Moderator's Introduction
Beyond Sculpture: Function, Commodity, and Reinvention in Contemporary Art
Deborah A. Goldberg:
Deborah A. Goldberg, Ph.D., is an art historian and writer who focuses on modern and contemporary art and is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts.
This panel, composed of four artists and a gallery director, focuses on the subject of artists who blur the boundaries between utilitarian objects, such as furniture, as well as architecture and sculpture, an ever-expanding trend in contemporary art. Many artists today are moving into the design world, testing out new techniques and materials with the help of experts in other industries, and considering their functional objects on par with their sculpture. Important historical precedents for the artist as designer include a range of artists from Gianlorenzo Bernini, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Vladimir Tatlin, Josef Albers, and Isamu Noguchi to Scott Burton and Donald Judd. We are lucky tonight to have an outstanding line-up of speakers who continue this tradition and extend it into new realms.
Artists today are also designing installations that incorporate found objects and furniture. Others craft sculpture that emulates utilitarian objects, but with unconventional and unexpected materials, such as plastics and plaster. This often-fragile work invites us to observe but not touch. Such conceptual and uncanny sculpture takes cues from Marcel Duchamp and the Surrealists. Duchamp's readymades, such as his Fountain of 1917, an appropriated men's urinal, have had a lasting influence on sculpture. Artists such as Robert Gober and Rachel Whiteread have been pioneers in referencing real furniture and domestic spaces in their non-functional sculpture.
In 1927, U.S. Customs imposed a duty on Constantin Brancusi's Bird in Space sculpture, interpreting it as a kitchen utensil or hospital supply item. The press said it resembled a range of things, from a folded umbrella to "half of an airplane propeller." At that time, the law claimed that sculpture should not be "interpreted to include utilitarian objects." Brancusi's trial against the United States vindicated his sculpture's art status and paved the way for other sculptors who broke from the figural tradition and intentionally simulated utilitarian objects.
Today, designers use traditional and synthetic materials to create furniture and objects that look like abstract sculpture but are functional. The interest in contemporary design is at an all-time peak, bolstered by newly-created design stores and catalogues, The New York Times' "House & Home" and "Design" sections, the auction market, and the re-editioning of Noguchi's design objects from the 1940s and '50s.
Tonight's panel consists of the following speakers: Vito Acconci, David Baskin, Elisabeth Cunnick, Toland Grinnell, and Michele Oka-Doner. The artists on this panel, who come from diverse backgrounds and different philosophies, have mastered skills to work in many materials and mediums including public spaces and architecture. Two, Michele Oka-Doner and Toland Grinnell, have collaborated with luxury goods manufacturers, the first to craft deluxe limited-edition silver serving pieces and furniture, the latter satirically appropriating high-end luggage to extend the theme of commodity in his art. Vito Acconci runs a renowned architectural studio. Another panelist, David Baskin, has not ventured into the design world, yet his sculptures reference furniture and everyday objects. Elisabeth Cunnick has been instrumental in engaging artists in creating design objects as well as educating the public about the historical connections between art and design.
