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ScatterbrainJames Dingilian

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Recommended CitationDingilian, James, "Scatterbrain" (1996). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from

SCATTERBRAIN

GRADUATE THESISMASTER OF FINE ART

SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS AND SCIENCESROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

BY JAMES DINGILIAN

DECEMBER, 1996

Thesis Board Members;

Angela Kelly, Thesis Chair, Associate Professor, SPAS

Elliott Rubenstein, Full Professor, SPAS

Rick Hock, Adjunct Professor, SPAS

date /' 1, 17---

Scatterbrain

I, James Dingilian, hereby grant permission to Wallace Memorial Library of the RochesterInstitute ofTechnology to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction willnot be for commercial use or profit.

date /. 9. 97

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Contents

Pre(r)amble 1

Foucault 3

Gillick 11

Scatterbrain 20

Conclusion 36

Notes 38

Appendix: Illustrations 43

Pre(r)amble

I should be able to understand, in a fairly tangible manner, the connections between history, present

events, other individuals, and myself. The present should be repletewith meaning from past

sources. But, this doesn't seem to be the case. Events feel so disruptive and discontinuous that they

are effectively unrecoverable. Evenwhen an ostensible connection exists, I simply can't make

sense ofthe whole thing. I'll relate a story that's innocuous and naive enough to almost be

charming. A professional baseball player, a rookie, is called up to the big leagues and plays his

first game in Yankee stadium. I watch the game on television and realize that this rookie is the

neighborhood bully frommy childhood. The same countenance that terrorized me years ago is now

part ofthe public domain; an element ofmass consumed entertainment. And yet, what could be the

connection between mymemories ofhumiliation and the public events that this rookie precipitates

with a swing ofthe bat? The stakes are fairly low. There isn't even irony or any real payoff. . .

I am drawn to the depth ofthings and to intricacies. And yet, I'm not convinced that this depth is

anything but an illusion. How it is that we are confrontedwith all this stuff (with events, with a

history, with History) in the present moment? What is the role ofany given individual in the

"real"? These are some ofthe concerns that prompted the thesis show Scatterbrain. It was away

ofworkingwith dilemmas I encountered. But, my intention was never to resolve them as much as

to rework them. In that regard, the show and this paper are part ofan ongoing process to not make

perfect sense of everything; to always fail to resolve issues; to play a game without concern for

winning.

This written thesis is composed ofthree basic elements. First, some of the ideas of the

philosopher/historianMichel Foucaukwill be presented in an attempt to open issues regarding

history and the present. Next, the overlap between such issues and the concerns ofa nebulous

international group of certain current artists will be considered. Liam Gillickwill be the primary

focus in the consideration of a strategy forworkingwith history and the social. Finally, I will

consider my thesis show, Scatterbrain, in relation to the two previous elements. I will indicate

convergences and differences in thinking and in practice. The design ofthis thesis is to navigate

ideas outside yet relevant to the show proper, in addition to an explication ofmy distinct intentions.

It is generally an attempt to give concrete form to questions raised during the formulation of the

show and to propose a vague (or perhaps flexible) mode ofoperation.

or

P: If I understand you correctly, you think that it's also useless or premature to create parallel

circuits like the free universities in the United States that duplicate the institutions being attacked.

F: Ifyou wish to replace an official institution by another institution that fulfills the same

function - better and differently - then you are already being reabsorbed by the dominant

structure.

JF: I cant believe that the movement must remain at its present state, as this vague,

unsubstantial, underground ideology that refuses to endorse any form of social work or community

service, any action that requires goingbeyond the immediate group. It's unable to assume the

responsibility for the whole of society,or it may be that it's incapable of conceiving of society as a

whole.

F: You wonder if a global society could functionwithout ageneral discourse on the basis of

such divergent and dispersed experiences. I believe, on the contrary, that this particular idea ofthe

"whole ofsociety"

derives from a Utopian context. This idea arose in theWestern world, within

this highly individualized historical development that culminates in capitalism. To speak ofthe

"whole ofsociety"

apart from the only form it has ever taken is to speak ofour past as a dream.

We readily believe that the least we can expect of experiences, actions, and strategies is that they

take into account the "whole of society". This seems absolutely essential for their existence. But I

believe that this is asking a great deal, that itmeans imposing impossible conditions on our actions

because this notion functions in a manner that prohibits the actualization, success, and perpetuation

ofthese projects. "The whole ofsociety"

is precisely that which should not be considered except as

something to be destroyed. And then, we can only hope that itwill never existagain.1

or

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22

STEVENSON, Wash. - A man who threatened to blow up the

Bonneville Dam in an extortion plot was shot to death by an FBI

agent when he arrived at the dam to pick up the ransom,

authorities said yesterday. No explosives were found.

Nathaniel Milligan, 18, who according to his father had

mental problems, died in the confrontation Sunday night near avisitors'

center at the dam, about 40 miles east ofPortland, Ore.

About two hours earlier, tourists found a tape recorder in

a telephone booth at thevisitors'

center. The player, with a sign

on it saying "playme,"

contained a recorded bomb threat and a

demand for $15,000, FBI agent Burdena Pasenelli said.

Authorities evacuated about 15 people working at the

visitors'

center and an adjacent powerhouse and warned fishermen

away.

Milligan was shot as he approached an FBI agent and an

Oregon state trooper with a loaded .22-caliber rifle in one hand

and what he saidwas a detonator in the other, Pasenelli said. She

said the"detonator"

turned out to be a cell phone.

No one else was injured. ?

or

Mary: See rain outside?

Nim: Afraid. Hug.

Mary: You afraid noise?

Nim: Mary, afraid. Hug.

Mary: What you think about now?

Nim: Play.

Mary: What play?

Nim: Pull, jump.

Mary: (later) You tired now?

Nim: Tired. Sleep, brush teeth.Hug.2

Nothing inmannot even his bodyis sufficiently stable to

serve as the basis for self-recognition or for understanding

other men.

Michel Foucault3

Michel Foucault, whose writings straddle philosophy and history, deals with many ofthe

same issues that motivated Scatterbrain. It is not my intention to review the entire scope of

Foucauk's thinking. His interests twist and turn notably and the sheer volume ofhis work exceeds

this space. However, his approach to history and a history of science reformulates much that may

be regarded as intrinsic to the topic. It removes limits, or more correctly is not concernedwith

establishing limits. I wish to consider Foucault in order to provide an interpretation ofa problem

facing the modem subject, the point fromwhich it emerged, and akematives for addressing it.

In 1784, the philosopher Immanuel Kant responded to the question "What is

Enhghtenment?"

posed by a German magazine. Almost 200 years later, Foucauk uses that

response as a springboard for a text that evaluates modem philosophy and his own position.4

Foucauk places Kant's response at the border between Enhghtenment rationality andmodem

dilemma. For Foucauk, it defines the problem that philosophy has addressed for the past two

centuries and to which Foucault is reacting. However, Foucauk's consideration ofKant can be

extended beyond issues ofphilosophical practice. It provides a basis for understanding a problem

faced by the individual/subjectwhen confrontedwith the present moment. This is a problem that

will reappear in various art practices below.

Foucauk's argument for the influence ofKant's text begins with a description of its

difference. Kant's text deviates from other previous attempts ofphilosophy to consider its present

moment because, "He is not seeking to understand the present on the basis ofa totality [of

historical eras] or ofa future achievement [the dawning ofa new era]. He is looking for a

difference: what difference does today introduce with respect toyesterday?"5 Kant's answer is that

Enhghtenment is a process through which man removes himself from a state of immaturity. For

him, immaturity is the deferring ofauthority to another in situations where the individual should

instead employreason.6 Foucauk understands Kant's view ofEnhghtenment as a new

configuration ofthe "pre-existing relation linkingwill, authority, and the use ofreason."7 There

are both personal and collective components to this process of

becoming enlightened such that "Men are once elements and agents of

a singleprocess..."8 In this configuration, each individual is

responsible to a certain degree for the process as a whole. It is Kant's

consideration of the overall process in relation to the present moment

that most compels Foucauk. Kant is simultaneously considering

history as well as analyzing the particular instant from which he

writes and because of which he writes. For Foucauk, this is the

sketch or initial groundwork for that which he terms the "attitude of

modernity".9

In this text on Kant, it is specifically an attitude regarding the

modem that interests Foucauk. He is not concerned with modernity

as a time period or era, but as "a way of thinking and feeling - a

voluntary choice made by somepeople."10 A sequential progression

from premodem to modem to postmodern is eschewed and instead a

model of synchronous modernity and counter modernity isproposed.11

There is a back and forth interaction instead ofa succession.

