Optics Klein

Optics Klein

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A Personal Analysis of Angela Klein's Scuplture - 'livering'

In Angela Klein’s “Livering” we can see many elements that characterize a “literalist” piece. “The sculptural facts of space, light, and materials [function] concretely and literally”. ”There is no attempt to create an illusion of any type. The shape is very simple and the gestalt quite clear. When the viewer enters the room he or she can take a look and have a general impression of the work as a whole.

The sculpture is seen as something complete (not part by part). On the other hand, it seems to invite you to be an active participant. The fact that it can be pushed and dragged around reminds us of what Michael Fried calls “theatrical”. As this critic states, “the object, not the beholder, must remain the center or focus of the situation; but the situation itself belongs to the beholder- it is his situation”. – I’d like to add: her situation too. Angela’s sculpture also exemplifies Fried’s statement that “things that are literalist works of art must somehow confront the beholder- they must […] be placed not just in his space but in his way”. In the photograph we can see two children pushing the sculpture. This shows us that size and scale comply with the requirement that the piece should be neither too small nor gigantic.

Morris deals with this issues in the second part of his article “Notes on Sculpture” when he cites Smith’s answers to two questions he was asked about a sculpture of his. “Q: Why didn’t you make it larger so that it would loom over the observer? A: I was not making a monument. Q: Then why didn’t you make it smaller so that the observer could see over the top? A: I was not making an object”.

I don’t think Angela intended to build an object either. She consciously avoids monumentality too. In fact, the size of her sculpture seems to be the ideal one so that the observer can easily participate by moving the piece. I think that both the gestalt and the experience are important here. Angela’s sculpture is not a decorative one, it is non-gigantic and she uses industrial materials to construct it. She applies industrial paint on steel. She avoids using color in order to make the viewer focus on shape and texture. Color would be, in Morris' view for example, something merely "additive". "Color is the most optical element in an optical medium. It is this essentially optical, immaterial, non containable, non tactile nature of color that is inconsistent with the physical nature of sculpture".

Angela chooses a neutral hue so that that the "physical" aspect of the sculpture is emphasized. Angela's work was placed in a gallery room, in a neutral environment. It was fixed to the wall but at the same time it can be dragged on the floor. Therefore, "the total space is hopefully altered in certain desired ways by the presence of the object". The room functions as the support of the sculpture. If it was put outside, then the whole experience would be different. According to Morris the right environment for a sculpture is “a space without architecture as background and reference”.

I think that all in all Angela’s sculpture achieves “presence through objecthood, which requires a certain largeness of scale rather than through size alone”. Her piece definitely has a strong presence in the room. I don’t think any observer can be indifferent to it. Pushing the piece seems to be the natural thing to do once you are in front of it. As Morris puts it: there is a “new freedom for sculpture” ; and I believe there is a new freedom for the subject to become an active factor in art. From being something we just look at and observe from a distance, sculpture has turned into something much more alive. I think Angela’s work is a good example of the change that started some decades ago.

Bibliography:

1. Morris, Robert, “Notes on sculpture”, Minimal Art, Gregory Battcock, ed. University of California Press
2. Fried, Michael, “Art and Objectood”, Minimal Art, Gregory Battcock, ed. University of California Press

About the Author

Paula Elion is a painter and artist.
See Paula Elion's artist website and gallery for details and information.