Homage to Robert Smithson - Plasticity and the ontological form …shura.shu.ac.uk/17078/3/Hommage to Robert Smithson PP... · 2019. 3. 28. · Robert Smithson’s soul and be yourself

Homage to Robert Smithson - Plasticity and the ontological form of artist-substance as non-siteREEVE, Hester

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This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.

Published version

REEVE, Hester (2017). Homage to Robert Smithson - Plasticity and the ontological form of artist-substance as non-site. In: Art Historians Association 43rd Annual Conference & Art Book Fair, Loughborough University, 6-8 April 2017. (Unpublished)

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HomagetoRobertSmithson

Plas3cityandtheontologicalformof‘ar3st-substance’asNon-Site

Betweentheactualsite[]andTheNon-Siteitselfexistsaspaceofmetaphoricsignificance.Itcouldbethat"travel"inthisspaceisavastmetaphor.Everythingbetweenthetwositescouldbecomephysicalmetaphoricalmaterialdevoidofnaturalmeaningsandrealis3cassump3ons.Letussaythatonegoesonafic33oustripifonedecidestogotothesiteoftheNon-Site.The"trip"becomesinvented,devised,ar3ficial;therefore,onemightcallitanon-triptoasitefromaNon-site…

Gotcha!

Actuality and thought (or Idea) are often absurdly opposed. It is necessary energetically to protest against these doctrines, for on the one hand Ideas are not confined to our heads merely, nor is the Idea, on the whole, so feeble as to leave the question of its actualisation or non-actualisation dependent on our will. The Idea is rather the absolutely active as well as actual.

Bedding in The method of filling the surrounding space between the model and the casing with clay when making a rubber mould.

Thespiritualbestowsform,butonlybecauseitisitselfformedinreturn.Thus,‘habit’sreunionwiththeideal’hasatwofoldmeaning:theideal,becomingembodied,givesitsspiritualformtothesingularsubjectwhich,foritspart,sculptstheidealintoform.

ProtestaAon:RobertSmithson,quaarAst,

asnon-siteofarthistory!

Thesiteisaplacewhereapieceshouldbebutisn’t.Thepiece that should be there is now somewhere else,usually in a room. Actually everything that’s of anyimportancetakesplaceoutsidetheroom.Buttheroomremindsusofthelimita3onsofourcondi3on.

Thebrainisariver,notarock

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artistsubstance

Clay Tenacious earth which may be modeled.

Theearth'ssurfaceandthefigmentsofthemindhaveawayofdisintegra3ngintodiscreteregionsofart...One’smindandtheearthareinaconstantstateoferosion,mentalriverswearawayabstractbanks,brainwavesunderminecliffsofthought,ideasdecomposeintostonesofunknowing,andconceptualcrystalliza3onsbreakapartintodepositsofgriUyreason...

Holysmoke,RobertSmithson!

“Everything turns on grasping and expressing the True, not only as Substance, but equally as Subject.”

Dwell time The period of time during which a model is left immersed in a casting compound

‘PlasAc,’asanadjecAve,meanstwothings:ontheonehand,tobe‘suscepAbletochangesofform’ormalleable(clayisa‘plasAc’material);ontheotherhand,‘havingthepowertobestowform,thepowertomould,’asintheexpressions,‘plasAcsurgeon’and‘plasAcarts’…thethemeofplasAcindividualityitselfrepresentsamiddleterm,amediaAonbetweenplasAcityinitsfirstsignifyingdomain,thatofsculpture,anditsthird,thatofphilosophicalplas*city.

RobertSmithson

sculptorsculpted!

Whatisneededisanesthe3cmethodthatbringstogetheranthropologyandlinguis3csintermsof“building.”Thiswouldputanendto“arthistory”assolecriterion.

Trainerofman,thehandmulAplieshiminAmeandspace

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Parting Agent Material painted to surfaces which are to be parted

Anar3stisenslavedby3me,onlyifthe3meiscontrolledbysomeoneorsomethingotherthanhimself.Thedeeperanar3stsinksintothe3mestreamthemoreitbecomesoblivion;becauseofthis,hemustremainclosetothetemporalsurfaces...Floa3nginthistemporalriveraretheremnantsofarthistory,yetthe'present’must[]explorethepre-andpost-historicmind;itmustgointotheplaceswhereremotefuturesmeetremotepasts.

You’rehere-ingme,RobertSmithson

(andmybraingurgles)!

“The notion [artist-substance] is the principle of all life, and thus possesses at the same time a character of thorough concreteness. The notion [artist-substance] is what contains all the earlier categories of thought merged in it, an infinite and creative form which includes, but at the same time releases from itself, the fullness of all content. And so too the notion [artist-substance] may, if it be wished, be styled abstract, if the name concrete is restricted to the concrete facts of sense or of immediate perception. For the notion [artist-substance] is not palpable to the touch, and when we are engaged with it, hearing and seeing must quite fail us. And yet, the notion [artist-substance] is a true concrete.”

"ThismovementunfoldsinthreemomentswhichstructuretheexposiAon:self-idenAty,rupture,returntounity…Fromthe‘sleepofspirit’tothe‘soulasworkofart’thegenesisoftheindividualisaccomplished,thatindividualwhich,configuredasthe‘Man’,finallystandsforthintheguiseofastatue."

Runners The channels made in an investment mould or sand mould, through which the molten metal runs to fill the mould cavity

FreethefreeformofRobertSmithson’ssoul

andbeyourselfa

formaAonoffreedom!

Ar3stsarenotmo3vatedbyaneedtocommunicate;travelovertheunfathomableistheonlycondi3on.

Perhapsthinking,too,isjustsomethinglikebuildingacabinet.Atanyrate,itisacraS.A“handicraS.”Thehandissomethingaltogetherpeculiar…Onlyabeingwhocanspeak,thatis,think,canhavehandsandcanhandilyachieveworksofhandicraS.

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Vibrating A mould is vibrated to encourage air to escape from the casting substance, and to assist the consolidation of the casting material

Ar3ststhemselvesarenotconfined,buttheiroutputis.

ProposiAon:Thethinkingoutcast,RobertSmithson!

Readthis,re-form!

Thewordplas*citythusunfoldsitsmeaningbetweensculpturalmouldinganddeflagraAon,whichistosayexplosion.FromthisperspecAve,totalkaboutplasAcityofthebrainmeanstoseeinitnotonlythecreatorandreceiverofformbutalsotheagencyofdisobediencetoeveryconsAtutedform,arefusaltosubmittoamodel.

“Everything turns on grasping and expressing the True, not only as Substance, but equally as Subject.”

An artist is a ghost and needs a medium to transmit itself

Comingtogetyou!