Foucauk's definition of the attitude ofmodernity moves from

Kant to Charles Baudelaire's 19th century insights. Foucauk uses

Baudelaire to flesh out Kant's sketch of the modem. Baudelaire, in

his understanding ofmodernity, not only acknowledged the ceaseless

flow of time, but looked for something eternal in thepresent.12 The

force of the now compelled him much more than the past or the

future. Foucault describes this as more than simply an acute

awareness of the ephemerality of the present. Modernity actually

seeks to"heroicize"

the present moment, but this heroism is ironic and

is not intended to extend the presentindefinitely.13 Foucauk

Nim chooses the rud can

fig. 1.

writes that "For the attitude ofmodernity, the high value ofthe present is indissociable from a

desperate eagerness to imagine it, to imagine it otherwise than it is, and, to transform it, not by

destroying it, but by grasping it inwhat itis."14 There is a simultaneous reverence for the real and

a desire to breach it. Foucauk believes that this polarity is internalized. He echoes Kant's idea of

the individual as both element and agent ofa process. For Foucauk, themodem individual does

not attempt selfdiscovery, but rather self invention. 15 The individual is not granted freedom in his

own existence by modernity. Rather, the individual is forced to producehimself.16

Using the above considerations ofmodernity, Foucauk stakes out the territory for a

particular vein ofmodem philosophy emanating from the Enhghtenment. It is a mode ofthinking

that "simultaneously problematizes man's relation to the present, man's historical mode ofbeing

and the constitution ofthe self as an autonomous being. "17 It is a philosophy that is constantly

critiquing the present historical era. Foucauk approaches this problem in a particular manner and

applies his own techniques to investigate it. For Foucauk, this entails a shift from trying to define

limits (as Kant did) to employing a critique that opens the possibility oftransgression. Foucauk

proposes an agenda in which "criticism is no longer going to be practiced in the search for formal

structures with universal value, but rather as a historical investigation into the events that have led

us to constitute ourselves as subjects ofwhat we are doing, thinking,saying."18

Clearly, he is not

concernedwith the metaphysical or locating transcendental structures. Foucauk wishes to focus on

that which is unique, on contingencies, and on the results ofcapricious limits with a goal of

freedom and "the possibility ofno longer being, doing, or thinking what we are, do, orthink."19

Foucauk is calling for a practical element to the critical workofunderstanding the uncertainmode

ofour historical being. He is not interested in producing a more accurate theory ofhistory nor

amassing greater knowledge about history. Rather, Foucauk advocates a practice that is firmly

focused on the present and that provides the "historical analysis ofthe limits that are imposed on us

and an experiment with the possibility ofgoing beyondthem."20

The above statement could serve as a general guideline for Foucauk's practice throughout

his writings. It is historywith which he is dealing, but always originating from the present. It is

6

fig. 2.

not traditional history (building a more accurate picture of the past

through more precise knowledge) and it is not philosophy (which

would involve determining transcendental structures and truths).

Foucauk's practice operates somewhere between these two categories.

He rejects ideas such as the figure of the genius, the progressive

model of science, and the accessibility of the origin in favor of "the

work of historical accidents, abrupt interruptions and the play of

surfaces."21 He constructs a practice based upon the discontinuous

and the specific instance. Foucauk uses the terms archaeology and

genealogy to classify this practice. His archeology deals with "the

instances of discourse that articulate what we think, say and do as so

many historical events."22 His genealogy involves abandoning a

search for our limits and looking for the possibility of transgression

via the singularity ofevents.23 Foucauk is constantly aware of his

position in the present as well as constantly aware of the contingent

nature oftraditional history and the discourses that shape us.

Foucauk's awareness of his position may at first appear

similar to a historicism or relativism. However, in order to grasp

Foucauk's meaning it is important to stress that this is not the case.

Charles Sheperdson provides a line of reasoning that highlights the

differences between Foucault and these other approaches tohistory.24

It is Sheperdson's argument that I will briefly trace here. Relativism

and Foucauk's practice both share an acknowledgment of their

position in the present in relation to the narratives of traditional

history. However, relativism still attempts to construct a better

knowledge or a better truth about the past. Even while doing so,

relativism maintains that it is only a perspective. As such, it allows

for the possibility that another perspective could be more refined or more truthful regarding what

"really"

occurred in the past. Therefore, relativism still functions within the confines oftraditional

history and amassing ofknowledge about the past. Such is the casewith historicism as well. Its

acknowledgment ofa historical perspective does not overcome its aim at discovering a truth about

past events or a better knowledge about the past.

A key issue for this thesis is Foucauk's approach to the past. It is evident through

e>amining his works, for example The Order ofThings, that he conducts meticulous historical

research. He sifts through details ofthe past in a manner that is almost paradoxical to his stated

concern with the present. Foucauk's care in this area has been called an "empiricist dedication".25

Yet, as stated above, obtaining truth of the past is not his goal. He is not revealing a structure or a

long buried reality, but rather fabricating ithimself.26 His writings border on a sort of fiction

originating in the present. However, Foucauk is not performing purewhimsy because ofthe

impact and bearing ofhiswork.27 He dealswith the historical narratives and discourses that are

passed along to us, but does so to question how they are used in the present. In this regard,

veracity is not as important as functionality. Sheperdson likens the fictionwritten by Foucault to

inverted images of the real. These inversions operate like a satire inwhich an inverted image,

"rums out not to be an inversion, but to reveal that the normal world itself is already inverted, [this]

calls into question the very standard of'normality'

by which one might measureinvertedness."28

Foucauk's genealogy and his inverted images ofthe present go beyond issues of truth and falsity;

ofthe real and the imaginary. This is analogous to the possibihties ofartwhen Plato's argument of

ideal forms isabandoned.29 Art no longer becomes a third rate imitation ofthe real, the ideal, or

the truth and it acquires possibilities of its own. So rt is with Foucauk's writings on history and the

present. He opens the possibility of "producing a shift in die symbolic structure ofthe narrative

mat has brought us to the point where we arenow."30

Why question these historical narratives? Is the realization that history is a contingent

structure the extent ofFoucauk's practice? For Foucault, traditional historical narratives and the

continuous conceal the functioning ofthe discourses (scientific or otherwise) that shape us. For

8

example, they function to obscure the common origins of categories such as madness and reason.31

In that discourse, the traditional historical narrative establishes reason as the yardstick against

which madness is measured. The narrative establishes a hierarchy and an order that allows us to

conceive that "Reason is the arena in which madness will appear."32 For Foucault, madness and

reason are much more like inverted images ofeach other. It is not the case that an original

condition of reason perverted into madness. Traditional history is only possible when categories

likemadness and reason, criminal and lawful, are separated.33

In such examinations ofmadness and criminality, rt is important to note that Foucault does

notwish to overcome repression, lend authority to marginalized voices, or defend theoppressed.34

His work examines the structures that allow these things to exist. His view ofpsychology is not

one in which madness is repressed by authority. Because the origin ofmadness and reason is

unrecoverably enmeshed for Foucauk , discourses like psychology actually serve to generate

madness. It is a complex and hidden interplay that produces madness as an object ofdiscourse and

study. This is the same type of functioning that produces the subject. For Foucauk, continuous,

traditional history is correlated to the founding ofhuman consciousness as the original subject of

all historical development. Here again, traditional functioning ofhistory conceals something. The

subject is assured by history that "everything that has eluded himmay be restored to him; the

certainty that time will disperse nothingwithout restoring it in a reconstituted unity; the promise

that one day the subject - in the form ofhistorical consciousness- will once again be able to

appropriate, to bring back under his sway, all those things that are kept at a distance by

difference..."35 It is Foucauk's every intention to undo this, to abandon the search for a truth and

instead offer disruption. He risks the very destruction ofthesubject.36

The belief in reason ofthe Enlightenment has given way to a problematic present moment

and a complication ofdie individual's role in modernity. There is a desire to understand the present

forwhat it is, but also to imagine it differently. Foucault gives us the option ofunderstanding

history and the nowwithout the continuity oftruth and knowledge, but as a semi-fictive act in

present. Hemoves beyond truth/fiction to provide a satire and inversion that reveals the unstable

9

structures history has erected. Even the subject is one ofthose structures. It is discontinuity and

disruption we should examine and employ because "knowledge is not made for understanding; it is

made for cutting."37

""*^J

fig. 3.

10

Unfortunately, in spite ofthe sweet ambient sound

I can't help to askmyself: What the fuck is rt?

Review ofLiam Gillick by G. Emmerich38

11

A loosely based, nebulous international group of current artists is considering similar

issues as those raised by Foucauk. The difficulties in identifying this group include their varied

techniques, minimal physical production, and a vague and unsokdified ideology. Regardless, I am

interested in establishing links between them and Foucauk via one ofthe most outspoken ofthe

group: Liam Gillick. Not only is he one ofthe more visible, but also the most prone to manifestoes

and defining the state of affairs. Addkionally, Gillick's artistic production echoes Foucauk'swork

in certain areas. I have not been able to locate an instancewhere Gillick mentions Foucauk by

name. However, Gillick's rhetoric and practice both seem to bearmany ties to the above

discussion ofhistory and the present moment. Gillick provides indicators ofhow art can handle

these topics orwhy it may be suited to do so at all (consider Foucauk's inversion of reality and the

abandonment ofPlato's ideal forms). Of course, there is not perfect alignment between Foucauk

and Gillick, et al. I wish only to provide suggestions and indications ofwhere things connect for

me and transpose (or not) intomy own work.

