D a n a h a mKa m m o r sp ie l Gr 's

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Dan Graham's KammersPiel

(andpossibly unrealizable ) proiectAlteldDan Grahamt unrealized almost a tionto a S'b fian Ho'se (1978),generates hallucinatorv, rneans a historicalcritiqueof conceptual of irnageby Expression;st whichfusestogether isthe discourse arr. lnthiswork, conceptualism tropesof this centurv (the resonantarchitectural threeof the most into houseand the suburbantract house) glass the skyscraper, glass and of expression apocalypse historicaltragedv. a monumental In 1978, when the denunciationof conceptualart beganto be nrrci$r{rc rnd ot by openly arti.ulared advo{rre\ nes rubiecrive. frankly commercialattitudes,Graham constructeda profoundly cxpressive work on the basisof conceptu.lism.At a momentwhn elementin art' once of suppression th expressiv conceptualism's as is decried the soufce radicalathievement, seen the movement's as methods conceptual Grahamtransformed of its failureand collapse, from them. conclusions into their opposites, drawing unexpected a These embodiedin rheAlterutiotlptoiect,suggest new conclusions, of theemergen.e I new hstoricalmoment regard conceprualart. ro in period in its inrerprration and its historicalsignificance critiqueol art. Grahambegins from the failureofconceptualisrn's and Burhi\ inrenrion not ro celebr;re farlure rhrowawry rhe thar i\

Dan Gtuha\, Abetuti.,l ta a Stburbin Horse, 1978, naquerre.photo: courresy Dan Grahlm ol

lessons ofthe radicalan ofthe 1960sin a theatricalized revivaloftbe myth of aurhenticity. Rather,he intendswith the Alte/ation prcject to build a critical memorialto that failure.In the very spirit of the movement memorialized. builds it as a counrc he In developingthe Aberation proje4, craham beginsfrom a distressed recognitionof conceptualism's failure of its own aim, which wasto rebuildartfrom itscoreourward. He reflectsuponthe forcsunleashed art by that failufe, and his arristiclanguage a in as wholeemerges from his struggle within thecrisisofradical modern ism, exemplifiedfor his generation conceprual by art. r,J0har rhe is contntof this norion ofcrisis? Conceprualism intensif andclarifiedaaitudes ied developed the by pair of artistic movementswhich emergedfrom the decline of Abstract Expressionism a CultureIndustrysefting.TheMinimalisr in zulthe Popartisrsbased themselves a repudiation on ofthe exrravagant inwardness ofth Forties generarion.Both groupsstressed the impingement ofth divisionoflabour upon the imageofrhe unified and organicartisric process taken over by AbstractExpressionism from its European sources. Bothwere'Consrructivist' this regard, in and therefore implicitly re opened arristicargument an which char acterized earlydecades the ofthis century.That arsument devetoped aroundthe/orz art would takeassociety wasliberared frorn therule of capitalism, then seen be in its 'dath agony'. Bur the common to aspectof Pop and Minimal art which most affectedthe younger artisrswho became 'conceptual' was precisely two's inability ro the freethemselves from the socialaloofness emotnrnal and indifference characteristic post,194JAmericanaft, as xpressed of aboveall in Grenbergian forrnalism(rhe instirutionalorthodoxy of rhe corpora tizedart business). M;nimalism's suburba ascericisrn nire and thesmirkingironies ofPoprepresentationalism took on theaura each ofserenityimposed from above, culturaI 'normalization,. of charac

by asseen thvoungartists terisric ofCold Warandcorporateculture upheaval May'58 ConcePtualarr and inspiredbythe anti'Vietnam with theseart and from the disappointmnt dissatisfaction emerged the socialforcsand ideaswhich had movements over the fact that and antimechanisti beenstirred and rcvivedby the aggressively nw art, did not extendinro the kind of aspects the of expressive desiredwithin the radically explosiveand disruptive exprssion the conceptualists, culturalshock of culturalNewLeft. In theeyes the given onlvto rse Popart hdd.by rhelate60<. of effects Minimaland versionof the art-commodity. a new, more complxand distressed its Thrs guilt ridden commoditycould do no rnorethan dramarize ofsu.plus value as source and marginalcharacter own problematic form.' and as transcendent to there is a reversion an of In this process self-dramatization, dilemmaofEuropanrnodernism.The problem earlier,unresolved or disappoinred frustrated of rheanisticcritiqueof socialunfreedom iherebyinro monumenr.rl by polu,..rldi'a'tersand rranstormed (ratherthan breakingthrough emblems ofsocial and spiritualcrisis liberation)was the problemfacedby all the great into symbolizing upheaval modernrnovements the 'heroic'periodof revolutionarv of (1905-25).Asth sombrehistoryof AbstractExprssionism shows' and most as was enshrined the highest thb rragic emblematicism sublimevaluein the'triumph of Americanpainting'.The liberaring of shmk of the assaultof Pop and Minimal an on the enclosurs and earlierwork was aggravated turnedin a morecritical direction of by the subsequent spectacle the greatRauschenbergs, Juddsand Flavins taking their placs in museumsalongsidethe Picabias' of Lissirzkys and Rothkos. This re-awakening critical historical of thousht in the art of the 1950scorrodesthe legirimacy the very aris most directly. Conceptual works which initiated the process the centralinrentis ofcourseto interrogate basisofthat legitimacy.

in The questionthus posedwas: "What is the process which the socially,but transmuted into sublime crisisis not .esolved culru.al fixation upon immobilizedsymbolsand fetishs?" of resumed aspects the Onceagain- and herethe conceptualists of terms Surrealist-Constructivist of cririque- the styles modernart because the institutionsfor which they are seento of are aaacked modern faqade.Conceptualart interrogates form a kind ofessential which produce sryles, typesofobject, art asa complexofinstitutions art terms,of ratherrhanquestioning in the academies' anddiscourse, works of art first and foremost. outsidethe c.itical contextin This interrogationis inconceivable The political upheavals the of which conceptualism developed. traditionsand meth1950sprovideda fissure rhroughwhich ideas, return to the cultural ods ofcritical thoughtcould makea dramatic and and by field,as they had beensuppressed discredited anathema periodwhich witnessed collapse the ofliberationist terrorduringthe and saw the rise of ideals that animated Europeanrnodernisrn totalitarianregimes the 1930s. in In general, conceptual drawsits thmes, art strategies content and politicizedcultural cririque indentifiedbroadly with the from the New Le{t. The assault the institutions art takesup, on the one of on and hand,the revivalof FrankfurtSchoolideasof the encirclement falsificationof avanr-garde culture and its traditional critical consciousness the Culture Industry, and on the orher hand, upon by Situationist stratgies guerillaactivism,which found their most of complere expression inrhe student revoltsof 1968. Thus,in a sense, stemfrom the historicalcharacter and limitationsof conceptualism its inrellectual and politicallocationmid-waybetween Dialectic the of Enligbtenmentand the Soaz4, of the Specta.le. That is, it is position, between acerbicdefeatism the ofthe Adorno-Horkheirner which sees as a transcendent art concretion and emblemofexisring

anarchismof Debord's indignant unfreedom,and the desperare cultural terrorism. The actualworks of art which organizethem selvesmostdeliberatelyaroundthisdynamic,displayitsdualtendenin ofNw toward politicalimmediacy the sense cis. They struggle Left activism and the 'productivist' desirefor resolutionof social conflict, for a break or leap. Ar the sametime, they tend toward and ruinaofthe culturaldilemmaof the falsifiation concretization it mimicking that ruinatioq ref-lecting in thir own tion of art by ofradical conceptualism The functionalistic and activisticaspect to arrempts break the viciouscircle of falsificationin a dialectical ofso in inversion, which hasits directprecedents the reductivism one the much 60s art. This reductivismernphasized work of arCs is the direct precondition for the to resemblance non-art and of 'dematerialization' rhe work of art into critical language.The from embleniatics a directlycriticalanddiscursive to transformation qentralachievement. is form of expression conceptualism's is developedwithin conceptualism conThe critical language from the discourses publicity,iournalism,academicisrn, of srructed and architecture. Artists like Graham,Burn, \l(/eineror Kosuth ofpower as ofsitingtheeffects understand architecture the discourse in the city. generated publicity, information and bureaucracy by criiical or analytical White conformingto the idea of ernphasizing language rhe antipodeto the isolated,auratic art object,these as object(thusformulating artists treatthislanguagenotas theoretical a but a treatise a work ofart, asdid Art Language), rathe. in terms as in of its physicality, modes ofproduction andenforcement th urban of arena. rhr, way.conrepru.:li.m parucrparedrhedevelopmenr in In theNew Lft'scririqueof academicism's publicity's interdepend' and ence.The insight conceptualism madeexplicir in many works was (having that both th universitysystemand the mediamonopolies

ideasdurrrg the Cold Wlr pcrbd) beenpurgedof socially'critical lor primarysupport systems newart inthesameprccess h,rdbecome ucratic in wereinscribed a complexo f burca rnwhichtheythemselvcs cognitive of authority and knowledgewhose essential stnrctures structure onecouldalmosrsaytheir cpistemology is publicity. a of this art, Kosuth'sfo. example,prescnts The bcst-appreciated disc imageof the instrumentalized lue free'academic i 'v: condensed (empiricist sociol of American!ypeunive.sities pllncscharacrerirtic phil(,sophy)in f('m the ogi-,informationtheory,positivistlanguage n lq6u \ h tshLorporrre buRau,rrric de\ign. or (bnceptualism's the self-consciously exhibirionstrategy Prcsnts con1plex whosearchitec the instirurional systennuseum-gallery by nrnl look was foregrounded Minimalism- asthe crucialarena from rhe straregyof of this new synthesis. This rc inscparable TV and .rppropriaringexisting mediA forns such as magazines, rhe kinship with l'}{)pis eviden!.However, billboards. In ,rll this, the to Pop, concepiu:lism attcmpts incriminate art business.ls unlike produc ofaesthetic throughwhich a corporatization themechanism as tion .rndrhoushtis bcingcarriedout. This is understood a social of the crirical rnd political crisisin art in which crucial elemcnts l,qu,drred. rr.rJrr''r. of r',Jirni'm Jre be,ns 'Ihe srrategies ofGraham, Burenor Kosuthare,eachin their own r'.rv, inforrned(throughrhe issues raisedby the institutionalization drawnfrom of MiniDalism Pop)by combination ofconcepts the aDd the Frankfurt Schooltradition with relaled,historicist, critiquesof in urbanism.This combinationtook the form of linked studies the ot dcvelopmcnt stateand scientificinstitutions(as mechanisrns of socialpower and control) and research into the merhodsof siting these of institurions wirhin the moderncity (or, moreaccurately, the rebuildingofthc moderncity in termsofthc strategic siringof these instirutions).In Graham\ case,theseareasof thought are most
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architecturalshell and asserrirself as anrithticalro constriction, endeavoured abovall to cometo rermswirh its aLtste.e elegant and architcturalconraindrs, glamourizerhem by meansof a self ro drarnatizingacquiescence. The Minjrnal object, in this light, ex, presses s encingof the Construdivistidal,and the celebrated the experiential shockprovokedby a Morris, forexampte, (historically is speaking) shockof unfulfiJled the promises freedom. The space of held open by rhis absence freedomis then occupiedby the mute of Minimal object,whoseeffectis preciselyto demarcate historical the .objecthood, voidwh;chhasbroughtit inroexisrence. problematic The ot Minimal art is an outcome of this and derivesfrom another cont.adict;on.Judd, for example,imptieda sociatcommentary by handingoverrhefabricarion ofhis work ro p roiessrona Burar rhe ls. same time,by means ofhis crilical wrirings,heinsulated resuhing rhe objectfrom thevery same socialdiscor:rse mea of ninghe invokedby dire.ting attenrionro rhe effects rhe divisionof labour.Thus, he of posired thework asan irreducible, sornewhat ineffabte, veryconcrete 'p.esnce' (Morris,term). Minimalism'scriticspromptlyrecosnized theresDlting exhibitionisrn ofthe works asa symptomofrheir actual social redudion to the rnysrifiedstate of a commodiry soliciting tetishization.This ,reductivisrn'was thencriticizedfor its armored rnwardDess and indifferencetowa.d rhe social considerarions it in.ited and which acruallysustained as imporranrart. it Nevertheless, reductivistrendenciesformedaprimaryfascination rn the 50s becaDse rhey resultedin th production of austere and rnechanistic objectswhosagg,ssive passiviry and stylishindiffer_ encetoward the spectator evoked{eeiings alienationand dehu_ of manrzatron reminiscenr ofthoseexperienced everyday in life. So,the response theconceptualisr of critiquewastwofold andcontradiciory. On theone hand,ir grasped facttharthe the exhibirionistic.objecthood, of reductivistart accornplished only the reproducion of alienation

as subict andanxicty.It sawthat anxietywasnot reallvconstiruted a could not of of the work (which because its bondswirh formalisrn, bur was conco'tedas a eilmit of courst to havinga tubjecC at all), was to to rheatricaleffect. The spectatorwas subjected it as he in 'normal' sociallife' in publicityand commands relationto obiects rhis cririquerecognized theathand,rhe conceptualist itn the other phvsical art-form at ricaleffectashavingcreated leastan up to'date rvhich implied' (howeverinvoluntarilv and indifferendv)concepts of the between experience art and the experi rbout thc relationship Theseconceptswere rapidlv turned cnce of s,rcialdornination thcm ln this process, agrinstthe art which had helpedto stimulate were identifiedwith rhe rgrssion nrr.issismand ferishistic I Conceptuaart as antr in of status art obiects general. thearricalized ma of the is objecC theresulr.However, recognition thecapitalist 'ket is the insight rs thc foundationofall fortnsofdomination in culture in rvbichcould be sustained the conditionsof enormousinllation the characterizing period beginningin the earlv TOs Speculative, irflaoon-driven capital enclosedand reorganizedthe art world' driving up the priceson a broad front Thus the antispectacularly (to were'absorbed'and'nesated' usethe objecrs conceptualisrn of bv Marcusian termsofthe period)ascriticalintrvention the auraot arfs feeble speculation.Conceptual value imposedupon them by wirh the realeconomic responst the clashofits politicalfanrasis to conditrrnsofthe art world marksout its historicallimit ascritique of Itspoliticalfantasy curbs ilslfatrheboundary marketeconomv' within capitalism Thc struggle transcend commodity-form the to is an ,dealand, at besr,carriessomevalueas a utopian vision. But thereis a negative ofrhis avant gardeutopianbmwhich must sspect be accounted for. N:nely, the role of this fantasyof rranscendence of wasof rn idcal to be realized.In thc atmosphere risingsocial 'ot conflictwhichchara.terized momenroftheinventionol concep that

tualism,rheunrealizability ofthis frntasycourd asa utoDran acr Drod andchallenge:{,mulus r,, furrher a dudr.iry. g.*.".,, rtt.r.,r., 1974,asthepoliricalridebegan itsshiftawayfrom challenge toward retrenchment and rhe rise of contrary cuhural trends,the uroDian ideal was transformedinto its opposire- disillusionment. This transformationproduceda collapse ofgreat implosiveforce. The implosionof the ideal was rhusthe exacrpreconditionfor the new r6gimein rhe arrworld, rhe ironicallyself,conscious nonetheless but compulsive submission markeringthat the centra characteristic to is I of the pe.iod from the mid-7osto the presenr. Paradox ically,ir is rherefore feeble irnpkied utopianism the or of conceptualism whrch bringsir closero top. In c,,nceprual the arr accepredforms of instituiionally purified social knowledeeare prLkaged accordrng Jesrgn. ro Drsptay code, are ,y*emaii,r y appropnatedas materiat in a strategyof rnimiry. In this snse, conceptuafism the doppelganger Varhoftypc .popism,in irs is ot helplessly;ronic mimicry of the mechanisms controt and fatsifi_ for cation of informarion and s<rcial knowledge,whosedesporicand sedu$iveforms of displayarc copiedto makearr objects. Neither Pop nor conceptualism can posit their social subjcr_ matrrin good fairh. No ironic socialcontentis considered to be a resid I properry 19l0s arr. .Modernist'arr in the American ua of sense begins fr<m the ideathar rharera is not only .over,(dissolved the by advenr ot post-war .neo{apitalism') yer moreover! lhat it was nothing bur an abysmalhisroricalaberration produced the clash by ,'f rnherenrly .Communism. toralrtrn.rn Eur,,pe.rn poliricalideas, and'Fascism'. thisperspdive,American,type,modernism, In isrhe rnostcrystalline cukuralreflecrionof the ideaof neo_capitalism. wirh rts pror.l.rmarion rhe rranscenrlence rhe era of capnali* of of crises rhrough rcchnocrari( roulizati,rn .rnd.,rr.-,upp.r,.J p.,ur,. *,,nopolies, and its blissfulandciparion rhe .endof ideoloev,. The of

Amerrcan art rs sociat indifferenceof so much post-I945 idealof remoreness at qlmDtomatized leastin part by the aesthtic Goldstein This is a *t ictr ."cu." in lt, f.om |tewman to, sav,Jack circa 1939, of the idalof an reflexof rhe traurnaof the collapse, about the integratedmodernistart which could speak critically realism'ofthenew and Thus,if Popis theamnesiac cynical'social order' conneo-capiralisi and monopolisticso-called burcaucratic its presentins lorSottn Symbolism ln art ceptual is irs melancholy its'caskeB'of information'conceptuelart andprint-ours, card-files are socialsubicts presented a recaoitulrres kind of Mallarm6anism: and giventhe authority ofth cryPt This hieroglyphs as enigmatic wirh cryPand ofpublicity, bureaucracy acadmicism idenrification of lhe an awarenessof parriciparion bureaucricurrerrn{esexpre\ses an awareness dath-machin' in and universities a corPorate racies of which animaredrhe studentanti-war movemcnt The deadness Kawara' the languagcharacterizing work of kwrence Veiner orOn i5 The and is for cxample, exemplary necessary. failureto express lts a't concePtual becomesemblematic' and exprcssron, in thisdialecd, afrom comPlete themselves rescue Howcver. theseemblematics hy prtulrrh,n resr8nrtion theiranti-monumentali*m ro of art Vhat is uniqueabout concePtual is i$ reinvention defeatism;of the indifferenc alwaysimPlicitin purisiicor formalisticarr' are The grey volumerof conceptuefism filled wtth sombreciPhers r thoughr llv'crrical of socra u hrchexpre* pnmanly inexpres*ibrlrry the Theseartists in theform ofart.Thevembodva terriblecontradiction its of attempted break out of the prison-house th art business, to sociallife But in burcaucracy architecture, toturn owaid and and they wishedto put that process the they reassumed very emPtiness behind them. This is because they had been led (bv rhe protst with ihe movemnts) onceagainidentifytheir own vanguardism to

moral ncessiry politicalopposition,in imiration of earliermod_ of erni\m.Arrhesdmenmetheyhrd norbroken wnh rhedomrnantneocapiralist perspective, which impliedthafthis srruggle wasa histori_ cal anachronism, morat exorcisrn a meaningless outsidea ritualistic senseof arristic heroism. The radical conceptualisrs were rhus s<rcially monified by the reawakened rnoratirnplicationsofthirown vanguardism.The emblematicism which they capuulateis prero ciselythat of mordficarion. Much of the art rhey made lwirh its 'mausoleumlook') is involuntarily expressrve rrs own or setf_ conscious immobilizationbeforethe formsofpower it is compelled In briogingthe romblike aspecr Minimalist exhibidonism of our .tife,- on from the 'dead'galleryspace inro billboards.in newsoa, pen and ro on - conceprurt carnes,,ut art inro rh. citv onlv ihe mortifiedremainsofsocialart silenced rhreedecades by of Dolirical 'normalizarion'.Conceprualism's displayof these remains onlv can bexhihrronr5ri.i erprexionof irsbadconsc,ence. rhe Exh,b,t,on_ ismandpublicdistress therefore f inalindicarors rhis are the thar work isarr at all, in rheserious sens rhepasr.Nothingin irheritsacrua of I soc'alconrenr rrsmimericapparancecan or reallyestablish anv this l,rnger. Rarher. itr ruefulrmmohilizanon rn befo,ethe ^cchan,sns of falsification oflanguage(underthe perspectrve neo-capitatism) or rureprsenrs rerminus-po;nr serious rhe of modernart. However,in its very immobilization,conceprual reflecrs an the emrgence cenainsignificant of precond irionsfor thedveloDmen. of revolurionaryrdeasrn sociery. The re-fmergnce crircal r,t soc,al thought inro currencyin America in the later 1960s,afrer a lona penodof eclipse rupprer:ron. and indicares a ne* ,raee the rhar in s,rcial srru8gle a wholewasgermrn ingrr rhatrrme.The a\ oernd of the stabilizarionof imperialismbehind the U.S. do ar. which .posr he8an lr)44.4r - rhe\o-called in wrr era. _ h.rdreached irs

