The work 1971 consists of a series of eleven acrylic wall-labels similar to the ones that appear beside works of art in a museum or gallery exhibition. Each wall-label corresponds to a work in a fictional show from 1971. While reading through the plates, the viewer will notice that every work is in a distinct style from all the others. Each work is an example of a style current in the early 1970s, such as conceptual art, land art, early video experiments, feminist art, etc. The work 1971 describes the moment when Conceptual Art became another style, and stopped being viewed as a radical movement, independent of the art market. Conceptual art is represented by the wall-label for “Roger Terry’s” 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper representing nothing…, 1971.  Material: Paper.  Dimensions: 8 1/2″ x 11″.

 

This work addresses the role of art historians and curators in constructing the “history” of a movement or generation. Who writes the history — and from what perspective — of recent  artistic movements? How do critics and art historians reduce the complex and multifaceted history of a period like the early 1970s, a time when so many diverse and disparate practices converged?


Labels

 

Jane Olafson

Orange Drips / Green Ground, 1971

Acrylic on linen

84″ x 132″

 

Roger Terry

8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper

suggesting nothing…, 1971

Paper

8 1/2″ x 11″

 

Pat Pierson

Land Cavity (Oval), 1971

Intervention

(Black and white photograph:

20″ x 24″)

 

Women’s Art Co-op

Diana Trilogy, 1971

Performed at  The Fire Hall Arts Festival

Performance documentation:

10″ x 8″ color photographs

 

 

Judith Kramer

Be, 1971

Synthetic-resin paint on composition board

34 3/8″ x 34 3/8″ overall

 

Bob Horschak

Cheyenne Diner, 1971

Oil on canvas

48″ x 66 1/2″

 

Floor:

Walter Carlsen

Untitled (5 steel plates), 1971

Steel

3/8″ x 24″ x 120″

 

Luca Nunzio

Betty Boop II, 1971

Silk-screen on canvas

36″ x 32″

 

Ray Stevens

Omni 2000, 1971

Plexiglas relief

57 1/2″ x 16 1/4″ x 3 3/4″

 

Floor:

Donald Smith

Untitled, 1971

Fiberglass, polyester resin, wax

69″ x 18 1/4″ x 9″

 

Barbara Hecht

Breathing Piece, 1971

Black and white videotape

39 minutes