H O M E E X H I B I T I O N S G A L L E R Y M A N I F E S T O A R T  T H E O R Y L I N K S

BRIT ART THE BRITISH NUDE ON THE VERGE OF A BREAKDOWN BLURRED BOUNDARIES The Contemporary British Art Scene could be a good example of the fact that the boundaries between ‘high’ art and ‘low’ art have been shaken, offering a variety of permutations and borrowings at both ends. This does not however mean that this is an undifferentiated simulacrum in which the actual differences between high and low culture have faded away, but that there is a constant crossing over the boundaries. In a way this is Post - modernism in its self, but nevertheless, it should not be seen as an instrument to undermine the modernist or classical traditions for, as it will be conveyed in a study of works of artists such as Anthony Gormley , the modernist line of thought is still a component for a creation of an (post-modern) artwork today. The advantage of this is that one can pay more attention to the intractable nature of the particulars in question as well as place them in a scope that encompasses the socio - political issues with which they interact. A. Gormley is an artist who has understood that the idea of art being ‘a reaction against a kind of orthodoxy is no longer a viable source of energy for art today’.11 While this ‘reaction’ in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the shape of Dadaists and other forms of anti - artists was a viable activity with its various ‘progressive’12 ideas, this situation could not last, for after all, this ‘anti-art’ only functions as long as there is ‘art’ to rebel against. Gormley does not see himself as a figurative artist, but viewed his works as ‘vehicles for universal themes related to the human condition’.13 For him the body is the ‘locus of being’, the place where the mind and matter cohabit. He attempts to show the interdependence between the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’ of our bodies which also includes the relationship between the work of art and the viewer where the object acts ‘as a sounding-board for notions of self’.14 Gormley’s ‘standard’ bodies/casts are an attempt to realise embodiment, purposely avoiding mimesis. This automatically leaves room for several possible interpretations: The notions of the internal body, the space within it and the possibility to externalise it, as well as - on a metaphysical level, the (universal) ideas about man and his relation to the world transcending certain cultural values. In ‘Land , Sea and Air II’ (plate 1), Gormley reminds us of the primal forces of the planet and our relation to them: “...there is one standing body case, Sea, with the eyes open looking out to the horizon; Land is the crouching one which has ears and listens to the ground; and Air the kneeling one has its nose open. What I was trying to do there was find a bodily equivalent for an element through a perceptual gateway...re-linking art with human survival.”15 The casting marks on the figures are left to play another significant factor in revealing the objectivism of the reality that Gormley insinuates. Interestingly, this provokes a subjective reaction by which one can see that the space that the object embodies can be everybody’s. The body/cast is universal, it is liberated from the traditional ways of representation and this presents a picture with a wider frame of reference. As Gormley puts it, ‘...we have moved from signs that have an ascribed meaning and an iconography that we know how to judge, to a notion of signs that have become liberated...it has a certain invitation for an involvement that was not possible before.’16 In ‘Word made flesh’ (plate 2), the casting mark that cuts the body to equal halves, follows the line of the chacras - energy centres of the human body which denotes Gormleys involvement with ideas of the Buddhist tradition. However the nature (depth) of this involvement is questionable for it can be seen as promoting only superficial references to Buddhist philosophy. Some critics have adopted certain attitudes where they over -emphasise the mystical otherness of Buddhism; it is something ‘good’, harmonious for it is remote, unreachable for the western person. It is a way towards happiness, etc. It sound too much like an Americanised- short-cut- to- Nirvana, instant coffee, instant orgasm and instant happiness or Richard Gere becoming a Buddhist, overnight. It can be argued that any aware, sensitive non-Buddhist person can be aware of their breathing and thus adopt some form of meditation and therefore have a certain understanding of the world around them and their own relation to it without going to India or Tibet for two years on a grant. So, in ‘Word made flesh’, there is an insinuation of the energy that flows all around us passes through our body through the vertical centre following the spine with its biggest concentration in the ‘hara’ - the lower abdomen area which is precisely where the figures’ head is close to while engaged in an intimate self - embrace; in pursuit of self knowledge. The lines of casting and welding can be also seen as a reminder that our