ofthe late60sand early TOs Thecurrnt cnd with rhe dollar crises and de*abrlizrtion polilical worldfin.rncral ol cenod uncontrolhble based Lonfl;crhad hegun Virh the end of that era of stabilizatron policies, therealsoendsthe basis uponinflationary'crcdir'economic ofcontrol in the which all the ruling cl.ss'culrural strategis Lroon the function' Essentially, could ..atm of ideasand represntations prospriry co-oFation and ot rcrmrnal|on thepriodof PaPer-monv around 1970,although from dares rh()ugh variousfundingschemcs sufficiently of this basictransformationwere (genrally) rhee//e.ti within the art world until mcdiatedthat they could be ignored assaulton all lh social end 'Reaganomics' the wholesale recently. to and cultural institutionswhich owe their existence the post"war cornbinationof Ncw Deal corPoratismand inflationary public cuhurearc makingicleartharthe cultural presuppostspendingon of rionsof rwo or threegncrations aftistshaventercda periodof crisis. fundamental an's attemP$at a new socialan in thc early 1970's Conceptual which placed must b seenin the oncxt of thesedeveloPmenis, thoscartislswished in enormous obstacles the way ofthe directions oftheir artisticformulationofthese to pursue.Thus,thc inadequacy art, one. The failuresof concePtual issues a profoundand decisive is onlyglimpsed, had the masured againstthepossibilities movement of rflection thc gapwhich had incisive are,evenasfailures, most the op.ned in rhe hisroricalend Poliricalmemory of modernismafter 1939. cru' remains of aspct concePtualism This failedand unresolvd cial. The movement aboveallas incomplct,Its first loday appears response which bganinthe 1960s'wasan tothe politicaluPhcaval in tcchniques an asappropriationof mechanical and commercial and rhe 'dult upon An'. and constitutes brsisofborh its radicalism its facultv of historical memorv. But insofar as it was unableto

reinvenr soc;alconrenr rhrou8h irs srrializarion of technique,ir necessarily preyro rhe vry formalismand exhibitionismit had fell begunby exposing(rhoughit managed the process drive rhat in ro k)rmalismro a new levelof inrernaldecornposirion). lnvoluntarily, conceptualism beenencapsulated a .radicalpurism'. By rhe had as mid'1970s, rhis led to a fundamental splirin rhe movemenr, one whichannounced the.ollapse ofthe wholething. Some artists,like Barry or Heubler,easilyshcdthe final trappingsof historicism and interventionism ind movedinto orthodox commodity production, ilbe;t of a refinedand rnildly iron;c rype. Others,suchas Tr? Fo, group,arrem ptedto extendthepolitica argumenr.M osto f thiswork I krunderedin rhe stcrileacademicism consrituringthe dregsof the Ncw Lefr. This lare'lefdst' conceptua wasonly ableto producc lism negatively polemicll, or'self-referential' indictments reiteraring the idea of thcir own unrhinkability as works of art. Bureaucraric irnmobilization wasabsolurizcd thc drearnress in ofrhe movemenr's final phase. Thislacklustre spectacle, however, broughtconceptua m faceto lis .Popism'. fncewith its essenrial nemcsis, By rhe nid-t970s,the economicand socialascendancy Pop had tegnimared rt/arhot's of inte.prerationof ironic mimicry above all others,and led to the cruprionofan iesrhctic ofcompulsiveand unrcflecdve rnimicryofall formsof cuhu re,cspecia the .successfu ,effectiv' lly I'and ones, across the whole art market. As rhe conceptualisr srrug{al hisrorical for memory succumbcd, anrithericalculrural forces it wished ro rhe, defeatbursrforth with unprecedenred viSorin rh.posGconceptoal pluralism'of lare the l9T0sandthebusiness-fetishismof thepastfour or hve years. F:veryrhing for8otten,everyrhing possible, is is everything is'grert'. But the issues stakein conceprual ar an.s collapse mak thar movemenr perceprible the crucial axis of rransirion as bctwcen disrraught the quietism the .Ncw york School'and of an

rtvolutxrnar) anJ counter ..,^t.*rrcrc'rrrl of borb revolutlrnary ur repre'entrt^e theendor ,t,''""',"' concept,;r':'m ;:i:;,.';l rr( Ncw Y"rk-r)Pc Y'trk m)ihosi\ rhe of .,,n.rntuJli\m\ transccnden'< rhe Ncw intern'rtionrli\mBy the verypremrse' -^.,..",,i,,' ufln,"ture,nrc iI rndu'trv' hreache' wrrld culture l"r.eaucratic ^l ".'*.t''. "f, *vle' in rrr' tu '.. rrrrhcI'ld id(r of nartonal l"t,.i'".ir ,* ,*n"'"

rhe revcrted "-'ii.i,u i,,n",,n,'".'.n*ol rhcperrod ultimatell

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from ir art t.* .f c'rnceprual permined ro freertself and produ'' insgnra de'rgn ,t"" Anen'an c.rpor'rre ;;;;1.".. t rnd Mrnim'l arr'o "loselv ith P'rp ,,.i","'r.... *n'.n "", 'denriiv oncepruah\m erphcirthe mak'* \thrrrl lool ( ,i. i"* t-l atl the critical theorv of the U*".,tc out of which i".,,n"-o.*u" whichDan onethrough tf'o a'lectic ispreciselvthe i.ru"f".**.4 c.ahrm's work hasdeveloped' as acceptd bk'ng generallv ihc lrct that his w.rk hasnot been than lessa blindness ine to a N",v Y.rk-typc canonis, in this light' rh Since ofitscharacter' iind ufd"r...inur. n.gativrecognition " interroganon ofa work hasconsisted critical Grahxm's mid-196(x, by proposed Pop and Minimal arq as rheymerge of the discourses in the cririqueof conccPtualism. piece Hones for By l9eo, Craham, in his magazin ^fticleof Minimalism as Anerica, had itlentified the central dialectic tn movementtosocialdiscourse tts existingbetween reawakened the dnect impticationof the architecturalcontainer,and i$ residual conformity to New York school pure abstraction Bv ironically simuhane_ elements rcpresentatronal pointingout the 'readymade' of .3 ously in evokcd arrl repressed thI rchitectu | Parallels M inimalist Graham structures rhc 'Pop' form of a magazine (in Photo-essav)' also idcntified rhe missingtcrm in the Minimalist evocationof Qtrsrructivism - the absentrevolutionarvteleologv The 'grey

Ovqlcaf: Dan (ifuhim, Homesfi,t AnPi.a,1966

l|omes lor America

Early 2Oth.Century Possessable House to the Quasi-Discrete Cell of '66
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hrm$'of Ito'neslot Ah,"ri.d, w;rh itsmo.keflrsorconsumcr.hoicc in thesLrburban returns the Minimalisr grid, ro obiccr rhathistorical dilemrmwhichit is so inbivalenr.rbour: dcrried yrci.rl rhe rorrts of itsownsignification. GrrhamsseDioricand hjsn)rically constructed exposure(f common architectur.rlrropes wirhin rhe Minimalist rormatcanonreveats iron taw rhat, in relinquishing rhc thc revolu_ tionarysocirl perspective which anirnare<1 Constructivism,s conflicr with rhe nrcaning ofthc built nvironmcnr, Mininralism,s iliscourse mustassurnedoublc a cmpdness: (h.rofrhe rigidmimericcrcrnjry ot theReadymade, rhatofformalism..This and synrhesis ofrhemosr rrgorous scnse formalisticintrove.sionof thc.rt objecrwkh of the ideaofscrndalommechan pri,c.edr.lism (sustjested isric u by Ducha ) mp had bccnstiblishedren yearserrticr b,vJasperJohns. .Nco'I)ida, !as one of rhe firsr rermstrscdto dcsignate Johns,work. The tcrm wasoblitcrared thc triurnphal by advance of.l,op Ari, but in it is preserved element the ofDuchampianAerosrs, last_d :rrtistic rhe irch straregyofself prving,or ironic sclf_defear_ em popA(is based upon thr ge\rufti,t rhcrr.1d,ti,,rr.rlrrrrrr ,,nufting,ur ,,trheve\ ge.,)fhr\ nr\roflLdtly+pr.itjL Ji*r|lrri,,n fr,rrnoiher m, c\ of proJutrion. Johns'works,;nthc decade l9i5-6J or so, rerarned sens of a or $dne\srnd fnghrrhour rhB .r,thpse dnrnclon. ,,f c.rrr ,ruton itd rne nBrdlv..'(cupird ,urfrce,,,t hri (,wn pdinrinB\.Ahhough er rremely \uhdued rnJ cvnrepre\\ed. gloomycomforr,rtthe,e rhc surtaces rerarnsan lementof hisroricalawareness ro which pop alwaysdisplayeddeeph<)sriliry. popA.rin facrmarchedrrrumphrlly wer Johnsianmelanch<,Iy, teavingthe 50s gcnerarbn behindand orawng up, covertdercnte with rhe mosrinstitutionalized formsof tn t e56(,ruham pop redA,sne<t rn rhegrrm. grcy ll'j*",j:l"l'"* slyre o|.ir(r,'graphyin ,,rderro prescnt rm:gr an of the mncr.rble nt archirecturrl rhoushtin rhe po\r wJr er.r_ rhe nrrrr(k\.trklra.' housc. Upun rhisrtrutrure hi, thoughtJwellr

of .onsistentl)ovcr thc vcars. A scnsc thc rri:tl miservcongtaled .rcfl)s\ the absrratt surfacesof the Pop-Nlinimalcoilesccnce'is of rcrrio'cd as Graharnmarksoff rhe affirmativcness both tvpesof rfl. l\4ininalismis secnthrough Hones fttr Anelt., as a repressed itself as suchbv rts $cirl \.miotics which is barredfrom accepring abstr.crion. ror)sin ldealist a Americais indeed form of Popan, in th.rt it mimics Hu*s for copiedcomic Lichlcnstein articlethe wa-v a cen.rrrkind of magazime as it estsblishes particularform of mimesis both rrs sirips. l-k)s'ever, ll)p nnd antirhericalto Pop (in Patt by zot being a rriditional be of this piece 'photojounralism' rrrwork). More importantly, of comesrhc lehicle by which meansthe socialsurfaces American with rhe celebrated Pop, rre reinvested bv and culnrrc,brightencd of atmosphere theJohnsian distressins and somewhat grey,lunereal still cmblems rctained ColdWarerain whichcorporate mid-5(\.the funct;onaswar-propagandr The text of !esrists(,f t hei.then-recenr ' a of thcdevlopmenr rract'housins ftc. Honrs fu Anerica disctsses \(orld lfar IL The insistcnrcomparisonof the new suburb to a combiningiournalistic barrrrks or prisonis articulatedin languagc criham's labyrinthine. concreteness a scnse rhe delirior.rsly *ith of whoseMonunents texl is.r! Borgesian of RoberrSmithson, rs.hose o/ I'.rs r is its clrsest parallel (ind who pl:ryeda part in havins Craham's Horrrsconmissnrned a 'rhink-piece'for ArtsMasazine). as virh rhis wotk is to rvealthe sirucruraltnd hisrorical 'ntcnti(n tsom{trphism Min'mal and Pop art. The consequences borh for of trcndsi)f thc repression not dirccdy linked with any parricular are artirudc problems urbrnism of since 1920s, thc n)wa.dthe political bLrt issue evokcdobliquelyin the unvcilingoftheconsequences thc is or those problemsboth for architcctureitself, and for Pop and MIn,n)alism, f.orn thecommonor popu m.rterial which appropriNre 1:rr siBDifiers in ptace urbrnism. pur by

Thus,throughaseriesofassumptionsofrotesorfunctions,Ho,,r?s to identifv the or L.issirzky Tarlin Although Graham manages , of I,or An.liea attiuesat is posiriona\ unrquewirhrn con,.eptual of consequences the collapse the hopesof the uoPian hisrorical .rrt. r rxemuortonceprualism. I 920s,he cannotrekindlethem He can of n anempts breach to )riisrs and plannrs the rhedomrnance ofthe esrablished formsand to anicularea cririque art thoseonditionsresultingin th era furrher than specifying eo no ofrhem. However, unlikethemoreacademic Graham's ofconceptuar (aspractised .'henthishopeappearsrohavebeenpermanendyeclipsed rypes arr byArt, r.anguag, rheycouldarriveonly at a paradoxicalstare greyness the 50ssetsoff a further of of reminiscence the oppressive ofestablish_ mBthemsefvs works of aft npgatiuel!,by whoseIibrplanningschems as of enuncirUns reminisccnc the history ofearlier condrtion5 ror rrr whichrhyhad no inreresr actua y of \rructurcs the intu the graruitour has shrunken rn irng rhet,,nc futnltinJt Lrahams photoiournalisric for a lost prolerariat For formar demands rhat his work havea separable, suburbangrid, rhe gardenof subiection disringuishable subiect,mamer. (;raham, asfor manyothervoungarrists'in I 956,the kvrevelatxtn Insteadof making anisdc gestures which were litde morethan rehearsals first pflnciptes, lossofhope'This losswas of ofrhecity wasin theshockofthe absolute as Kosuth (hecitv orAn L:nguage 3s wereto do. Crahambnngsinto herng rnalysrs f,,r .s nuch,r.timulant critrcrlmemory wasindignarion: his orrheIn\t|rutional provoked memory de ChincoandBretonar rhe of srarus art rhrouSh dynam,sm a rhe of rrronr o{ Anr, rhe ot ,ournalistic subject which is implicitly the inner trurh ofpurer forms (iodard did rhat of Heartfieldor Meverhold Although his of c,t-v ofart. This is, ofcourse,rheanrithesis black indiEnation neitherSmithson's ofrhe formalisrabolitionofsubiecc r.sponse() this shockshares maner. In a single both' and commks gesrure Grahamestablishes primacyof social nor his black humour, Graham appreciates rhe subtecr,maner rre hisroricallyessential of mechanisticdomination' as of tothedecipherment this image himself problem to be posedby concepruatism, al rhe sametime he idendfia Gmham into and Romantics thedesert' incensed Srnithson leadsthe Vhen rtresinite ciand subjectwhich will remaincentralto the developr.n, in remains the city and suburbs. of *. rno"._ menCs hrrtorrc:l self-consciournerr: cny. Homes Piecs H.)mesfor Ameica is the finestof rhe g'oup of rnagazine rhe [o/ Awt,ca is tne work which Craham recogni?e\ defeatofthose ideals the of the late60s,all articularing themof the rhar rh conceptual cntique 'n indeedhar an inherentsubiecr. forms of by of rational,critical language bureaucratic-commercial which he expticittybegins investiro pieces strucare rhe hrstoricaldevelopmenr thc cny Satecornmunicrtionand enforcement.The magazine ol as sire of cuhural conflict.This invesrigation rdas' tor detear\ liberationist rureJ rmrll. rnrnicrlly ins'gnificant rs begins thegroundof conceptualism on by posin-Canewthe domina' ideological ismsof anrithesis as dciiaristinterventions' rhemechan in facedby rhemorc revotuhonary artrsrs of the 1920sand30s:oneberween isolated .pure, r;on. They :tre aimed at interrupting the flow of standardized, the andexahed work ofart (thehighestproduct rhedistraught falsified and and representation Ianguage, inducinga 'mini'crisis'for of bourgeois seif{onscious_ nss)and the social machineas a whole thar they rcate This the readcror viewer by meansof the inversions reproduces rhis dis_ traughtconsciousness rheprocess its own in Detunescence stratesy,carriedoutmostinsidn,udyandbrilliantly in of reprooucion ascty. effect'in evcr),lav ,lq'r6/6qr. p.rrillel\rhe crerrion,,f distancing for Anetuaas,however, its own time anddoesnot pose of . .Hortes in this historicalcontradictionin rcrms o[ rhe enrironmsnts eartyconceptua suchasWeiner(particulartv Iists by expticit dynarnismof

provocatioN and intervcnhis sriesof'rcmovals'). Reflectcd in thc which tn uncxpctcd and rions charactcristic of 50s situationism in rhythm of rlationconfrontational gesore interrupts the .stablishcd t form of mntestation' ships in a spccific context, and induces this approach thcrcby exposcsthc forrns of or."dot, oi "titi., are normally ,rthority and domination in fic siluaiion. which imagc of this is the imperceptibleor vciled. The most notable altistic designcd social unexpectcd toid' ol 'ruptur.' in thc seamlessly with such blenks' surface, and concptualism's oriSins arc filled interruPt thc induccd h'bits ica.s, and cuts. Thcsc testurcs erasures, p'rmits social and of the urban masscs, the intcrruPtron thorencally of habit) to cmc'8c in a kind repression(which is the veiled contcnt provokedby thc work. This liberatinSh'llucination ofhallucinadon of is the obiective the work, and its claimto valuc' SuchSituationist intervention is also rclated to PoP' but inverscly, asis concePtualism; to ir aggravarcsPoP i.ony by mc ns of hxnteu noh, and attcmPtc elicii a rccognition of th tcrroristic aspccrs of thc normaliz'd and mechanisms' environmcnt of images,things, sPaccs, strategt fus!h. Situatronist-insPiled Craham'smagazine Pieces of mimesis burcaucratic of the'cnt', of datosrnfint,with that of the forms of 'factography'. Thc intcrvcntions desiSnedby him remain primarily concrctc, functioning through the dynamics of spccific form'lism" subiects. Conccptualisrn, in .clapsing into "adical its specific cheracier' tendd to empty thc 'cut' or intervcntion of threbyabsolutizing it asan cxlrcmc form ofmblemetic alr6t"ction' as Suchinterventions reduccdto dccorativism, is the cascwith are manylater works by Buren,for cxamplc. e Crahamuscsan actualtext-an anicl.' an advertismcnt' charr - rehich conslituts its intervcntion through a structwd diffcreDce with the norms of the Senre in quesdon. Thus' in thcs' works, a specific social genre, cxisring function.lly, is ahrcd in a PrcscriH L.wr.ncc Vciner, ,4 J5 r'rr, x 36 in.h Rdoual,o .h. Lzrhingol S,ppon ol Planet ol WathoardFrcft a Wd r95g. phoro: , counsy Movcd of !/a Picturcr.Ncw yo'k

orrertron aimed hnngrng andmalrngpereeptible ar out rheundertyjng ntstoflcalonDression. Thus,Hones for Aneri.a,s theme, thesubiecdon the romantic of ideal of rhe harmoniousgarden suburb to the sysrems .land of is presenred thc pseudoRradymadefi,rm in or a f*l"ei"*t'. polular photo-e.say. fh;s formJr is rcrdineij, mimetically. themeans whrch subiecr_rnaner as by rhe is ahered and madeperceprible a nega snse. in tive craham,sapproach accepts rhe e,<irting formalisn rulture_ irsrigrdifred of generi. .rructur._ u, d hrir primipte. and appliesp,cudo_Readymade, preudo-pop. and aurnentratty 5rruationrst srrategies rt. The resuhis form.rhsm ri, intensified rhe qualitarivecrisispoint. The to work makesits inter_ tenri,'nin rhecontertof a formalized emprinesr e\i\ringBenre\, of bur doe5not cr(are anrirhetrc.l an emprin.ss. purelyabsrract a or emDremark Inrervenrion. fu\inBrhe journilistic In arrrtude whrch accepts primacyof subjd_marrer rhe together wirh the Siruarionisr_ concepruaflst srraregyof intervenrionisfi and d'tounement, the w,o* errablnhes.r discour\e which,rs in \ubircr-marrer. a crirrqucof Mrnrmrli,mrnd pop t,r I di\cu,\;,,n rhe or archirecrurat dirarrer upon which rhey both depend,can b enlarged ro rhe pojnr of a hisrorical critiqueof reigningAmericanculrLrral development. Thr5 rpprorch hecamc rdenrrhed explicrrly wrrh;rehiretrural . rheoryrnd discour\eby ta-J_-4 vr.ra series video_performance of wo*s, These pcrforma works,andrheenvironmental .functiona nce I behavioural rnriels'use window, mirror, and vrdeo conrrotsystems .o construcrdramasof specatorshipand surveillance rhe abin stradedconraine.s gallery archirecture. of Followinghisidea about s the relntion of rhc work of aft ro the implicir semiodcs its built of .l] rn in*rrurionr y.Jerigneti conrainer. emph:srs rhe -:..": snirisrhroughthc d(cadr ofrhc -0\ frorn an expe rimenr I conrcntra_ a tion on enaftmentor behaviour(.performance.1, ro work upon the

work shows of sttings these 'dramas'.Graham's rLrurl institurional particularlyfrom DanielBuren,MichaelAsherand nrw influences, as emerges the (;o.don Matta-Clark'with theeffectthat architecrure it or decisive form, because mosr whollv reflects art drtcrmining behaviourthrough irs definisttucture,and influences insrirutional r('n of positionalitY. rhetoric, the notion of In raking on an explicitly architectural one of 'alteration'and, ironically,alliesitself becomes in(crvenrion practicsin which 'posr-modrn'architecrural wirh Pop-inspired glamourous become of or alteradons exisringstructures .cnovarions mrnifestos,as in rhe early work of Graves,Cehry, and Venturi. as (;rah,rm'sfascination wirh the wotk of thesearchitects, well as received the rvirhthat ofAldo Rossi,inthe laterTosreflects stimulus (which, in any case of architecture not simply for any 'discovery' that the datesfrom ten yearsearlier),but ratherfrom a recognition approach torhe built environment central semiotic and historical (' his notion of conceptual - had in fact entreddirectly into an of practice lastpartiallythroughthe influence broadarchitectural at acrrrityto prominence t,'p. Thc emrrgence thrsarchilectural of reoresenrs Grahamat oncean indirectconfirmationof hisearlier for insights about the rozlitorr for crirical cognition of the symbolic mcaninss and a new stimulus: to build. built into rhe environment. An increasing attitudetMt public acceprance an archirectural of is stronglydependent ironic or antiironic notionsofsymbolizaon ti(,n(those a ofVenturior Rossi,for xample provides newcontext ) frx interventionisran, one which differs significantlyfrom the 'cnvironmenral' 'earth' art ofthe late50sand earlier70s. Those and works operatedin terms of a tensionwhich existedbetweenthe for traditionally resrved f'urified and srylizedinsriturionalspaces art, and the acrivisticdesirefor direct interventionin, or dirct rctlection s()cial of of, life. The romanticexrremism the carthworks