Eric Troncy, in a 1992 review ofyoung British artists including Gillick, actuallymakes the

connectionwithFoucault.39 He describes these artists as operating in relation to the social

situation in London. However, Troncywrites, the social serves only as a context for them and not

as their subject. This results in "an attitudewhereby reorganizing reality and its signs according

to newly established normsprevails."40

Reality, and more specifically order, become the"victims"

of this activity. Troncymentions Foucauk's fascinationwith Borge's warped classification system

in conjunctionwith the disordered reality ofGillick. He is particularly considering Gillick's

PinboardProject (1992), in which news clippings, information, articles, and photographs are

pinned to a 1 meter square board. These are able to be rearranged by the owner ofthe piece

according to esthetic taste or current events.Thatwhich unites these disparate elements is the

location oftheir interaction. As Troncy notes, they form an infinitely variable representation of the

everyday. It is an interesting concession that future events will modify a present day work of art.

12

It demonstrates, I believe, a desire to understand the present day for

what it is and simultaneously violate it. Indicators of the real

(bulletins, news photos, etc.) are ungrounded and reconfigured

causing an inversion of thatwhich is considered real. (fig. 4)

Troncy identifies these current English artists with a shift in

sensibility from the 1980's. They employ doubt, disorganized reality,

confusion and misunderstanding in opposition to the clear logic,

objective signs and attitudes of the1980's.41 For Gillick and others,

"Cultural (or sensorial) information ispirated1

by its own complexity,

the work of art functioning as a dismantled apparatus put back

together differently, with all of its unused mechanical components left

strewn on theground."42 I want to suggest, putting aside sweeping

generalizations about the 1980's, that this shift be considered in the

light of Foucauk's above stated model of modernity. I am not

interested in determining a chronological timeline for postmodernity

and post-postmodernity. The play between the "attitude ofmodernity"

and"counter-modernity"

is much more compelling. In this sense, the

work we are considering has much in common with the attitude of

mcidemity and the problems of the subject in its historical existence.

As reactions to this problem, Foucauk's interest in the discontinuous

and Gillick's disorganized reality appear roughly analogous. Both are

reclaiming the accidental and the historically tangential. As opposed

to the millennial or monumental, they seek context as revealed through

difference and disjuncture. In Gillick's case (and that of his peers),

this shift generally seems to involve a move away from postured

malaise and finger pointing. Instead of deconstruction, they offer

subtle breaching and reordering of the real. Instead of fortified and

Liam Gillick, Pinboard Project

(detail), 1992

fig. 4.

calculated endgame maneuvers they employ more vague, middle

positions.

Similar concepts are explored in Gillick's collaboration with

English artist Henry Bond. Their project is a series titled Documents

started in 1990.43

They attend various"newsworthy"

events much

like any members of the press. Generally, these events are highly

organized and consumable, for example press conferences and other

similar photo opportunities. Bond photographs the events and Gillick

tape records them. The final form of the work is a randomly chosen

photograph from each event along with a text portion from the tape.

Gillick and Bond's representation of the event may or may not capture

that which was considered significant. Their practice mimics the

activity of news reporting. However, it occupies a poskion that is

shifted to the side of the actual activity. They are dealing with the

process by which events become the reality of history. The focus is

on the structures involved in this process and not the objective

veracity of the events. As Giorgio Verzotti writes, "What is

thematicized most in the Documents is the impossibility of

establishing a concept of the social that does not pass through

predetermined structures of self-presentation, that is, through

alienatingconstraints."44 (fig. 5)

The idea of a shift in position in relation to the"real"

is

developed through several other Gillick projects. This idea of

positioning has correlations to my work and thesis. I liken it to

Foucauk's practice as an act of fiction in the present day. This is not

simply an acknowledgment of the contingent nature of historical

Gillick & Bond, from Documents,

1992

fig. 5.

fabrication. It is also a method for emphasizing how we are constituted in our notions ofhistory,

time, and self.

The possibility ofa shift to the side or being peripheral to historical events is explored in

McNamara. This is a short animated film produced in 1994 that depicts the opening scene ofa

feature film script byGillick.45 The script ofMcNamarawas exhibited in different draft versions

over the course of several years. The story involves various characters thatwere associatedwith

the John F. Kennedy administration including Robert McNamara, Secretary ofDefense; Herman

Kahn, Director ofthe RAND Institute; and J.K. Galbrakh, ambassador to India. These people

were integral to power, but all in secondary roles. Yet, their analysis and advice put events into

motion. The president himselfnever appears in the story, though he is the constant topic of

conversation. The pohtical manipulations, maneuverings, and conspiracies that brought Kennedy

to power are recounted throughout the film by the characters in a monologue that cuts across time,

scene, and individuals. Though Kennedy's ascension is recounted in a fairly linear fashion, the

actions and interactions ofthe characters suggest drastic reconfiguration of reality and history. For

example, in Gillick's script, Kahn dies in a secret tunnel underWashington, DC.

At this point, the question must be asked regarding how Gillick's script differs from any

movie loosely based upon history. The answer is found in Gillick's association with the past and

the social. Other films may bear a different relationship with the "truth". They may be interested

in an akemative butmore accurate version of events (revealing an undisclosed truth about past

events) or a particular point ofview (relativism). Even a sensationalized and speculative version

still functions within the discourse oftruth or falsity ofthe particular event. Perhaps only a satire

operates in a similar manner to Gillick as an inversion of reality and as an act that bears upon the

present.46

Gillick, like Foucauk, extends beyond the veracity of the event in order to examine why

we are involved in the discourse. Consider Gillick's elaboration ofhis term "parallel histories":

"The fabrication ofhistories does not rely upon research but combinesdocumentationwith a set of

parallel fictions which may ormay not bear a relationship toanything. Yet this is notmerely a

question of the best history is fiction and all fiction is history. It is a blurring of roles, and an

15

examination of contextualstructure."47 Parallel is a key term toGillick's practice. The idea ofthe

parallel can be applied, for example, to the shift in the position produced by theartists'

activity in

Documents. They perform the activity of reporters, but they are out ofphase. Their position and

thework produced is parallel.

Gillickmost heavily relies on the transgressive powers ofparallel histories andwhat he

calls "timeslips"

for a series of shows derived from his book Erasmus is Late.4* The story is as

follows: Erasmus Darwin, older brother ofCharles, is having a dinner party in London in 1810. It

is the evening before the"mob"

will be reclassified as the workers. "From now on everyday is not

the same, the near future is roughly predictable and potentially changeable. We have growth.

Modem destabilization has set in."49 The dinner guests are not at the center ofpower but

peripherally vital to it. Gillick refers to them as parallel also. They are each involved in a time slip

to convene in early 19th century London. They include RobertMcNamara; ElsieMcLuhan,

mother ofMarshalMcLuhan; MurryWilson, father ofBrian Wilson ofthe Beach Boys; and

Masaru Ibuka, co-founder ofSony. However, Erasmus never arrives for the party. Instead, he

wanders around London to various skes of "freethinking''

in an opium induced stupor. The

evening ends in relative failure for the dinner guests. However, readers (according to Gillick) have

witnessed a "debate aboutdebate".50 Gillick laments that the opportunity for a pre-Marxist

revolution has vanished, but the context that gave rise to the left and democraticmarket economies

ofthe 20th century has beenconsidered.51

IbukaI (1995) is the stage adaptation ofErasmus is Late. Gillick describes it as a "song

and dancespectacular"

though kwas never actually performed nor were lyricswritten.52 In three

gallery incarnations ofhis theatrical cycle, Gillick installed various elements and bks ofprojects

that almost had the look ofprops.53 A plywood table is always present with name tags for the

dinner guests. The low table holds Gillick's collectedwritings (in a pile wrapped with twine),

various information, the books Erasmus is Late and Ibuka! ,and pages from Ibuka! under glass.

Also present are a plywood booth, colorful banners illustrative of theories ofquantummechanics

(wormhole and superstring theory), speakers with asoundtrack by Carl Stallings (composer of

16

Liam Gillick, Ibuka!, 1995

Liam Gillick, Ibuka.', 1995

p'

^ cartoon music during the 1940's and 50's), stage lighting, and posters.

The gallerywalls are brightly painted, (figs. 6 & 7)

The elements are disparate and seem only loosely connected.

Perhaps Troncy's above description of reconfigured reality with the

parts strewn about is applicable here as well. Gillick's work is full of

possibihties, but conversely also full of absences. From the non-

fig. 6. arrival of Erasmus to the sparseness of the material in the gallery,

there is the sense that something is missing. Everything is not quke

resolved. Of course, resolution is not Gillick's goal. As noted in a

review of his Paris installation, the projects overlap and offset each

other, there is chance and the accidental, nothing is fixed and the form

is shifting.54 This is the strength of the work. Consider this in light

of Foucauk's use ofthe historical accident and the play of surfaces.

As suggested in a review ofthe New York installation, Gillick is not

employing absence in a negative manner, for example as acounter-

reaction to exorbitant artworld finances. Rather, he uses absence in

an active manner to involve the audience in his ramblings through

time.55

Gillick's own writings about his practice almost take the tone

of manifestoes, hi a vague (and sometimes exclusive) style he

outlines his intentions as well as the current climate that fosterslike-

minded artists. While the atmosphere for these international artists is

collaborative, Gillick defines them as a"non-group"

with

"synchronous yet diverseprojects."56 There is a great deal of room

for play and contradiction here. Not all the artists, in fact, deal with

history proper. Though generally, the idea of the parallel can be

fig. 7.

apphed to theirwork. A limited look at some of these artists andthen-

projects reveals differing positions.