bodies are ‘containers’. Life is as present outside as inside them. This connotes the relation of the spirit / mind with the material world, and where one begins and the other ends. Although very much a part of the Young British Art movement (that in most cases promotes the concept over the object and the ‘real’ over the aestheticised and an overall denunciation of Modernism), in works like ‘Learning to think’ (plate 3), ‘Vehicle’ (plate 4), and ‘A case for an Angel II’ (plate 5), we can trace utopian notions of learning, development of the human consciousness and art having the power to change humanity for the better - all which bore weight in the practices of Modernism. In ‘Learning to think’ five led body casts are hanging from the ceiling. Their invisible heads are ascending towards the outside - towards awareness? They can also be seen as bodies leaving the boundaries of the building which could be in the same time restraining them or lynching them. Questions of mankind’s aspiration towards knowledge and progress are evoked here in the same way as in ‘A case for an Angel’ and ‘Vehicle’ where the paradox of the pursuit of the infinite and the impossibility of reaching it are revealed and as Gormley puts it, the human person is ‘a being that might be more at home in the air, brought down to earth...It is also an image of somebody that cannot pass through any door and is desperately burdened’.17 Gormley’s Icarus has acquired a stronger set of wings that have come out of a marriage between anatomy and technology (‘Vehicle’), but still cannot even start the flight towards the sun, it is constrained by the walls and pillars of the (restraining) building - yet another of his products. In this sense, and if we see Icarus with the wings of modernism, when Gormley speaks of his work as an ‘attempt to materialise uncertainty’, he arouses deconstructionist and post-modern notions. For him the enjoyment of judging the object in relation to other objects (or subjects) is crucial. The artwork thus becomes a part of the deconstructing process and a reflection of the plurality of language and the relativism of value: “I still like the essentializing tendency of modernism because it is a way of feeling more alive. The problem with it was that it all got channelled into finding an objective formal language. I propose an absolute subjectivity allowing existence to become the material, subject and generating principle of art. This is an essentializing process but turned towards internal balance and survival; towards intrinsic value.”18 Although Gormley’s art works contain qualities that transcend cultural issues, from a point of view that the ‘individual’ is ‘the social’ and therefore the boundaries between them are dissolving, in a metaphysical way they are socially concerned. In ‘Offering’ (plate 6), the figure is actively passive. Its tension in an upward direction whilst laying down can be seen as a form of surrender and voluntary offering in order for the balance of life to be retained. Are we all putting an effort and doing our part in the journey towards understanding the people and our surroundings; the society? As S. Morgan notes, in Gormley’s works, ‘nothing lies inside anything’.19 From this it follows that there are actually no boundaries between the outside and the inside and if there are, they are illusionary or, as Gormley puts it, in a slightly different context: “ The task of art now is to strip us of illusion...how do we stop art from descending into formlessness/shapelessness? How do we find a challenge worthy of the artist’s endeavour? ...we have somehow to acknowledge the liberty of creativity in our own time which has to abandon tradition as a principle of validation... Any piece of work in the late twentieth century has to speak to the whole world” Although sculpture very often did and does ‘speak to the whole world’ even when it isrepresentational, for Gormley they contain a certain element of symbolism which has to be replaced by the ‘absolutely immediate’ and confront the viewer with his/her own life and thus reinforce the direct experience. Primarily, or at least on first look however, ‘Offering’ connotes simply the self’s will - to - live. He is right that representational sculpture containes symbolism. However it is debatable whether this has to be replaced with the ‘immidiate’. The symbolism in a sculpture or a painting can be a way to perceive and contemplate a dimmension that is beyond the physical world. Gormley insists that his works are not symbolic but ‘actual’. This ‘actuality’ is also evoked by the placement of the sculptures. They are sometimes placed in historical context, on the end of a pillar, or in a church as well as within the white walls of a gallery. Reflecting the mentality of the New British Artist ‘movement’, Gormley replaces the certainties of traditional illusionist art by something that is immediate and confronts the viewers with their own life. The fact that Gormley uses his own body to cast the sculptures, brings another dimension onto his work. It is an interesting relation that is created between him and the work