I chose Alan Kaprow specifically
focusing on the piece An Apple Shrine. It is hard to talk about the work of
Alan Kaprow without first acknowledging that he studied under John Cage who
insisted on the idea of Zen and integration of art and everyday activity.
Kaprow’s work was also heavily influenced by the painting of Jackson Pollock. Kaprow
marveled at the way Pollock interacted with the painting as almost dance and
performance. “Pollocks’s method of painting was choreographic, and the viewers
themselves must feel the physical impact of his markings, allowing them to
entangle and assault us, in form, technique and reception.” This is what Kaprow
set out to do in his own work through the exploration of new ways of creating
art.
Alan Kaprow’s work was a new type
of art “Installation Art” or in Kaprow’s own language and term of the day
“Happenings”. This new type of art had to be interacted with and experienced to
fully understand or even view the piece. The idea behind this type of art was
to invoke something in the viewer, to perhaps see the world or the piece in a
different light a way. Kaprow was an extremely brash and passionate character
he once said “I am convinced that painting is a bore. So is music and
literature. What doesn’t bore me is the total destruction of ideas that have
any discipline. Instead of painting, move your arms; instead of music, make
noise. I’m giving up painting and all the arts by doing everything and
anything.” Just like John Cage Alan Kaprow wanted artists to change and break
down the walls that separated art and the rest of the world. Because this new
type of art was experienced in the moment, he scoffed at the idea of creating
something that should be so permanent as sculpture and painting. Because of
this the only way that Kaprow’s work can be experienced now is by reproduction
and thus the experience or happening can never be reproduced as it was when he
first installed the work. One of the best ways to experience the works of
Kaprow’s work today is through his compiled writings and the writings of first
hand participants in the original happenings. This can be seen in the book The
Blurring of Art and Life a compilation of essays written throughout his
life. Alan Kaprow was once asked if the transience of his work concerned him he
said, “No. If the work is of value it will stimulate the creation of related
works later on… and thus the tradition will stay alive that way.”
In An Apple Shrine the viewer moved
through a maze of clutter consisting of boards and wire built up with tar paper,
newspaper and rags. This lead to a quieter and emptier space at the center of
the room described by one viewer as having “the stillness… of a ghost town
evacuated at the moment before an avalanche- where apples were suspended from a
tray and signs read Apples, apples, apples.” The photos of the happening show
that the viewer became almost lost in the clutter filling the extremely busy
and grungy old house. Kaprow taught art until 1993 and died in 2006 while
working on a major retrospective. Alan Kaprow’s work continues to be recreated
and changed and shaped the way we view and define art as installation and
performance as well as art in general.
Bishop, Claire. Installation Art: A Critical History.
New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.
Kaprow, Allan, and Jeff Kelley. Essays on the Blurring of
Art and Life. Berkeley: University
of California, 1996. Print.
"Allan Kaprow–Art as Life." Allan
Kaprow–Art as Life. Web. 23 May 2012.
<http://www.moca.org/kaprow/>.
I like your discussion of Pollock in relation to Kaprow. It's interesting to compare Pollock's gestural "action paintings" and the movement required of the visitor during different Happenings by Kaprow. That quote with Kaprow explaining that one should "move [their] arms" fits along with this idea, too.
ReplyDelete-Prof. Bowen
I think Karprow's art is very interesting. I can't imagine thinking of art and music in that way... but his art did turn out fairly intriguing to look at. I feel he had a lot of passion for his work, and I find his view- everything bores him except those things with destruction "of ideas that have any discipline".
ReplyDeleteInstallation art has fascinated me for some time. There is often so much going on with the pieces that I could spend hours there just examining all of the parts from different angles. I like how Karprow uses tactile texture, visual texture, location, and separation of components among other things to convey an experience or outlook to a piece.
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