Rirkrit Tiravanija is one ofthe most ubiquitous ofthe crowd.

His art takes the form of social gatherings in the gallery. Thai food

preparation and talk, drink and music are present without clear

instruction or direction. His gatherings, functional accouterments and

empty spaces encompass "the temporality of forever, now and

never..."57 He is the consummate traveler and tourist, often recording

his fascination with everything he encounters during a journey on

video tape. The journey is important (the time spent, the in-between)

and not the destination. The time in the gallery and the now are

stressed. "Situated to resist conclusions, the only point ofTiravanija's

art is to begin and be begunagain."58 (fig. 8)

Vanessa Beecroft's installations are much more theatrical, yet

still share the undefined relationship with temporality. The gallery

space is emptied except for mukiple women models who are costumed

in undergarments, dresses, and wigs, and the like. Some move

around, some pose and some srt still. All seem uncomfortable and the

entire production feels very non-scripted, ft is an "orchestrated non-

event"

with an "unfulfilled promise ofaction."59 These surrogates for

the missing performer (Beecroft herself) do not impart a narrative, a

story, beginning, or end.

Orchestration is employed more heavily in a Philippe Parreno

event.60 The friends and farruly of dealers gathered in the gallery on

May Day and performed activrties under Parreno's direction. The

results of the group labor along with video of the tasks being

performed were displayed in the gallery. MiltosManetas'

video Soft

Rirkrit Tiravanija, Untitled (Free),

1992

fig. 8.

Driller, 1995 features a reconstruction of an exchange in a bar in which two seated men berate and

threaten each other without any outward show ofhostility.61 Angela Bulloch, in collaboration with

Gillick, proposed a semi-archaeological dig in Frankfurt entkledHole outside thePortikus.62

Several artists, including Bulloch and Jorge Pardo, have attempted to obtain a half finished home in

order to restructure thespace.63

A common thread running through this diverse work, according to Gillick, may be an

interest in social potential and time through the use of "scenarios, proposkions, negotiation and the

acknowledgment that it is necessary to occupy a block oftime alongside the definkion of a space,

mood, or socialeffect."64 Gillickmakes a distinction between this approach to time and art that

only uses time basedmedia (film andvideo).65 He informs us that this new chronological aspect

produces a new collapse in form. This new collapse renders the debate to resolve form and content

no longer useful forjudging the relative success of theseworks ofart.66 Dematerialized form and

the ironic multiple reference as ways ofplayingwith time have givenway to more complex

networks of "relative production".67 Artists are combining layers ofdifferent value with strategies

that allow for insight into different stages ofwork.68 His call to arms may be: "Frustration with an

artworld that seems content to merely reprocess an overload of cultural signifiers in a state of

hypnotic reverie has produced an attempt to quk the role of spectator within the spectacle, and start

becoming part ofthe paradox and not just an observer of itseffects."69

Gillick points out two misunderstandings or misnomers regarding this type ofwork.70

These are the ideas of interactivity and the "reallyreal"

These concepts are easy tomis-apply to

mediated situations, scenarios, and galleries full of reworked information. However, Gillick argues

for a more complex sort ofoperative realism. The art he advocates fluctuates between (without

ever being) "really real", symbolic, andfigurative.71 This is similar to Foucauk's project. Gillick

cautions against relying too heavuy on a Duchampian interpretation ofthese attempts to bring

temporary non-art structures into the gallery. Such an understanding ofthe work only allows it

function as a "baroqueconceptualism".72 For Gillick at least, the efforts ofhis non-group actually

represent a "fundamental shift inapproach".73

19

The sense ofa truthful origin or transcendent, objective meaning

gives way. The desire to get it right, to carefully delineate my

references, fades.

from Scatterbrain gallery sheet

20

Thus far, I have attempted to survey a space in which to operate. The discussion of

Foucauk and Gillick opens possibihties and raises ideas that circulate aroundmy thesis show

Scatterbrain. There is not a perfect correlation between their activities and mine. Additionally,

they are not the framework uponwhich Scatterbrainwas buUt. The association is more complex.

By introducing Foucauk and Gillick, I have started at the end ofthe story. More correctly, I have

started at the peripheries and worked toward a center. Foucauk and Gillick serve as guideposts in

a field ofthought shared by me. Some similarities that exist between theirwork and mine can be

attributed to direct influence. Other similarities arose independently and were based on my earlier

work and interests. At a certain point, my concerns shifted frommakingwork that had a historic

patina to addressing schisms that grew from thinking about history. General interests in science

and history evolved into a concernwith social and historical potential. It should prove useful to

briefly trace some ofthe lines ofthought that led to Scatterbrain

An interest with history firstmanifest kself in the realm ofthe history ofphotography.

Even at that early point in the thought process, I was reorganizing the traditional history. I

produced a series of "wrongrums"

in photographic history. These were a variety ofgadgets,

experiments and oddities gathered under the aegis ofthe fictionalLa Societe Photographique

MetaEsthetique. They generally took the form of antiquated 19th century equipment, but were

humorously improbable in their assumptions. For example, devices were exhibited to isolate

photographs, quantify beauty, and listen to photographs. The difficultywith this workwas its

limks. Primarily, the history that it addressed was too limked in scope. Theworkwas never able

to go beyond that history. It only functioned as long as the veracity ofthe real historywas intact.

The onlyway tomove the pieces along was to increasethe look of authenticity. This tacticwas a

dead end, but a concern with reordering history remainedwith me.

One ofthe photographic history pieces that warrants special attention apphed a theory of

quantummechanics. It illustrated a thought experiment from particle physics through the use of

21

photographic processes. The theory deakwith time and the possibility ofmultiple universes, yet

the piece appeared as a simple, worn metal canister. This piece is relevant to futurework for

several reasons. One is the gap between a rninimal appearance and hidden, unwieldy theoretical

constructs. There is also an interesting alignment here with Gillick's emphasis on time and

imagining the present as different. His quantum theory banners demonstrate similar interests.

Subsequent work focused on issues oftime and theoretical physics. I constructed various

mechanical counting devices that slowly or quickly ticked away. They suggested the operation of

some sort ofhidden structures or systems, but the true object oftheir tallying always remained

unknown. Other pieces from that phase contrasted time and quantum physics with the corporeal.

Theories ofthe transcendent, mysterious universal workings were contrastedwith bodily functions

and orifices. Therewere star maps and licking tongues next to gravity fields and spurting goo.

What is the basis ofunderstanding and connectionwith the universe? Can it be found in some

biological truth? I was playingwith the difficulty inherent in attaining some idea of truth or a

basic, fundamental logic. However, I still had a belief in the objectivity of science as a process.

This model seemed too simple and unsatisfactory. Thatwhichwas important for futureworkwas

the problem ofthe individualwithin time. What could existence mean in relation to everything

else? Also evident here are the roots ofmy shift away from the machine metaphor. I do not simply

mean physical construction. I encountered a set ofproblems that could not be adequately

addressed by a model of science as a progressive truth in a Newtonian universe. The

fundamentally illustrative nature ofthis work limked its possibihties and I became interested in

finding a more layeredworking process.

A continuing interest in science and history prompted me to turn attention to the

Enlightenment. The era held promise forme as a site ofthe emergence of issues surrounding

modernity and the sciences. Perhaps I still wanted to locate an origin oftruth, a birth of reason, or

away to form a timeline in which my poskionwas assured. I was searching for insight in the

unfolding ofthe mechanistic model and emergence ofscientific objectivity. However, that which

repeatedly cropped upwas melodrama. Denis Diderot, the exemplar ofEnhghtenment

22

encyclopedic ordering, fascinatedmewith the degree of sentimentality he employed in his writing

for the stage or in his review ofthe Salons. In his review oftheGreuze's Girl Weepingfor her

DeadBird, Diderotwas sufficientlymoved to construct an imagined conversation between himself

and the subject ofthe painting: "Come, child, open your heart tome, tellmewhat it is, is it the

death ofthis bird thatmakes you so sad andwithdrawn?"74 The arts, painted genre scenes, history

paintings, and especially popular theater were repletewith the melodramatic. However, even the

more"objective"

pursuits seemed to be entangledwith sentiment and Iwas intrigued by the notion

that science could never purge itselfofmelodrama. Events, understanding andmeaning can never

be fully quantifiable, hi a synthesis ofGreuze and experiments with avian stomach acids, I

produced narratives ofemotions thatwere (mis)placed to the bestial realm by those conducting

scientific experimentation. Itwas the duality ofthe rational and the sentimental thatmotivatedme.

Itwas not a concern with the cruelty ofanimal testing, but a reconfiguring ofthe relationship. It

was a confusion inwhich the "animal as humansurrogate"

further transforms into "animal as

sappy love interest". Also emerging at this point was an interest in Sade's commingling ofthe

categories ofman and beast. His advocacy oforgasm at any cost and dismantling of sexuality in

effect destroyed any barriers prohibkingbestiality.75 More than that, he actually used language to

tear apart human sexuality, fiber by fiber, violating the surface ofencyclopedic concerns.

