Monday, February 9, 2009

Robert Irwin's Art

After listening to Robert Irwin's description of his installation at the Museum of Modern History, I wasn't very impressed. A room with a wire strung across it didn't sound very thoughtful or artistic. After doing a bit more research though, I found Irwin's underlying philosophy quite appealing. Irwin asks the observer to pay attention to their perceptions of the space they are in. His installation wasn't about the object of the wire, it was the way the wire interacted with its surroundings; the movement of the sun and the fluorescent lighting. The problem with works by Irwin is that you have to be there to see them. Photographs and videos online are nowhere near enough to convey the subtlety he wants us to observe. He presents the same physical laws we see everyday in the context of an artistic work. Placing a title on pieces like this violates the very concept his art revolves around; the observation of nameless features. Reflections on the floor, shadows on the wall, refracted light, colors overlapping and combining; a single Irwin work could generate dozens of artistic photographs, but the experience of the actual space trumps them all. Wish I could have seen his wire.

Edit:
One interesting thing about this video: the cameraman and the many of the viewers seem to focus on the mounted lights and those black glossy panels, but about 40 seconds in the camera sweeps past a large"white" wall displaying a beautiful color gradient between the red lights and the white ones. If someone painted a wall in such a manner it would be considered an impressive work, but it looks like many are ignoring it as an unintentional part of the piece.
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1 comment:

Kristian Twombly said...

Actually I think that the wall is simply white - the contrast comes from the lights themselves. But your basic point is right on - it's a vital aspect of the work that appears to be overlooked!

February 10, 2009 at 12:53 PM

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