Place

Everything ever produced has a place- it comes from somewhere and is meant to be somewhere. The concept of place can be straight forward or abstract, in relation to something else (site specific or in relation to the viewer or other art works), and/or real or imaginary. If an art class were instructed to produce a work having to do with "place," I imagine that the results would be very broad.
I thought that Kitchen (1991-1995), by Liza Lou (168) was neat. She used small glass bugle beads to create a life size kitchen, complete with appliances, food, and dirty dishes in the sink. Kitchens have traditionally represented domestic life and a "monument to women" (mocoloco). I could not imaging doing an installation so time consuming. A kitchen could easily been an overlooked place in the home- you eat there and hope that you remembered to clean the space before you have anyone over to gather there. I doubt very much that this kitchen is based on an actual place/space/kitchen. The fact that this sparkly-beaded kitchen could be completely made up makes it a bit more fanciful. The "glittery surface" is "also read as a comment on the seductive advertising that promotes the excess of consumerism" (167). This installation works on so many levels and says many things other than its "place."

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. Second Edition. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

mocoloco. "Art". <>

Place and the "Heart of Darkness"

While reading the many definitions of “place” given by Robertson and McDaniel, I couldn’t help but refer back to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Not only did we mention it previously in the Post-Colonialism lecture, but I was also required to read it for my literature course. Within the first paragraph, it states, “A forest traversed by an indigenous tribe is psychically a much different forest than the one that a band of tourists floats through on boats” (Robertson, McDaniel, 153). This reminds me of the psychology behind Heart of Darkness and the way in which Marlow psychoanalyzes almost everyone in the book. Conrad’s entire description of the Congo, including the people, is dark and psychically “mad”. However if the Congo had been a “conquered monster” like that of England at the time, his description and view would have been entirely different. Also relating to the psychology of a place, Robertson and McDaniel state, “The psychic dimensions of a place are changeable and subject to redefinition as new inhabitants occupy a place” (Robertson, McDaniel, 154). This is true of Heart of Darkness. The “psychic dimensions” of the Congo were changed when the Europeans came to conquer for the sake of ivory and money. Although, referring back to Post Colonialism and the influence of European perspective, the only way in which I obtained that knowledge was through European views of the Congo or the way in which Conrad depicts it.

Even when stepping away from psychology, there is another quote that brought Heart of Darkness to mind. Robertson and McDaniel state, “A place is an event” (Robertson, McDaniel, 153). If “new Imperialism” had never taken place, Conrad wouldn’t have been able to have a story. The entire novella is based on the events that take place within the Congo and how they shape its image, it’s “darkness”. Not only does the place, the Congo, and its events shape the image of the place, it also can have physical and emotional affects on people. Robertson and McDaniel say, “ Some kinds of place can trigger intense physical and emotional responses such as vertigo, claustrophobia, and disorientation” (Robertson, McDaniel, 154). This is true in the character of Marlow and many others. Marlow begins to describe things he is seeing, but then almost second guessing his visions, determining that he might be “mad”. Although this example does not relate directly to art, there still can be a connection between the descriptions of place and the literary work, Heart of Darkness.

The paragraph on Kathy Prendergast and her work “Lost”, made me wonder what Marlow’s map of the Congo would have looked like. It almost humors me to think he would have used the word “dark” in every named location on the map. Because not only does he use the word “darkness” in his title, he also overuses the adjective throughout the entire novella.

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Architecture of the Evicted

This reading was very interesting. It brought to my attention something that I hadn't thought of before such as what happens to the homeless people that occupy abandoned places when the city decides to rebuild them. Also, a park was going to be renevated and some of the statues were going to be cleaned up and all of the homeless people were going to be kicked out of the park even though it is one of the only places for them to reside. Henry Stern, the former Parks Commissioner, supported regulations that wouldn't allow homeless people back into the park stating that there was no way that a park could eliviate their homeless situation (Duetsche, p. 156). I really liked Wodiczko's "projection" called Proposal for Union Square, 1986. He did this projection to symbolize what the city had done to the homeless people who lived at the park. If I had seen this instillation in the park, it would have really brought to my attention the meaning that he was trying to convey.
I also thought that it was very interesting how the city would decide to make over a building or a couple of buildings and apartments next to each other and the effects that would have over the people living close to that area. Essentially, this makes it to where people who were living their can not afford it or the homeless people that were living their now have to find somewhere else to live. I know that the city is just trying to make the overall look of the city more appealing by doing all of these renovations, but they need to think about the other problem that they are cuasing, more homeless people with less places to go to help them. I think alot differently about city restoration now.


Rosalyn Deutsche. "Architecture of the Evicted." Theory in contemporary Art since 1985. Ed. Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 150-165. Print.

The hierarchy of needs pioneered by Abraham Maslow positions shelter among the most basic necessities for human survival, and part of the foundation from which human experience can be realized to the fullest. This is followed by the need for security of this space, then the need for social acceptance. This level lies two steps above basest survival--acceptance cannot be gained until basic needs are met, which is a concept that I am sure most in a capitalist society are unfamiliar with. In the essay written by Rosalyn Deutsche, the hierarchy is made into a single point of human necessity: for some fringe groups, available and protected shelter can mean the difference between social acceptance and vilification. Citing the upheaval as aftereffect of renovation programs in New York, Deutsche relates the politically charged nature that space really attests to--it is not simply a matter of brick and mortar. Rather, it must also be conceived as "social, as...an economic, political, and cultural construction."

