The work 1971 consists of a series of eleven acrylic wall-labels similar to the ones that appear beside works of art in a museum or gallery exhibition. Each wall-label corresponds to a work in a fictional show from 1971. While reading through the plates, the viewer will notice that every work is in a distinct style from all the others. Each work is an example of a style current in the early 1970s, such as conceptual art, land art, early video experiments, feminist art, etc. The work 1971 describes the moment when Conceptual Art became another style, and stopped being viewed as a radical movement, independent of the art market. Conceptual art is represented by the wall-label for “Roger Terry’s” 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper representing nothing…, 1971. Material: Paper. Dimensions: 8 1/2″ x 11″.
This work addresses the role of art historians and curators in constructing the “history” of a movement or generation. Who writes the history — and from what perspective — of recent artistic movements? How do critics and art historians reduce the complex and multifaceted history of a period like the early 1970s, a time when so many diverse and disparate practices converged?
Labels
Jane Olafson
Orange Drips / Green Ground, 1971
Acrylic on linen
84″ x 132″
Roger Terry
8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper
suggesting nothing…, 1971
Paper
8 1/2″ x 11″
Pat Pierson
Land Cavity (Oval), 1971
Intervention
(Black and white photograph:
20″ x 24″)
Women’s Art Co-op
Diana Trilogy, 1971
Performed at The Fire Hall Arts Festival
Performance documentation:
10″ x 8″ color photographs
Judith Kramer
Be, 1971
Synthetic-resin paint on composition board
34 3/8″ x 34 3/8″ overall
Bob Horschak
Cheyenne Diner, 1971
Oil on canvas
48″ x 66 1/2″
Floor:
Walter Carlsen
Untitled (5 steel plates), 1971
Steel
3/8″ x 24″ x 120″
Luca Nunzio
Betty Boop II, 1971
Silk-screen on canvas
36″ x 32″
Ray Stevens
Omni 2000, 1971
Plexiglas relief
57 1/2″ x 16 1/4″ x 3 3/4″
Floor:
Donald Smith
Untitled, 1971
Fiberglass, polyester resin, wax
69″ x 18 1/4″ x 9″
Barbara Hecht
Breathing Piece, 1971
Black and white videotape
39 minutes