In the excerpt from ‘Other Criteria,’ Leo Steinberg suggests that the traditional vertical positioning of the ‘Renaissance picture plane’ allows the viewer to be able to relate to it, as when the art is uprighted on a wall it mimics the ‘erect human posture’. In the 1950s, new work (such as that by Rauschenberg and Dubuffet) stopped being read vertically and instead could be read horizontally – the ‘flatbed picture plane’. Steinberg explores the relevance of Duchamp’s radical change in orientation of work, discussing the relevance of the ‘ninety-degree shift’ that is integral to many of his pieces. The essay then focuses more on the work of Rauschenberg, whose rotation of objects is believed by Steinberg to change how the viewer relates to it.

The excerpt from ‘The Yale Lecture’ includes Richard Serra’s views on the creation of his site-specific steel works and how they vary from studio-based sculptural practice. Serra argues that it is vital to the piece for it to be built on site and not in a studio space before being moved to a new area, as he believes site-specific works form a relationship with the environment in which they are built. Serra comments that works built in the context of the government, education and other institutions can risk being seen as ‘tokens of these institutions.’ However, contextual neutrality in a site is very difficult. Serra states that site specificity in work rarely leads to commercial gain. If an artist is funded to create a piece, control over their own creation can be lost in order to meet the demands of others, erasing some of the piece’s meaning in the process.

Both texts explore ways of working which are not seen as ‘traditional,’ for example through Steinberg’s investigation into the changing of orientation and context of a piece and through Serra’s rejection of sculptural studio practice, instead wanting sculpture to be site-specific. However, the two excerpts differ in that Serra believes in the importance of his sculptural work being left in the area of creation, whereas Steinberg is exploring different orientations and presentations of work.

Bibliography:

Harrison, C. and Wood, P. (2001) Art in theory, 1900-1990. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, pp. 948-953, 1124-1127