a
deepdissatisfncnoD ,n Ilcizcr,Dc Marir and Snithsoncxpressed artistic en!ir('nmenrs Their solutxrnwas a new' *irh .ruthorized rreJ f"rnrof flighrinr" u ilderne* r desper;tr and.r*sr.tr . 'L..rr.ltd rn In'nrr(rm}rh'mirr8led ,',.t,"'"" un-fl".r". t.pr'{c')f rheAmcr\ fcflect for This vearning flighr did indeed fantasies. ,,.itl p.,vchedelic works undertaken ,t'. ,r,,it' ,tt", environmentalor monumentel in culturcindustryterms' wrrhir thecity wrre doomcdto absorpdon inslanilv becomenew corporatemonulUrbtrnsculptureProiects right d{'av ) During the 1970s'as r mcnts. fact Smithrcnobsrved romanricbanishmentfromthe unravelledirsalternativesof *-ulpturt ofitn near-invisible into .lry.,,r ironi. self'disvrltrtion mimetic, providcd unexpecrcdlv f,'r,,,.,.,'...rspects of thc l'op posirxnr exisringPopular of oosribiliries.Theseinvotvedan ironic mimesis (as derail. did the work of r. ritln"g.,,)ra.chirecturxl io.,..,.h (wirhthe in Pop Buren)butsincc wasnorccntred sclrlpture Ashcr.rnil was noril)le t\ception of Oldenburg' whose inflcrion' howevr' of rhe domesttc mort in the tay of a rvitt-vre mon mentaliTrrion energlcouldnot extend its sccn eroticsymbol), mimcric as objccr dlrc.rl\ inro the built etrvironment. I hc mosr sisnificantttehievcmcnrs thisdirtcr$n wtthin Poparelvirhol's conplerelvdesigned irl museurn shows in the 70s, wheteby (he stvlizcd an instirurional rccordingo variouskitsch models lhe sprces rrc rt stylized term provider whichcould Pop dtcsireinfJucnceof (thirasptcroiir bv of c.tpxblc lvith ihe straregics intetvcntil'ndevloped ofsvnrhesis art direcrlyf'om Pop siturri(nrist tlid coneeptualism) not enrcrge which $1,rk\.Rathcr, ironic, nimeticandtlistancingaspects had rhc r)f n dc P('pa iignificint factorin thedcvelopment thc concptualtst bv mcdi:rrcd their rtflec critiqueren ye.rrs earlier,werefor Grrh.rm in lr ti(n in popuhr archirectur,rl practice. wasthcrcfore ttrms ot (hat its concept il'aspecrs Il,p s delarrd rcflccrnrn irchite.rurc in rc1'lncrsrd. (;.rhanr, rvho hrd becn phoogrrphilrs archi(ccrrre

r ) J r (,r.rh rd . u trttrl fd ,1 9 6 6 ti r,n tt,R , l n A ,turkt . ou' r$ ! ,t i h c II.' n .!n c o o tn r.rn(;r erl ..N f$.yort

tromhisanri Pop-Minimrlistviewpoinrform3nyyearsrecosnized in the nediation of Pop by architccturalpractice,the rerm in which conceptual inrerventionism could be concretized.His work in the mid-1970s moved rhrough rapidandcomptex a dcvelopnenr which crysrallizes what B.H.D. Buchloh (rcferringro Michael Asher) in calledthe 'remateria lizalon' of the conceptualist movement toward rrt pracriceas criticrl negarionof the effectsof cLrlture industrial instirutions., Popular'post-Pop',.post-modernist' architecture plr vided C.aham with a 're.rdymade' tcrminok,gythror:ghwhich his critical ideas,previously'dcmaterialized'as prrrcrmance,rexr ano photrtgraphy,could movetowardacrualconsrruction,orconc.erion, conceivedin terms of the ncgariviry implicir in rhe conceptual Morcover,the rematerializatbn specific (;rrham also hasthe to consequence perrnirtinghim to ma;nrainhis distancefrom the ot extreme contextualism ofAsherand Buren, manyways in hiscloscsr collcagues thisperiod. Thcir work remains in morectoscty boundto thc museum(whicb trnds r<)symbotize archirecture) att invrfar as rhcy do not inregrare their contcxrualselfconscrrusness wrrh an existins rrchitecrurrl discoursc which includes expressnrn the of problems othcr than those con monlyidentified wirh I ( insriturions.^ 'I hus,while Asherand Burenare inclinedto expo.t rhe srylizarions ot the museum-Ballery complexinro varioussocialsprces(subway billboards, banners. erc.) by virtue of the residual rerluctivist cmblcmaticism ofrhe innerspacc (;rahamreverts oirheir works, in a sensc, the earlicrappft,nchwh;ch h and Snrithson ro outlinedin r (iclcs suc as Tre Mo, un!,is of p'sslic an.tHozr?s.There,rather h rhrn dcveloping di.ecr .rntithesis a between muscumspace and the .dnrinistercd space ofthepublicsphere ingeneril, thcyindicated rhar the l:rrrcr conrainedwithin ir, as conditionsof consrrucrionand or|.anrzitt{nr, p.ccireproblcmatic the aspects proyidc the arrisdc ro

or rrt J( an rmage . nll{ue $ith r(scontenr.fhis of rourseimplte'l ot ,l*. problemaocsCrrham mainrain'rhe nolion "f I conra"n,f.f.rn a d;recr,utt"sr iournalisticimage the essentia of .,,n,blning wirh the interventionist environmenr i,.t'"* .f ,ft. actual social t" teducehis work to contexruali$meditation lppr,;a.h.t, ..fu"ing effi' on th'museum and' in principle The projcbof th mid 7Os(those'buildable' thoseactuallvbuilt)which combinewindow' mtrror' morerecently, in.r.asinglv, actual social sites (glassoffice buildings' .ia"nd, the linEUi\ticstrucrures elahorate trcades,iracl houses). 'h,,pprng -fhe Alte/ahont' a Suhutban ,r'n'u*l *r'i.t' his works develoP as and presides the H"^" ** d*.top"d l" th midst of this series' work overa group ofexemplary mostcomplexand suggestive srngle oprae. around a mirror axis' and can be The Allet tiot is constructed the in prceived terms of that which is reflectedin it; specifically' orh.r archireduralforms whosesvmboliceffectsand interconnecand the glass tnrnsform its subjct-matter'The glassskyscraper of of house(thosecentral exPressions the most exaltd visions (that genreof and the suburbanrract house motlernarchitecture) .obot-architectlrewhich provides th actual bodv uPon which Grahan operates)must be examinedin terms of the symbolism and which the mirroric opticsof ihe A"e/abindingthem together, tio, projecrmakevisible. the ln his publishedtext describing proiect,Grahamwrrtes: and removd has house been suburban "Theentire f.!.de of a tvPical back parallelro and Midwav rent replaccd a full sheer transPa glass of by inro rhe ihef.onrshssfl$ade, mirro.divids house twoarasThefront 5 !s section nor rhere'r' privale while \cdion is revlld the Public, ro nor and fasade thestreet' the disclosrd. mnrorasit faces slass Thc 'eflcrs the ourside lnd onlythchouse inre.ior, thesrrei iheenvironftent but s

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pt r r t r . ul. r r lvin Ber lin' t he glassr <r vcr r s rcl ol uri oni rl upher v! 1. r et r icvalof a f allenr vor ld f *cd * rnhol oi w i sdom and of r visdom s n) and socialism pr oducet hc im ageof i ,rrh the i derl oi engineer ing oicr , vst t ris whr t t he n\ \ ' l S thc gl ess t,dtl ror i'. lhis r niur ct or spr r e nselir r cund l he r e! olunonr r v or ganize r,rl rurl d harnr nnr uslv dr Cr opiusexpr cssd c oi [\t(!si oni sr i a r r asics leiDinger ' ldut . r nd the cr,vstal|ne torver hopcsof.rn err rvhich *cre to bc svmbolized br and t hc openncss oi cnomous p() Por t ions ' Thc liber a! r dcr l oi nlst ical ,tu,rsr rcl i gi ous ExPr essr onist t ender cv t onar d t he *'er oi ,Ln,ent.rl i sln c held in an unsr ablecquilibnum dur ur g Hor voer , oncet he r dcaof I t ot al ptri rxl oi rcvol ur ionar , vuphe, r val begant o (,crm.rn R cl ol ur ion colhpsed in 1921' dr r s coalcscencc t hc rrn rel . revcalir g a ner vers, r nr &nisn *'hich oper at edt hr ngh com ponenr s The ot i nrrri on ol asp ect s bt , t h of ns m . r jorf or r nat ive nonum enr alr smclm c t o tcri fl i rg,. C od ic lspecr sof f - r pr cssionist such 'r s Fr it z Lang s t rl ,e n)re i n i i nrasics of r cchnologized, vr ennv inst r uncnt ir li'n t he r elcnt less II.topol E \1926) Concur r ent lv, indicnt cdt har a iiber r l r.rl rri zctl rn thc New O bjecilvio nr ovcr nni, bur er ucr acvdid not ler d t o p'r cr licl sntc i .ascdon tcchnologv. r nd tLonof i hc cnrir or r m t r t nnd t o f r ecdon, bur t o r hc inscr ipt ionoi all isr rrl l zcnsi n vast . r bst nctcont r o l nr echen ns. I heseint ur n pf t ) duccd rhcr osn ab st r acr , im per $nal . r nd t echDolosical f or m s ot

B ! thc 194 0s, dr e per iod of r hc Am er icar Bauhr Lr sand t he A m$i .an N l i cs r . an der Rohe, r heseYcnnar ( iult ur c ir nr gcs hr d in pcr beeomc and at oncc less cept ible r r cht t ect ur e more s t r eem lined m rrscl i . B .ruh aus. r nrrlt l: r t edir lcalsbccar ne or e and m or e r cnr ot c rs and oct e i .o,r rhri r ori sins in r evolut ionar rr encwal and r edesr gn l i nscr rbrd !vi rh inasophisncar ed por . r r esysr en. hisslsr en, whr le cor Iber.,rl clemocratic rn its rhctoric. has inregrrted all the nressrve sl stcns of bur er ucr at iccont r ol . r nd t echnologic. r l cxpedicnce

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alreadyidentifiedwirh rotalirarianism rhe l9l0s. In rhiscontexr, in rhe Slass tower, as ir comesto symbolize new Americ.n .nrothe capitalisr'ciry,exudesa sense hisroricaldisillusionmenr.B.vrhe of time ir is implicaredin rhe cr;riquesof the 1960s,rr had becom symbolicof rhe inrersionof valuessufferedby the .modernmovement'. Th e norionof opn ness nd rransfiguration been anged a has ch (through implosion revolutionary the of ideals) an archirecrural inro emblemof lost or falsifiedopenness, containingthe specificaUy on modern form of oppression which appearsto have no secreror hiddencore forbiddento sight in the ancientsense holincx and of Law. This oppression nevertheless is paradoxically invisiblein that ir seems l-Jow to logic:rlly and auromatically from the rationalityof technique and organization itself,and not from rhe wittofany sctf.,,nscrou' auth,'rirl. The(rmhrnatron disorienrrng. of mirrorrc rnvrs. ibiliry wiih a nonumenblism which is rigid, sysremaric, empry and ofsatisfyingsymbols powerand authority,makes glasstower of the a disturbinsphenomenon. Indeed, becomes it positivety frighrening atth pointofr.alizarionrharirssymbolicsystem hasrriumphed ovr the ponderous monumenrrlisrn ofearlier, European sryletoralitarianism. This jmpliesthat a nw hisroricalphase ofoppression, more complex, sophisticated deeply and ernbedded rhehabituatazdthe in unconscious, matured has withincapiralism. system The announces itself in thescneutralrnd functronal,systcmatic fearsof precision designand engineerins. They tend to signify the historicalfact of redefinitionof the ideal of .arionality, the hisroricallycomplete enclosur. possibiluies hoped fromrationality, concrerized of once for as in planning,by the institurions thcy glamourize-Thiseffetr, roul of enclosure therealmof .arionaliryby a monument histoncal of ro emprinesl indicates thesymboliz-arion rhat prtresses generated rhese by buildings are irationalin a newway. Theyexpress emcrgeneofa newsrage rhe ofsrial irrationaliF/ prevn,usly latent historical only in development.

oi on 'Ih,; aesrhetic k^ver is bascd the precision effectofthc glass Ihich pcrmitsan unprecedented rhert'ldcd and rivencd steetgrid wirh minimal exrrlrcssion of height and lertical conccntration, by furtherdissolved the the of*eight and mass' lattcr beinB "..,,r,,n gt.r*rvrll\playwithdaylightAtnisht,thcbrrildingaddstothisthe into an ethereal i.r,zhns effectof artificialliShring'to itselfturning are efiecrs exerted diagram. Thesefantasy-inducing ,rndlurninous rre hrsrd on the or.,r rhc bu,lJint. u*n rn.l "h'erven. rnd of regulrrrrl th' of rn .rlm'^rI'l'rlonrt rrrrrrclyunirred 'parral 'fn'e from strett leveln) roof. srrLreture rhe of sense regularityinducedbv foresroundins unadorned lihis on in the wav a passerbv the street !ru.turrl grid permitsa changc (includingthe great inside. Eadier'trll buildings rhe i,,r.r,rints space articulatedtheir verticalitywirh rradnionalarchi scrapers) t)c!o sk.l to rtcturrl detail in ordet to mirigatethc shcereffectof verticalitl' br.rildings' h,rrnDnizrit wirh the sizeof othcr, smallcrsr.rrrounding ar' and ornamenration levelwindows s.reer Thc proporrionsoftheir Aitenrion is both directed in scrlero rhe human body in the strect inducing awc and fascinationwith the hcighrs' while uprv.rrds, thus bekrwthe first floor architraves' sinrulrrncously is conrained it gaze directed sca r of rct.r inga sense familia streer lc. Thefantasizing ir with power' is thus towar<lthosesitesalwavs identified 'kyru.rrd, which exemplify transitions, wirh architectural constdnrly mediated of character social and'natural' rhc mcasured, conventionalizd and drst,rnce by symbolized the top of th tall building The speed isrhDs heights the rntensiry about building's fantasizes ofthegazethat provides harmoa !)mervhlt restrained. The building'sappear:rncc for the shockof and n(,us imaseof srages, both reasoned habitual, rhe enormousseparationof cornmandingheighrsand common retainsa 'civilized'character Snrnd of rhe street. Ihe skyscraper rtress eltD as ir subjecrs to unprccedented sociery

This 'civilized'ch:racter of earlierskyscrapers emphasized is by the shockeffects creared the glass by grid, which eliminates these all ornamntal harmonics and gaUantries. so doing, it introduces In a new, lessconstrainedform of fanrasizingabout power into the experience architecnre.By virtueof thegrid, whosestructurecan of be understood a glance,rhe gazeof a man rn the streetcan now at ascend buildingwirhout theslightest the delay.The building appears Dnmysterious,asimplequantityof regularlyengineered space,whose upper reahs comprisethe privilesedtban zonepar excetlence ; impliedlocationof the'executive level'. Tr3nsirions between social levelsin the corporateor instirutionalsrrucure housedwithin the buildingare eliminated, convention but insisrs that upperlevels are the siteofdirecrorship,leadership and power because theseare the implicationsof rhe commandingview of the city availableat that height. Wirh the removalof all inrermediary f:cors in rhe uniform grid, the spectator\ imaginarionmoves instantly and marter{ftacdy up the sysrem, search the sireof command. Thus the to out space between spedarorand the perspectivalvanishing rhe poinr of his imasinarionis demystified beingeasilycalculable.The same by eliminationof transitionalindicarors rhe plan creates new and in a morerestless form ofmysteryor fascination because evenness th of thegrid forcesrhegazero search withour focusor repose.No single poinr can be locatedwherethe fantasyabout power inducedby this architecture broughtto restand satisfied.Thereis no pinnacle is or special opening,no privilegedor ornamented point on the srid. In addition,the fanbsizing eye is caughton the glasssurface, whose reflectivitythrows it in all directions,depending the light. The on building,in theprocess ofbecomingperfectly rationalin a functional, technical sense, obliterates known or conventional the indicatorsof rhe authority which ir has come to symbolize. In becorninga monumentaltrap for the wondering gaze of the spectaror,the

of discourse aurhority in the building re establishes architecrural (of the drarnarics Sazins)' The specrator's of rerm' oi p.re 'l'ion upwatd' high abovethe strctto rhe a6cnr()nis drawn irresistablv bv is wrndows!whosefabulousness onlv augmented the enormous jusr the sameasthoselower down Soit is that they are knowledge the become heartof rhis glassevewhich is the building thc,v the windows subject citv and,bv implication'all ot socicrv These in of life) ro their inspection.Socierv, the guiseofthe man all (even bv svmbolized the apparentlv that in rhestrcet,senses the openness to Ratherthanopeningitself mirroriceffect. glasstowerisactuallya that vision back upon rtselt' rhvisionof ihe s{,cialbody' it throws mirroringwith its own asymnetrical thar anclaugments symmerrical nce This inspectr<,n. rsa surveilla which cannotbeobservcdThecitv for objecrofsurveillance the building,and this specular becornaan what expresses thecirvknowsof its realsocialrelation relationship rulc' rhe.itv .hrpurrn th, f.urldrng: builJing rhe which, suites ofthe tower:re the executive In rhe upperregisters the schem alsobecome mostprcsttgrous a, inverrirganoldurbanistic the elevators, pooreronewas!the andcorcrcdliving spaces Before in . the higher livedabov srreet This newrechnologv' manvways one upsidedown' so turns that framework attcndanr upon the elevator, of comrnonsvmbols luxury dwellings high abovethesroundbecome (andtheoffices success, authority,and rnodernity.In thesedwellings ro out of which they haveevolved) entireDrbangrid is revealed the be returnecl thc majestic a gazeof the occupanr, gazewhich cannot srmnetrically by anyone. The occupantcan easilv imaginethe Iranscendcnt social invisibilny which envelopshim in th acr of rhe 8.uingartheciry andit is at thispoint heexperincs uniquethrill invisibilof bcingtheoretica invisible.This elevation rheoretical ro lly Ity is the sourccof an exaltationwhoseconrentrs in part the sheer intoxication of power in a power hungry socicty,and in part 's

constiturd a waveofdisplaced by tooks energy: manin the streer the wonderingly upwards, rosnizes own subiedionto surveillance, his andsees himselfas onlyconditiona y invisible, that is,asconstrained within the r6gimeof 'privacy'. That the exaltarion ofthe oneis a condirbn of rheconstraint and subjection the other is commonplace, of rhoughit reflectsa social truth,:nd rhereby bindsrheglass tower to its oppositepole,namely the unitary privare home; it is in this architectural form that the conditn,nof subjecrion called .privacy' is symbotized and for the massof men in the streetit is represented rhe ngineered by rract house. Just as exaltarionand subjectionare bound togetheron a metaphoricaxisof vision,thearchitecturalmechanisnsof ex:ltarion and subiecrion generare eachother on a corresponding socialaxis, which derermines shapeof the ciry. the The exaltationof occupancy the glasstower is nor simply of the effeft of monumnralvision provided by height. It also emergesfrom theinversionof therelationsof privateandbusinesslife for the bourgeois occupanr-In the ascenr ofthe bourgeois class, its members more and moredisrinsuished hone (or l;v;ngspace) from work space, establishins this process in precisely reifiedideaof the unproducdve 'privacy'which tract housingimposes upon rneprole_ tariat and lower middle class. This separation was brought to its purestexpression the luxurygardensuburbwh;chwasrherealizain tion ofrbe harmonious separatiot) ofbusiness f.omprivatetifebefore the profusionofautomobilesand the restructuring ofcides in rerms of that profusion. Wirh the declineof the romanticgardensuburb throughfreewayand rracthousing developmenr, bourgeois the ideal relocates further our inro the countryside, and inward, back to the crties, into rhetowers.In rhisreturnmovencnrrrne conven on_ up alizedsepararion between home and office is breached.Vhat WaherBenjamin called rhe'pha ntasmagorias ofthe interior'*, wherein

in which reignedin rhe office was supprssed the reality'principle privatepleasureandcontemplation, frrourof fetishisticfantasiesof wavwhenthe rnorehallucinatory ina rrc reconsriruted new,andeven home Homelifeinthe asa and isreoccupied redesigned o{ficespace to referenc the fantasies incessantsubliminal now makes tower glass to se'ves performance Principle, oi powe' which the office,with its support.As in Baudelairel poem 'The Double Room', th luxurv thefunctionofphant:snagoria' .parrnent,in itsspecificretentionof rhe in its tosucceed suppressing imageofthe cxaggerate effects mLlsr evokes As the two shellincessandv officewbich the archrtecrural lthe becorneisomorphic,the processof phantasmasoria spaces is drivento an of of outcom rhe suppression th one by thc other) of dwellingattemptsa cancellat;on the implicastate. The extreme primarily bv meansof d6cor' ThL is tions of ihe architecture, incontrastiotheoverwhelming the since d6coris arrayed impossible, and the opticsof power it suggcsts.D6cor becomes glas surface, ofcommodity The to and from hominess rverts the status detached dwellingbecomes,rrreinlirb,'unhomelike" uncannv.' 'Ihis uncanDinss howeveris also a resuhof the effectof height' Thc occupant feelsexaltation,but he alsofeelsthe effecrofthe grid Socialcuphoria does not cancel the operation of conventional oDt of a peculiarcombination of them' sisniticarions, emerges it Living within the grid systemcarriesthe implicationof being enschema Justasthe occupanr's mcshed an impersonal, auromatic in scopophilirccxaltationdraws energyfrom the subiectionof rhose bclo$,. r! I which is irsexterna antithesis, alsodrawsupon an internal anlithesis, intellecrually to accessible him asthe building\ svstem as is Io lhe man in the street.H.nce this euphoriaderives hom a sensc of bcingdirecrlyencl(xed, by positioned greatsocial and supported porver.The danceof light materials of and the elegance ensineerins andcalcuhtion, in oi grnerare moment bliss whichthe disrurbing a

