Irene V. Small's Books

The Organic Line

Toward a Topology of Modernism

By: Irene V. Small

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The Organic Line

Toward a Topology of Modernism

By: Irene V. Small

A major rethinking of twentieth-century abstract art mobilized by the work of Brazilian artist Lygia Clark What would it mean to treat an interval of space as a line, thus drawing an empty void into a constellation of art and meaning-laden things? In this book, Irene Small elucidates the signal discovery of the Brazilian artist Lygia Clark in 1954: a fissure of space between material elements that Clark called “the organic line.” For much of the history of art, Clark’s discovery, much like the organic line, has escaped legibility. Once recognized, however, the line has seismic repercussions for rethinking foundational concepts such as mark, limit, surface, and edge. A spatial cavity that binds discrepant entities together, the organic line transforms planes into flexible topologies, borders into membranes, and interstices into points of connection. As a paradigm, the organic line has profound historiographic implications as well, inviting us to set aside traditional notions of influence and origin in favor of what Small terms weak links and plagiotropic relations. These fragile, oblique, and transversal ties have their own efficacy, and Small’s innovative readings of canonical modernist works such as Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, John Cage’s 4’33”, and Le Corbusier’s machine-à-habiter, as well as contemporary works by such artists as Adam Pendleton, Ricardo Basbaum, and Mika Rottenberg, reveal the organic line’s remarkable potential as an analytic instrument. Mobilizing a rich repertoire of archival sources and moving across multiple chronologies, geographies, and disciplines, this book invites us to envision modernism not as a stable construct defined by centers and peripheries, inclusions and exclusions, but as a topological field of interactive, destabilizing tensions. More than a history of a little-known artistic device, The Organic Line: Toward a Topology of Modernism is a user’s guide and manifesto for reimagining modern and contemporary art for the present.

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Page Count

344

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1890951951

ISBN 13

9781890951955

The Organic Line

Toward a Topology of Modernism

By: Irene V. Small

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Organic Line

Toward a Topology of Modernism

By: Irene V. Small

Average ratings

N/A

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

344

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1890951951

ISBN 13

9781890951955

Hélio Oiticica

Folding the Frame

By: Irene V. Small

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Hélio Oiticica

Folding the Frame

By: Irene V. Small

Hélio Oiticica (1937–80) was one of the most brilliant Brazilian artists of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a forerunner of participatory art, and his melding of geometric abstraction and bodily engagement has influenced contemporary artists from Cildo Meireles and Ricardo Basbaum to Gabriel Orozco, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, and Olafur Eliasson. This book examines Oiticica’s impressive works against the backdrop of Brazil’s dramatic postwar push for modernization. From Oiticica’s late 1950s experiments with painting and color to his mid-1960s wearable Parangolés, Small traces a series of artistic procedures that foreground the activation of the spectator. Analyzing works, propositions, and a wealth of archival material, she shows how Oiticica’s practice recast—in a sense “folded”—Brazil’s utopian vision of progress as well as the legacy of European constructive art. Ultimately, the book argues that the effectiveness of Oiticica’s participatory works stems not from a renunciation of art, but rather from their ability to produce epistemological models that reimagine the traditional boundaries between art and life.

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Page Count

305

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022626033X

ISBN 13

9780226260334

Hélio Oiticica

Folding the Frame

By: Irene Small

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Hélio Oiticica

Folding the Frame

By: Irene Small

Hélio Oiticica (1937-80) was one of the most brilliant Brazilian artist of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a forerunner of participatory art, and his melding of geometric abstraction and bodily engagement has influenced contemporary artists. This book examines Oiticica's impressive works against the backdrop of Brazil's dramatic postwar push for modernization.

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

305

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022626016X

ISBN 13

9780226260167

Book's by Irene V. Small

The Organic Line

The Organic Line

The Organic Line

The Organic Line

Hélio Oiticica

Hélio Oiticica

Hélio Oiticica

Hélio Oiticica

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