Most paths ofthe Enlightenment eventually pass through the French Revolution. During

the Revolution, mukiple issues converged at a classic crisis moment. There I foundmelodrama,

sentimentality, and"history"

played out on a grand scale. Ultimately, I am captivated bymy

distance from such events andmy inability to access them. The narrative ofthat history seems

rather disconnected fromme. The events are almost unrecoverable outside oftradkional historical

narratives (though, ofcourse, to do so is Foucauk's project). Questions crop up that do not have

adequate answers. What tangible connections can be established with events and actors of

historical significance? What is the relationship between the now ofthe present moment and the

now encountered by the agents ofthe Revolution (or any historicalagent/individual)? Themanner

inwhich humanistic philosophy and revolutionary passionwere incorporated into strange

23

revolutionarymodels is compelling as well. For example, during the Terror, churches were

converted into semi-classical temples of reason (altars were replacedwith modelmountains capped

with miniature temples), aggrandizing parades were held, calendrical time and notation were

reformulated, and the ideals/revolutionary rhetoric were contrastedwith actual social condkions.

Concernwith the functioning of these reconfigurations shiftedmy attention to the social sphere

while I still maintained interest in history and the sentimental. The role ofthe individual in these

events was also important. Each individual constructed their own personal narrative, which in a

very real sense has been lost due to their inclusion in history. This is like Foucauk's formation of

the subject under the false promises ofhistorical unity and reconnection with everything. Instead

ofbeing/becoming, perhaps the dilemma is being/beingmemorialized.

Scatterbrain represents a step in this shift to the social sphere as well as the simultaneous

intersection of several ofthe above lines of thinking.76 I earher used Gillick and Foucauk in a

positivemanner to open a field ofdiscussion around Scatterbrain. At this point, the use of several

negatives may help to further poskion the show. While the term critical can be apphed tomy

thought process, Scatterbrain is expressly not a critique of anything. If it is an examination of

context as per Gillick, then it is not in order to provide a judgment or stress faults. It is not a

deconstruction (any original use ofthis term having been distorted). If anything, k is a

construction, a reordering and semi-fictive act that seeps through the present and the real. It does

not claim authority, though it is working with specific references. It is not continuous. Like

Gillick, there is a degree ofmutability to the overlapping projects. Certain threads run throughout,

but there is never perfect alignment

The physical objects ofmy show are sparse, yet they navigate absence and discontinuity in

similar ways to Gillick's Ibuka! installation. Scatterbrain is composed of four general elements.

Each element contains smaller components, parts, references and projects. In Scatterbrain, a web

of references is implied but never entirely accessible to the audience(the tkle ofthe show suggests

this and also indicates a confusion about my poskion as a subject). The objects function between

the real, symbolic, and figurative. Yet, I maintain a fondness for physical production that

24

differentiates me from some ofthe artists discussedwith Gillick. I would like to find the correct

balance, the perfect center ofgravity, between the underlying art activity and the production of

objects. This is an intention I did not have prior to Scatterbrain. Scatterbrain is a step towards

that.

Consider an untitled piece in Scatterbrain located in a smaller section ofthe gallery and

isolated from the otherwork. Numerous dark red, almost scarlet, chimpanzees are splayed about

the floor ofthe otherwise empty room. They are constructed entirely ofvelvet in a style that

hovers between effigy, child's toy, and the real. It is clearly a tragic scene of some sort as their

poses and expressions are deathly. Yet, all their feeling is undermined by a comic nature. It is a

strange duality. They are at once sensuous and repugnant; livery andmorbid. The actual referent

is ofdecreased importance in relation to the poskioning ofthe situation. A 1995 fire in a zoo

monkey house served as the catalyst for this installation. However, the specificity ofthe reference

did not captivate as did the outpouring ofemotion in the surrounding community. The news of

bloodshed inwar-tom countries did not disturb as much as these primate deaths. The grief stricken

organized campaigns, memorials, and speeches about the deceased. Mike Kelley discusses similar

issues in relation to his thinking, "You can't feel for the people who are dying because that's too

close to home; but ifyou can go through the secondary device ofthe animals, then you can feel

intense emotion. The plight ofthose people is too horrible to imagine. I know as a child I always

found puppet shows very frightening, also cartoons-

especially the deadest cartoons likeHanna-

Barbera cartoons."77

The idea ofthis sort ofdisplacementwas fascinating. Part ofwhat became important for

me about the 1995 eventwas its ambiguous or parallel poskion. This primal scene functioned as a

series ofpotential positions; as a series of"almosts"

It was almost a current event (newsworthy

and affecting, but to the side ofevents). Itwas real but abjectlyungrounded. The victims were

almost human. Theywere our cousins (I imagine that the sentimentalitywouldnot be nearly as

25

intense if the incident had occurred in the reptile house). It was

almost tragic but ultimately never quite enough; a spectacle that never

asked for more than the investment ofmelodrama.

The chimpanzee piece in Scatterbrain reflects this mixture of

sentiment and the almost! Velvet is a rich material that implies both

history and sensuality. The scene in the gallery has a strange dual

dynamic ofhistory painting and orgy scene. There is a confusion or a

mutation of our human relationship with the animal kingdom. Our

genetic makeup, our reason/emotion, our humanity, and our sexuality

are all referenced. There is a sense of loss, a sadness, a confused

common origin and the death of any type of primaltruth.78 It is an

elegy that does not quite function.

Similar types ofassociations are explored in a piece tkled The LogBook ofSamarinda.

Here again, the"almost"

poskion ofthe events is important. In recorded literature, the arduous sea

journey as ametaphor for enlightenment at least extends back to The Odyssey. Men fulfill their

destinies by overcoming the crisis and surpassing the obstacles, often as documented in a written

journal. The laws ofthe sea and the account ofthe ship's journey are the subject ofmythic

importance. The rational integrity ofthe log must be maintained. The narrative for the log book

that I created mirrors the ideas ofman versus sea. The initial proposkion for this piece is at once

sentimental, fictional, heroic, sublime, and impossibly absurd. Awall text reads as follows:

Samarinda, a six year old chimpanzee mistreated by the processes of fate, was cast alone and adrift

at sea for four days. She called upon her previous experimental language training, and not a little

courage, to chronicle her odyssey in a log book. Herwritten account relays a spectacular tale

using her limited corpus ofvocabulary.

Fragments ofthe tale hang on the walls ofthe gallery. Colorful schematic diagrams (drawn to

scale ) ofvarious forms oftransportation serve as the building blocks for the narrative. Each is

specifically labeled in a manner that suggests actual referents. The ill-fated Flight #590, the

wrecked ocean liner Conte Ugolino, and the No. 3 lifeboat from the Conte Ugolino are depicted.

A circular photograph ofthe ballroom ofthe Conte Ugolino revolves on the wall. Its motion

suggests both the capsizing ofthe ship and the vertigo produced by shuffling ofthese references.

The markers of"reality"

are not connected or ordered in a hierarchy or chronology. Conceivably,

thesemay be historically valid events.

A centrally located table that holds a videomonkor and apair ofchimpanzee gloves

promises to connect thewall elements. The fake fur gloves sk without life on the table and

resemble comic, cartoon props. However, they aremore lively in the video. There, they scrawl in

a log book. Sometimes the gloves write frantically and at other times they reflect a more pensive

mood. The chimp's vocabulary, limited as it is, proves inappropriate for the description of a sea

journey.79 The 94 words are posted on the wall behind themonkor. However, instead ofbecoming

a glue that connects the references, the chimp's reconfiguration ofthe vocabularydoes not provide

27

enlightenment or connections. The resulting narrative resembles concrete poetry with a general

tone that is pleading, sad, and ultimatelynonsensical.80 At points, there is lucidity and perhaps

what "reallyhappened"

is made evident. However, this clarity is quickly undone by the chimps

quasi-philosophical ranting. Foucault wrkes, "We want historians to confirm our belief that the

present rests upon profound intentions and immutable necessities. But the true historical sense

confirms our existence among countless lost events, without a landmark or a point of reference."81

Absence is here employed in a similar manner to Gillick. A series of absences and

unfulfilled potentials are evident in The Log Book ofSamarinda (as well as the rest ofthe show).

For example, our heroine is never seen on the video except as a set of hands. There is never

certainty that the writing is meaningful to her (or us) or just the manipulation of a system of

language that was forced upon her. Resolution is also absent. Her journey never ends nor begins.

Certainly, a transformation or enlightenment (from chimpanzee to human?) never arrives for her

Samarinda never gains nor loses reason. The pathos inherent in the situation is always there, but

never fulfilled. After all, a chimp alone and adrift at sea could be a real tearjerker. At times, the

28

scenario approaches this with the sadness ofthe tattered gloves or the pleading ofthe rant, "make

me mirror yourhurt."