effecrof the grid is cancUed. The occupanfsbliss,howcver,is as restless thewonderofthe manin the streetfor,evenin the moment as oi its cancellation,the grid reasserts itself by rransformingthe signification heighr. We are familiar with the vertiginous of effects of heights, particularlyof rhoseexperienced b olicallyashubris. sym The glasstower ernbodies hubris of business the under monoply capitalisrn. Here the ascentto the heights is recognized the as outcomeot impersonalrnarketrelationsin which the individual's qualitiesplay an insignificantpan. Livins hish up in rhe grid expresses anxretyabout enrrapment an automatlcsysrem, as In and such it is the inner reflex of euphoria. Euphoria or exaltArionis thcreforeexperienced the more inrensely all insofar as it includes anxieryand struggles suppress The exaggerated to ir. asymmetry of gaze,the theoccupant's producrofheight, turn reacts in desrructively on the sense domsricity.This sense th domesric privaie, (of of of family life) has beenconstructed antithesis rhat of work and in to public exisrence. Metaphorically,the 'private' is established the in urbansystem characterized rheglasstower termsof irsrelation by in ro rhoseinstitutional forcesand systerns which prorect it, in the abstract form of civil rights. In thisera,rhedomestic and the privare arerhosespacesintenselysubjecredroinspectionandsurveillance by ruling insrirutions,but prorected(to a cerrain extenr) from rhat surveillance Iaws.Accessibilitynd subjecrion surveillance by a to and the rimulraneous I p.otecrion lega from lr, is'privacy'. High up in rhe rower,the mechanisms ofsurveillance not operate, do so only do or weakly. The privilegedspaceitself becomes mechanism the for surveillance the ciry as a whole. Thn is in facrthe foundationof of its privileged state. The absence surveillance of producesan absence ofprivacy, induces theoccupanr (whohasbecome and in a near'invisible eye)a contradictorysense neglect, of abandonment, loneliness, damnation. even

reflects signiticance the anxiety,this Dncanniness, This nameless from the life of others,and from nature. of heishtsas separation aspects the glasstowe., of Thus, rhc Romanticand Expressionist post Romanticand in in nrwnrcd its origins,persist an apparently period. They survive,however,in an inverted post Expressionist oprimism tbrn. Whereihe utopiansof the period of revolutioDary building youngGropius sawrheSlass a ) lfigureslike Scheerbartnd the throughlucid technique, asr syrnbolof lucidity and transcendence of the posr Vorld War ll masters the'pure'tower, primafily Mies which mechanism it Philip Johnson,recosnize as a perfected rnd what the city has in fact with cold irony and derachment erpresscs bcconre:a bad view to GahaD s explicitreference Mies and toJohnsonin the text of Aheration project implies a historica]interpretationof Mies' rhc on which corresponds a broaderlevelwith the implicaarch,rccture his rionsofthe fantasies puretowerss.nerate.Mies'glassbuildings and nesativityin the of provokea profound sense historicalsadn.ss they dominate. from the environment pertection their aloofness of and womnto the Thesubjecrion with its crowd of men ofthe srreet is polverembodied thos instirurions buildingglamourizes, the the by ofthe by innercontentofthis aloofncss madenecessary the stresses has acnralrrcial pn,cess ofdomination. The buildings'impassivity isolationand a negarive the effecrin that it rnagnifies conditionsof domirrarion which havein fact brought it about. Arguably,it could in bc saidthat Mics, who experienced revolutionaryuPheavals the aenrrrl lurope and e'.n parn.rpared Ihemto J c(rrrin extenr. In recognized larerAmericanarchitecrure'sconditionsof existence rhai i!ere in fact consequences rhe delay,disintegration apparent and of .rnDihilation rhat revolutionary utopia which permittedarchitec of iure in rhe 1920sto dream of universalharmony through social plannins.Evenif Miesis characterized persona :nti-utopian lly as

his earliestglassbuilding projcctsof l92O atreadyhavca fcelinsof tyrannicalglamour-this doesnot invalidare possib;liry rharhis the architcture of attains a painful consciousness the hopelcssncss of existing urban schemes the monopolistically cities. in conrrolled This consciousness consistenr is of with th psychicinwardness the glasstowers,their profoundlywithdrawn character, and masterful transfiguration rhe industrialmaterialsidenrifiedwith openness of and visibility into the oppositeeffect,a contradictorywithdrawal behindsymbolsof accessibility. M ies'response the hisrorical to catastrophe the I 920 -5 pcriod 0 of is to renounceth implicit utopian cririque of the ciry conrained within modernism,and to relinquishrhe city to its cacsars: the speculators, bureaucraa, and real esrate His of developers. gesture withdrawalis deliberate his archirecture, its perfededcmptiand in ness, his expresses submission the modernformsofpower which to haveapparently vanquished opposhionand rule over a chaoric, all estranged mass.His buildings reflect atomization fferedby rhat the su massat the handsof institutionsrhe building symbolizes. their In perfectionof technique and proportion, thesebuildingsrelinquish thmodernisrutopiainanactof silent!stoicpurity,andcometoexisr, as hasbeensaid,'by rneans rheir own dearh'.,0 of This self-conriouslytragic negarivism, componentpan of rhe a historicaldialecticof modernism, complexconsequences. has The authentic expression a certainrypeof modernanist ir conrains of a kind of final, hushedprotesragainstrhe increase unfredomin in society, while its resignation and ftishizing rheorderedsilnce of and emptiness ofits own inrerior- makeit rh natural preyof iusr thatcaesarism is in the process it ofcapirulatingro. Thecombination of puristic resignationand spectacularized xprtiseof Misian buildingbecomes ofcourse th prototypefor rhe posr-1945 corporate skyscraper style. Therebyit providsth linguisticmeans, the

lormal and structural languagefor aggressive exploitation (in a 'popular' and 'posirive'senseof the samesocialvalues this exalied ) seems negatein the act of prostratingitself bfore to archircture them. Mies'archirecture, invokingthrough its purity the conscious by of its own vanquishment, ness thus mrintains a fainr echo of the unfulfilledhopesoftheperiodofoptimism. Remaining significant as a negativesymbol, it takes on, if looked at hisrorically,some characteristicsof theanri'monument. Thesocially-criticalcontentof is, rhissymbolization however,madeavaileble an invertedform. in providesusfulconceptsabout atomizatonand This architectur anxiety,as well as domination and indifference, first of all to th metropoliraincaesarc who own it and manipulatei in their own rnrerert.In holdrng out this knowledge a pnsnve. rn traSic "ocral gcsture, Miesianarchitectur rlinquishes ro the very enemies it of archirecture wirhoura srruggle.The sublimeand tragiccharacter of thisgestu isthecentre theclaimsof thisarchitecrure ftans!-end re of ro (lrs entmeaning a stateofnegativiry. greathisrorica roleis ro have in I placedinto the handsof irs executioners concepts the and methods thought to be developed endsother than its own suffocarion.) for Graham'sinvocltioo of Mies, alongwith Johnson, rootedin this is sense ofthe suffocared character architeciu in the frameworkof of re thc hisrorical problematicwhich th artisr, as a memberof the Americanavant-garde, trying to remember is and comprehend. Vriting aboutMies' houses the 1930s, of Tafuriand DalCo argue: 'Nxturcwasmade panofrhcfurnishings, a spcctacle becnioyed to only on condition that atbe keptimpalpably remorc.The inre.pndr.rion be$een indooB ourdm.s reared illusory: and was wirhnot.o! bleat as !U,nlturecould replaced photomontrse... b(omc rn object be bya and ot contemplation. narufal The .elario.ship wirh rhesurroundingsa is mystific.ti('n bereplaced ana.rific;al to by consrruction, whilenature is

(o forced becone mere oprical illurionwirha v.luein no waysurrdo. ro rharof a painrins.Th. slass.d over walh of MiesbsomerheBlass . pacrure,war of s.pararinS vi.w.r f.omrheobiecr a The vicwed..rh. rules ofsigh.were a ofihe inrcrn'rs, siven $.nsion bythehie.aric 'isns wirhinwhichonemoved prcset atout on in roures, visiror onc\ own a home, whose wercpresent.d ro eyes objects v.riousmure inransiblc and panoranas."rl and Grahamrefersspecifically hisAlte/ario, text ro the glasshouses in built by MiesandJohnson the lare40s. The masters thepure in ol spectaculartower alsothe archirects are who attemptto recuperate the domesticity annihilatd rheirglass in towersby neansof the rransitofglass technologyro the suburbanor rural setting. These pavilionlike structuresare apparentlycommirredro the opcningup of the private interioi spacof the houseto narure, lighr and vista in what is a recapitularionof the idea of rhe beluedere, the srrucrure giving a beautiful view, on the city can no longer provide- The glasshouseseems be a disrincdyromanricgesrure to expressingboth rhe desire for a closeness naturer and an to absorbedconremplation of it. Bui this opening-up is effected through the impositionof the glasswall, signifierof metropolirain euphoriaand lonlinss, between rwo elemenrs rhe comprisingrhe bourgeoisdomesticideal: the closed,homelike interior, and the contained natu ralness thegarden. Throughthe implications of it carriesof rhe vertiginousasyrnmtry identifiedwith modefn meF ropolitan experiencesof power the glass house produces an openness'. This openness the reflex of an exrreme 'excessive is inwardness (th srate of mind correspondingto the nw phanrasmagorias the glassinierior) to the fetishizationof thc of selfs positionalitywithin an anonymous and 'prfecC system.The self'ssense ofself is reduced within this system, norhing to more rhan its Dacitionalitv a setof axes. on

In the glasshouses, idealized fanrasized the or intimacyof man is with nature (one of the original dreams of .he bourgeoisie) re.rticulared in rhe estranged language of surveillance and positionality.'Openness'iscreated byrhefunctionof theglasswall, of and so all the implicationsof the anxieries the asymmerrically gener.tedacross occupant, interunobserved aharsymbolic surface, venein the conventionalized Rousseauian illusionismcharacteristic of the country 'place';one of rest, renewal,and withdrawal from business and the compulsion to perform. Thus withdrawal and relaxationbcometenseand cornpulsiv.In the glasshousecomnrunion with narure and retrat into privacy cannot be ralized nature and privacy exceptrhrough the deliberaie of subiecting act (now manipulated images calcu bleconcptualizations) the as or la to mechanics surveillance domination.A new 'power-protected of and openness', rootedina psychic requirement surveillance nature for of andthereinvention ofthe theore.icainvisibilityprovidedby theglass I rowerin the eyof ruture - a dominationofsurveillance itself- is generared these by buildinssonrheirsires, rhegardened woodswhich ro thecommonpeople,comprise hisroricallycanonized that image of the ruling class. Thereereno mirrorsin anyof theopenspaces eitherglass of house. (Mirrors are resrricred their purely'funcrional'usein the closed to 'privatecores'wherethe bathroomsare locatedin both dsigns.),] Symptomatically, mirror is a disruptive th element these in schems, which are orherwise rotally givenover to mechanisms ofopticality, condensed intotheglass skin. These huge window-wallscreate play a of rflectionand rransmission light accordingto the daylight's of character. Shifis in the direction,quality and intensirycreatemomcntswhen rhegaze's play with itselfbecomes apparent.This is the elemenral fantasyinducedby the house, which creates strict condi nons for rhis play.

dim cor.':rpared I)uring thedayrheinteriorofthe houscis relativcly refl'ectiviry thetremendous Fromoutside, x' theoutdoorbrightness. glasswall can screen interior frorn vicw behinda mirror the oi rhe rmrge of the surroundinglandscape Dependingon the arrgle of risron,this effectis combinedwith one of backlightinS- tF-re view on through the houseio th landscape th far sidc - gi! ing the characrer. inreriora stage-set is t-rcm within, in daytime,the landscape intenselyintr-oiected behindglass.Any artificiala'rgme ntation immured whileremaining of lighting intensifics mirroriccapabilities thre inner the of interior produce imageofthe occ!pantsuprimpq<)sed on an and surface, may thr thc landscape.Artificial lighting takeson a specifically atrical producesa self-image on rhe connotationin thar it immediately enioyed and, in so doing, interruptsthe occuPanCs intcrtrr surface invisibility. st.rtcof theoretical upon a c--ontrol house, thisconditionis superimposed Itrth glass glass towercannorFlrovide. led rmage nature:the'good view'the of ,\nificial lighting producesmirror images,and is reminis-cent of Tba<refo.e, of th(arricaliryand the'unnaturalness' urban existence. it is csentially in conllicr with the stateof euphoriapr<du-rced by r:vith the thcorctical invisibilityin rhese non'urbanconditions. Faced togiste up its spceracle narure,this theoretical invisibilityappears of (andthrefore anxiety)to blend into an ruthorirarianasymmet.y its rb$rprive state of blissfulconternplation. Mirror images= of rhe rrcupant remindhim of the mechanisms which absorptivce blissis by construcred. of They inrerruprthe phantasmagoria the inte=rior by brerchingthe suppression mechanism, of calculation,all that is id(nrificd uphoria with the office'- thesuppression whichpermitseu k) occur. Wirhin rhe house,rhcrrfore,th dcupanr engat*es in a etnplex gamcwith both natureand the day irself. Thc dynramic of thrsgaminvolves naruraluncertainry rfforded by th nveather rhe

PhilipJohnson,Pr,/i /or,n), ll,)ks., New (idnaan,(bn.e(icur. 1949. phon): EzraSrollc.,councsy.f Urto Phoro8riph,.s, N-ewYo.t

frcc for ibour thc chances rbsorPtionir thc naturalspectacle from jDtcrru and conrrolofnature prions. hehorrsc, then, effccts l nrirroric control thc natural flow of time rnd light. As bng as the hoLrse's can occur'.nd the rbsorptnrn eLrphoric uninterrupred, rcnrains .rrr\ietyinherentin theorericrlinvisibilitycrn remainsuppresscd rrc At night, conditions ilris(icnllvaltered. First of rll, the bv used Erenrhefloodlishrinlr i'r disappe:'rs blackness. l.,nds..pe of nor miiig,trcthc ptofounrl disappcarance narurrl l(,hnsondoes ,pcct.rclcwhich rhc occupint dependsupon for rhe proccssof at lighringnccessrry anxiery. Thc internrr.rrrificial suppressing rvallsinro giginiic of inieriorsurfaces the glass ight transforms but veiled with curtaiDs, thexct of nr.ry be CertaiDly these rrrirrors. greatly m,rgnificd in of themis irselfan expressron anxicty, rlrawing made in this house othcr Sestures as itr significance, are all to ( urtriningrhe of rcpudia(joD theckxcncss windowsexprcsses. of the house,and the r.rtionalc l.rturc which is the specificfantasy t,)r rrs siring. The glass houscsare locatcd on privatt rvooclcd bv (\t.rirs. insulated or ironr the clcs of passersby nejghboLrrs it and t,rw. l\ivncy is insrirurcd rhe boundiry .li*rnce,verdurc of the window. Ar righr, xol .rt thc surfacc lrneof the properry, and rbsence whcn n.rturewirhdraws,lt,rving orly blackness f.onr emprincss. and bch,nd, becornes eycin its invisibility an ir is thc house, of the bl.rckncss nnture'sabscnce of courscscen (thc di$.prhr<,ugh of glass.It is thiscombination slishtshocks ofthe interior.rnd spectrclc, mirrorization the of lc.rrrnce natural thcresulting risero a rciurnof whichgives reversal asymnrctry) of 'rn\ict\ in rhefaniliar lbrrnof fearof the dark. Like all emotions lncit.dbv the glass and housc, lhis fcir is exaggtrated inlensificd hf(ruseit is selfinduced.The glass playswith night trsit house natureof this:tcrivity s f l.r,!s irh day, but at nighrthc compulsivc bccomes moreevidenr.

PhtQ Jih,en Itosse.phoro:EzraSrollcr, rtcsyofF.stoPhoiosr.phict cou

of with the nothingness n:rure's In its nocturnal engagement which petrified Mallarm6, the house withdrawal, with the 'lid,r a rnvokes stateof terror. (In the glassroa,erthe nocrurnalterror is in that of the caesars; the glassDoaseit has a more eleganrand ofthis dreadis reflected form.) The princelycharacter miniaturized requires invocation,which automatically strategic in its delibrate, to strargies keepit at bay. house solicirs this state as system, glass the Understood a symbolic itselfassym bol. lts Rornanticism fearin orderto cornplete of extreme impelittodominatethe strucrures ofpowerand anxiety rnd basisin naturalcycle. enrire invisibiliryand blissfulabsorptionare, The r6gimeof theoretical to openness ofthe house the of in thc daytime, outcome theexcessive or it the natural spctacle dominatesas property. This excessiv, of is 'porverprotected'opcnness in turn rhe resultof rnagnification and identityofthe houseasprincelypavil;on, heluedere thc generic linkswith theresidues ofaristocratic rerreat-in short,ofits generic wererewoven into the rococo residues life. In the Romanticerathese existence. rococosettingof rhe little The tapestry idealbourgeois of house in a private park is itself the purest expressionof the rnandarinesque fantasy at the centre of the bourgeon ideal of clcgance the face of nature. But if daylight is the mechanisn in susraining particularsymbolism, then at night anothersymbol this ismis necessarily invoked,oneclosely alliedwith rharof the isolated pavilionand the disembodied, it theoretical beingwhooccupies So cryptic it follows,asnight followsday,thattheequallyRomanticand fantasyof vampirismmust constitutethe rgulationof the house's gane with itself in the hoursof darkness. crypt of Nocturnally,the lonelypavilionbecomes abandoned the Gothic tales, and the theoreticalinvisibility of the occupant'his aversn,n reflections, to indicates affinity with the varnpne one an

