What a dead fish or a bowl of flowers was in 17th-century Holland, text is to us. Art with writing in it is ages old: God’s word written in the air or the king’s codes on banners unfurled over a battle scene. Becoming a dominant thread in the late 1960s, however, is the idea that text stands alone.
Lawrence Weiner and Joseph Kosuth, key figures in the text take-over, are in Target Practice: Painting Under Attack, 1949-78 at the Seattle Art Museum. (Review here.)
Lawrence Weiner, An Amount of Paint Poured Directly Upon the Floor and Allowed to Dry, 1968
Joseph Kosuth Title (Art As Idea As Idea) 1968
In Seattle, Alex Schweder‘s tribute to Lawrence Weiner is titled Painting Instructions from 2007.
Speaking of tributes, Stand Up Comedy from Portland has a wall of epigrams from Ed Ruscha,169 Bits (installation), all printed in a lovely wave of mechanical calligraphy, $20 a pop at Howard House, as befits the current economy.
The text piece I admire most in Seattle is Mark Mumford‘s Hold Still from 2003, ink on paper.
Believe me, I’m trying.
I love Tom Phillips’ wire word sculptures and his Humument pages!
NELVA benehix
That’s my art statement, and I’m sticking to it. (Acually, it was just the anti-spam text I had to type to post this message)
Regina, that is one of the best opening lines of a blog post I have ever read! I laughed hard, and it made me think. Keep the good work…your blog holds a cherished spot in my google reader.
-Will
Some once said that “puns are the lowest form of humor”. These cutsey examples are the lowest form of art.
Me too, Marion, about Tom Phillips. For years.
A good pun is its own reword.
Good one.