History of Site Specific Art

The development of Site Specific art began in the 1950s and continues to this day. http://sitespecific364.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/francois-davin-site-specific-art-for.html

The history of site-responsive art is linked to the development of installation art, land art and the evolution of the idea of “public art.”

Land Art

Installation Art Carlos Amorales Dan Flavin

Public Art Brian Goggin

One of the main aspects is the movement out of the galleries and museums into other sites for the purpose of exhibiting art.

Some artists began to reject established institutions and looked to sites and public spaces to create and display their works.

For some this was a reaction to the sterility of “white space” galleries.

For others, the “closed” nature of the art scene meant that getting any chance to show work in a gallery was difficult.

Although few things united site specific artists in terms of similarity of works, most shared a desire to explore the relationship of the idea of public space and local interaction.

Working outside of the gallery represented an opportunity to address audiences outside of the accepted “art scene”.

Others reacted to the opportunity to work in unusually-textured, atmospheric, culturally-loaded spaces, where traces of “what went before” and “what is happening now” could be played out as part of the art work.

The concept plays a big part, because it can be a very wide subject/theme which could be relevant in many places. Most importantly it involves the viewer of the work as they are present on this ‘site’.

Therefore the Site Specific Art then becomes audience relevant.

Artists producing Site-Specific works include: Robert Smithson, Andy Goldsworthy, Christo, Richard Serra, Yumi Kori, Brandon LaBelle, Guillaume Bijl, Christian Bernard Singer, Betty Beaumont and younger artists like Mark Divo, John K. Melvin, Lennie Lee, Luna Nera, Wrights & Sites, Sarah Sze, Seth Wulsin, Ben Cummins and Simparch.

Site Specific Performance

Site-specific performance originated as an outgrowth of the site-specific artwork movement that began in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Li Wei Art

Site-specific work allows the performers' ideas and bodies to interact with the place. Sites have peculiar physical features to interact with: a big, open space tells different stories to a small space with many hidden corners.

An artist approaches a site not as an urban planner or documenter but a performer and seeks to find ways to animate a space imaginatively.

Sites have habits and rules: people who use the space agree to a set of acceptable behaviour. A funeral home allows certain behaviours (crying) while forbidding others (a disco). Whereas a performance can interact with these.

A site has history. People have owned it, lost it, lived on it and died on it. It is not the neutral black space of the theatre stage, which excels at make-belief.

However, it doesn't mean that site-specific work is all about actuality. Sites have histories, and this certainly informs the production. However, the job of theatre is to imagine a possible history (and hence future) for a site.

Theatre can uncover memories and stories hidden in the space which no humans have witnessed and documented.

Site Specific dance is generated through research and interpretation of the site’s unique characteristics, whether architectural, historical, social and/or environmental.

Carol Brown Dances

Merce Cunningham

Noémie Lafrance Site-Specific Choreographer http://www. revelinnewyork

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company Counterpoint - at Somerset House http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FZsqYl920E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6XK9R8y2JQ&feature=related

Motionhouse Dance Theatre http://www. youtube

Gerry Turvey http://www.turveyworld.co.uk/

Protein Dance http://proteindance.co.uk/productions10.html

Assignment 1 Learning Outcome: Know the nature of site-specific performance as an art form Context: - History and Cultural backgrounds of outdoor installation and performance - Understanding terminologies Concept: Examining the ‘whys?’ and ‘what’s’ of creating site specific work