Phil lohnso| House photo:Ez.aStollerjcourresy EstoPhotographics, of

()i rhe supreme theorericrlbeings crt.ite bt rhc rroublcdbourgeois The rrinpire is neirhe.rlivc nor clt.t,l.bur erisrs rn an accursed his tension .rndxD\'rr!. Although svmboli. *.rtc ot irrcmediable in Ihisanalrsis, he and is rtlentir-r complex gocshrvondiN tunet()n a ofcosnic gricf which is.r diffra.tcd image .nrbodies certainsense rhe historical un(asiress.for our purposes nrost ,rf :r concrcrc r,:levrntrspecrof his rynbolisr lfrorn rhc pornt of viervof libenl signifies simply unrvilling' not thc is thatrhevampire Il.omanticism) ntss of thc old ragimcto die, but the fc,rr that the new order has !!il inherited ronrcthingcorruprcd.rndfromtheold,rnd unwuringly engincerins irsclian,undan evil of i\ in the process unconsciously thtvrmpireinrhemodern, thephantaJnrof tnrre. Ihispresrnceof in ot sisniiirs unrcsolvcd an erisis rhe.rearion l,brrirl consciousness rht modernera itself. Thus the vrntpiri! \vmbolism ptrsisrsas a .egd ot er iiied f<xmof expression une.rse rdingrheinnersrrucru.cot particularl) irs ps1-che, rhe nrodernsocialordcr and corresponding and rut(nr.rlit). Ihc nnt of vampiric r,'nm;tmentto calculaton \\nbolism in rhe rrpr?ssior of uneasincsrbout effcctsof calcula' of rrrr. bring ir closcnr thr syrnbolisrn the robot, that spellbound .Nt,nnaton,the vicrims of thc vrmpirc s cursevr often resemble process of in V,urp;ic syrnbolism a djsrurbancr thc hisrorical is .,nrlrrucrir)n thcoretical of bcings nhstrrctciiizens through rtehnique, pl:nning,contractsi ind 'v,rlue frce calculatbn. The crLsis the rnirror is of the self-conscn,uvress such beings. of of Vrrnpirism rhusthe 'irncr specch th.rrbeing the ruler,rhe rtf is as ..tes.rr, prince- whosetheoreticali'rlisibilirv is const.ucted the rheFrcrr ra,ikof rraSicmodcrn,rrchitecrurc, undeadart. thc the llr dav, the vampiresleeps his crvpt .rndtcnrporarilrccdes in $(rld ro rhc livins. B; da1,rheghsshouse phrnrasmathe crrares oiblissiulabsorption nnor.c. llowc!er,jusrasthemcmor! in(o N(,rii
I'h'tit l.)h,!,t Ho,s.. rhnto: l,zrr sr1)llcr, rricsv of lno phorosriphics, c(

or fear of th vampireafflictsrhosedaily activitiesof his potential victims, symbolic the sysremofrh house afflicted possibilities the has of unity with nature.Behindthe glasswalls, nature,as pictur,has already withdrawn somewhatfrom man. lr is prcperry and, if proprtyhad memory,ir would b afflictedby ir. Themirroricstatermains panial abeyance day,takingeffect in by primarily on the externalsurfaceof the glassit is visible only to passersby outside house. symbolically, the Bur by. thereareno passrs Theremay be guests,in ihat the housplaysthe part of a rococo pavilion,thoughif present, they imitatc the princewho is thir host. Guests crate rocococomedyin which the princeplaysall the pans. a guestshave a strictly subordinate E-ssentially, role to play in this fantasy ofabandonment.InJohnson's scheme, they are immuredin guesthouse. an almostwindowless ln the absence obseruers outside the house,only the eye of of nature is subiected reflections to emitted by rhe glasswalls. This withdrawalbehindglass forrnsthe viewpointofthe occupant and is complemented nature'sown withdranal frorn itself,into rflecby tron. Blindedao a certa;nextent by the consequences its own of energy,light, which is turnedinto a means ofdominarionoverit, the eyeofnature is trappedand immobilizedby reflection. Asymmetry is affirmedin rhe doubleirnmobilization naturewhich is carried of out complementarilyon each surface of the glass. Anxiety is suppressed, the serene and fantasyof selfless absorptionplaysitself out, as dominationblissfullylosessight of itself in its own effects. By night, the occupantdescends a coolly conrained inro stateof terror. Thar is, into a stateof anxious arousalderiving from the reversal the optical axes. Nature, its yenow invisable, of appears nowhereon th glasswhere earlier ii had appearedeverywhere, Absorption is cancelledby rhe deparrureof its object, and what remainsis only the mechanism anxity-supprssion of irself,which

now becomes objectof contemplation. Arrificial light is inroan duced,transformingthe entireinterior into a mirror. Th occupant at once seshimself reflectedin every surface,and may even see reflections reflections, of depending the intensityofthe lighting. on At night, th vampireawakcs. The glasshouscis a trap for him, for at everyglance is rraumadzed reflections, he by which revealhis impossibility,the travestyof life he signifies but also, his deep abandonmentand loneliness. As nature is during the day, the vampireat night is immobilizedby the mechanism th house. A of parallelappears, then, between spctaclc natureas a stateof th of proprtyandthatof thevampirctrapped insideamirroredcrypr.Th mechanism the houseis rhe rrap which vampirismspnngsupon of itself. This self-induced trauma, an onanistic paroxysm of rhe vampiricsymbology, whereby asymmetry theoretical the of invisibility is apparcntlyreversedinto an 'excessive visibility', forms the clirnaxofthe fantastic,Igirrr-likedramaofoccupancyinventedby the house.The spectacle thesclf-conscious of revelarion vampiric {of essence ofthe srate ofmasteryimpliedby theoretical invisibility is a ) Romanricclimax: an imageof libratingtrauma. In the trauma of self-revelation,theoccuprnt,thevampiriceye, fentasizesself liberation from rheanxieryofabandonment.Voluptuously, varnpiric the ere is crushedby the hallucinatory'truth'produced by th mirror rvhichshatters ravesry ofnaturalness the that was rhe eyet illusion cf blissand selflessness. Trauma and blissare fusedtogther the in !ain masochistic tableauof transfixedvampirismin the extended ntom(nt hallucinrrory of returnof *y mmerry ir' .ource. ro The power of absorptive gazing,of inspectionin this extended momentof excessive visibility, is transferred the invisibleeyeof to narure.Sinceit is now unreflecred, indeed cannorb reflecred rh in gl:lss, natureabrupily takeson vampiricpowers. At night actually lnvisible,na.ureis thus endowedwith an invertedvampnic intelli-

Itrnce,a tragic memory of rhe .lien.t()n inflictcd upon it. The inrmobil;tyof the vanpi.ic rrauma is complemented wirh a new an of rxrbility of nature. Often rhe vampirictext includes episode by rssrrultonthccrypt or castle rcrrifiedpeasants villagers or whom (hevampirehasdriven frenzywith hisattacks.These ro villagersare incarnation, the vamp;ricsystm, in rhefantastic ofNature afflicted $uh somethinsof rhe inrelligence vampirism. They are the of alsothe histor;c)'other' of the vampiric symbolic(but in that sense and when they attack the crypt they embody an inspired tr.ruma, revolutionary daring. At the sametime theirsis a frenzied, compul siveviolence which seems closerto vampirismthe more ferocn,usly ir ittacksit. ln the specific of system theglasshouse, assault dramatized this is bl rheact ofdrawing rhecurtains,rhusendingthe blix ofonanistic rrtruma, and reconstituting 'privacy'in th mostconventional sense. I hisassumption ofprivacy is a disasrer: is rheadmission it ofdefear because real cunain for rhe houseis the boundary line of its the pnrperty'slocation. To draw the curtainsis a last-ditchploy when (hcspctacle vampirictraumabecoms of overwhelming, in fact bur tt provides relief. This is because exposesa no it lack ofconfidence in the security the boundaryline and is a gesture of which indicates panic that the boundary has been crossedby the 'orher', that property-relations have been breached(m trxr, has the game of dr)mination and submission) an uncontrollable by force:the mob. l)riwing the curtainsis the historicaldefeatism the ruling class. of Wrth the curtainsdrawn rhe houseshrinksto the sratus a privare of homewhosesocialdominance unwarrantedand unenforced.It is Nuirsto be swepraway by hisrory. ID rhe night, thr house's game resolves irself into rwo forms of slceplessness: forms of wairing for th nd. The firsr, which is rwo rrrogrnr and princely,is rhar of rhe exrended momentof vampiric

I'h1ltp Jtlns., Ho,n,. rrtrior lrh oro g phi. s , Nc s Y. r k

fh('r(': l,r

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trauma incitedby mirroric glass, paroxysmofabsoluterecogni, rhe non ofan empriness unbarable and,in its persistence symmerry, and suggestiv Thanaros. The secondform aDDears of s'rbduedand mode*:pullngclosed th..un"i"on,t, o*n hireria. n dpparenrty renounces pleasures the ofasymmetry a defearistperformance, in but is no lessa hysterical anticipationof death. As in all games, rhegloomandterror:re part ofrheeffcct,andthe end is nothing if not the prerextfor forgertingand beginning again. In the rnidstof this play of sellinflicted rerror, thereis a soothing force. Paradoxically, this force is also represented rh mirroric by glass. A glimpseof the occupanisown reflcrion rhe daytimeis in enoughto interrupt the fantasyof absorptionby rem;nd;ng him of mechanics (therefor ofthe hiddenisomorphism also ofrheglass wall with the business space -the'office'which he is trying to forget in order to play at beingcloseto nature,and to life). At the ctimax of the mirroric trauma,this isomorphism evokedoncemore, but is the increasd intensiryof the siruadonprovidesa force capableof 'changing signs'on ih is evocation.Vhat wasa d isrurbance an rh or annoyance thedaytimebecomesa in reassurance the middleofthe in night. The linkaSero the offjce (real sire of power) which was forgotten(firstin absorption andlaterin terror)is now remernbered. Summoned by the extremityofthe terrifyingsituarion,it is like a up talisman. An ecstaticremembrance produces new, inrensified it a phantasmagoria ofrhe inrerior,thisrimrooredin celebration thc of 'presence'ofthe office in rhe cellularstrucur of the house. This remernbered realsocialpower permitsthe restorarion ofconfidnce in thsecurity ofrhe boundarylin,in theexisting propenyrelarions. Restoration, always, as comes with a vengeance. Nwconfidencein property Iine creares miliranr and faithful vampirismwhich, the a triumphing over the terror it incessantly incitesin itself,now blissfully faces dawn and end of rhe same. the

Hence, the dramatic game of occupancyis one wherein the form of social masrery, createdby existenrrelarionsof subjective property,is testedby subjecting itselfto the terror it carrieswilhin, (in in order rhat it may recognize the momentof crisis)its , bsolutely valid form. In this ecetatic reaffirmationof things as they are, of power without any ideal,and only the hystericalmechanics irs of gameof power,the architectural proiectof .he glasshouse endless rcuealsin pure form its historical fatc to live by vinue of its own Graham'sAltelation opensthe perspective interprrcenain to worksofarchitecture an expression as ofthenihilisticfantasies ofthe opprssor class. His work functions as radical conceprualism in termsofthe intervention or'ut'it makes rheillusoryseamlessness in of social reafty, thus permirdngthe repressed veiled historical or (through those corruptions to flow forward into consciousness channls by the work). cut Thealterationiscomprisd two operations.Firstly,ir fuses of the glasswall symbolwirhtherracthouse,andscondly, ittransformsthe intrior of the latter bv means the mirro.. of The firstoperationcanalso be thoughrof as rhe re-siring ofglass wall syrnbol,transferring from the exclusive ir isolationof wooded grid. This re-siting estate suburban to establishes final interlinkage the of architectural glass significations evokedby thework. Tract house, houseand glass.ower are now united in a symbolicdialecticto srticulatthe conditionofthe urbanisric ideain thisperiodofhistory from rhe viewpoinrof rhe tradirion formed in conceprualism, The tract housesignifies hisroricalform which rhe ideal of rhe harmonybetween and naturehasshrunkentoin the eraof'postcity totrlitarian' corporatecapitalism.Ir emblemarizes inversion rh of the ideal of rational social planning rhat was the outcomeof rhe dec of the revolutionarv line waveafrer I 923. The tract house rhe is

'new hui ihe monopolisrsystemplaceson th grids of real estate which surroundrhe urbancores. Th planningofthesegridsis itself only the ghosrof rhe idealof planning,sinceall decisions based are upon the susrained extradion ofsurplus valuand rhe mlinrenance of unirnpeded surveillance popularioncontrot. The new hut is and the outcomeof a sequence design of dcisions aimdat rhe consolidarion of an atornizcdstareof 'privacy'for the masses.Housing rractsareinversions which rheunresolvd historica crisisof imoeriI alismhasimposed rheideaof rhe .garden on suburb. and the:ciry beautiful'. ln placeof the earlier planners'fundamentally socialdemocratic norion of a rhy.hmic anicul.iion of the nature-housecommuniryrelarionship, post-warsuburban ihe system consists ofa rhoroughly reconstirured'natural' ambince decorativlyornamenting a reptitionofhousing unitsestablished trmsofmaximum value in Nevertheless, cenain aspectsof social-democratic, New Deal imagcry permi$d ro carryoverinro rhencw system. are The .garden suburb' is championed both New Deal bureaucrars ohilan, by and thropic capitalisrs a revivifying,ronic nvjronmentfor fatigued as workerswhose problems, ifleft without ameliorarion their private in lives,rnightmakerhemsusceptible socialisr to agirarion. The .villag' imagerypreferredby carly company-townbuildersand reformist ciry-planners the periodbetween wars, is nor discarded the in thc in designing ofthe new suburb. Th.rgressive uropia'of small-town ima8ry, insisrently promulgated themass by mediain general, forms an acquiescenr fagade th actualrationalizarion for ofmass housing in termsof profr and socialcontrol. Along with village imaScrycomsrhe repdrivemythology of family life, with its ritual values includingprofoundroots in irs own soil. Thecombined symbolism ,family',.communiry' of and .private life is rhe ideologrcal basrs rhemaintenance barracks for ofa sysrem

wherethe masses boundro their sitesby mortgagesand are forcedro bcome consumers privatetransporradon carson freeways of in paid for out of their taxes. The 'village comnunity', nicknameda 'bedroomsuburb',replicares esrranged homeless rhe and character of ciry life, bur it does so under the sign of a pacified and cured If the glasstower symbolizes rulers'nihilisricself-consciousrhe nessof absolutealienationand historicalernptiness, rhe glass and houseis.he reductionofallof narr:re an elemenr thegamethis to in plays mptiedconsciousness with itself,thenrherracthous symbol, izes desperare of subjection the state suffered those by who, unlikethe consciously undead,srill yearn naivetyfor'joy'. In this light, the grid is the historicalrrapintowhich rheworkingclass suburban and pans of th middle classhave beendriven by their real desirefor liberation. This desire,under the specifichistorical conditions obtainedin the periodin question, been has encapsulated imperiby alism and repro,ected rermsof an orderedsubidion to a code in rootd in srrangemenr, terror, and lossof identity. Graham'sact of resitingmakesan ordinary trac housefunction partially as a glasshouse. Figuratively, rhis meansto imposthe vampiricdiscourseofexhibirionismand alienarion upontheverysire constructed an illusoryhavenfrorn vampirism.The direct impoas sition of a domineeringdiscourse apoz the domineered, aims at stripping,way rhe veil of 'joy' in a radical act of exposure. The symboliccontentof rhisact must be rracedin the meanings each of oi th operarions proposes carry our on the body of the craham to Firsr,the housefront is replaced with the glasswall. Second, the mirror is brought out of the privatecore it occupiedin eachglass house, and is enlarged rh samesizeas rhe glasswall. It is then to positioned mid-way between glasswall and rhe rear wall of the rhe

house. Finally, as a resultof rhe previousoperation,the relaion between 'public', that is, visibl,and .privai'- invisible- spaces is altered. Most significanrly, bedroorns, th which werelocatedin the openzoneof both glass houscs, returnedro rhe privatecore, are now locatedbehindthe mirror. In Graham's plan, bedrooms are re-identified wirh bathrooms sDaces to be viewed. .s rro, The most spectacular effecrof the rwo major operruons an 's inversion the mirroric functionof the glass of wall. In daytime,the presence the enormous mirror) with irs superior reflectivity, of relativelyclose behind the glasswall, gready weakensthe glass' reflective strengrh.Sincethe mirror reflecrs morelighrthan theglass pierce lafter,rending returnifto does, reflectionsconstantly its the to (ro a stateof transparency.This return of glassto rransparency greatersymmetry) under the impacrof a supe.io. reflecriviry, interruptsthe wirty play with reflectionscharacterizing glass the house.The stateof wit, implicitin rherococoimagery rheprincely of pavilion,is in fact suspended herealtogcther. Not simply a matter of the reversalof meaningor implication (alrhough itemployssuchreversals)wit, roo.din irony, is a dizzying turning-inside-out, playwhh thewholcrystalline a signifu chain. ing Mirroric reflection,however,is prosaicand 'wirless'. It fundions through a mechanical rversal, necessary sight.Henceits tradifor tional significarion a bearer undsired as of rruth. This significarion, for example, in Lacan'sfamous'mirror phase' is whereinthe infant regards himselfvisually the mirroras th integrated in entity,which yet subjectively he cannot experience himselfas in his numerous infantiledependencies incapacities. and The 'undesired' aspect of truth borneby rhemirror, ismoiedirectlyrevealed rheexampleof in the mirror's untimelyrevelarions psychicor spiritualdisintegraof rion whererhe {aduh) viewerwishcsro seethe confirmationof an idealof wholeness, masteryand composure. The vampiric implica-

cannorlie, tionsofthisareobvious.Th us,th mirror, being'witlss', so for th social masquerade cannot bear the wirricismsnecesery ofabso_ consciousness, 'consciousness th to essential th distraught of rhetulers. vampiricconsciousness that alienaaed, lutinversion'rr, ln the Aheration the rlqime of wit is interrupted.The ideal of by phantasmagoria absorption shattered rheovrbearing of is blissful Againstth mechanism. presence mute and relentless reflective ofa a narur-fantasy. mirrora\\erts Irauma the wittyplayofther ampiric of rvelation. Graham'saSg.andizement the mirror of undesired of creates a disruptive lheatricalizing of the rnecbanisms lruth'. phantasmagoric absorption, inflexiblereignof mechanistic an of tJnderthis specula.teign of trroi, the sinuousness distraught, to is witty gamesmanship immobilized. Graham'sproiectappears againstthe terminslnihilismof bourgeois mount a trror campaign by has Underthisregime, theorericalinvisibility beenusurped all rhemirror itselfin a .orp /'ostl. Fromthe vicwpointofSituationistthis conceptualism, coup would be the preludeto liberation,if nor nihilisrnhas bourgeois liberarionirslf:theemptycoreofoppressive been shatteredby a cunning guerilla operation usinS weaPons providedbythatsamenihilism. Here,theoretically, weshouldhave In fantasy intervenrionisn. of theconcretization ofthe revolutionary forward from fact,whatis the new syrnbolic statewhich surges this coup? Th site of theorticalinvisibility has been irremediably thearricalized the act of wrestingit from an abstractlyliving eye in the and identifyingit directlywith a mechanism: mirror. All living eyesare thereby inmobilized within the rdgimeof theatricalized that is, I mechanism. Thereis no symbolictransferraof asymmetry, ofasymmeofsocialpower, from onegroup to another'no reversal the try, no revolurionaryleap. The glasshousealways subiecred

outside to the inside (narure ro rhe prince) and the glasstower subiected outsideurban massro rhe gazof rhe carsar;n the th interior. Graham'sstructurecancels asymmeary occu' berween the pant and passersby.In replacingth glassas rhe meansto assure asymmetry, the mirror therebycancelsrhe relarionships berwen interior and exterior which charactrized glassbuildings. The rhe 'public'part ofthe interior ofthe alreredhouse as collapses a space distinguished from rhe exterior,as the surfaceof asymmetry fades rnward.from glassro miror. All rn a singlecon(istenr pehprdive. interrupted only slightlyby rheweakreflecriviry wall, the ofthe glass mirror reflects fagades the ofthe houses passersby opposire, located betweenthosehouses and the alteredone, and the occupanr.,, In ovrridingthe reflcdvity oftheglass,the perspective esrablished by themirror indicatesihat theoccupant now on an equaI fooringwirh is thepassersby, havebecomemuch who morimporranr: rhyposition thmselvs bfore the huge mirror out of fascination,and even approachit, crossing boundaryline ofrhe propeny and coming the closero rhe glass.,,The villagersof the vampiric symbologyapproachthem irroredcrypr. By daylight, thy wirnessrhe absolute immobilizationof the shaftered vampiricconsciousness which has migrated from isolated retrear ro parherictrap in rhe suburban grid. ln the unifiedmirroric perspectiv they recive the shockof recognition: rhis migratdand shaftered consciousness is an irnage oftheir own. The strippingawayof the standardfaEade, rhe veil ofprivacy from the tract housereveals common immothe bilization of all in the ruptured vampiric schemecreatedby rhc imbalance between almosthelpless the glassfagade and rhetyrannical mirror. The mirror, that new fagadeof a new interior, clasps within its optics occupanrand passersby, explicitly identifies and themwith eachother,iusr as it idenrifiesirself with rhe other housefronts it also reflects.

