FILM 3660 1st Edition Lecture 17 Outline of Current Lecture November 3 2014 Minimalism 1 Lars von Trier The Five Obstructions 2 Obstruction 5 The Perfect Human 3 Lars Gratitude 4 1965 Robert Morris 5 Transcendence 6 Composition 7 L Beams by Robert Morris 1965 8 Meaning Current Lecture Minimalism 1 Lars von Trier The Five Obstructions Represents optimism through the dark postmodern Jamison and Crary little freedom artistically The artist is given a specific set of instructions this has the dialogue between second person authority and first person autonomy this is a moment of optimism This film tries to interrupt artistic autonomy but instead reinforces it 2 Obstruction 5 The Perfect Human The attacker exposes themself you wanted me to help you but you actually helped me Von Trier confessed that his project didn t work and that his project wasn t therapy for just the filmmaker Jorgen but it was therapy for him as well Lars was originally the therapist but this whole process helped Lars break free from himself he underestimated how much he knew and understand him But These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Jorgen proved to him that he can create a great film Lars had a sense of gratitude for Jorgen 3 Gratitude Jorgen calls Lars a masochist he likes to receive pain He structures his own film in a way that is vulnerable and in search of pain almost to the point of disabling him Creativity through pain romantic idea of therapy Lars gives Jorgen so many rules in a sadistic way I want to make your films bad but really Lars is flipping the tables so he can dig into his own pay A freedom from masochism is optimistic 4 1965 Think about this era as a culmination of an atheistic attitude we have decided originality authority and intention are not solid ideas within the postmodern 5 Transcendence Art has no spiritual meaning and comfort Art offers no redemption Artistic meaning does not reside in intentions of the artist NO TO TRANCENDENCE Donald Judge 1963 Light cadmium red oil on wood Atheist because they offer very little to work with Frank Stella 1959 The Marriage of Reason and Squalor II Enamel on canvas These were considered the last paintings Distanced stripes are very uniform 2 5 inches apart Where did Stella get that amount of space if you see this work in person it sticks off the wall more predominately then most pictures do very obtrusive within the environment The canvas frame is also 2 5 inches this is a deductive structure The work will give you the instructions you need to create it no original idea or thought Purely mechanical operation a picture in virtual space through illusionism Illusionism Virtual Space The opposite of real space The art forms move from the wall onto the floor into real space Instead of looking through a picture for depth the object or art itself is the depth Dan Flavin 1962 Icon V Coran s Broadway Flesh The lights surrounding the box are highlighting the box itself it wipes out any repersentaion one big patch of red Drawing attention to its own object character or quality Radicalization of art Sol LeWitt 1966 Getting away from illusion of art but instead bringing it into real space 6 Understanding Minimalism I Radical notion of space No longer flat on the wall II Manipulation and Filling of space No use of pedestals used to fill space Art is a real thing III Impersonal works hard to imagine a human being has created it IV Industrially produced objects Serially produced cannot isolate an original many copies and multiples without an original V Ophrieory Systems The idea that there is some idea or some intention that controls experience Judge doesn t want you to look at art and think about the creator or intention because ideas and intentions are safely outside of the work hiding in transcendence VI Unitary Single Shapes Judge was against the law of composition or the way in which an artist manipulates objects and puts them together into a whole This is because to have a composition you need a composure Judge wants no composure 7 Composition Robert Morris 1965 Untitled Table Untitled Corner Bench Untitled Floor Beam Internal arrangement of parts within a whole Rationality has been taken out of the object and put into space in general none of these shapes were in the internal space but yet the external space walking around the gallery changes from object to object your body is talking to you and the logic of relationship is now physical don t bump into things don t walk under things don t get hurt body is tired sit on the bench Your body makes meaning through the relationship with the art The space becomes the center of meaning 8 L Beams by Robert Morris 1965 Repetitive and permeable no matter what shape it is in it does not have intrinsic meaning the meaning is seen in the way that you arrange it It is wholly relational with the setting 9 Meaning Merleau Ponty Meaning is a function of the body s immersion in the world Wittgenstien The meaning of the word is its use Context of application Meaning is irreducible to intention meaning is acquired in the public spave of our exchange Meaning is a private language that has language games seen through patterns of verbal behavior tha are social in nature Author vs The Scripter An author is a unified consciousness and determinant od aesthetic meaning and a scripter is understanding the author as a composure and arranger of ideas The minimalist wants to kill the author but they are not like scripters Phenomenology The way in which our lived experience is authoritative to meaning and functions through the body s immersion in the world