july days 2009 sightings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARCHIVE apr days mar days feb days jan days dec days nov days oct days sept days jul days jun days may days mar days feb days jan days ARCHIVE dec days nov days oct days sept days aug days jun days may days | above John Cage's 1952 composition “4'33"” click link youtube above Richard Serra “The Matter of Time” / Arcelor Gallery above Richard Serra “The Matter of Time” / Arcelor Gallery | Minimal and Chance Color Works Recently viewed the film: Revenge of the Dead Indians: In Memoriam John Cage at the Kabuki Theater, SF - a fundraiser for Other Minds. The film was released in 1993. John Cage's 1952 composition 4'33"” is the inspiration for July '09's topic: Minimal colorworks. Cage’s piece also explores chance-controlled music based on the ancient Chinese classic text: “I Ching”. Within a set time structure, performed sounds are minimized and surrounding sounds happen by chance. As in music, both minimal and chance are fertile grounds for artists' colorwork experiments. One year and a few months ago I was inside this sculpture by Richard Serra “The Matter of Time” (“Snake”). Surely, this work makes the ranks of Minimal art: wraps of sinuous steel sheets, (one of eight), 12 x 14 feet in height, 44 to 276 tons. And on another adventure, I was a guest at the Oliver Range in Alexander Valley. I walked the fields and could view the enormous Serra sculpture, Snake Eyes and Boxcars, 1990-03. Forged Cor-ten steel, 12 blocks. One of Ad Reinhardt Black Paintings from the 1960's to the left Look closely at the painting as it is not one solid black. Even in this web image (low resolution) there are subtle underling grids - each a different varied blackness. The story Tall, Dark & Fragil, by Holland Cotter, describes the fragility of the surface and the consequences of preserving intact the original work. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||