Chris Kraus - "Cast Away"

Kraus, Chris “Cast Away.”  Video Green: Los Angeles Art and The Triumph of Nothingness,  New York: Semiotext(e), 2004, pp.145-150. Print.

Kraus’s anecdote ‘Cast Away’ reflects on a collection of photographs displayed in a shop window.  In the piece, Kruss begins to investigate what constitutes art and states that ‘anything is permissible in the contemporary art world so long as it is pedigreed, substantiated, referentialized’ (Kraus 147). An illustration that springs to mind was the group show ‘Frieze’ held at Gow Langsford gallery in late 2010 where - in substitute of Billy Apple’s work - the text ‘to be commissioned’ was displayed (Apple 1). The work was quite literally nothing; however, it is certainly permissible and arguably successful.

Its significance isn’t inherent in the physicality, as the work certainly ‘requires negotiation and conversation’ (Hurrell 4). Instead, it holds its value because of the context in which it is displayed (an art gallery) as well as the ideas it is in conversation with, such as a questioning of capitalism (Byrt 2). There has been much that has come before this work and much it can be referred to (Byrt 2).  I would argue that nothing - in and of itself - remains as nothing. However, nothing, situated within the said climate and stamped with Apple’s name gives it not only relevance but importance.

This is so, in part, because the art institution breeds a specific kind of response to artwork. This certain attitude - or as Duve would call it, a mandatory “critical attitude”- is the analysis of art on the basis of its relationship to the social and political Status quo (Duve 27). Therefore anything – no matter how banal – has the potential to be a reflection of a “critical attitude” by being situating and contextualised (Duve 27). This may be demonstrated in Apple’s (non)work through questioning the expectations of what art should be and showing the power of branding (as apparently several of these ‘works’ sold).

Broadening the horizons of what can be considered art up opens up a flood gate of possibility. It surges forward with the promise of originality. It means niches can be to found between traditional medium bound practises as well as beginning to close the gap between art and life. Allowing for boundaries to be shaken and the unusual to be considered brings freshness without rejecting the context and history art is situated within. This shift pushes art beyond the simple focus of what is in front of us. It gives contemporary art the freedom to ask more questions than it answers, provoke more – it is given the ability to shift our perceptions.

References:

Apple, Billy “To Be Commissioned”, 2010. Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland (http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/exhibitions/pastexhibitions/2010/frieze.asp)

Byrt, Anthony “And the brand played on”,  Listener (Wellington, N.Z.) 220.3616 (August 2009) pp.36- . Print.

Duve, Tierry de “When Form Has Become Attitude – And Beyond” (1994), Theory in contemporary art since 1945, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005, pp.19-31. Print.

Kraus, Chris “Cast Away.”  Video Green: Los Angeles Art and The Triumph of Nothingness,  New York: Semiotext(e), 2004, pp.145-150. Print.

Hurrell, John “Group Show in Tightly Linear Fromat”, Eye Contact 2011. Web. 1 April. 2011.
(http://eyecontactsite.com/2011/01/group-show-in-a-linear-format)