Synopses & Reviews
As admired for his writing as for his work in art, photography and architecture, Dan Graham was one of the first contemporary artists to embrace Punk, Postpunk and No Wave, becoming a figurehead for those movements, and an early supporter of (and friend to) Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth among many others. Rock/Music Writings collects 13 of Graham's most influential writings, on bands ranging from The Kinks to Bow Wow Wow, first published in art journals such as Real Life, Open Letter and ZG between 1968 and 1988, and in the now rare volume Rock My Religion. It includes such landmark essays as Punk as Propaganda, which explicates the self-packaging and media critique of The Ramones, Devo, the Sex Pistols, the Desperate Bicycles and others; Rock My Religion, in which Graham traces themes of ecstatic reverie in rock performance (with a focus on Patti Smith), through a beautiful composite of quotation, commentary and photography; and New Wave Rock and the Feminine, which discusses the onstage personae of Lydia Lunch, Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux, and the gender politics of all-female groups such as The Slits, The Raincoats, Bush Tetras and others. Throughout Rock/Music Writings, Graham's appraisals are clear-eyed, sophisticated and poetically constructed, a genre of their own within artists' writings.
Synopsis
A collection of essays on a key figure in postminimalist art, with texts spanning thirty years.
Since the 1960s, Dan Graham's heterogeneous practice has touched on such disparate subjects as tract housing, the Shakers, punk music, and architectural theory; he has made videos, architectural models, closed-circuit installations, and glass pavilions. Graham, who came of age during the emergence of earth art, minimalism, and conceptualism, has situated his work on the borders between these different strains of contemporary practice. Although varying widely in subject and medium, Graham's artwork and writings display a consistent interest in spectatorship, public-private relationships, and the constructed environment. Graham's extensive writings on his own work (collected in Rock My Religion and Two-Way Mirror Power, both published by the MIT Press) have made him, by default, the primary interpreter of his own art. This October Files volume provides a counterweight, gathering key texts by critics and theorists that offer alternative accounts of Graham's art. The essays span thirty years and include hard-to-find texts from exhibition catalogs and journals. The authors include such distinguished theorists, critics, and artists as Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Beatriz Colomina, Thierry de Duve, and Jeff Wall.
Synopsis
A collection of essays on a key figure in postminimalist art, with texts spanning thirty years.
Synopsis
Since the 1960s, Dan Graham's heterogeneous practice has touched on such disparate subjects as tract housing, the Shakers, punk music, and architectural theory; he has made videos, architectural models, closed-circuit installations, and glass pavilions. Graham, who came of age during the emergence of earth art, minimalism, and conceptualism, has situated his work on the borders between these different strains of contemporary practice. Although varying widely in subject and medium, Graham's artwork and writings display a consistent interest in spectatorship, public-private relationships, and the constructed environment. Graham's extensive writings on his own work (collected in
Synopsis
andlt;Pandgt;A collection of essays on a key figure in postminimalist art, with texts spanning thirty years.andlt;/Pandgt;
Synopsis
andlt;Pandgt;Since the 1960s, Dan Graham's heterogeneous practice has touched on such disparate subjects as tract housing, the Shakers, punk music, and architectural theory; he has made videos, architectural models, closed-circuit installations, and glass pavilions. Graham, who came of age during the emergence of earth art, minimalism, and conceptualism, has situated his work on the borders between these different strains of contemporary practice. Although varying widely in subject and medium, Graham's artwork and writings display a consistent interest in spectatorship, public-private relationships, and the constructed environment. Graham's extensive writings on his own work (collected in Rock My Religion and Two-Way Mirror Power, both published by the MIT Press) have made him, by default, the primary interpreter of his own art. This October Files volume provides a counterweight, gathering key texts by critics and theorists that offer alternative accounts of Graham's art. The essays span thirty years and include hard-to-find texts from exhibition catalogs and journals. The authors include such distinguished theorists, critics, and artists as Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Beatriz Colomina, Thierry de Duve, and Jeff Wall.andlt;/Pandgt;
About the Author
Since the 1960s, Dan Graham's heterogeneous practice has touched on such disparate subjects as tract housing, the Shakers, punk music, and architectural theory; he has made videos, architectural models, closed-circuit installations, and glass pavilions. Graham, who came of age during the emergence of earth art, minimalism, and conceptualism, has situated his work on the borders between these different strains of contemporary practice. Although varying widely in subject and medium, Graham's artwork and writings display a consistent interest in spectatorship, public-private relationships, and the constructed environment. Graham's extensive writings on his own work (collected in Rock My Religion and Two-Way Mirror Power, both published by the MIT Press) have made him, by default, the primary interpreter of his own art. This October Files volume provides a counterweight, gathering key texts by critics and theorists that offer alternative accounts of Graham's art. The essays span thirty years and include hard-to-find texts from exhibition catalogs and journals. The authors include such distinguished theorists, critics, and artists as Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Beatriz Colomina, Thierry de Duve, and Jeff Wall.