The passersby, wereexcluded who from the fantasy ofabsorption in the glass house(whosexclusion in fada prerequisiE the was for funcrioning the fantasy) ffer a hallucinatory of su return. Theydo not win theprizeofasymmetry thisretu.n,nor dotheyassume in mastery in a mirroric reversal.Rather. rhev suffer identificarionwith the extremestate of homeless disintegrationplayed out in the failed inrerior. Compellcdto experience climactic trauma of selfthe revelatron self<ancellation rnd at thecoreof vampiricconsciousthe ness'game,passersby carrot eiperienceit from e dominating,or posiiion.Theyareinscribed simplyindependent even essentially into that climacricmoment,end parricipate ir ascaptive,fixrted eyes. in The crushed vampiric ye and the caprive eye (which can only witness) lockedtogether a newsymmetry.Characteristic the are in of 'widessness' the mirror, rrappingon irs surface of borh wirness and rhat which witnesses itself beingwitnessed, symmetry this congeals rbeseeyes a feverish in I one momentof universadisinigration, lhat isabsoluteand overrides flow oftime. Themirroic reignofrerror the annullingrheoperationof thevampiricwitwhichpermittedthegame of the glasshouseto proceed, of therebyannulsthe transformation terror and disintegration into their opposites.That is, it annulsthe an nlav with time. Now rhe climacricmoment of terror becomes endless emergency r6gine which, through the great refleciivemachine, appropriatesall light, natural or artificial. The machine dominates day and night. Time is thus extenddinfinitely from a singlemomentof crisis,from a sinslecoup d'oeit. Anevilrensionradiatesfromrhismaschisticwork.Permanendy prolongingthe rraumaticmomentof rruth, it forbidsir to passinto Jnysubsequenr momenr.This symbolicstoppage rimeis an image of ,)r historical apocalypse. The asymmetry ofsocial mastery(symbolrzedby the play of lighr on glass)is crushed, and a hallucinatory, .rpocalyptic symmetry emerges; imageofthe commondisintegraan

and which sees undertheglareofan opticaldevice don ofeverything rhe hou'ecndr mirronc s'ghr. Theahered blindrall with irsexce<sof vrmpiric gameof rhe rulers.through , permanentIn\tant o[ df whrchourlaws any furthermovement hilrorv''rself cara'rrophe and playedwith. Craham'sinterventionin rhe nihilistic enslaved ofnihilism finaleruPtbn in playoftherulers results an imageofthe of the world. Thus it is an irnageof the failed libration that space, problematic a This failure,howevet,produces single, of the zarsor r/os which rs locatedbelizd rhe mrrror. impenerrable by established Graham are as to vision. Those'privat spaces' publicones in theirProiectrv are es in absotutized rheirimplosion th disintegration. The bedroomsand bathroomsare as excessrvelv an closed the front halfofthe houseis open. Thy produce rmage as in visibilitv,theindicators' rhis of theblind body,strippedoflightand nor spaces emptyi ot' system, communias. But ar rhese The rract houseis bv conventiona familv home' wherasth glasshouses not, both havingbeenbuilt for solitarvoccupants' are malethroughhasbeenpresumed The sexof rhcimaginaryrrccupant (Despitethe fact rhat Miet glasshouse was oui this analysis. of originattybuilt forDr. EdithFarnsworth'the svmbolicsystem the eye, a princely. vampiric houseimplies from every angle a male the Ir consciousnss.) is this male who invokes and undergoes to or Pilgrimage the historicaltrauma. Howevr, in irs nigration a uma becomes familv affair' The the rracthous, disintegradon-tra perela castle'becomes vampiriceye,prince if nor king of its own stepsforward to famille. and,as head and'hero' of the household, public struggle,shieldingthe rest of the familv. The spectacular, front of the house is his the3tre. The blind cave behind is the outcomeof his forrn of shielding;ir is what is given by the father's the absolureburial heroism. The father bequeaths vamDiric the chamber, cave or lighdsscryPt.

of It mighr betemptingto romanticize total darkness th is cave the instinctualiiy,an imageof a new stareof absolutized as itself an instincrualityof the blind body traumatically produced by the of nihilism,by the apocalypse thecalculating of catastrophe specular This instinctuality, thoughblind intelligenc maleMeisterschaft. of memory - 'sccond and violated,might have memory, traumatic become basisfor a femaleprinciple the sight'- and thereforecould of survivaland evenrenewal.This implicationwould be especially panicularlyLacanian, because thethreads of oftheoretical, ternpting woveninto hisworkj these craham hasconsisrenrly ferninismwhich mightbeBrasped thesuppon for sucha supposition.Butgiventhe as apocalyptic natureof rheproject'sabolitionofhistory, the notionof is or a survivingprinciplein it, female otherwise, nothingbut a deas itisable to glimpse histoty beyond a ex machita, As such,however, the machineof the house.bevond the house'sclosure of such a possibility. This feminis.daydream the midstofnightmare may prevail,if in by only bcauseeach imageoftheendof historyis itselfencapsulated the historical developmentprovoked by the irnage. Graham's ostensible seems end at the'houseofthe dead',and as to symbolism gloomy Modena Cemetery suchis definitlyrelatedto Aldo Rossi's projectof 1975. Ther,alongwith the skeletal Chiricolike house de madesolelyof vacant windows,we noticetheenigmatic conicalform rcappearing rhe entranceof the Elementary Schoolin Fagnano at olona 1'1972-76), become chimney. This linking ofa chimney a to with acemetery that 'finaI hearth' ofcourssuggsts crematorium, a ofthe humanbody,andanothrsymbol of European totalitarianism. The imageof the heanh asth coreof the homeis ofcourse played with in Rossi's schemes orderto express notionof homelessness in the ro which he is so anached. The possibiliry a survivingfeminine of principlein Graham's in housemay beembedded the role playedby

a harth in the architccturalsymbolsinvolved in rhe Altetution proiect.In a studyof PhilipJohnson's Ken glass house, nethFramPton which Glets 6ylindc. Pi'rcs ' ...Johnson's Hous.isordcred .boutabrack {,rus of rhr rherootrlabrnsuch waya\ ro.mph.s'z.theautonomou' a is h hanJ. rrerred rn roolplrne.Thesurlace ofrhepodrum. rheorher on ol (through idenritt the rhe earthwork, woven its brickherrinsbooc fusing co.e materi.l) wirhthebrickcylinder ofrhebarhrmnr/chimncy Thisis hc ro hoosc, which mer.phorof inciderated rhe thetul..umofJohnson's nadeof thesanebrickas in he cvlinder. referrcd l9J0 when wrote:'The fromwhich sprinss, ir forhiry thenain motifofrhchouse' rhepladorm w@den villaSe fromMi.s, butrathcr fron a burnt-out wasnorde.ived of and I sawoncewheie nothi.swasleftburthefoundatnms chimneys skin Th. I a cage wnh a slass bricl. Overrhechimney slipped stcel fo.msrhe.nchor.' chimney based that Housewas These laconicwordsnoronly suggest rheGlass quesrionwas almost on the vision of a ruin, but that the ruin in remains a village.It maywell be,asPete! of certainty blitz krieged the cryptic has that Eisenman suggested, the GlassHous is Johnson's the monumentto the horrors of war that herebeneath flowerc of Xanadu lies embedded petrifiedremainsof a losr ideal and an the to elegyfor thedead. Equallyindebted both Mies and Malevichthe status of this house as work of art derivesfrom its capacityto atonce. h isequallyrich outside synrhesize manydiverse sensibilities passes from asourperception any rheaffrnirre<of panrcularstyle.and prism, loggia, the next it is successively one subde inflection to intersecearthwork,ruin and tent. And yet is not this sophisticated a utoPranism, a final clo'ureof hourgeois tion of many srrrnds definitivelyreducrivemodernity,a folding in of humanismuPon the raisedto unparalleled elegance, end irself,the stateof solipsism of a rraiecrory rathr than a bginning?"16

r00ithinthe scheme the glasshousethe imageof the heanh of appears is centrel its meaning. factthatJohnsont f ireplace and to The carriesavestigial, anamorphic mirror,as indicated innote 12,shows that he refuss simply hand ovcr the imageryofthe hearthro the to femaleelement,but raths confiscates for vampirism. Graham's it projctexplicitly locates fireplac the living room which is of the in coursein rhe front, spcularized space. WhereJohnsonironically reBins traditioml harth-and-home imageryas a muted counterpointrothevampiricgame in'anchoring'hishouse wirhthechimney, craham overrides unerly,completely ir subordina.ingth hearth,as well as the kitchen, to the mirroric r6gim. Thus, any feminine principle of sunival and renewal to emergelike a phoenix from Graham'sprolectwill likely be a homeless one. Frampton'sassessment the meaningofJohnson'shouseconof tainsa historicalmisjudgemnt the characterization in ofrhat work as the end ofa traiectoryofbourgeoishumanism. Graham'salteration is to historicalFrspctive as mnch as anythingelse:hc shows that the end of bourgeois humanisrn bourgeois is nihilisrn. The end of bourgeoisnihilism is the spectacular masochisticapocalypse which produces elegiac no expression. Graham'sintervcntionism aimed at the exposure vampiric is of nihilismhiddenwithin high bourgeois an-culture.Thesuccess this of exposurein the Alteration proiect, revealsin turn, the hisrorical condirionalityof the concptualist str3tegyof inrerventionitself. Conceptualist intervntionism regards exposure nihilismro b its of trs socialideal. Graham,in the relcndess bleakness ofhis exposure, discloses the whole process that ofexposureturns on bingdefeared by that which is exposed. Thus, he shows rhar the concptualisi strategyof intervention,carried out as ari's own ideal, is pure defeatism (almosr raised a higherpowerby irsself,consciousness). ro This impliesthe theorcrical and political limits of the conceprualist

critique,which intervened so.icty solelvon irs own name. Ir did in so out of its morrifiedcondition as avant-gardism, because could it not bring to the surface irs own conrcious of practiccthe repressed rnd lorSottennarneof the social force (thc working class)whose revolutnlary upheaval had animated and inspired earlieravanr the garde.The failrrrcofconceptualism showsthat art which challenges rheexistingorder irsowDname artwill aind inherent in as its limit in absolute neg.r rivity, Dnfree relatxrnto the unfredom in provokjngit. (iraham proves this in theabysral ourcomeof hisown inrerventioD. This proof, which alsoproves rhenecessary bond betweenconceptu rlismandit5subject-marter problemaric urbanism) (the of provides thc perspective throughwhich to.ecognize A/te/dti.) ptotectas the an ano monumenrirl memorialro conceptualism's limirations_ This work may indecdbe unbuildable, for pragmaric nor reasons ofpatronage, rathcr because intervenrion the oppressive its in architecrura syrn I bol-game reaJable, notesorcric.Glass is and symbolism is comprchended everysrnashed in window. Thus craham s work crratcsan utterly irresistible provocationin thosevast expanses of glasswhoseprctensions domiDance unwarranred ro are and whosc securityis norenforced.'l-he impossibilityof projectishiDtedar rhis ir the attackson his smallerwork,'l wo AdidcentPn lions11978), builrin rheparkat Doclrmentain K.ssel 1982-Onecannot.all 7 in thesmashins ofrheglass !valls ofthiswork 'vand.lisn'because such ruin.ltior thcprecise is complemcn rheirown r to intcrvenrionism. (lr prrves,if anything, that such inrerventionism succecdcd h.s ir cscaprng esorcricism.rnd lrom emerging general inro comprehensibil Glass isthematerial whichrheSituationii! in conceptualistirlea 'ri.) rhe'cuCis mostapdyexpresscd. ')t Bur the wdrk, ir the r<rrds of Lawftncc V/ciner, .neednot be .onsrructed'. Thc Alterdtion pntjcct rnemodalizes past nlomenr, a rhenmmentwhen,rrt bccamesocialcritiqueitsownnarne: a in having

of Dar Grahan, Oct.so, /or M,,srr', I 9 86 87. phoro:courtcsy theMa ritrn GoodDa. Gallcry,Ncw York

l .ri Lcrl reeo r r r ur . r r r or hr r . . r : t . i{. . r ( . ( l jr s. lt r \ if ( , r t . r t . t . 1, i rl r.\(,1\i ! rh..o |( r . Llir r , , n i, r * hosr r . r r |c r r eonsr r ur t t l r sr i. . t t r r s i )n, r.cd f ,)( h. . on\ r r U. r . J , r lr r \ . u I i (, I |\ . , ,| , L I , toprrrl rcc,rrror r r lr cr r r . r \ pr c. i'r l\ r h. ( f r . {hi. h( , r . r |. r r r isr , r r . r lt r .rhl rtoob.\. I hu. . |. r \ . r yh, . t 1r r t l, J. \ '. or ( . t r 'r . r t ! r j jr r r hi\ rrr.r\.nrrrr rr r o ir si) s I r m . r s|, i r r , cli: hc r r r r kcsi Nl, c r r , ir hr r t r r t (l ,tf.rtr!rr. l ' ()\ sibl\ . in r or . r lr zr ng l) c l. ! on. t ur r r \ t ( jr . r t r ^ilf s nf!.rrron{)rth.r ld{. t ( . r r isr Llir h, sl. t r r c. hi'l/ r r r . r ln, r t , , , t f . r \ , , r 1( l i \r\r Ir rhf tr r , r J ( , nl\ . r sr hr iir r r uLI r nr hL t , ur t . t ir s( , i. r |. "

l) . . ( t r r h .n ,. t).k b h T n n ,rl l ,n l ' rr!r(,, /,r' H .u,r,4. l 989 l hoto: , Y ( ) lilr J , sN (b ,.,i !rl .s .! i n rb . N I.rr.n (;u )dmrn (i i l l cri . N dr Y rrk

Footnotes
l.Th. m o{ lu. idr ndnLESc { iv . dn. us r n n r o i t h c p r , b L . n r i i i . . i r h e l h 'r t r c r l l t , v ' of luinnnllnm r.minx Nli.hr.l Fdcd\'An ind Objc.thood l,1,/.,!''. sumnd d nr of ho( i l n r b t h e . o n c e f n r . h $ e n c r n ! u '' 1 96 7. . l2 231, s pt r e r her ur hoas m 'l nnpo\n1onot bur'rucranc. 2. One of thc ccntrrl ch.raddn.cs heie tr thr rcrdenncor.orlnrarist l.ngu.8e fornsinrorhedom.h ofthe cxPerlt..e or th' sofk N o fiitas b, , t ht t oloc r t ion. nd em blem at ic s .l a n y . x r . r p l e s . r nb r r r k e nk o m t h e sork of Kosuth.ti/ciner. Bchner, Ci.ahnm,Kiwfr. D.rb ncrnbeb of A(.I-!ngr.ge, asrvellr! from eany works by \ntrrn.r Lcv(' L cf. Ktrrl Be!.rid8cind h. B!m. l)(,nJudd, T,. h,r 2, l97i' lt ll5 142 4.lntlnslisht,inrttemptto defeaf(trii:.sccnddre.ommodty l'trmrepresrnts! p .rhxps , s om er hnr gm or es is nr f r c ant : r d n p h c r m c n t o r r e p r e r s i o t r o f a d c c p e r a d i *i c fl mode."^r, oltf,irl.ont.tt nsuc,th.r of the rcinvcntioo rctrcsc nbam aier ir lt os s r br ht y , a. dihf t c f o r c a n e w L e v e l o l . r n r . . l . . n l l i c . v t r h i 't h e .ulttral fiekl :nd. roi that m.ter, wnhh thc xrt market,h. t ,1i. cf. l)rrft', pp.l4 16 nr rn .hbora.on of the {.trr oi rhd R.a.lv.Ide 'n 5. BenFminILD. Buchl,)h,Contcxt runcno. UscVrlue Mi.hrclr\shefs Re' lvtireri.liza rn ofdre Arts( trk',6 Mnheal Asbet:Eahtbn ns |ttupe197277' 1980 Eindhoven. Vrn Abbemuscon. 6. Ashels rcnarkablel,,n/lLtio, dt Miitnt \1977),\n (hi.h a snull holidav r.iler wrs prrked ri varnrussit.s rhioushout thc cny lu thc dunrion ot an exhibirion.n cloself rehicd to Grah.d's poetion i. that it nernatn,nll sculprufe orsall.rv cvidenti. olher ihc reduca\ nore exchsivd..n..nta.on on th. nruseum es a \ubicci d{N'ng work!hyAshcr,rndturnsnJurrdispecificcodll.xoir of urb!.ism. The re{nting{ork n not rdutihlr ro tlrei$ue of i..m iho troblem.ti. the co.itxr oicxhibrnm, rlth.ush t nrdul$ it 7. !)dn C hn t: ts"illltns\ .,1 Sig,6. e\h,bitnr cahlogrt. fh. R.naisince so.retv ai ih. Utrilert! ot chi.a8o, rnd the Nlus.um oi l\!)d.i Art, oxford' (:hitrgo, 1981,pp.rJ L:nBland. scc development, R.semrrielL!8 Blciter' rr. On thr hisn4 oi thn ,!on(,8ruphic 'The Inrerp'.t! ion of the Gl.!r l)r.3n Expre$Dn A r.hit..nre andrheI hrorv of 'n (rry*rl \rehrhor', n rhe/orrMl.llht s'i.i4 af Arh ttt t' /,1 H'sro/t,s' vol.xt., N..1 . \lir c h l9u l. pf . 20 4. 1 l. 8.\v x lt c r Ber r r nr in. uG Phillippe. r r h . l n r c n . r . i f o m l '3 r n t h c C r P n r l o l i h e . B&dt l r c : A t r t i . P . e t i t l t h c L t d . l t I i g h C d P n d n s n , Nn,ticnr hC. nr r r r y , r(nlJ r r lf r 197I ,t t . 167. New l. c li Book s . l- ondon, 9. !1. Sig.iund Freud, llreLJn.ri.v 1l 9 l 9 l i n Srn/,.r t td/rprl.r,l,,O.cdrtcd B.oks. r'ew Yo.k. 1961. by l,hLlipRielf, C01!rcr

10. Mrnncd. Trfuri, nr.r,r..tate d,d Utatid: Det.n n,d Capn.ld Darclot) /,c,r, The MI'I lre$, (r.rbndse and London. 1979,p.1.18. ll. V..fredo l.fm trnd Ff.n.esco Drl Co, M..l.n l/.rlr.r,/a. H,iry N. A b . . m s .N e w Yo r k. 1 9 7 9 , .l .t7 p l2.Johnsonshouse.ontanx,howcv.r,rrfl(ivenrefulpl.teaboverhdlncth... The cuNfufe olrhe chnD.,v sc.rior nrke! ihis rnto. krnd of anamorthi. n;(tr. There is . relalonship bctwccn thc.o.dii,)n! of specuLirnre$abhhed in the symbolic stscm olthc hous.,rid thn anano.ph$. which s rllum,n.redby I aen s gho{', dis.u$ed in his le(ure, Anamorpholn'.in ,rc ro,/ notior of drc FwLl.flonrl c.nrep\ .l Psrt . Adbb6. The Hosuth Pre$.nd the ln$tue oI 'hrllic Fsr.ho Amlysn, Londoi, 1977. 13.C.\{.F.li.g.l, Tr? trs,o,re,ol.,s] of ltd. iiinslred byJ.B.BIlhe. CeorBe Allcn xrd U.win i-id., t.dnd... 1966,p 5.11. 14. Thc rdhtn'. berween sl.$ .nd nriror in thesererns cin be conrpared ipproxinratc\ wnh rhri.tuaed in aiahtn s Pabl'. Spt.etoa Atdiea.es 1976, rlthoughin rh!trv.rl lishhnsandspatulcondnio.sde driferenr. Seerhephotgraphs 1nDrn G hts: Butlrlins\dtd .tts,5,op. cit., p.22. lJ. Thi ad .l.ro*ing the propeq hne.nd appfo.chins rhe wnrdoNstr dre npldt cfcnt ol rn .r rlierwork.the r dure w'"datu Pie.eai 1974. There.ho$ever, r h c d r a w n r g st.r r h e s.r ksh o w a m .l e p .l se r b y.p p r o .ch r n s.Id e o scr e e n p o r ti o r e d nclr thc pictutu windos ol a rad house. He sees imaeeot . sol'hry t mrl. rhe o..upa.t on the s.reenrnd. presumably. rhroushrhe wrndoF N well. The $ork s tublishcd in D,, Cr,/rdz: vidtu Arehne.tulcTcleisio,: Win"gs on Videaa"d Vid.o \I.tks 1970 1978.edted by Benramin H.D. Buchloh, The Prcs oi thc Nov! S.oriaCollcgo.f Art and I)elisn and NYU Pre$. 1979,pp..lj .16. I 6. KrnndthFranpbn. Thecla$ HouseRevnited, TheINrirurcfor r\r.hncctrtrc rnd l,rban Srudics, C,r,los,e 9. 1978.p.51.

Preface
This essaywas written in 198 1. h was the first draft of the first part of my essay Dan Craham's Karxr enpiel,whrchwaspublishedinthe catalogueof the exhibition Dan Gruham at rhe An callery of I/estern Australia, in Penh, in September1985, and then \n RealLife Magazine, nnmbets 14 end 15, Summer 1985 and Vinter I 985-86, The final and published version ofthe Kammerspielessay was written in 1982. This draft was reiected as part of the final version, It may have contributed to a critical discussion aboul the interpretation of Graham's work in the writings of Benjamin Buchloh, but it did not positionGraham'sworkadequately the contexrofthe wholeidea. in put asideas a false starr, although it seemed It was therefore that the discussionit outlined might be resumedon another, more appropriDan Crahem has continued to think rhar this draft discusses mattersofimportance to hiswork, The publication ofthe Kamrnerspiel essay provided a context for the consideration of this one, and so has I haveagreed its publication. to It will be clear in the text that my critique of Beniamin Buchloh's writing was developedin an atmosphereof respectand admiration for his work. It was conceivedasa contribution to a dialectic in which Buchloh had set xemplary standdrds.