and as a result, this relation (that becomes stillness) is visible to the viewer. The artist has to be still for a time until the plaster is hard enough. This ‘concentrated act of attention’ leaves something (an aura?) within the space (air) inside the cast. The cast is then hard enough and holds him still in return. The sculptures are in this way defying the border between reality and representation; the figures are ‘body cases’ cast from the artist himself. They are not made in the formalist modernist tradition, nor they are made in a traditional manner. They rather show what is beyond the shape, merely indicating ‘a presence’ and in this way, they address issues about the meditation between the interior and exterior. It is questionable whether Gormley’s intentions and aspirations when casting himself are really so poetic and profound or whether they are simply done that way out of laziness or lack of time. Another debatable issue is how the ‘presence’ and standardness of the casts would be indicated when Gormley gets older and possibly fatter. It would be interesting to see what happens as the ageing process takes place i.e. whether the universality of the body would still be applicable and if so, in what way. As well as encountering ‘big’ and grand themes about space, life and our relation to it when observing Gormley’s works, the materials used also play a part in the viewer’s subjective involvement and questioning of (paradoxically) objective ideas. In other words, the works are made by objective principles but only to affect the viewer in a subjective way. It is interesting that in the description of the materials used, air is included; the air that is enveloped by the cast. This space inside - the air, is as autonomous as the other materials. And the other materials include lead. Air is constrained by lead - the only material that is immune to radioactivity. The lead acts as an impenetrable protector, isolator from the outside world. It is also heavy, poisonous and permanent. Its’ ordinariness resonates the standardness of the figures. Hence the body casts are not ‘expressive’ in a modernist way, and only showing the relationship between the mind and the body, furthermore, they invite the viewer to engage and are thus brought to life. And for Gormley bringing them to life means a subjective recognition that ‘the body has a relation to the external space within which it exists as well as to the inner space it contains.’20 This makes it easy for the figures to interact with the space they are in and furthermore, that space becomes (a part of) the figure. And if this space includes the viewers own body, then he / she becomes a part of the work of art too. So, the body casts are intended as a starting point, only one part of the work of art. A work that takes us to a yet another direction is ‘The Field’ (plate 7). Thirty five thousand clay figurines are installed within the walls of (in ‘European Field’) the Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, Croatia. The heads of their almost shapeless bodies are raised as if questioning, or expecting something from the viewer. One is overwhelmed by their plurality. There is a threatening factor, perhaps because this mass of earth figurines is so compressed within the constraining white walls of the gallery or perhaps because they are threatening to ascend the urban prison and return to nature. They are installed right up to the edges to the walls and as a result there is no space for one to walk around them; they have invaded our space, where we (being vertical creatures) walk. One might be tempted to trot on them but soon realises that they are us, masses of people inviting us to become them and enter their space. As Lela B. Nyatin puts it: “These figurines form a field, which, with a forbidding power , deflects the visitor’s attention away from their fragility, onto his or her inner being. My defensive stare in the face of this confrontation with this crowd of repeated forms becomes a weapon, which turns on me. In front of me there is a light that I can feel. It is not as rapturous as it was outside. but it glows, the motionless, luminous guardian of a reddish army which stands to attention”21 The stillness of these guardians in the ‘The Field’ evokes certain similarities with the Chinese terracotta warriors, guardians of the tomb of the emperor Qin Shihuangdi, 221 - 209 BC; more than 500 of them with 24 horses and each having a different face and personality because they were modelled according to the actual soldiers, but in the same time giving the impression of ‘sameness’ and togetherness. ‘Field’ is a celebration of community, making one aware of their importance as individuals (the ‘big’ viewer encountering the large number of small figures), but only as far as one recognises that he / she is a (small) part of society. To install the figurines one had to bend towards the ground (earth) level. There is an invitation to spend time with the earth (clay). The ritual of making the installation is of importance and, as Gomley says: ‘...the makers are also the works first audience and it is not like