Sculpture Studio Spring 2010

Project 3: Site, Place, and Installation
ARTIST RESEARCH

Louise Bourgeios

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911.  She started her sculpture career in the 1940’s, and continued working up until a week before her death in 2010.  It is difficult to categorize her work in any one branch of art.   She has been creating art throughout the eras of Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Post-minimalist and feminist-inspired art, and installation art, but her art has never entirely fit into any of those categories (3).  Her work is a product of her own childhood experiences.  To understand Bourgeois’ work, one must also understand her past.  Through her work, Bourgeois has been able to “channel and release these [childhood] tensions.” The healing of her “deepest emotional wounds” is one of the overarching practices through her art (5).

'Arch of Hysteria'

World War I brought on feelings of mournfulness and traumatic experiences, and as a result, work that depicted this.  Bourgeois’ uncle had died in the war, and her father had never healed completely.  As a child, Bourgeois would travel with her mother to military hospitals and saw entire trains of wounded soldiers and remembered hearing them at night (1).  These experiences translated into her work in pieces such as the Femme Maison series, Arch of Hysteria, and Spiral Woman.  These works depict various hanging bodies, which appear almost lifeless (in both their demeanor and the fact that the bodies are not wholly human or do not have all of their human parts), as well as bodies that range from being very distorted, to hardly distorted.

'Destruction of the Father'

When Bourgeois was eleven years old, she found out about her father’s ten-year affair with the family’s live-in English tutor.  Bourgeois’ mother was aware of the affair but chose to keep quiet because doing so was easier for her.  Shortly after Bourgeois learned this information, she had to begin caring for her mother who acquired the Spanish Flu.  The affair and her mother’s illness put Bourgeois in conflicting positions as an onlooker and caretaker (5).  She recorded these experiences and her emotions in diaries starting at the age of 12.  These diaries include feelings of “rage, fear of abandonment, and guilt” (5).  Later in 1932, when Bourgeois was 21, her mother passed away, and she was left with only a negative father role.  She loathed her father because he “had an explosive temper, dominated the household, and teased her in front of others” (2).  One work that speaks to Bourgeois’ experience with the affair is Destruction of the Father.  This disturbing piece is set within a cave-like construction.  There are objects in the shape of rocks attached to both the bottom and the top of the cave.  In the center is a “sacrificial” piece, and scattered on top of that are limbs from an actual lamb.  The piece acts literally and depicts a “family tearing limb from limb the domineering patriarchal father figure” (1).  And that is in fact how the piece was made.  Bourgeois laid the sculptural body down, and ripped apart the limbs, and even his penis.  This carries into a subsequent theme in her work, which is sexuality.  The tearing off of a father figure’s penis is sexual in the obvious ways.  We also know that Bourgeois’ father had an affair, thus fueling the urge to rip off the part of his body with which he commits the affair (2).  Once again, Bourgeois’ piece serves as an emotional outlet and by engaging with her own piece in such a personal way, it helps heal her wounds.

Bourgeois’ work is many times installation sculpture.  This works perfectly with her theme of past experiences because it allows viewers to transform their surroundings and be enveloped in Bourgeois’ own memories.  Works are experienced differently when viewers feel submerged rather than simply looking at an object.  People are more removed from sculptures when they look at them in the context of a space separate from the piece itself–such as a gallery.  When viewers immerse themselves in one of Bourgeois’ enveloping pieces, they see only what is in front of them, which is the sculpture and also a scene from a memory.  Viewers step into an experience rather than look at it from afar.

Ultimately, Bourgeois’ work is for herself.  She does not consider audience when creating.  She is simply, “very grateful to have been able to exorcise [her] demons through making art” (6).

Bibliography

"World Socialist Web Site." Sculptor Louise Bourgeois: A Year of Events Celebrating Her Life and Work. Web. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/bour-j14.shtml>.

"Louise Bourgeois." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2012. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois>.

"Louise Bourgeois - The Woven Child (In Context)." Rpt. in Worchester Art Museum. Web. <http://www.worcesterart.org/Exhibitions/bourgeios.pdf>.

"Louise Bourgeois - Artnet Magazine." Fine Art, Decorative Art, and Design. Web. <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/lowery/louise-bourgeois6-15-10.asp>.

"Guggenheim Museum - Exhibitions - Louise Bourgeois: A Life in Pictures." Guggenheim Museum. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/sackler_louise/index.html>.

"Louise Bourgeois." Artinfo. Web. <http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/19186/louise-bourgeois/>.

Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel is unique from many other artists in that she actually likes having and following rules. “The only way that I can think of to be free from external rules is to create your own personal set of rules that are even more rigid. Rules are a way of liberating oneself.” Zittel has been referred to as a social scientist and an explorer architect (2). Her work in exhibits has been compared to an Ikea store. She makes catalogues of her functioning work. All in all, her works are her own tweaks on reality that both speak to the space that people inhabit and its functions, as well as the social rules of these places.

Zittel has a series called ‘A-Z Living Spaces.’ Her company is also referred to as A-Z, and these are also her initials. This works perfectly with Zittel’s intentions because “A-Z” covers everything; it “addresses the entire range of human living needs” (4). One of Zittel’s living spaces is a one-bedroom multifaceted space. It has a bed, a desk, a stove, a sink, and cabinets. The walls are made partly of glass, partly of wall that is painted light blue. The space is airy, claustrophobic, and yet comfortable. It speaks to the needs of human independence and freedom. The reason why the construction of this structure is allowed on property that is owned by a person, but ultimately by the US government is because the structure is less than 120 feet. This constitutes a “temporary structure” (4). Here is an example of Zittel creating personal rules that are more rigid than the original rules. Thus, giving her freedom.

In her piece Small Liberties, Zittel describes that our freedom is actually controlled. When owning a house, for example, one must pay multiple taxes as well as a mortgage, and has a set of guidelines to follow based on the law. As an example, she states that even if you want to build something on your property that you own, you’ll probably need “permission from an external authority.” So, in response to this binding rule, Zittel creates “A-Z Wagon Stations” meant to provide people with small liberties. The Wagon Stations were shown first in a museum for a year, but after that, acted as functioning shelters for “friends and collaborators of A-Z West.” The stations are small—the entire interior space is one bed and there is a shelf to store belongings. It is not a place where one can stand. The liberties that people have while staying in one of these shelters is that they do not need to pay a dime because the shelters are non-profit. Zittel creates works that are actually functioning, but are composed of alternatives to the realities of the world we live in.

Zittel’s work is classified under installation for obvious reasons—these small structures when on her own property are specific to the site. She would not be allowed to install these spaces on other people’s property. Her work can also be categorized as interactive—she depends on others to use and live in her sculptures, otherwise the purpose of the sculptures become moot. Her process is not always apparent. She intends for the sculptures to be “dispatches from the work in-progress” (4). The structures are neat and clean, and are ready for an inhabitant to make it their own, rather than imposing on the inhabitant the creator’s own style.

Work from her 'A-Z' series- One room structure

'A-Z Wagon Stations'

Bibliography

"Andrea Zittel." Art21. Web. <http://www.art21.org/artists/andrea-zittel?expand=1>.

"Artnet Magazine - A Thorn Tree in the Garden." Fine Art, Decorative Art, and Design. Web. <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/saltz2-6-06.asp>.

"Andrea Zittel." Andrea Zittel. Web. <http://www.zittel.org/works_video.php?a_id=174>.

Gleeson, David. "Andrea Zittel." Web. <http://zittel.artservr.com/texts/25.pdf>.