However, the entire proposkion is a middle one that plays with reality

without ever totally immersing the audience in fantasy. Before the pieces ofthe story can be bunt

too high, they collapse upon themselves. The chimp is just the artist wearing fake fur gloves. The

human arm is even occasionally visible in the video. The story, the history, the reality is

preposterous and can not be made towork. Yet, it can not be entirely ignored either. It is not the

veracity ofthe referents that propels the narrative, but theirmutability. The confessional narrative,

the urge for truth and sense, and the sentimental are littered aboutwith all these other props to a

play. The fact that the script is inaccessible produces a frustration, a sadness, and a failure. These

are the same resuks I discoverwhen trying to rectify the present moment with past events.

The middle ground, crisis moment, failed potential, and the marking of real events are also

atwork in WeAre The Revolution, for allyoung revolutionaries. . . This is intended as a

monument of sorts, but does not aspire to monumental status. The strange relationship ofks

components restricts it from being described as either fully a piece or as an installation. It creates

more ofa discontinuous mood, atmosphere, moment, scenario. I enjoy the idea of a failed

monument to failed potential that functions more to confound the present than tomemorialize a

past. In effect, k is a parallel monument. The materials and design are equally unheroic. A low,

oval plinth or platform is covered in orange vinyl. Atop the platform sk 30 chromed cast rabbks in

a pattern that formed the figures !!$?. An orange vinyl stripe runs around the gallerywall and

vaguely defines a space. A disconnected fragment of revolutionary rhetoric is printed on a portion

ofthe stripe. It is a quotation from Saint-Just (though there is no attribution in the gallery) that

reads, "Our duty is to be inflexible in matters ofprinciple. We owe you friendship, we do not owe

you weakness". At another location along the stripe, a small cassette player/radio is placed on a

shelf. It endlessly plays a loop audio tape ofthe samesong- a banal 1970's rock/disco/jazz failure.

It is a fairly happy and bouncy tune, generally comic in its effect yet insidious in conjunction with

the quotation and subject matter ofthe monument.

29

The present moment and the past event meld in a monument. However, what changes

occur when the monument no longer serves a marker of the real or what reallyhappened?82

Instead of being focused on a past event, this monument diffuses the past throughout a moment in

the present. It bears little resemblance to any event or person it may be memorializing. A

collective remembrance or reconciliation seems difficult. Mutability and potential are stressed as

well as a sad absence ofthe hero and the poignant event. The audience is veiled from the historical

structure that allows us to feel an association with the past event.

The color scheme is of importance. Orange and silver are the inspirational colors, instead

ofthe tri-color ofthe French Revolution or the blood red of 20th century Communism. This is a

confusion ofthe present moment. It attempts to grasp the currency ofthe instant, but can only rely

on other moments. The orange, silver, and the stripe are popular in current marketing and fashion.

However, the style is recycled from the 1970's. There is a play between the colors feeling outdated,

vaguely futuristic and ofthe moment. They may be reminiscent of an institutional atmosphere (the

orange waiting room) or ofkitsch. However, that which remains throughout is the knowledge that

the color scheme and ks position at the cusp of the present moment will soon be supplanted

(perhaps by fluorescent green). There is an absence when confrontedwith the immediacy, the

30

toss-away nature, and rapidly recycled quality ofthe atmosphere. There is a nostalgia for a past

that is happening now and that never happened. Who is today's/tomorrow's revolutionary? This is

not a comment on a fragmented "postmodern lifestyle". Recalling Foucauk's argument from above,

I ammore concernedwith our historical mode of existence as individuals within the present

moment. Using Foucauk's guidelines, I believe that it is a much moremodernist model.

The rabbits, in a similar fashion as the velvet chimps, invoke a strange pathos. Each is

deformed, twisted, dented or drooping to varying degrees (actually caused by the negative space of

my clenched hands during the casting process). They seem to be damaged individual unks that

comprise a largerwhole. The rabbks are configured into the shape of a cartoon expletive. The

platform and rabbits, when viewed from above, have the form of a logo. A logo in this case being

the co-opted badge (fashionable or otherwise) ofthe revolutionary group. Is it skate fashion, a real

passion, or media hype? The hollow nature ofthe sankized expletive is in contrast with the

charged nature ofthe quotation from Saint-Just on thewall. It is not crucial that Saint-Just's

poskion as one ofthe twelve Terrorists ofThe Committee ofPubhc Safetywho ruled after the

French Revolution be known.83 The idealism, force, and disjuncture ofhis quotation serve their

function in Scatterbrain.

The mass of rabbks hints at notions ofthe populism or the humanism invoked by the

Revolutionary spirit: the spirit ofthe moment ,of future promise, and the formulation ofThe

Declaration ofThe Rights ofMan andCitizen.*4 The rabbits, in conjunction with the tkle We Are

the Revolution, obfuscate the site of a revolution or crisis moment. Who is the'We"

that claims

authority? What is the poskion ofthe individualwith regard to the social, the defining moment,

and history? Gillick employs a parallel history ofthe failed dinner party to examine thatmoment

when pre-Marxist revolution could never again be. The middle proposkion ofmy failed and

problematic monument has a similar impetus.

The fourth element ofthe show, a translation project titled TheMarquis andMe, deals

with many issues that overlapped the abovework. The translation is my version ofthe Marquis de

31

Sade's CahierPersonnel 1803-4 (personal notes) published inFrench.85 Sade is a particularly

titillating writer and figure whose reputation exceeds his readership.86 However, the lascivious

points ofhis work are less interesting than the story ofhis productivity and positioning with regard

to Enhghtenment history. Much ofhis lifewas spent in prison and he seems to have functioned

best under these condkions. His relation to the Revolution is quke interesting as well. He was

tangential, yet involved. (Dare we, yet again, discuss the parallel?) He was imprisoned at the

Bastille, though moved shortly before itwas liberated. Hewas granted freedom during the

Revolution, but eventually was imprisoned again. Most ofthe notes from 1803-4 were written in a

jad cell. He is a strange figure when placed in relation to Saint-Just. Sade's outline reveal a

somewhat romantic self-image as a noblewriter and artist unjustly imprisoned for his views.

As far as I am aware, an English printing ofthe Cahier Personnel does not exist.

However, my English translation of Sade's work is flawed. I imposed restrictions upon myselfto

ensure a confusion ofthe text (see the endpaper ofthis thesis). I did not use a dictionary nor any

other outside aid during the translation. I relied solely onmy childhood, basic, and long unused

knowledge ofFrench. Itwas inadequate to handle a text from the early 19th century. The multiple

layers involved in the laborious process oftranslation are the motivation for thework. The process

serves as an act in the present day, a dredging ofmy past, and the invoking of Sade's narrative. It

is a restructuring of reality springing from a simple act.

In several ways, the translation functions analogously to the log book piece. At times there

is lucidity in Sade's/my narrative. Often, the narrative is nonsensical and impossible to follow. A

classic tale (in this case the misunderstood, suffering, persecuted, laboring artist) is rendered

ineffective due to a contingent and limited vocabulary. There is a sense ofabsence or loss of

narrator - Sade and me. The physical presentation in the gallery further pushes the issue. The

translucent, handwritten pages ofthe translation are pinned to thewallwith off register photocopies

behind them. An optical illusion is created and the red ink text appears to swirl and

32

twist in different directions. Not only does this mimic

the revolving ballroom from the log book piece, but it

also further obscures the text and heightens a sense of

absence. The text and the laborious process become

decoration. A gapbetween"

form and content is

widened.

The translation is also part of a larger

scenario. The text serves as the backdrop for a

plywood stage that I constructed. A microphone,

amp, and speakers are on the stage and powered up.

The only sound emanating is the hum of the power.

Anyone is free to wander onto the stage, inspect the

translation more closely, or speak into the

microphone. The entire scene suggests an absent

performance or performer. I never had a

performance of any type planned or intended. The

result is a strangeness of the present moment, as if

something would happen or had happened. What is

to be said when one is confronted with the body of

the text? The text itself remains silent and fairly

impenetrable. There is the awkwardness of an empty

theater and the discomfort of being on stage as well

as the angst of a garage band. The artifice of

theatricality heightens the sense ofmelodrama. More

than that, I like the idea of providing a forum in

which something important can possibly be said

There is potential on this stage, but it generally fails to amount to anything. It could be a

revolutionary stage or platform where the force ofthe social potential and selfexpression meet.

However, k remains sadly unfulfilled. This moment repeats kself, never resolving.

