performer when they are documentation. While on the one hand this might be a choice that some artists knowingly make, on the other, it might be an example of how curators and the market place operate in denial of the original ethos of the work and the intentions of the artist. In part this may come about because artists have not reflected sufficiently upon the presentation of their past work. I see it as my responsibility to research my own past practice, its documentation and its presentation in exhibition to the public, in order that it is not inappropriately fetishized or commodified, and that its exhibition respects the original ethos, spirit and intention of the work. ALASTAIR MACLENNAN |
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