The Institutional Theory Of Art

The Institutional Theory Of Art is the theory that an object can be or become art in the context of the institution known as “the art world” – i.e.  a gallery. For example Ceal Floyer’s ‘Monochrome Till Receipt (White)’ (1999) is simply a till print-out of a list of items purchased by Floyer at Morrison’s. However, despite the title the receipt is in fact has a yellowish- white tone and the information is printed in blue ink. Nevertheless, all the items are white or have the word ‘white’ in their name, for example; flour, hand cream, toothpaste, white chocolate, tissues and many more, in fact there are forty nine purchases in total. By the receipt being framed and in a gallery it creates a conceptual transformation, it immediately gives the art a deeper meaning. It makes people look at the object longer- for example, in this case, in order to realise all the items are white you would have to look at it longer, and defiantly longer than you would normally look at a receipt you found (unless it was your own).

The setting of  a gallery (“art world”) can make people think about a completely mundane, everyday object in a much deeper, conceptual way and makes them view it as art due to the change in context and setting.  This, therefore, is a prime example of an object becoming art by changing its environment and institutionalising it into the art world.

Floyer C, Monochrome Till Receipt (White). (1999)

Floyer C, Monochrome Till Receipt (White). (1999)

In 1939 Richard Serra expressed the importance of site-specific work not becoming or being seen as a token, decoration or reinforcement of the institution it is situated in. He also explains that at the time because large scale, site- specific sculptures were hardly ever considered a ‘worthy investment’, as they would be difficult to re-sell, many artists became willing to accept corporate sponsorship and support as it created economic opportunism. However, he further expresses that these artists just become ‘puppet creators’ and their art just becomes a ‘public service’ and that this is wrong,  that the “aspiration of art cannot be to serve”.

Richard Serra explains that his use of industrial tools and methods and making site specific works allowed him to work out of the ‘traditional’ studio. He was able to “extend their tool potential”, using the tools in a different way, making them what they’re not, giving them a new meaning, purpose and view. “To be able to enter into a steel mill, a shipyard, a thermal plant and extend both their work and my needs is a way of becoming an active producer…- not a manipulator or consumer” Serra explains he steers from tradition, doesn’t stick to the classical ‘rules’ and doesn’t copy other artists typical ways of practice. He doesn’t just take to make, he gives the tools and methods a new definition and purpose.

This diversion from tradition is relatable to Leo Steinberg’s theory of the introduction of ‘The Flatbed Picture Plane’,- how in the early 1950’s art no longer depended on a “head-to-toe correspondence with human posture” like the earlier ‘Old Masters’ had stuck to. This new display of art steered away from tradition, like Richard Serra.

Steinberg illustrates that “The flatbed picture plane makes its symbolic allusion to hard surfaces such as tabletops, studio floors, charts, bulletin boards—any receptor surface (…)- on which information may be received.” and that “The printed surface is no longer the analogue of a visual experience of nature but of operational processes”. Similarly, Serra points out that “The fact that the technological processes is revealed depersonalizes and demythologizes the idealization of the sculptors craft”.  Both Serra and Steinberg share the same idea that this art is presenting only pure information, and emphasises the importance of the process in art, making the audience realise that the process itself can become the context of the art.

The shift in approach of printing methods such as the Flatbed Press, used by artists such as Rauschenberg, influenced their treatment of the pictorial plane by the no longer need to stick to the traditional ‘head-to-toe correspondence’ and to no longer “create the conception of the picture as representing a world”. For example, Rauschenberg’s works are mainly collages of printed pictures or prints and random streaks of paint, with no depth, they are just images, just information. There is no connection to a relatable world. This shift of the canvas emphasises this idea of the art not being relatable to the body or anything else- “no longer the analogue of a world perceived from an upright position but a matrix of information conveniently placed in an upright position”. A different experience is created through the information being received coherently or in confusion, but however, this range of perception is what makes this shift in approach used by artists so much more interesting- how the work can be read so differently but at the same time cannot and should not be constructed into something else. This opinion is also shared by Richard Serra, how his sculptures should not become a token of the institution, it should be its own piece, and not relatable or recognisable in an outside world.

Harrison, C. and Wood, P., 2003. Art in theory, 1900-1990. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., p.948

Harrison, C. and Wood, P., 2003. Art in theory, 1900-1990. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., p.1124

Maurizio Anzeri

In October I visited the Saatchi Gallery to see Maurizio Anzeri’s exhibition. Anzeri creates portraits by taking old vintage photographs and sewing directly onto them creating colourful patterns around the black and white or sepia toned photographs. I feel these patterns suggest almost a psychological aura, and are revealing the persons emotions and deeper thoughts.

My favourite piece of the exhibition was ‘Giovanni’ (2009) as I feel this piece especially showed this suggestion of revealing his deeper thoughts. The bright yellow spiral starts from his eye and gets darker, to orange, then darkens further to shades

Anzeri, M. Giovanni (2009) Photographic print with embroidery. (51x41cm)

of blue and purple as it spirals out and spreads around his face and head as if what he is seeing is affecting him emotionally, creating dark or sad thoughts in his head.

