The Perpetuation of Site-Specific Installation Artworks in Museums

Front matter

Amsterdam

University Press

Staging Contemporary Art

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Diagrams 9

Introduction 11 Research Question 19 1.2 Olafur Eliasson’s Notion Motion 24 1.3 Biographical Approach 30 1.4 Typologies and Site-Specific Installations as Dynamic Networks 32 1.5 Outline 35 2 Site-Specific Installation Art in Historical Perspective 41 2.1 The Rise of Site-Specific Installation Art: Criticism Towards the Established Art World 42 2.2 Unmoveable or Moveable? The Case of Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc 48 2.3 The Extended Life of Richard Serra’s Splashing 53 2.4 Site Specificity and the Viewer’s Position in the Gallery Space 60 2.5 Robert Morris’s Amsterdam Project 63 2.6 The Site of Production and the Site of Perception 66 2.7 Phil Collins’s they shoot horses 69 2.8 Conclusion 71

3 A Conceptual Model for the Analysis of Site-Specific Installations 75 The Conceptual Model Part 1: Triadic Model for Analysing Site

Conclusion

138 144

6 Drifting Producers The Perpetuation of an Installation Artwork Emerging from a

Site-Specific Project

6.1 6.2

6.3

6.4 6.5

6.6 6.7 6.8

The Project and the Installation Drifting Producers

The Spatial Network of the Initial Exhibition at the Art Sonje Center

Intercultural Exchange in the Production and Reception of Drifting Producers

The Trajectory of Drifting Producers

Site Specificity of Drifting Producers in the

Van Abbemuseum

The Social Production Space of Drifting Producers Comparative Case Study: Constant’s New Babylon Project Conclusion

71 7.2

General Conclusion

Site Specificity and the Ongoing Dialogue between Artists and Custodians

Museum Practices and the Expanded Performance Analogy

Acknowledgements

List of Interviews Conducted by the Author

Index

208 212

List of Figures and Diagrams

Figures Figure 1

Yard (1961) by Allan Kaprow. Installation view Environments, Situations, Spaces, Sculpture Garden at Martha Jackson, Gallery, New York. Photo: Ken Heyman-Woodfin Camp. Courtesy photographer and Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. © Gallery Hauser & Wirth.

Yard (1961/2007) by Allan Kaprow. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (VAM). Installation view in Allan Kaprow. Art as Life in 2007. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy photographer and VAM.

Notion Motion (2005) by Olafur Eliasson. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (MBVB). Donation: Han Nefkens H+F Mecenaat.

Photo: Hans Wilschut. Courtesy photographer and MBVB. © Studio Olafur Eliasson.

Notion Motion (2005) by Olafur Eliasson. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (MBVB). Donation: Han Nefkens H+F Mecenaat.

Installation view 2016. Photo: Hans Wilschut.

Courtesy photographer and MBVB. © Studio Olafur Eliasson.

Tilted Arc (1981, removed in 1989) by Richard Serra, Federal Plaza, New York City. Photo: Anne Chauvet. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam.

Gutter Splash Two Corner Cast (1992/1998) by Richard Serra. Collection Museum De Pont, Tilburg. Photo: courtesy De Pont. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam Project. Specifications for a Piece with Combustible Materials (1969) by Robert

Morris. Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

Installation view in Op losse schroeven. Situaties en cryptostructuren. Photo: courtesy Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam.

They shoot horses (2004) by Phil Collins. Collection Tate Galleries, London. Photo: Tate. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam and Tate.

Figure 9 Waxing Arcs (1980, second version 1999) by Richard Serra. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (MBVB). Donation: Stichting Fonds Willem van Rede. Photo: Nieuwe Beeldenmakers, Ernie Buts. Courtesy photographer and MBVB. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam.

Figureio In Constant Motion: Richard Serra’s ‘Waxing Arcs’ (2013), multimedia presentation by IJsfontein in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (MBVB). Courtesy IJsfontein/MBVB.

Figure 11 Um Sagrado Lugar (A Sacred Place) (2017) by Ernesto Neto. Installation view at 57'" Venice Bienniale.

Photo by the author.

Figureiz2 Célula Nave. It happens in the body of time, where truth dances (2004) by Ernesto Neto. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

(MBVB). Donation: Stichting Fonds Willem van Rede.

Installation view in Perception of Space. Photo: Bob Goedewaagen. Courtesy photographer and MBVB. © Ernesto Neto.

Figure 13/13a Célula Nave. It happens in the body of time, where truth dances (2004) by Ernesto Neto. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

(MBVB). Donation: Stichting Fonds Willem van Rede.

Installation view in Perception of Space. Photo: Bob Goedewaagen. Courtesy photographer and MBVB. © Ernesto Neto.

Figure14 Floor plan of Célula Nave by Studio Ernesto Neto. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. © Ernesto Neto.

Figure15 Students and teachers of University of Amsterdam, Conservation & Restoration carry out a condition survey of Célula Nave in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 31 March 2014. Photo by the author.

Figure 16 Conservators Emmy de Groot and Carien van Aubel make an assessment of damages of the membrane of Célula Nave, 31 March 2014. Photo by the author.

Figure 17 Preventive conservation measures are taken for future storage of Célula Nave, 31 March 2014. Photo by the author.

LIST OF FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS

Navedenga (1998/2010) by Ernesto Neto. Collection Museum of Modern Art, New York. Digital Image

© 2020 Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. © Ernesto Neto.

