The Contingent Object of Contemporary Art

by Martha Buskirk

An exploration of transformations in the nature of the art object and artistic authorship in the last four decades. In this book, Martha Buskirk addresses the interesting fact that since the early 1960s, almost anything can and has been called art. Among other practices, contemporary artists have employed mass-produced elements, impermanent materials, and appropriated imagery, have incorporated performance and video, and have created works through instructions carried out by others. Furthermore, works of art that lack traditional signs of authenticity or permanence have been embraced by institutions long devoted to the original and the permanent. Buskirk begins with questions of authorship raised by minimalists' use of industrial materials and methods, including competing claims of ownership and artistic authorship evident in conflicts over the right to fabricate artists' works. Examining recent examples of appropriation, she finds precedents in pop art and the early twentieth-century readymade and explores the intersection of contemporary artistic copying and the system of copyrights, trademarks, and brand names characteristic of other forms of commodity production. She also investigates the ways that connections between work and context have transformed art and institutional conventions, the impact of new materials on definitions of medium, the role of the document as both primary and secondary object, and the significance of conceptually oriented performance work for the intersection of photography and the human body in contemporary art. Buskirk explores how artists active in the 1980s and 1990s have recombined strategies of the art of the 1960s and 1970s. She also shows how the mechanisms through which art is presented shape not only readings of the work but the work itself. She uses her discussion of the readymade and conceptual art to explore broader issues of authorship, reproduction, context, and temporality.

Genres: Art, Theory, Art History, Nonfiction

317 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2003

Reviews

[Summer]

I put together a collection of readings for a class I am currently teaching on site specific art. We read a chapter on Context and Site from this book. I thought it was great - some of the other readings have not hit it quite on the mark, but this book did. It was accessible reading for undergrads, smart, and discussed great work. The students liked it and it lead to some good discussions. I look forward to reading the rest....whenever that may be.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most important books I used for my second qualifying paper for my MA on authenticity and authorship issues in artist contracts for contemporary sculpture. This book is one of few that address these issues specifically. Buskirk includes several anecdotes and examples that I hadn't read elsewhere.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is chock full of art historical instances. I would definitely recommend to someone looking to get their story straight on how pieces were moved around, authorized and unauthorized reproductions, legal cases, lines of appropriation, etc.

Raises some interesting question but leaves it up to the reader (almost said viewer) to answer them, if there are answers to be had.

[Mark B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for everyone, but Buskirk's insight into contemporary art has shaped a lot of my own opinions and beliefs. I find myself returning to it over and over as my explorations of art arch off in different directions.

[Njfraser]

Very thorough and concise break-down of how the discrete object is losing its position at the center of contemporary art.

[Christopher]

Excellent, Martha is the lady!

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much is revelatory here if you are familiar with the works, it gets a bit better in the end when discussing photography and artist books.

[Mills College Library]

709.045 B9799 2005