Light Years Review - Lucy

1. 
   Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph is unlike any photography exhibition shown at AIC in recent history. It embraces the conceptual experimentations of photographers at a pivotal time in the history of the medium. The power of conceptual photography is in its simplicity and contemplative perspective, yet this power and significance is difficult to appreciate in the sheer mass of objects in the galleries.

   a. In much of the literature associated with the show, the curator pinpoints these works as being made during a time when photography was not considered part of the fine art realm, and that further these pieces were pivotal in photography’s eventual admittance into fine art. Yet this significance becomes over shadowed by an overwhelming viewing experience.

   b. Such highly significant pieces are quite literally hidden in the corner, most notably Baldessari’s “Throwing Three Balls in the Air to get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty Six Attempts)”

   c. This piece is the poster for the show.

   d. Perhaps the most overwhelming overload was in the Painting, Photography, Film section of the show, which was in a constant state of hum, based on various vintage projectors pointed various different directions. I found myself glazing over works because I simply found it hard to focus.

2. Yet despite the over abundance of works, this show collected a fantastic array of conceptual photography rarely seen together in a museum setting.

   a. The show felt as if it was a very large gallery show from the 1960/70s transported into the museum.

   b. Showing highly conceptual works that often are overlooked in the museum setting because of their experimental conceptual quality.

   c. The final room in the show (part of the “Material Properties” section) is an excellent example of a combination of incredible pieces selected for the exhibition. The pieces are also well curated to interact.

   d. Matta-Clark’s carved out houses and contemplations on non zoned spaces are placed across the room pieces that contemplate photography’s relationship reality and actual space such as Heizer’s work. Anchoring the room is Antin’s work “100 boots” which compliments the both spatial concerns and the body.

3. Process is integral to much conceptual art and in some pieces the process of producing becomes the art, some of the more poignant moments in the show where when process was integrated into the presentation of the pieces.

   a. Some pieces pointed to process as integral to the piece itself

   b. The Baldessari, Aconci, and Matta-Clark pieces come to mind.

   c. Yet perhaps one of the most revealing moments in the show was the presentation of Ruscha “Every Building on the Sunset Strip”

   d. The piece was presented in both a mock up and as a final product, pointing to the importance of process to conceptual photography.

4. One of the most successful pieces in the show Dennis Oppenheim’s “Stage 1 and 2. Reading Position for 2nd Degree Burn Long Island. N.Y. Materal... Solar Energy. Skin Exposure Time. 5 Hours June 1970” http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/LightYears/artwork/200015

   a. It is both thought provoking and accessible.

   b. It uses the body as photographic entity quite literally, yet it also references the mundane.

   c. Additionally it is a very accessible piece, it speaks to the viewer in vernacular terms, falling asleep on the beach and getting sunburned is a very common experience. Yet he uses this very vernacular language to speak to speak to the viewer in conceptual terms.

   d. The piece is also an achievement because it is amusing. In my opinion to achieve a piece that is both thought provoking, accessible and amusing is a true achievement.