Art
back to its exposed Root
The arc of the visible river is long
but it bends toward moments
in which a song reaches out
with its silents hands
to grasp the darkness to lead it
back to its exposed root
its first whisper
its fading blindness
Life Imitates the Simpsons
Josh Marshall gives Marcus Schrenker “points for originality” for faking his own death in a plane crash in order to escape his mounting financial problems. Problem is, this is exactly how Krusty the Clown faked his death to escape his mounting financial problems on The Simpsons.
into the colder place
Imagining your gaze from the air
I say this is a small thing
remembering your hands moving softly
I say this is nothing
since you cut through the clouds
and then drifted like a leaf
into the colder place
Intellectual Property and Conceptual Art
Detail of Sol LeWitt wall drawing at Dia Beacon (photo by Flickr user stan)
Julian Sanchez took a stab at describing the complex relationship between conceptual art and intellectual property recently on Ars Technica. I think he hits the major issues pretty well, and does a good job describing how they relate to work by Sol LeWitt, John Cage, Terry Riley, and even Glenn Gould (the story of Jeff Koons’ String of Puppies might have been an interesting one to add to the mix).
One of the keys here is understanding that much of the time, intellectual property in the art world is enforced the old-fashioned way: through the arcane systems of distribution and attribution created by the art world itself, independent of the legal system. Part of what protects Sol LeWitt’s work is the fact that the instructions are only part of the “machine that creates the art” — there are also certain installers who know the “correct” way to interpret the instructions. Another part of the equation is the idea of authenticity that separates a “real” LeWitt or a “real” Warhol from the fakes. No self-respecting art institution or collector wants to own or display a fake work of art — even if it is indistinguishable from the real one. Thus, as these artists worked to remove personal identity from the equation, several strategies were devised enforce the notion of authorship in their work — certificates of ownership, authentication boards, etc.
Even while LeWitt was issuing legal certificates of ownership, he insisted that “anyone with a pencil, a hand, and clear verbal directions” could create legitimate versions of his pieces. In this sense, he could be seen as a forerunner of the free culture movement and Creative Commons. Crucially, however, his approach was to make the idea (that is, the non-copyrightable aspect of the work) the essential aspect; whereas, Creative Commons created a set of licenses that intentionally strip away various restrictions enacted by copyright law.
We should keep in mind, however, that LeWitt’s concerns seem to center around the integrity of the artwork, more than ideals of freedom or a gift economy. He later declared that this openness to unrestrained reproduction could corrupt his work, back-pedaling on his earlier idealism. This tension between freedom of use and integrity of work is essential to any understanding of intellectual property; as we refine our laws, and license our work, we should aim to strike a balance, rather than push an ideology.
River of Wood
Logs jamming Kemi River during general strike (Photo by Mark Kauffman for LIFE Magazine, 1949)
A friend turned me on to the fact that Google is hosting over 10 million images from the LIFE magazine archives. Enjoy.
we will meet
When there is space we will meet
our hands between us our eyes swollen
this same water pushing across the earth
this same weight inhabiting our feet
but an air less visible
a breath less burdened
by clinging leaves and stones
unaware of the surface stones
washing through shadows
through the ashes gathering in the corner
the birds searching for breath
but drowning in light
when our eyes have forgotten us
when the shadows have been set free
we will meet
Untitled
Untitled (2007) by Sam Messenger
Score vs. Score or, Instructions for Improvisation
It can be performed by any kind and number of instruments or voices. Only one instrument must play ad libitum the series with the last three or four notes (right) at random, but returning always to A flat. All other instruments and voices can be well tuned or fluctuate within a very small interval above and below the notes frequency of the instrument playing ad libitum: they can’t play more than five notes of the series for each performance.
— Roberto Donnini, instructions for Tunedless, 1977
The first drafter draws a not straight vertical line as long as possible. The second drafter draws a line next to the first one, trying to copy it. The third drafter does the same, as do as many drafters as possible. Then the first drafter, followed by the others, copies the last line drawn until both ends of the wall are reached.
— Sol LeWitt, instructions for Wall Drawing #123: Copied Lines, 1972
[Cross-posted at Emvergeoning]
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