the audience of a spectacle. It’s more like a collective experience of active imaginative involvement.’22 This is perhaps the active embodiment of J. Beuys’ maxim: ‘Everybody is an artist’. In a shift of emphasis, in Gormley’s drawings we see his view of the ‘inner space’ of the body. It is a strongly subjective view and the body is ‘not so much seen from the outside as felt from the inside’.23 In works like ‘Untitled’ 1985 (plate 9) and ‘Home and the World’ 1985 (plate 9) the figure is not idealised but expressionist. It interacts with the setting environment in the same way as his body casts, but the drawings are far from the neutral, objective elements towards which the viewer could project his/her own feelings and thoughts. In this sense, they are modernist drawings. The figures are isolated, alone with the world and thus portray a person’s encounters with him / her self and life. The overall, dark melancholy that governs the drawings reminds one of Edward Munch’s paintings. And as J. Hutchinson has it, ‘A recurring image in Gormley’s woks on paper is a solitary person, turned away from the viewer and facing open natural expanses of water or sky.’ 24 Hutchinson correctly observes the gradual change in Gormley’s work and attitude. Whilst he initially tends to gain intellectual knowledge in order to understand the world around him, his turn to figures marks a change of priorities. To show ‘an experience’ was now more important than knowledge; ‘to explore, in sculpture, what it feels like to be human, to create images that mirrored states of being’.25 In drawings like ‘Earth’ 1994 (plate 10), and ‘Into’ 1994 (plate 10), there are bodies that could be in a womb or floating in outer space; they can be in life leaping into death or, the other way around. This connotes notions of seeing with the inner eye, or the Buddhist ‘third eye of the mind’ but much stronger, it reflects the Chinese Daoist teachings where ‘the ultimate attainment is an Inward Vision (ming), in which all distinctions between ‘self’ and ‘things’, between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ are lost in a lyric, almost ecstatic, acceptance of the universal laws of nature’.26 The figures appear to be projections of the mind, they do not have material qualities. They can also be seen as presentations of astral travel - where consciousness travels out of the body.27 The quest of discovering the ‘innerness’ of the body demands an investigation of the outside physical world. This has led Gormley to place his pieces in unusual architectural settings and in the nature. In ‘Open Space’ 1994 (plate 11) for example, the plaza can be the planet earth itself with the crouching man yielding to it in humility. In this way the inner expands to its surroundings and basically underlines Gormley’s main principle that everything, including man can be defined as ‘earth above ground’. Another good example of balancing the outer action with the ‘inner experience of matter’ is found in Gormley’s two parallel works in 1989: ‘Room for the Great Australian Desert’(plate 12) and ‘Field’ (For the Art Gallery of New South Wales) (plate 13). Gormley placed a square - shaped concrete room in the vast flatness of the Australian desert. The box is proportioned in a way that a crouching figure can be fitted inside with its knees touching the chest. With four small openings - for the mouth, ears and penis. This concrete box has replaced the body, for the figure inside is invisible, or at least, is a gateway between the body and nature. The simple form of the ‘room’ is in this way a potentially claustrophobic. It is very small compare to the vast emptiness of the desert. This is balanced by the fullness of the box. Thus, the figure confined inside the box could represent the inner as infinite, which could be more constrincting than the outside world. Paradoxically, the earth’s massive size and energy can bring that threat. One would find it easier to break open the little box - although it is made of concrete and become one with nature, than if one needs to do that with his / her own body. Could Gormley want us to see our bodies as shells that we live in, making us aware of the continuity of life and spirit? In contrast, in ‘The field for the Art Gallery of New South Wales’, we feel ‘big’ when surrounded by 1.100 little clay figurines. They form two hemispheres separated by a path through which one can walk. Placed more densely towards the centre of the room, they form a kind of a magnetic circle, again indicating to the forces of our planet and how are we situated within those gravitational forces. Seen together, the two works reflect humility and acceptance of the fallibility of the human person in a material world. In some ways Gormley’s work represents the overall picture of the Contemporary Art in Britain, and at the same time reflects the diversity within the ‘New British Artists’. According to Stephen Bann, Gormley ‘has set himself the task of extricating himself from Modernism without breaking the mold’.28 Is is the way that should be followed? Copyright @ Armando Bayraktari, London 2000 BACK   FORWARD