Iwant to emphasize, as per Gillick, that this is not about interactivity. The situation

created is much more vague and does not define limits regardingwhat constitutes participation or

non-participation. What is the spectacle, the drama, and what is the role ofeach audience

member? Troncywrites about Gillick's Ibuka! show that ifany partmay be defined as interactive,

"itwould be the highly specific relation it is engaged in with the spectator. The exhibition is

conceived as the situation that the spectator is obliged to approach the otherwayround."87

34

Conclusion

If it is true that certain current artists employ a layering ofthe "really real", symbolic, and

figurative, then it is also true that this is done in a very self aware manner. What Imean is that

whde these techniques (dematerialized form, scenarios, vagueness, etc.) are not primarily being

used to critique the gallery system, there is an awareness ofthe positioning ofthe art activities

being performing. Though connected to the real, these activities are never entirely real

"happenings". Therefore, "It is possible that there is more space for things to happen within this

exchange, because it is never 'reallyreal'

but another fiction. It is not possible to be really real

within the parameterswe are involved in. The lights are too bright and thewalls are a little too

whke or too dim and all different colours. . However, this position does provide "New

opportunities for dialogue, emphasising a veiled attack on metaphor, wk, and irony in favour of

sinule, belly laughs... and believing kall..."89

Iwelcome the potential ofbuilding a variety of intertwined projects that address the

dazzling complexity of events and history. I do not claim that these projects transgress the

historical narratives we have. There is actually a fair degree of romanticism and modernism (as

per fascinationwkh grasping the present moment) in mywork. Earlier, we saw that Kant

considered the moment fromwhich and because ofwhich hewrote. To a certain degree, I am

motivated by the desire to employ this same sort of recognkion ofposition. It is partially an

awareness ofthe process I use to transfer dilemmas into working procedures. It is also an

awareness ofwhere there may be opportunity for play and discussion; ofwhere that zone of failed

resolution and"almosts"

exists. I have used mukiple, overlapping projects and fragments ofthe

real inwork prior to, and including, Scatterbrain. The challenge lies in recognizing that my own

vagueness and disjuncture can be formulated in a poskive manner instead of as a pejorative lack of

singular focus. Like the above artists, I am interested in exchanges and structures.

Recall Kant's question "what difference does today introducewith respect toyesterday?"

It's a question that I can't answer, but seem to keep asking myself. Scatterbrain doesn't attempt to

35

answer it either. It's a way of reworking that question and others. In the middle position between

the past and the future, things are always beginning again. Events always seem disjointed and a

continuity is hard to find. I find it esthetically pleasing to trip and lurch over these disruptions. I

enjoy trying towork in the space between things; writing a fictionmat's almost real and that

repeats the vaguemoment again and again. I am genuinely fascinatedwhen facedwith the

complexity of all the structures around us. A reaction is to immerse myself in my own httle

complexities and to erect propositions and little monuments (whose failures only emphasize how

discontinuous everything is.) Another part ofthe reaction is to just let the potential flow over me:

the sentimental, the abject sadness, the vaguemood ofbelieving it all, a nostalgia for the fleeting

present moment. It's wonderful to succumb to the vertigo.

36

Endnotes

1. Michel Foucault, "Revolutionary Action: 'UntilNow',"

In Language, Counter-Memory, PracticeSelectedEssays and Interviews, ed Donald F. Bouchard (Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1977) 232-

233.

2. Herbert S. Terrace, Nim (NewYork: AlfredAKnopf, 1979), 124. Excerpt ofa conversation betweenNim, a juvenile chimpanzee, and his sign language teacher.3. Michel Foucault, "Nietzsche, Genealogy,

History,"

In Language, Counter-Memory, Practice SelectedEssays and Interviews, ed Donald F. Bouchard (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977), 153.4. SeeMichel Foucault, "What is

Enhghtenment?,"1 1 page electronic version obtained from

http://eng.hss.cmu.edu. . .3AFoucault-Enlightenment.5. Ibid, 2.

6. Immanuel Kant, "Answer to the Question: 'What isEnhghtenment?',"

4 page electronic version

obtained from hnp://eng.hss.cmu.edu...ent%3AKANT-Eruightenment, 1.7. Michel Foucault, "What is

Enhghtenment?,"2.

8. Ibid

9. Ibid, 4.

10. Ibid

11. Ibid, 4-5.

12. Ibid, 5.

13. Ibid

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid, 6.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid, 8.

19. Ibid

20. Ibid, 10.

21. Donald F. Bouchard introduction to Language, Counter-Memory, Practice SelectedEssays and

Interviews, byMichel Foucault, ed Donald F. Bouchard (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977), 17.

22. Michel Foucault, "What isEnhghtenment?,"

8.

23. Ibid

24. See Charles Sheperdson, "History and the Real: FoucaultwithLacan,"

Postmodern Culture 5, no. 2,electronic version obtained from htto://Jefferson.vmage.virginia.edu/pmc/issuel95/sheperd. 195.html

(January 1995)25. Ibid, 15

26. This metaphor is suggested by Francois Delaporte, "The History ofMedicine According toFoucault,"

In Foucault and the Writing ofHistory, ed. Jan Goldstein (Cambridge & Oxford: Blackwell,

1994), 142.

27. Ibid

28. Sheperdson, "History and the Real: FoucaultwithLacan,"

22.

29. Ibid, 6-7. This connection is suggested by Sheperdson.

30. Ibid, 18.

31. Ibid, 28.

32. Ibid.

33. Ibid.

34. Ibid, 73.

35. Michel Foucault, TheArchaeology ofKnowledge, trans. A.M. Sheridan Smith (New York:

Pantheon, 1972), 12.

36. Foucault, "Nietzsche, Genealogy,History,"

164. A risk that Foucault seems enthusiastic to claim.

37. Ibid, 154.

37

38. G. Emmerich, "LiamGillick,"

ThingReviews, electronic version obtained from

http://www.thing.net/ttreview/decrev.03.html (December 1995): 1. I have included the full text of thisreview in the Appendix, illustration 1.

39. See Eric Troncy, "LondonCalling,"

FlashArt 25, no. 165 (Summer 1992):86 - 89.

40. Ibid, 86.

41. Ibid, 89.

42. Ibid.

43. See Giorgio Verzotti, "News fromNowhere,"

ArtForum 30, no. 10 (Summer 1992): 84 - 85. Also, aweb page about theDocuments project is at htto://www.artworks.de/lamstler/gilhck_ham/doc.html

44. Ibid, 85.

45. The entire script ofMcNamara is available online at http://www.artworks.de/kunstler/gilhck_ham/

text/lg07.txt. The synopsis I provide is from this version.

46. This connection between satire, Plato, and Foucauk's inversion ofthe real is establishedbySheperdson, "History and the Real: Foucault with

Lacan,"

4-9.

47. Liam Gillick, "ParallelHistories,"

elctronic document obtained from http://www.artworks.de/

kunstlergilhck_ham/text/lg20.txt.

48. For the artist's comments on the work see Liam Gillick, "Erasmus isLate,"

electronic document

obtained from htto://www.artworlK.de/kunstler/gilhck_Uam/text/lg05.txt. My sysnopsis is basedupon this

document as well as Liam Gillick, "Ibuka! Amusical in three acts based on the book 'Erasmus isLate',"

electronic document obtained from http://www.artworks.de/kunsder/gillick_ham/text/lglO.txt.

49. Liam Gillick, "Ibuka! A musical in three acts based on the book *Erasmus isLate',"

electronic

document obtained from http://www.artworks.de/kunstIer/gillick_ham/text/lglO.txt, 1.

50. Ibid.

51. Ibid

52. Ibid, 2.

53. For favorable reviews ofGillick's Paris andNewYork installations ofthe show, see respectively Eric

Troncy, "LiamGillick,"

Flash Art no. 183 (Summer 1995): 135 andMatthew Ritchie, "In ThreeParts,"

PerformingArts Journal, no. 53 (1996): 68 - 71. My pyhsical description ofGillick's installations are

mainly based upon these two reviews.

54. See Troncy, "LiamGilhck,"135.

55. See Ritchie, "In ThreeParts,"

68.

56. Liam Gillick, "The Corruption ofTime,"

FlashArt 29, no. 188 (May - June 1996): 69.

57. Bruce Hainley, "Where Are We Going? AndWhat AreWe Doing? Rirkrit Tiravanija's Art of

Living,"

Artforum 34, no.6 (February 1996): 55.

58. Ibid, 56.

59. Elizabeth Janus, "VanessaBeecroft,"

Artforum 33, no. 9 (May 1995): 92.

60. See Giorgio Verzotti, "PhillipeParreno,"

Artforum 34, no. 3 (November 1995): 100- 101.

61. See Francesca Pasini, "MiltosManetas,"

Artforum 34, no. 7 (March 1996): 107.

62. For plans to this project, see htto://www.aitworks.de/kunstler/gimck_liani/hole02.html.

63. See Gillick, "The Corruption ofTime,"

69.

64. Ibid

65. Ibid

66. Ibid

67. Ibid

68. Ibid.

69. Liam Gillick, "Liam Gets A Serial Killer AnnoyednArt + Text 49 (1994): 26.

70. See Gillick, "The Corruption ofTime,"

69.

71. Ibid

72. Ibid.

73. Ibid. Of course, not everyone agrees with this claim. For a counter point, see the Appendix,

Illustration 1.

74. Denis Diderot, "The Girl Weeping forHer DeadBird"

inSelected Writings onArt andLiterature,

trans. Geoffrey Bremner (London: Penguin Books, 1994): 236- 237.

38

75. See TheMarquis de Sade, The 120Days ofSodom and otherwritings, trans. AustrynWainhouse and

Richard Seaver (NewYork: Grove Press, 1987)76. Additionally, certain esthetic interests of the time influenced the final appearance of Scatterbrain.They reflect a degree ofplay, touch ofthe abject, social/historical interests, and have a similar "boys withtoys"

feel. One such interest is in a California lineage starting with PaulMcCarthy and traceable throughMike Kelley, and Jason Rhoades. Another interest is in the Yale school. Ronald Jones is a facultymember and recent products includeMathewBarney, Sean Landers, Brian Tolle, and TolandGrinnell.