Jeffwall Aueust 1991

A Draft for'Dan Graham's Kammerspiel' (1981)

Interest Dan Graham's in work has beenstrongcst amonganriformalistsinvolvcdin thc dcvclopment a sociologyof illusion in of rcletionto art This critical dircctionwasdevelopcd largcpart by in BcniaminBuchlohwho consaruct(d imponant arguncnt aboot an c1l'rentart, in which canonicelststushas bc.n Sivcnto Grahaq DanielBurcoand MichaclAshcr.as'functionaliss', Buchloh's argument formdin a synafiesis asthaicsructual is of analsrisand ldcologiekritikin thc tradition of thc FrankfunSchool. Althoughit hasbccnpan of Europcan artisticdiscous. Ior solllctime analysis Englishhasnot bccnxtensive. in Buchloh'sidcasarc indcbtcd to thc radicalismassociatcd with Frankfurt&hool Critic.l Thcory,andparticularlywith T.W.Adomo and Max Horkheimcr,Thb is . rrdicalism of'nctaaion' in the f.cc of the totalizcdalicnationof'tcchnologicalsocicty'or 'nao-capitdism'.As . tyF of Critic.l Thcory it cmerged whenthc pcsibility of a social or political altcmetivc to this domination of socicty by 'barboric'authoritarianforccsappcarcd havecomplctclydisintcto grated.The historicrl roots of this disintcgration to bc found in ara thecollapse theanti-Naziforcesin WeimarGrmany. tum, thc of In

causof rhis collapsecan be traced back to the failures of the in andHungary,andrhe of revoludonary upsurge 1919-23 Germany and poteniial subjectiviry deformationof revolutionary subsequent in th working classmovement. of work, however, negativity theAdornothe Regarding Buchloh's with the acivism Horkheimerpositionis combineduncomfortably writings.Thisis,ofcourse,a combiBrechrian of walrer Benjamin's ofthe European New t-eft,and hasalwaysbeen narioncharacteristic the However,it is precisely problematic recognized problematic. as character this combinationwhich givesii its lgitiof and unstable macy:the ceniral dialecticof the crisis period of modernismkhe wave,around periodbginning with the decline the revolurionary of with greatconcentration.The dialectiin ques1920)is expressed the by tion is oneconstitutd the conflict between trend roward the and d6cor'and one of entenainmnt restriction art to technological consrruded in th as a critique of subiectiviry, which assensan productionand consumption imagryand anistic commodities. of is Always implied in Buchloh'sperspective the extensionof this of critique toward the functionalization aft as an elementof social of planningfor liberated ordr. It is th basisof his establishmeni a Panrheonconsistingof rwo wings: Productivism(includinSthc politicalaspects Dada and Surealism)and the Readymade. of in upon the evocationof this prspctive Buchloh'sinsistence isaimedat holdingopenthe question considringcontemporary art, of the historicalmemory(or lossofmmory) ofconceptualisq thc radicalism ofthe alignedwith the student art movement mostclosely New t-eft. Conceptual aft is Buchloh's srarting point and essential fram of reference.k is secnas fie connection betweenthe prescncc in and the of authentic critical discourse the history of modernism, problemsof the present, whkh thar discourse seems rhratened in with extincdon. By pressingthe question of these connectioN,

Buchlohdevelops new and significantcontradicrions, axial ro his demandfor a functionalisr posl-conceprualism. Buchlohidentifies this functionalism with Critical Theory'scontinuingattmptto expose process rh ofbureaucraric rotalizaiionof social life in 'monopoly' (or {late', or 'neo' capiralism)and ro delineate resulting the atomization, esrrangement psychic and regression of thc individual sublect.This monumentalized reprcssion, which corresponds rhe interesrs a nihilistic and destructive ro of ruling class,obligedto replaceits own dmocraticftadirionswith authorharian forms of rule, is both effectedand reflectedin the culturalspherethrough the'excssive aesth*icization the world'.' of The proposal of an excessive aesthricization social life as of culturalsyrnptom authoritarianism, of depnds explicitlyuponrwalrer Beniamin's valiant thsis, written in 1936: ' ' Fiatars- peledtmurdrc' says Fascirm, as Marin.ni admirs, and xpects to supplythc anisricSratificrrionof a sns.perc.prionthat war hasb.cn chadsed tcchnoloSy. is evidcntlythc co'surnmationof br This 'l'ad pow I att . Marlidd, whichi' Homr's rim. was an obiccrof conr.mplation the Olympiatr for now is onefor itsclt lts self, 8odr, alena(ion h.r re,ched sucha desree th,r r can expnencc own rrs destruction anaBthericplcasure rhefirsrorder.This is thesituarion as of of politicswhichFasismisr.nde.insaesrheric. CohmunismGDondsby toliticilingan."r The final scntenceofrhisparagraphhas correctlyunderstood ben as expressing Beniamin's desirero overcomc oppressors his lFascism, and the Stalinism ofthe PopularFront and rhc MoscowTriels) and to participateas a wriler in rhe developmcnr a revolutionary of movement. it mustbrecognized Benjamin'sconclusion But that also reflects enormousshockof the defeats the sufferedby thc German working-class movment rhe 1920's.The finalsenrence stirrine in is hur schemaric. decisive vague. yct What son ofaltemativc docsrhii

indefinite 'politicization of art' indicate in 1935? The Beniamin quotationabove,makesit clearthat Fascism alsohaspoliticizedart futuristic andthat thisprocess wasessential irsdevelopmenrofthe in primitivism so characterisric Nazi publicity-art.Beniaminstrugof gles to put a set of conceptsuseful in the fight againstthe Nazi propaganda is machine the disposalofhisreaders.This machine at based entirelyupon modernrechnology, which may indeeddestroy th atavistic'aura' of old works of art, though in the sameprocess, creatingth 'au.a'of the Fiihrer and his vision.This aura, the one inducedby reproducibilityand not the one cancelled it, is the by decisive mysteryof the period. From the point of view of Critical of in Theory,this aura is the key to the success Fascism mobilizing jamin,however, popularsupport.,Ben wasawarethat theNaziswere He nor victorioussimply rhroughtheir own mastery society. was of conscious as was his friend Brecht - of the role of Stalinist misleading ofthe cerman work bureaucracy, throughits disastrous ing classmovement, the victory over Hitler. He was aware,also, in rhatthes disastersand betrayals werecontinuing, both in Spainand the Moscow Trials. Th insightsof this essay must be understood historicallyas emerging a desperat in situationof defeat,disorienBenjamin's tationandtheshocking consciousnessbetrayal. of struggle politicalandtheoretical produced these to overcom the confusion by defeats makesthe essay important contributionto the developan mentof revolutionary thoughtaboutart. However,thfirst lesson to be learned from it is that of its orlrr limits. Beniamin, who setsout to developconcepts "completelyuseless for the purposesof Fascism",yet "useful for the formulation of revolutionarydemandsin the politics of art" ., concludes with a distressing revelarion evidntin the emptiness his final sentence. of 'Communism responds politicizingan" saysnothing.That is, it by veils the fact that Communismin 1935 does not respond;having

given away the materialsof response its enemyby taking the to weaponsof theory and organization(formedin the history of the revoludona.ymovement) from the handsof the Germanworkers. Communism took these policies primarilyrhose awaywith itsfalse of 'seial fascism', thenof the PopularFront.In doingso,all the and techniques ofpropaganda agitationdeveloped and bythoseworkers' organizations publicity,not only ofthe period,in conflictwirh rnass became ineffectiv acruallypassed bur into the handsofthe Fascist enemy wirh incre;red rolarrlrry and.trength. Expressing only the gap betweenwhat was demandedby the historicalsituationand what the response Communism of was,it is almosrasif Benjamin's excessively inadequate final sentence itself is a lirerarydevice. The vacantgenerality, followingthe explicitness of the Fascisisolution, is a warning sign, an insignia that draws atrntionto and incriminates ttself,Benjamin, becoming in awareof the Nazi vitory'sconsequences rheoretical for thoughr,is cognizant of its impact on his own capaciries. The rnpriness the final of sentence symptomatic is then of Benjamin's own inability to speak clearly about the response Communism,and whar rhe Popular of Front'sdebacle makesclearas beingrhe 'silence Communism'. of The consequences the silent response Communismto the of of aesthricization ofpoliticsthroughmass mdia,andofthosedifficulties experinced the anri-Fascist by writers most closelyidentified with Benjamin, emerge the pessimistic positivismof Adorno in anti and Horkheimer.Their Dialectic of Enlighten,nehtl1944) establishes broadoutlines theoryofthe'culture industry'whichis, the ofa with theideas ofMarcuseandReich,amongthedominant influences upon rhe New Lefr critique of cultureand art after 1958. Adorno's and Horkheimer'sanalysisof masscuhure and the fofmsofdomination (like identified with it, waselaborated Benjamint) Lrnder imoactof the rriumohof Nazismand ofwarrimeAmerica. the

This indicates thattheir concptual rotalization the repressive of and estranging effects ofthe culrureindustryis itselflarglya response to the collaps the Cornmunist of new and altrnative. Communism's inexplicabl apparently silence becomes basisfor a new type of the critique of societywhich, in the yearsafter 1939, breaksdecisively with rvolurionafyMarxism (seen havingdisappeared into that as silence). This new Critical Theoryis a centralfactor in the developmenrofthe ideaoftotalizd dominationof society, both 'capitalist' and 'socialist',by unshakeable bureaucratic forms corporate-state which transcend cancel contradictions the 'old-fashioned' and the of capitalism spokenof by Marx. Thesestateformsnaturallyintegrate the new communicarions technology into rhemselves, therebyoutflankingthe positions ofpoliticized culturalcritiqueidentifiedwith theavant-garde. These ideas weredevelopedinthe 1930sinreference to the riseof the integrated Fascist state, politicaldegeneration the of the SovietUnion,and the emergence highlydeveloped ofa corporatism in the United States. Thesephenomena were seenas part of a singlehistoricalprocess. The Frankfun Schoolthinkersgenerally helda 'centrist'position in the argumentwhich ragedthroughoutthe working classmovementin rhe 1930sabourthe interpretation thisprocess. of Theywere unableto swallowthefraudulentRussian claimsofthe achievement of'Socialismin One Country' and they refused apologize the to for buildup of a poliricaldictatorsbip the SovietUnion. At the same in time, they rejected what they saw as the 'xtremist'position of rhe Lrft OppositionidentifiedwithTrotsky, which calledfor a political revolutionin the USSRand a return to Bolshvik internationalism. Throughthe 1930sthis cenftistpositionwas in a stateofcrisis.The Stalin'HitlerPactof 1939 and the ourbreakofthe war dissolved the cultureof the PopularFront and exposed duplicity.The prspecits dvofsocialism wasseverely damaged, theconnections and between

radical theoristsand the organizations the working-class of movement were largelydestroyed. CriticalTheory'smaturesocialand cultural outlook was formed during rhis era,in the process melancholy of adjustment the nw to historicalnecessity livingwirhin the silence of ofCommunism.This perspective boundedby the disappearance the possibilityof was of rx/ithin the revolutionarytransfo.mation self-dstructive of socity. the Frankfurt School's biaer and accurate exposures ofthe formsof generated stunted and darnaged conscioLrsness therein, which so influencedtheartisticNewLeft,thereexistsan'opening'. This'gap' is identifiablewiththe silence ofCommunism,andgives onto a social and philosophicaloudook which, for all its expressed hatred for capitalismand despiteits affectionfor crtainMarxist concpts, is profoundlyandclassically pssimistic. insights Marxist social The of theory,separatd from rheir mots in rhe working classrnovernent, becomea language hurtful evidence. They provide witnessthat of social life is reified and unintelligibleand that the bureaucratic(Godard's'Paranount-Mosfilm') corporatemanipulators havesucceeded, are in the final stages succeeding, transmutingall or of in rational idealsof freedomand truth into irrational slogans ever of moreinvisibleand completerepression what later,for example, linro in Foucault,becomes demonic'power-knowledge'). With the the spectre ofthe Marxist concept ofthe uniry oftheory and practice in \ocialrevolurion passing rway inio hisrory. newer rhi\ cririque \ees the circleofdomination andevenextinctionclosingabout Critical it. Theory broods forlornly over all that it has beendivested and of unableto transformits positionwithin the order of dominationit comprehends well, it gestures so constandy toward rheouffageof its own eradication. it awaitsand whoseshadowit This is the spectacle glimpses and denounces behind all the other irrational spectacles concoctd instrumental by reason and power.Criticallycharactriz-

ingand exposingthese developmcnts carris its defensivetaskl it our is that of dmarcating shrinkingcircle th offreedom.(Thisfreedom ro oneofpure negativity and absolutc, it is the freedom staticrefusal; lament.) CriticalTheoryt'ecomcs avant-garde post-warbourrhe of goispessimism, therebythc philosophical and laboratoryin which incessant waves of revolt againstcapitalismare ransmured into obsessions. apocalyptic Strengthened and deepened their selective by inclusion of rhe powerfuI Marxist concepts rification, of alienation, lseconsciousfa nessand ferishizarion, theseobsessions follow the lead of Lukrics, which Cri.ic.lTheory salvages of from itsearlierperiod.The process separaiing fiesconcepts from the wholstructurofMarristfteory permitsthc enthronement unchallenged of ideas totaI domination of in Diale.tic ofE ligbtennezt.This emblemaric book is a synthesis of the whole outlook of mature Critical Theory. In ir, Adorno and Horkheimerintroducedtheir srudisby stating,"ln the enigmatic readiness the technologically of educated masses fall under the to sway of any desporism, irs self-destructive in affiniry ro popular paranoia, of and in all uncomprehended absurdity, weakness the the moderntheoretical facultyis apparent."r Somuch hasthc'modern theoretical faculty' beenweakened rhe events rh 1930sthat by of eventhe conceptual expression revolutionarysolidariryhas beof comeimpossible: is (rhe)unity ofthe collecriviry domination, and "lt and nor direcr social universality, in solidarity,which is expressed thoughrforms."" Vithin this perspecrive, work of an (with irs rools in beauty the and pleasure, ugliness and unpleasure, th concretforms of its as devlopnentas criricalcognirion)becomes completely subjected to the repressiv falsifications the culture industri. Accordingto of Adorno, mechanized cultural production functions rhrough the perverse transformationof pleasure into e reptitiousstructurof

servilegraiification, which is imperceptible such. Oppressive as normsofdebased and debasing uty' in this structure, insrru'bea are mental in the production process and irs product. They form the primal occasions madeavailablefor commodityfetilhism. On rhis basis, Adorno elaborares ideas his about the process ofregression of receptiontoward the infantilizedgrarificationcharacteristic au of generally thoritarianprsonalities.Allpopularartinthernodernera fatls under this characterizadoni is 'garbage'.Thus, in these it conditionsofutterfalsificarion culrure, of thework of an asaestheric obiect,,rrl rheasrheric itselfasmodeofcritical cognition,become, strictly speaking,unthinkable.The highest artistic achievmenf, therefore,is ro bring forward rhis wretchedunthinkability of the palpabiliry.Out of its conditionsof aesthetic all irs accusatory in impossibility, however, work of art is nevertheless the idealized a as greatform of defeatism: present thconsistency anirtict.chnique "... today... thealicnarion in of foms thcvcrysub6taGe oftheworkofan. Theshocks ofincomprchcnsion, emittcdby anistictecbnique rhea8eof its me.niDglgsness, in undcrgo a sudden change. Theyillumidarc m..f,inslss rh. wo.ld.Modc.nmusic sacri{iccs itrclfrothiseffort. hasraken h uponitself allthedarkness and guihofthe world.Itsfortune in thperceptiotr misfortune; lies of allof its bauty in d.nyinsitselfthc illusion bcauty. oncwishcs is of No to becomc involved an - individuals littleascolletivcs. dies wnh as It rway unhcard. withoutevenan eho. lf timc crvsrallizs arcundthat music which bccf, has hea.d, .evealins radiantquintessence, its musicwhichhat not be.nheard fallsinto empF/ tine like an imporent buller. Modern music spof,ta ncously towards last aims rhis expede.ce, evidcnced hourly in mechanical music. Modern nusicsees absolute oblivion itsgoal.lt as is rhesurvivins m.ssase despair of fromtheshipwrecled."' Adorno'scritiqueremains eternallydelaycd the point of rcceiving at the shock of absolu.elydisintegratingpocsibilitiesfor changing

reality. Thus, the task is ro tum this hisro.ic defeat into the most modern (and negative) form of rranscndence.and frx Adomo, ro dramatize it in his writing as a continuously evolving moment of absolute defeat, th consciousnessof which forms the oudine of whatever self-knowledge remains possible in rhis period. A critical perspectiveliLe Buchloh's, oneofinterest in the potential ofthe work of art in affeciing sociery,must have difficulty rernaining 119771, Buchloh says: 'As far as th historicallysignificantprcGcupationwirh a.chitecturrl dimension isconcerned,thep.csentd.yaftisris positionthatbeas no ina compa.isonwith rhe circumsranccs that had surounded rhe Russian P.oductivists El Lisshzky or who couldoptimisticalltdiscuss Prouns his in termsot a 'chanse'over from painriry to archiGrure'. Th political siruarion lonseriusrifies son of utopianimpetus wharn more, no thar and the aesrh.ric p.oducer,evenif hc w..c at all willingand ablc to analyze theworld rhat su.rounds him, hasnoway of becomin8 cffective ourside rh. narrow domain of a.t ,llorted to him. Any thought of crcatinga functional relationship wirh rcality is instanily ruined by that reafty. Moreovcr,i seems that the aesthetic producer,haling interiorized the moralsofculture industF/accordingtowhich he is roro in suchcircls as will fit in rhc narrow an domain, has himself cecnruallybcon incapablc of.eflectin8upon this dimcnsionof his practice. Whc.eas the an dis.ussion from the beginningof this century had inc.easinsly revolvedaround functionalism culninating both thcorctic.lly and pfactically the twenties afterthe SecondWo.ld in \va.this problemin art hasbecome moreofan anathcnathan anythinSels: facedwith this realiiyany artisticor evenarchit ctural{andthuspolitical)zttcmpron rhc pan of acsrhericpracrice ro d.al sirh rcaliry is condemn.d ro rum into errher fa.ceor a decorative a transfigurarion rhecrisrin8 situarion.-t of faithful to whatever roots ir has in Adorno's defeatism. Wrning about Michael Ashet's lnstallation at Mnnskl

For Buchloh forAdorno, art is now compleelyencircled as within the repressive falsification of its very resources a complex institurional by mechanism ofcontrol. This hasthe cffcct(amongothers)of inhibir, ing the anist'sown subiective conrciousness his or hcr own stare. of Morover,this falsification renewcd is with eachaesrhedc gesturc or 'production'.The work of art is rhus at besra "concretionof this dilemma"q. The bestworks, in Buchloh'sterms,struggleroward a "funcional rclationship with reality" in rhe senseof Nw Lft activismand a dcsirefor a resolution ofthe dilemma- a break.At the same time, ftese works strive io concretizethe dilcmma of immobilizationand ruination of an by rcflecring laner in their the The functionalisticaspectof such work attemptsto break the closedcircle of falsificationin radical inversion,on which hasits prcdents the reductivism Sixtiesart. This reductivism, in of "mphasizing the rcfcrence to reality"'o is in rum sen as th dirca prcondirion for fte dematerialization of the work of art irto critical language. For Buchloh,thc dematerializing art into a moredirectform of of criticalcognitionis lheessential echievmeni conceptualism. of The inner relation of rhis dematerialized form to rh productionof art AsherorGraham isconstirrted thc facttharconceptualism in dcploys th discourss of academicism, publiciry, and architccurc. Here architcturc is undcrstood as rhe discourscof the siting of the effects of power that publicity, information and bureaucracy thc city in genrate. The critical operarionof conceptual is locatedin its art appropriationof languagees being agairlstrhe imag or obiect. Language not conceived a lheoretical,almost mathemarical is as obiecl, but in tcrms of its physicality,its modesof productionand enforcemcnt in thc city and irs insdtudons. Thus conceptu.l art panicipatcd in ihc developmentof thc cririqu of interdepcndcnccof

publiciry.Explicitin rnanyconceprual acade'nicism.nd works is the insightthar both the universitysystemand the mediamonopolies, purgedof Marxism during the 'Cold !?ar', have becomeprimary suppon-systems newart, in the sameprocess which theywer for in inscribedin a complex of corporate structuresof authority and knowledge. The essential cognitive structure ofthese- almostthir episternology is publiciry. The best'appreciated works of this conceptualart, Kosutht for example,presenrthe vesriges the of instrumentalized'value-free' academic disciplines characteristic of the new American-type (empiricist universiries so.iology,informaphilosophy)inthe fashnrnable tion theory,positivistlanguage forms of 1960sadvertising. Conceptualism's presents exhibitionstrategy consciously self rhe museum-gallery system es rhe crucial social arena of this new synrhesis. This is inseparable from appropriationofxisting media forrnssuchasmagazines,Tv billboards. or The kinshipwith PopArr is evidentin both thcse aspects. However,unlikePop,conceptualism attmpts incriminare art business to the asthe rnechanism means by ofwhich a makingofa bodyofaesthetic thoughtis beingcarried out. Conceptualism sees this as socialand polidcal,and senses rhar rhe crucialelemnts critical rraditionsof modernan are beingliquiof datedin what is a crisisin art. Essentially response youngeranistsro the politicalevents a of of the 1963-75priod,this senseofcrisis links the discourse ofconceptualismas it emerges from a reflectionon the institurionalization of radical but still puristic Minimal art, io rh concurrentrevival of CriticalTheoryin the New Left. h is this linkagewhich provides the basis for Buchloh's assessmcnt conceptualism the atislic of as movernent which cffectsrhe decisivere-openingof the historical memoryofAmerican an after the long inrerlude rhe domination of ofpolitically neutralized formalism. The routefrom rheearlierwork

of ihe An'knguage typ (acrtely circumscribed, academicand linguistic)toward the 'postconceprual' positions Burcn,Asheror of Grahamis openedby the combinationof New Lfr Critical Theory with a historicistcritiqueof urbanism.Acadernically, rook the this form of linked srudiesin the development srareand scientific , of institutionsas mechanisms power and of rhe methodsof siring of theseinstitutionswithin lhe modrnciry, or, moreaccurately, rheir srategic positioningat th cenrreof irs structure.For purposes of consideration Graham'swork, theseareasof thought are most of directlyin linewith rhewri.ingsof Barthes, Foucaulrand Tafuri. The influence ofthe Frankfun Schoolisevidentin rheconnecrions thes authorsmakebtween their specific psycho obiects ofstudy andthe logicalor psychosocial effects thescobiccts, which rnechanisms of in of power and domination arc internalized by the urban masses and reproduced involuntarilyas profoundestrangcmcnt impotence. and Artistically, theseissuesar raisd in rhc rapid turn toward those tcchniquesand skiltsidentified with thecommunicadons monopolies and stateinformationagencies. Throughthe appropriationof these techniques the expnse traditional arr media,concptual at of an atlemptslo constructa citiqu offormalist or'purely aesrhetic'an andto turn thereby, 47ecrl7toward 'reality'(idenrified with thecity) ,' view to changing "with a ir," Conceptual doesthis by means a straregy an of ofactiveintervention into the existingcomplexof socialforcesconstitucd by urban communicationand reprsentation syslems.This interventionis inseparable from its attackson othet aft, particularlyMinimalism and Pop, out of which it most directly emerges. Conceptualism recognizes Minimal art as neithersimply formalistnor as th nega tionofformalism. A transitionalstyle,itisdominatedby a Romantic concept of negativity, seento b thc anrithesisto Pop an's seemingly chronic affirmativeness. Therc is considerable disappointment,

ncvcr particularlyamongTreIoirgroup!thrrrhelvlinimalist'herocs x ithinAmeficin makc decisive i bre.kfrom!hedomin!ntpositivism Conscquentl),, Nlinimalismappea.s be no more than ro forrnalism. !virhin the'ncsarivisCversnrnof nrnralism.This in.rdequac-y proridedin a sense openins,nthe 1970sf(x the Minim.rlism thr prinarily by Pop, of dominatn,nof v,cial concepts art engendered !n In andcssentially Warhol. thislight,conccptuilirm the I970s by repres.nts resistancr Popon its own ground- rhe medir - br a ro r)f arristsdcsiringto rcm.rinfaithful to ccrrainideas rhc artisticNcw lt of Left,prim:rily ideas aboutthe neccssiry neguiivity. is in these that tcrmsthat we undcrstand claimsof c.iticslike Buchloh rhe rr .onieprurlr.m r" hc.on'iderr.l.rntrform.rlnr. f<rmrlism Conccprual itselfisstill far from freeofthe negativc a.t it. on which has disappoinrc<l Even thoush its depcnderrce social rejection ofthewholeiderotabstract:rrt, lansu.rge implies deci\ive a the m.sscommunicationsrechniqu.smovesitin anditsrootednessin io directionof a new kind of vrcial im:rgery a n'rr of anrithesis in characterof Warhol's its sources the politically neutralized permitthrsecle Milrini.listpurismand reductivism not rc,rlly do mentsto drvelop in the directionofll revilal (of.rn openlysocirtlly' criric,rlmodernis. ari). ing uc Conccptualart, howevcr, begins makeapenerrat critiq of n) rcduciivisrn, denooncing for irs nrnx)redinwrrdnessand its ulti ir mate indiffercnce toward the s,ci'rl discounewhich ir incited and modernist art. Ne\.erthe dependcd for its statusascontroversial on it lcs, reductivisrn formeda primal f.scinarionin rhc Sixtaes becausr rn m(rhanstrrohir,t $h,"crF8re'\i\epr\\iviry re.ultcJ Jn au<erc andstylish indiffcre evoked nce ftelinss ofalier.rtion anddehurnanr zatron, reminiscent rhosc experienced evcrydaylife. So the of in response the conccptualcritique of was rwofold and conrradicrory. On thc onc hand, it was clearlyseenthat this exhibitionistic