Anzeri’s use of vintage antique photographs and the sharp, bold lines and the shimmer of the thread creates a powerful contrast. I feel seeing this photograph in the ‘flesh’ the contrast is so much more effective as there are so many elements to the pictures that you can only really experience when viewing the pieces first hand. When  I went to the exhibition I was drawn to go right up close to the photographs in order to see the intricacy and detail which goes into each individual stitch. This, for me, created a new feeling of intimacy between me and the work, that I hadn’t experienced before when just seeing photographs of the pieces, this was due to how close I was to the work and how much attention I therefore paid to it.

In ‘Ways of Seeing’ by John Berger he explains that art has lost its essence through reproduction, that artworks lose elements such as their materiality. Reproduction (photographs) just create a flat, digital image of the artwork, you can no longer or it’s much harder to see and experience the artists brushstrokes, the textures and the shadows of the material in the original pieces.  I feel this is true, especially in Anzeri’s work. In real life you are able to see the different gradients, shadows and textures the thread creates. You are able to go up close to the pieces to see the intricacy and detail that goes into each individual line and stitch. You can experience and realise the delicacy of each work through seeing every tiny hole that the thread goes through and the complexity of the process of piercing and threading through each and every one. In real life you want to  touch and run your fingers along the thread, you want to involve yourself with the art. Therefore I do feel John Berger is right, experiencing the materiality first hand  is so much more effective as it makes the art so much more inviting to the viewer.

Cathedral Of The Pines- Gregory Crewdson

In August I visited The Photographers Gallery in London to see Gregory Crewdson’s exhibition – Cathedral Of the Pines. The exhibition consisted of a series of 31 large scale photographs of different, unconnected situations and different people all set in a small rural town in Becket, Massachusetts, conveying a variety of intense human relations in a isolated area in the countryside. Crewdson’s style was inspired by 19th century American and European paintings and old cinema. The connection can be seen through the similar tableau style composition and positions of the characters.

Crewdson, G. Mother and Daughter, (2014)

I found this exhibition really interesting how a huge feeling of confusion is created. The numbness of in their lost, outward gaze creates an absence of emotional connection to the real world and the person who they are with. However, their nudity creates a sense of intimacy and vulnerability between the subjects.  This play on connection and separation of the subjects creates a running tension throughout the whole exhibition. Also a  juxtaposition of intimacy and isolation is not only created by the motionless figures but the vastness, the stillness of the environment they are surrounded by, a sense of loneliness and detachment from the world is spawn by being in a constant, dull, gloomy, cold setting of winter in a small town in the forest.

Crewdson, G. The Pickup Truck, (2014)

I also found the absence of a connection, a narrative or explanation of what’s happening in the pictures psychologically impacting. This makes their strange actions/settings (such as standing still outside in the snow, standing nude on a riverbed or laying nude on a flatbed of a pickup truck) even more intense as without any clue of an explanation they become arcane. Their ambiguity leads the viewers to a challenge of making up their own impressions of the situation, create their own stories, their own conclusions.

Crewdson, G. The Den, (2013)

Crewdson, G. Woman at Sink, (2014)

Shadi Ghadirian, Quajar, (1998).

Shadi Ghadirian, Quajar, 1998.

In this photograph a recreation of a traditional portrait setting of the Qajar era is portrayed through the use of classical painted backdrop and patterned carpet. Also the vintage clothes the young lady is wearing and her traditional style; the long head scarf and a dress over baggy trousers and her thick, dark, untouched eyebrows. Also the sepia tone of the photograph immediately creates an older, vintage style to the photograph.

However, the young girl is standing in an empowered, strong pose; her chin up, eyes fixed and focused and her hand on her hip. This pose alone goes against the ‘traditional’ idea that woman had no power- which would have been the majority opinion in the society of the time that the recreation was aiming for, (1785-1925). Also, the most obvious, how she holds a large stereo/ boom box on her shoulder, immediately creates a juxtaposition and contrast between the traditional and the current making the viewer realise the photograph is a recreation of an earlier time.

I believe this image is about how Middle Eastern traditions and religious traditions can make girls who have this heritage feel trapped by the religious and cultural expectations of them. Especially, how in today’s society with the wide variety of people and cultures creates a stronger desire to explore and it can therefore become more difficult to stick to, or want to stick to tradition. Girls may feel stuck between keeping to traditions and expectations and experiencing new things and involving themselves with modern day  Western culture. I feel the photograph portrays almost a rebellion against tradition through the girl’s strong, powerful pose with the stereo on her shoulder, holding it like a trophy, an object she is proud of, although it being a typically Western, contemporary object. Ghadirian said herself, “My pictures became a mirror reflecting how I felt: we are stuck between tradition and modernity.” and I think this photograph displays this perfectly.

https://collections.lacma.org/node/580927

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