Additionally influential are the British artists (or perhaps attitude) in"Brilliant!"

NewArtfrom London at

theWalker Art Center in 1995, ofwhich Gillickwas one. Though, it is interesting to note the distinctionbetween Gillick's (and similar artist's) restrained use of absence versus the abject, in your face,

corporeality ofotherBrilliant artists like Damien Hirst and the Chapman brothers.

77. Mike Kelley in an interview by JohnMiller,Mike Kelley, ed William S. Bartmon andMiyoshi

Barosh (New York: Art Press, 1992): 51.

78. Thoughmywork ismuch less intense and developed these issues are similar to ones in AshleyBickerton's recent work inwhich the construction of humanity is attacked He employs a powerful

interplay between the tragic, comic, and the sexual in his paintings. The figures are part modernman,part caveman, and part ape. They piss, scream, kick and are revealed as a rather ugly lot through sharpsatire. For a review see Jan Avgikos, "Ashley

Bickciton,"

Artforum 35, no. 1 (September 1996): 111.

79. For a list of the vocabulary, see the Appendix, Illustration 2.

80. A sample ofthe narrative is included in the Appendix Illustration 3.

81. Foucault, "Nietzsche, Genealogy,History,"

153.

82. Brian Tolle's art explores howwe construct our sense of history through relics, fragments ofthe past,and monuments. He focuses onAmericana and especially the colonial period in this country's history.

What becomes interesting is how such a young nation accesses, constructs and preserves that past. Tolle's

play with this process manifests itself in lllusionistic craftsmanship. For an exhibition in Artists Space in

1995, Tolle installed a replica ofthewreck ofBenedict Arnold's ship, thePhiladelphia, as if it were risingfrom the depths of the gallery floor. Though it looked like wood, the ship was only painted foam Also

present in the gallerywere bronze medallions Tolle cast to commemorate the actual salvage operation of

the Philadelphia. The raising of the past and the figure ofArnold are compelling. He is remembered as

traitor, but was also a hero in American history. The Philadelphia, though sunk by the British, under

Arnold's command delayed the British long enough to prevent a key defeat for the Colonies. Tolle also

recently installed a replica of a colonial room in a gallery. Again, everything including the massive

fireplacewas a finely crafted illusionmade of foam. How is U. S. history, so glorious and contrived

recoverable to us now? See JanetKoplos, "Brian Tolle at Basihco FineArts,"

Art inAmerica 84, no. 1 1

(November 1996): 111.

83. Though, it certainly does not hurt. What is fascinating are the space and discontinuity that exist

between now and the past. By most accounts,Saint-Just was a rapscallion in his early youth. Hewas

caught up in events of the Revolution and emerged in 1793 on the Committee ofPublic Safety. This

made him, at age 25, one of the twelve most powerful men in all France. Idealistic and passionate, he

was always in the shadow ofRobespierre. Depending on the account,Saint-Just was either a bloodthirsty

bastard or a committedRepublicanwho believed deeply in the Rights ofMan and ultimate necessity ofhis

actions. After one year ofTerror, the Committee was dismantled and Saint-Just, alongwith others, was

guillotined For an account ofthe Terror see R.R. Palmer, Twelve whoRuled, (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1989). Narratives we now have encompass these events and provide our only entry

points. The point of contention is not simply revisionist history (was the"real" Saint-Justwell

intentioned?), but rather the functioning of such things as the idea of a pre-Marxist revolution (as per

Gillick), the individual as political subject, and the birth ofhumanism. As Foucault demonstrates, these

issues are much more disjointed and complex than historical continuity tells us (see 84 below and

Pre(r)amble of this thesis, page 1).

84. This declaration is perhaps the penultimate symbol ofEnhghtenment humanism. Foucault was very

cautious ofhumanism, in all its forms, throughout his writings. For him it is a narrative, like others, that

conceals how power truly operates. Humanism creates subjection ofthe soul, individual, consciousness,

and freedom. "[HJumanism is everything in Western civilization that restricts the desire forpower: it

39

prohibits the desire for power and excludes the possibility ofpower being seized"

Foucault,

"Revolutionary Action: UntilNow',"

221-222.

85. The Marquis de Sade, Cahier Personnel 1803-1804, (Paris: Correa, 1953).

86. This idea was explored in an exhibition by NaylandBlake. He made Sade's texts available to the

audience and also provided a photocopy machine to allow the information to be disseminated. He also

constructed an area inwhich people couldmasturbate, as well as a marionette stage and characters from

Sade's The Bedroom Philosophers. See Joshua Decter, "NaylandBlake,"

Artforum 33, no. 3 (November

1994): 85.

87. Troncy, "LiamGillick,"

135.

88. Liam Gillick andRirkrit Tiravanija, "Forget about the Ball and Get onwith theGame,"

Parkett 44

(1995): 108.

89. Ibid

40

Appendix

41

Illustration 1

THING REVIEWS

by G. Emerich

12/10/95

Liam Gillick

Basilico FineArt

26 Wooster Street

Nov. 25 -Dec. 26

Bad shows are very much in demand these days. There is a trend towards attitudes that stay vague, and

oscillate between nonsense and decorated conceptualism Their most important point is that they are

consumed as cool. In French, one could call these shows"gratuites"

or "n'importe quoi", in music, one

could call them"etudes"

or studies, and onWooster street, one could call each of them "it looks great (but

nobody really knowswhy)"

(see the review by Rainald Schuhmacher).

The plot ofLiam Gillick's "Erasmus islate"

is nostalgic, not even obsessive, but ambitious andwell

orchestrated to rewrite, restage, and reinvent an opera by Erasmuswho nobody happens to know. The

medium of this recreation is a verywell known and resonating ensemble of supporting galleries and

writers. The entire cyclewas staged in three parts, in Paris inMay, in Stuttgart in summer and in NY

right now. On the stage, there was never much to see, to listen to, to understand and to grasp. But still

everythingwas handled in a virtuous allegro of smart self-referentialhy, supported by adapted figures from

the repertoire of neo-conccptual art and staged brilliantly in accurate design that could decorateAnna

Sui's boutique as well as the ceiling, the bar, the toilet or the sound system ofTwilo (club, just reopened in

the space of the former "soundFactory"

on 27th street).

These shows all share the same muteWagnerian suggestion, that there is/was a lot to believe in: and that

is the chic and powerful support structure that is hosting this young, charming, and smart British artist

who wants to be loved

Fashion, Formalism and operesque Functions For FeaturedFriends seem to be the Food left for the Fine,

thin and uptight class of remaining galleries. Unfortunately, in spite of the sweet ambient sound I cant

help to ask myself: What the Fuck is it? What should I learn from these shows since I already understand

howwell elitist international support groups function when they are synchronized? What kind of refrain

should Iwhisper? This series of shows doesn't even try to play out the conflictual collective memory that

they pretend to dealwith The narrative space he opens up is completely closed and uncritical to its own

history and materiality. It sounds like high art in green permeatedaprons with headphones and a

selectivemusical menu for first class travelers. What is all thiswell presented and designed decorum for,

since the artificially and fairy tale like pretext, with all its formalistic scores,sucks. If itwouldn't be so

pretentiously sophisticated in its hip look andmodest styleformation one could try to rescue its

gratuitousness. Precisely the old hymns simply wasting symbolic terrain,once more, seems to be the

desiredmelodies for a cheering welcome reception. Is there really nothingmore left to say, nothingmore

to care about, nothing more to show or to playwithwhhin a structureof collective responsibility. Do we

need this intergalactic cloningsound7

Unfortunately, Liam Gillick's enterprise is just an unreflected visual and conceptual Offenbach [bland

19th cent, operetta composer - ed] ofthe late, (too late) 20th century on aBarbie stage forwell to do

adults. You don't need sealing wax for your ears but operaglasses and a certain resistance to the

seductive launching business as usual. In this sense thisoperetta is grandious.

-G. Emmerich

42

Illustration 2

airplane baby doll ball banana barette berry bird blanket blow book bowl bow tie

broom brush candy cant car cat catch clean coat cold comb come-gimme corn

cow cry cup dirty dog drink eat enough fish flower food fork fruit go grass

hammer handkerchief hat hug hurry hurt in key kiss leash tight lipstick listen

look make me mine mirror more no nut oil on open orange out pants paper

pen-write pick-groom pipe please purse radio ring rubberband run shoe smell smile

smoke spoon sorry string swallow tea telephone that-there tickle want what yes you

yours

43

Illustration 3

oil smell no clean

that-there car bowl out oil

dirty pipe open coat run run run run

go run

make me what you want

yes yes

sorry you hurtwhat you can't make

please me make me smile

dirtywhat you mirror

hurtwhat you make please

please radio me

string me on

what cant hurtme

listen me out

you cant swallow that

pants open bow tie on

catch that look

please go

mirror catch samarinda make me look

listen smile listen smile listen swallow

please hurtme more

fish me out

make that-theremirror open your coat want

cold book you pen-write

yes that-there paper hurt

spoon out your candy

make out your hurrydrink

catch me

samarinda hint you

smell me

swallow tea

open pipe

come-gimme

book open listen me

paper fruit candy cat

make me mirror your hurt

44

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