Beautification of so-called public spaces by clearing out and cleaning up rotten and diseased areas with no thought for the dead and dying among them is a superficial correctional act, one aimed at capturing the unity of a by-gone era in New York (that arguably never existed). This unity is in reality a perceived similitude of beliefs and goals of the citizens, one that "homogenizes and deterritorializes": all manner of downtrodden, the homeless especially, are pushed out of public space and thus discourse (they are unable to access the political if they are not included in concepts of public space) under the blandly united front of renewal. Fixing the ailments of society in such a matter is comparable to going to a plastic surgeon for the treatment of cancer.

While marginalizing natives by renovating spaces to a social stratum beyond their access is indeed an effective method for pushing them out, it cannot, as Deutsche seems to argue, be the only source of homelessness in the city. However, this is an unimportant discrepancy. No matter the cause, homelessness is a problem that the city tackles by attacking the homeless head-on. The irony here is that in doing so, city officials fail to see that they themselves are a source of the problem. Instead of renovating city spaces as a mending process for social ills, they should focus on mending people--something that Krzysztof Wodiczko attempts to do with the "Homeless Vehicle Project". By creating low-impact (not a lot of training nor relocation is required) employment via branches of the city that literally travel to the homeless, he "legitimates the status of these residents as members of the urban community". In doing so, the forgotten are re-included in the hierarchy--both Maslow's and society's.

Rosalyn Deutsche. “Architecture of the Evicted.” Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. Ed. Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 150-165

Place

A space contains its own meanings, and a unique spirit infused with culture. "Societies transform places, imbuing them with memories, histories, and symbolic significance; they also change them physically"(153). Time, place, memory, and history are intertwined within settings. The art of an indigenous Australian tribe, painted in a cave, will have a much different atmosphere and personality than the art of a classic Impressionist painter hanging in the Louvre museum in Paris because of the diverging contexts and meanings of each culture and place. Being in place or out of place is the preoccupation of us all at one time or another. The implication is that "a defined location is valuable and normal" (154).

German painter Anselm Kiefer remembers history through art, specifically Nazi concentration camps. "Beginning in the 1980s, Kiefer created a widely exhibited series of paintings showing charred fields and cavernous rooms with flaming ovens" (153). A place can be deeply entrenched with the memory of a specific historical event, or many histories. People reaffirm identity and heritage based on their place in time.

Art has the ability to transport a viewer (and artist) into a new place. Art can challenge us to see a framed space in time in a new way. An artist might paint as a means of escape from their current pschological or typological setting. A piece of art can reveal the landscape of an artist's history in a specific society, but can also attempt to be fantastical or provide a fresh visual space.

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. Second Edition. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

No PLACE Like Home

I believe that folk art is one of the branches of art most closely tied to “place,” and for many folk artists, this “place can be a facet of their identity” (McDaniel and Robertson 151). Since most of the artists are not formally trained, they rely on what they already know and see on a daily basis to produce their work. Family, friends, and neighbors are their subjects; local businesses and landscapes are often their backgrounds. When I see folk artwork in a gallery, I make personal connections with it and try to relate the scene to my upbringing. I am certain that the associations I make with the pieces are far different than those the artists intended and other gallery visitors make. Nonetheless, folk art evokes in most people memories of home in a naïve and decorative way. By not adhering to the rigid academic standards of art and depending more on local traditions, the art is able to relate better to the audience (Wikipedia).

One folk artist’s work in particular, Bernice Sims, reminds me of home. Sims is from my hometown, a small town in south Alabama. Her work has been scattered around my house and my grandparent’s house my entire life. When I see her pieces in a gallery or museum, I instantly feel at ease and am reminded of home. I had one of these moments yesterday when I viewed the Kentuck Gallery’s permanent collection. The first painting I noticed was one by Sims, and I was instantly filled with pride. She includes in her work old convenient stores and train stations that I have heard my grandfather talk about for years. Only those from our town can make these direct connections, since places “have hidden meanings known only to intimates of the place” (McDaniel and Robertson 153). However, everyone from small southern towns can share these quirky memories. In conclusion, the emotions and nostalgia I am filled with when viewing folk art cannot be matched by any other branch of art because of the artists’ strong ties to “place” and tradition.

McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. 151-153.

Wikipedia contributors. "Folk art." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Apr. 2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2010.

Places: What is the meaning?

A place is, I believe, is what you make it, it’s what you believe it to be. A person created it, a person label it, and it only holds meaning to that person. A place, by definition, is an area with indefinite or definite boundaries: a portion of space. Which means, it can have limits or it can no limits, a place is just space. What can a place be? What does it represent or stand for? The meanings of a place hold something different for many artists. To some artists, a place can have spiritual meaning which should be protected. “In the case of attempts to protect natural places, some artists subscribe to a pantheistic view of nature, a belief in wilderness as a source of spiritual energy” (pg 163). For this place of spiritual energy could represent nature. And in nature, to some, is where life began. Places can have deep and spiritual meanings.A place can also represent our environment. To some artists, our environment is a place of valve. “Maya Lin is addressing environmental issues by translating geological features, such as underground rivers, hills, and undersea formations, into large-scale installations of aluminum tubing that visitors can walk under and though, with the goal of enhancing their sensitivity to the natural world” (pg 165). This environment is the place, and the meaning of the place is its valve it holds. This valve of environemnt needs to be protected and appreciated. Places can be examples of appreciation and valve to some.These are just examples of what places can mean to certain people. Places have no limits on meaning. What a place is and can be has infinite possibilities. Places are want you want them to be and the meaning of a place it left up to you.



Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. Second Edition. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.