Let Your Hair Down (2009) by Pipilotti Rist, installed in the museum's stairways. Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (MBVB).

Acquired with the support of Han Nefkens H+F Mecenaat en BankGiro Loterij. Photo: Maarten Laupman. Courtesy photographer and MBVB.

SLOTO. The secret life of the onion (2003) by Jason Rhoades. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Installation view. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy Van Abbemuseum archives, Eindhoven. © Hauser & Wirth, Jason Rhoades Archive.

Garden Sculpture (1968-1996) by Dieter Roth. Collection Nationalgalerie/Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Installation view at Museum Hamburger Bahnhof, 22 January 2016. Photo by the author. © Dieter Roth Estate/Courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

Garden Sculpture (1968-1996) by Dieter Roth.

Collection Nationalgalerie/Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Detail with jars, installation view at Museum Hamburger Bahnhof, 22 January 2016. Photo by the author. © Dieter Roth Estate/Courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

SLOTO. The secret life of the onion (2003) by Jason Rhoades. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Detail with jars. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven. © Hauser & Wirth, Jason Rhoades Archive.

SLOTO. The secret life of the onion (2003) by Jason Rhoades. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Detail of the installation with a Porky’s Train. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy Van Abbemuseum archive,

Eindhoven. © Hauser & Wirth, Jason Rhoades Archive.

SLOTO. The secret life of the onion (2003) by Jason Rhoades. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Detail with a 3D printed tree trunk. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven.

© Hauser & Wirth, Jason Rhoades Archive.

SLOTO. The secret life of the onion (2003/2012) by Jason Rhoades. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Installation view in For Eindhoven — The City as

Muse. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven. © Hauser & Wirth, Jason

Rhoades Archive. 180 Drifting Producers (2004) by Flying City. Collection

Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Installation view in

PlugIn #7 in 2006. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy photographer and Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven.

© Flying City. 196 Jeon Yongseok, leading artist of Flying City, in front

of the Gwangmyeong Lifetime Education Center in

Seoul, 2011. Photo by the author. 199 Jeon Yongseok visits one of the metal craftsman in Cheonggyecheon district in Seoul, 2011. Photo by the author. 201 Power of Cheonggyecheon (2003) by Flying City, part

of the installation Drifting Producers. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Photo: Peter Cox. Cour-

tesy photographer and Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven. © Flying City. 202 Poster for a Flying City performance showing the

artists and craftspeople in the Cheonggyecheon

district, Seoul. Photo by the author. © Flying City. 205 Drifting Producers (2004) by Flying City. Collection

Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Installation view in

PlugIn #7 in 2006. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy photographer and Van Abbemuseum archive, Eindhoven.

© Flying City. 206 Drawing by Flying City, part of the installation Drift-

ing Producers (2004). Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Photo: Peter Cox. Courtesy photographer

and Archieven Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

© Flying City. 206 Tailormade crates and support layers created by

the technical staff of Van Abbemuseum for the

urban models of Drifting Producers. Photo: Peter

Cox. Courtesy photographer and Van Abbemuseum

archive, Eindhoven. 215

LIST OF FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS

Diagrams Diagram 1 Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

Diagram 5

Diagram 6

City, Drifting Producers (second version) (2006) by Flying City. Detail of the installation at Central Tourist Hotel, Seoul. Photo by the author. © Flying City.

New Babylon (1956-1974) by Constant Nieuwenhuys.

Collection Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Installation view in 2012. Photo by the author. © Fondation Constant.

New Babylon (1956-1974) by Constant Nieuwenhuys.

Collection Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Installation view in Constant — New Babylon in 2016. Photo by the author. © Fondation Constant.

Ruimte in kleur (1952) by Aldo van Eyck and Constant. Reconstruction made for Constant — New Babylon, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid in 2016. Photo by the author. © Fondation Constant.

The installation artwork as network. © The author.

Image editing: Arienne Boelens/Maxim Hoekmeijer.

Three modalities of space: physical, social, and symbolic. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens.

Henri Lefebvre’s triad of spatiality: conceived space, perceived space, lived space. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens.

Lefebvre’s triad of spatiality transposed to site-specific installation artworks. Time influences variations in the spatial network. © The author.

Image editing: Arienne Boelens.

Triadic model for the analysis of site-specific installation artworks with an additional toolbox of script and actors. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens.

Model for the analysis of site-specific installation artworks with a breakdown of the function of social space into: social space of production, social space of the visitors’ experience, and social space of perpetuation and care. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens.

Diagram 7 Expanded version of the model for the analysis of site-specific installation artworks with a pentagonal structure. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 133

Diagram 8 Pentagonal model for the analysis of site-specific installation artworks with the additional toolbox of script and actors. © The author. Image editing:

Arienne Boelens. 134

Diagramg Célula Nave: Biographical stages 2004 and 2009. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 137

Diagramio Célula Nave: Three options for future scenarios. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 144

Diagram SLOTO. The secret life of the onion: Biographical stages 2003 and 2011. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 175

Diagram12 Drifting Producers: The first staging 2004 and second staging 2005. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 207

Diagram 13 Drifting Producers: Staging in the Van Abbemuseum in 2006 and options for future staging. © The author.

Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 220

Diagram14 Two retrospective exhibitions of Constant’s New Babylon project in 2016, in Kunstmuseum and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. © The author.

Image editing: Arienne Boelens. 231

Diagrami5 Final model for the analysis of site-specific installation artworks. © The author. Image editing: Arienne Boelens/Maxim Hoekmeijer. 248