'oblecthood' accomplished the rcproduction alienatr<,n only of and anxiety. Anxiery w.rs really not constirured a subject thework as of (which course of couldnor admitftr having subjecr all).R:rther a ar ir w.rsconcocted r theatricaleffcctto which thc galleryspecraror as just wrs subjected, ttshewassLrbjcctedpubliciry commands to and in rrht()n to objecrs normal irr so.irl cxislcDce. rheotherhand, On this thertricnl effect.rc.td at least.rn up to datc physicalform which (ho{c!er jn!oluntaril!i indiffcren ) concepts implicd anrl rlv aboutthe rclationshipbetrvecn expcriencc art and the expcricncc the of of soci.rl dominain . Thesc concepts wererapidlyturnedagainst drc Nlininrrl.r.t whichhelped srimulirc rhcm. rhispr()cess, In narcissis'n and letishisric regrcsrion wereidcntified rvuhthcthe.rtricalizcd stanrs ofrrt ohiects gcner.rl. in Concepornlnr( rs'anri{,bjeciis rhersuh. Elimination th! ohjecris idenrificd of with clininationof rhe comnr<,dity. narket was recrrynized the foundatr<,n The as of.rll fonns of dominatr<nin culture. but nnsr conccpturlartistsdid no. devcLrp theiridcas tosardapoliticr economr I ofarrproduction until thc mid-1970s, shcDrhephenomenon ofenonnous inflatnrn,drivrn pricesfor works <,f Minimal and 1,,)p bcc.nre art too obvioLrsly identiii.rble rhecommencementthecrisis s1trldirfliri,nr with of of gencrtrlly. Elen rhcn, thisaspect ofthc aurocritiquc ofart remainecl exceptionally muterl. Thislimirof thcconcepruilisr cririqu. indic:r.es thrt themovcmenr remrins dominrtcd therde.rs iscriticizing. by ir lrs pa.adr)xical reificiri(nof critic.rl language instrumental, as srrrtic 'ir h)rnr.l rion' occurs in rhesame prrressuhcrcb;;a eririque basrdon rhe conccprof reific.rtiondemarerinlizc,! obiectand appc,rrs rhe ro trinscendthe conrDn)diry form. (l(msequenrly,corcepnralan acceptecl in rhc frxrns of'pn.e'(rht[ is, insrinrtlonallypL,rificd)knowlcdse.rre pack,rsed mentsfor commodities rathcr th.rnas commodnicsthemstllcs.All lorms of .ommerci,rlized bure.rucratized or info.m:rion xrc

ll

appropnited rs artisoc material irr a srrategy minicry. In this of scrlsc, conceptua is !he dotpelstinser w arhol rype'Popism'in lism of its helplessly ironic mirnicry,not of knowlcdge,but ol the mechanismsof falsificrrion of knowledge, rvhoscdespotic and seducrile forms of display are copied to makc an objects.Like Pop, rhis concepiualism renains subjectedto the effecrsof rhe historical process politicaI .eurralizationofart in rheCold I{ar period,and of is ore of the sharpest expressions the pressures tbat rreatmenr. of of NeitherPop nor conceptualism pos;tits socialsubjcct-nratter can in goodfanh.Non-ironic socialsubject rnatter a residual perty is pro of 1930s rnd'modernisr'arr art, begins fromrheidea rharrhatera;s nor onlybver' (rhis isthinsisten.eof capiralism), neo butthatirwasan essential historicalaberatnu producedbv the clashof inhcrcntl,v (guropcan) rotalttarian culmres. social The indiffcrcrce olpost war Anrtri.an art iss)mptonutizedby theacsthcrics ofremoreness which coniinuall) recurs u, lfrom NcwDen to, say, i Goldsrin). This hck ,s absolurelvreflexofthc traLrrna rhecollapse 1919of ideals a of in ol r integratcd so.ial Drodern rrr. Thus, ifl,(,pis drecynic:rl.rnd amnesiac 'y,cialre.rlism' thenew of 'burcaucr:ticcollectivism', conccptuilart is irs melancholy Symbol isn. By putting fonard its forgorrenc.rd files and print{)urs (irs caskets informetrD) conceprualisrn of recapirulates kind of a l\{allarmaar aestheric: social subjectsarc presenied enigmatic as hierrglvphsand giventhe aurhoriryof rhe crypt. The idenrificarion of publicity, burcaucracy and.rcademicism cryplicufterances wnh e\presses awareness thc participarion of universirics an ol and bureaucracies a corpor.rte in dearhmachine, awarness an which of course animatcd srudent the moyemcnt. \(hat is uniqueaboutc<)nceprual in this conrcxt,therefore, arr is its reinvention defearism thequierism of (of implicuin 'purisf art.) The grc,vvolumesof conccptual are filled w,th n,mbre ciphers :rt

\'!hich primarilv incormunicability social thc of thought in express the form of arr. They thus embody a rerrible contradiction.As Buch argucs, krh these rtistsancrrpr lr breako ut of rheprison house a in of the art business, with its bureaucracy and rnuscums, ordcr to nrnr towarrl vrcial lifc. But in thr process they rerssumerhe ver-v wished leave they, as emptiness rhey to behind then. I hisis bccause vanguardartists,still seethe socialstruggle a moral necessiry. as In keeping ideologic.ll prcsuppositions the period,they see of with the iD ir alsoasa historical impossibiliry, aremortified frontof thc and (or those demand struggle. work by Kosuth, to A byJohns, Morris f<,r or Reinhardt beforehin) isscizccl a nostalgia a kinrl ofpolnical by vvhich is sureis no lonserpossible ever 'uscful'to stance he or maintain. Kosuth's works, exhibitiorsand tomescreared mruso the justthe right note.They broughtthetomb like lcumlook rhat srruck our aspecr Minimalist of exhibitionism frorr the'deadgallcryspace into'life' billborrds, newspaper.rds, His work resembles etc. \larhol's rnostofall, except that ir hasrheconvenrional dark surfrce of profundity whicL stemsfrom rrgret. Varhol forgetsregrei. Conceptualart carriesonl,vthe mortificd rcnains of social art silencedby three dec:rdes capitalist war, political rerro. and of 'prrspcrity'out intothccity.Its rlisplay ofthese remarns only be can of con' exhibitioDistic, is the expression its bad, distraught and science. Exhibrtionismand public distressare thereforethe iinal indicators thiswork is indccd at all (inthcserions art snse ofthe that pasr). Nothingin its acrualsoci.l contenr can establish any this lngcr.ltathcr, in its rucfulimmobilizatn,n beforethernecha ismsof n falsification of l:nguage in rhe perspective neo capitalisn, it of rcprcscnts tcrnrinuspoiDt of srrrcusmodern.lrt the its scene of shipwreck. However, thisveryimmobilization, in cr)ncepiual does art reflecr preconditionsfor the developmcntof th emrgence certanr of

revolutionaryideasin culture. The re emergence critical social of thought into currencyin Ameriain rhe later 1960s,aftr a long period of eclipse and suppression, indicares thar a new stagein the class strugglewas ge.minating at that time. The period of the stabilizationof imperialismbehind rhe U.S. dottar in 1944 - the 'post war era'- hadreached endwith the dollar crises its ofthe late 50sandarly70s.The eraofworld inflationanddestabilization had begun. With theendofthatera ofsrabilization (based upon inflation ary 'credit'policies) therealsoendsthe basis which all the ruling on class' culturalstrategies ofcontrolin the realmofideasand representationscould be made effective. The terminationof the period of prosperityand purchased quiescence must b datednot at 1980 but ten yearsearlier.Nevertheless, change this was barelyperceptible at the time, and was only revealedro us having reached its fu/l expression rhe direct threat ro rhe current generarion's in cultural presupposirions Reasan's in carnpaign ofinversionofthe New Deal. Conceptualism's attempr at a new social art must be seenas a reflection ofthis tufn ofevents. The inadequacy ofirs formularionof these issues isprofound and rherefore decisive, measuringas does, it thegapappearing thehistorical in memoryofrnodernismsince 1939. Buchlohrepearedly emphasizes concptualism rhat attempted ro revivethe strategies earliercritical modernart! particularlythose of of Productivism and the Readymade. This attemptwas in order to articulate major them, administrariv its rhe enclosure modernan of by thecultureindustry.Conceptualisnr recognized, howeverincom pletely,that these earlierworks embodysomething decisive created by the firstgreatrevolutionary upheaval thecentury.Insrruggling of to reinventthe effecrof theseworks, the conceptual a*ists move toward a historical perspective, rowarda kind ofhistoricalmemory. While the radical arrisdc groups of the 1920s and 30s were separating from rhe working classmovement,either forciblv or

throughdisillusionmenr, thoseof the 1960sarefitfully wandering in the opposite direction.A wide gap obviouslyremains. This divideis symbolized the affectionof conceptualism the Readymade by for which historicallystandsbetween rebellious, rhe anti-authoritarian and the polemicmachine-an fin-de+iicle art of larry, for example, of Productivism. rhis, it looks both forward and backward.The In lattr is important because redirecrsthe historical memory of it conceptualism toward an earlierperiod rhan rhat usuallyidentified with Duchamp's effect,to onewhich parallels 1960sin sympro th This is the period of the long prosperous interludeof the later nineteenth century, erawhich formedthe'evolurionary the socialism' and reformismcharacteristic modernSocialDemocracy. of One of the central - if not the central- cultural experiences was the nervouspleasure stirnulated a showerof cheap,machine-made by comrnodities, thatwashedthe perspective ofsocialismout to rhefar horizon of history.This era is continuallyevokedin Duchamp. Conceptualan's reachingback to the Readymade a double is gesture.While it does attempt to link the scandalousness the of Readymade later machinearr and therefore the militant modto to ernism of the 1920sand 30s, it also revealsanother impulse:to refotmuhte the sttatesy the Readymade, which the withdrawal of in ofaesthetic resources from thwork ofan is cornbined withan ironic mimicry ofthe commodityforrn.This impulsereveals perspective a closerto that of the 1890s{wherethe characreristic cultural combinationwas that of I ar pow I'art and rcfotrf,isml than to that ofthe 1920s(whenthemilitantmodernism ofProductivism not anempt did to mimic existing commodity forms, but wished to compltely rebuild them in the overallredesigning ofsociety). Fof conceptualism, Readymadetwithdrawalsand mimicry the form the imageof an'absolutecriticism',a complete negation ofthe

industry of an. The Readymade simultaneously is roored in the outlook ofthis edliel periodandin a prosperouscritique ofprosper iry, in that its irony is rootedin a sense ofthe unshakeability the of rule of commodityform over socialand psychiclife. This sense of unshakeability stands behind theslogans all of,progress' which the to reformist leadersof Social Democracyconsranrlyreferred.Th. celebrated anxiery whrrhthe Readymade expre(!'on one ro give. rs generared the glimpseirgives of a furure implied by the eternity by of the commodiry, rhe endlssrule of the abject obiec. The Readymade, emblem of the sloganless cririque of an utterly detached intelligence,confronts rhehiddenform ofsocialrule with the imageof its own expressive meagreness. sense inadequacy, The of and consequentsenseof the emptinessof hisrory, which the Readymade creates, centralto both conceptualism's is appropriation of ir, and Buchloh'semphasis that appropriation.Ir forms on t e historicalparallelwhich illuminatesconceptualism,s refusalof rhe political discourseof th inrer,war period (of slogansand polemics),its refusal of the memorisit consrandyevokes.The amnesiac symptomin the yearninsof rhe 1960sradicalsfor a ,new polirics'is constituredby rhisaffectionfor rh/t/, de-sDcle absotut ism of the ironv of DuchamD. Thus, the radicalism 1950sart, its pervasiv of strategy withof .non-an'forms is drawal ofthe asthetic properties and mimicryof neo-Duchampian. itsimpulse So, towardpolemical aggression asainst an in the rraditionof th 1920sand 30sis dominated thismethod by of the reductionof its own expressive capacities assumption and of a radical inadequacy. militant Duchampianism A blendswith an involuntaryGreenbergianism; ourcome poliricized the is purity. This is the burdenconceprualism carriesover into irsef(from its dependence upon'purified'abstracion andMinimalism,from itsrootedness in the whole mythosofthe'New York School,).

Conceptualism complex because is theseconflictingrendencies within it remainunresolved. Indeed, is ifconceptualism anythingpolitically,economically it is irresolute, incom aesthetically, an plete developrnent. first response the enormouspolitical up' Its to heavalwhich beganinthe1950s wastoappropriate social techniques in an assault 'AIi'. This constiruEsirs radicalism. on Bur insofaras it was unableto reinventsocialcontentalongwith socialtechnique, it fell prey to the samepurism, even though this purism is now radicalized beingarticulatedin thoroughlyDuchampianterms. by Involuntarilyand almost by default,conceptualism encapsulated is as'radicalpurism'.By the mid 1970s, this ledto a fundamental splir in the development the idea of conceptual of art, a schismwhich wholething.Some Heublr announced collapseofthe the artists,like or Barry, easily shed rhe trappingsof the strugglefor historical memoryandmovedtowardorthodoxcommodityproduction,albeit of a refinedand mildly ironic type. Others!suchas Tre Ior group, attempted extend politicalelement. to the Most of thiswork foundered in the academic sterile and Maoismconstituting dregs the ofthe New Left. This 'leftisf conceptualism ableto go no further than the was productionof negatively polemical,or'self-referential' indictmnts (primarily) their own unthinkabiliry as works of art. expressing Inadequacy was absolutized the dreariness the movement's in of decline. This lacklustrespectacle, however,bringsconceptualism to face 'Popism'. By the mid-1970s,the economic face with its nemsis, ascendancy Pop arr had legitimared of Warhol's interpretationof ironic mimicry and led to the eruptionof an aesthetic compulsfu,e of mimicry across an marketas a whole.Again, it is only from the the point of viewof thepresent momentthat theextentof thedominatioir of Warhol-type ideas throughout the last six or sevenyears is perceptible. the conceptualist As strugglefor historical memory

r06

succumbs,the antithtical concepts ir attempted to conrrol within itslf bursr fonh with unprccnredviSor in the nw .postconcptual pluralism'. Everghing is forgorcn, cvcrything is possible,everything is'greaC. rheissucarsiakeinconceprualism'scollaps But maks thc movement recoSnizable a crucial axis of transitionbrween as rhe disrraughtquietism of thc 'New York School' {which includes Minimalism) and an cxplosivercvivel of both revolutionaryand counter-revolutionary ideasin arr,,, This makes conceptualism representative rhe end of New York,rypeart. of Conceptualism's rranscendencc New york-type art is the of source ofits almostorganicinrcrnarionelism. rhevery premises By of perspe*iveof a burcaucratic its world culture industry (to which Greenbergianism ultimately revens) conceptualism breachesrhe authoriry of th old conceptof national srytesin art. This same bureaucratic look permittcdconceptual m free itself from that arr dependence Amican corporatc insigniawhich still identifics on New York-typ an so closely wirh Pop. Concepiualismmakes explicit the Europe-America interchangcfrorn which ideas like Buchloh's emerge. Buchlohaniculatesrhe dialecdc his post-conceptual of funcrionalismmosrclearlyar rhe conclusion his essay Asher: of on differencc betw.cn "Th. crucial is thos forhsofa decreed abolition of rheaesthtic rhelasrsphere as ofcr'dcalnegation onetharsuits the prevailin8inrerests rh. day and is xpressed an excessive of as aestheticizarion ofrheworld...andanorhc. rendency inherenr rhc in aesthtic verymuch and opposed rh! .dccred to .botition' ro dissotv. itr aestheric characrcr t..virat rowardrciliry wirh a view ro and This strategic slf{issolutionof lhe aesthedcasa conscious anlagonisticresponse the'decreed to abolirion' of crirical negationby the cuhure indnstry, is th cenrral term of Buchloh'sthesis.tr is rhe

essence what he wishcsto prcs.rvc from conccptualism.The act of of self{issolution of the acsthetic, sdll insdnctive in conceptualism, trccomes consciousand delibcratein Buchloh. For him, if this dissolution were not dcliberatc, it would be nothing more than an instanceofthe operation of the'dccree'. But this supremelyconscious act of negation is ofcoursc not oriSinsl to Buchloh; it is Adorno's. For all its trappings of the Productivist 'redesigningof reality', this act is centredon the gsture ofconsciously willed abnegation, self-cancellation and defeatismwhich Adorno concluddwas th essential condition of art in a situationof advancingbarbarism.'aAlthouCh Buchloh appearsto be struggling against defeatismin evoking Productivistactivisrn, critique has thc effect of extendingand his makingconscious conceptualism's instinctivc tusionof activism and defeatism.In the reigning ideological condirions of suprernacyof the Pop counter-revolution, such a fusion can only rcsult in placing the rcsiduesof activist strategics at thc scrvicc of an imperious defcatism - one which uscsactivism as an outer form. shicld. or mask. Buchloh is the first to emphasizc thc difference in social and historical conditions bctwccn thc Productivist cra and thos of our own. He recognizes that his progr.m of moving an out of its protective enclavexposcsit ever more direcdy to ruin at the hands of those forces controlling thc city. Thcse forces have no need to pretenda traditional form of commitmentto seriousmodrn art. Theyhavelong since decrced only itsebolition,bul acually carry not this out in their structuralchanges the public sphere. to Thus, it appears that thc 'turn toward reality' demanded by anticipated; Buchlohimpliesa new defeatfor art. This isconsciously it bcing the familiar manocuvre of the pynhic viclory, of poliricalcultural martyrdom, of the 'conestation' which, although it cannot actually lead to victory, funher inc.iminatcs social and cultural euthority and aggraveresahcmood of socicty. Buchloh ettempts to

transcend Adorno'sdefearism byexaggrating volunrarism. irs Thus, delatismis given guer.illa characrerisrics of the reminiscenr of sroupuscales 1958.-fhis voluntarismhasa long history (thar of anarchism) its strategies counter-spectacle, and of sacrifice terror and havebeen articulated consistently from Bakuninto Guy Debord.The contradictions Buchloh's of funcionalismaretherefore thosewhich havehistoricallybound rhe exasperated indignantintellectuals and to the icon of lotal revolution'. This indignationdenounces everyrhing rhenameofan absolute in difference, absoluterransformarn lwhich is despaired and an n of) hasits ongoingcorollary, its Sancho Panza, the perspective the in of absolutelyuntransformed. This is of coursethe outlook of Social Democracyand its toadying,incrementalapproachro srrudural change.In renewinsanideaof 'prosperity'andreform,'neo-capital ism' alsorenewed politicalrole of the SocialDemocraticmove the rnent,dependins upon it for all the forms ofclasscollaborationism necessary the corpo.at stare. Both the fantasy of the 'total in revolution'andits r/opp elgiinger, Iantasyol'toral reform', stem the lrom the acccptance defeatisrn. of Buchloh'scririque binds rhese togetheras the polirical presupposirion authenticarr, and is of exemplifiedinhis unswervinschampionshipof DanielBuren'scause. What Burenaddsto Kosuthis primarily an oraroryrnadenecessary not simplyby the inflamedhopes ofthe students 1968,but alsoby of the fverishreorientarion the threatend of instirutions. This artist hassincerely dedicated himselfto a deepreform of these. l hen a work by an artisrlike Burenventurs forrh inro the ciry, it doesso as a purified and neutralized cipher,draggingwith it a residueof simple exhibitability. This exhibitionisticcipher is the finished version Buchloh's of design themonadof criticalnegation. of Andr6 Bretonwrore, "Revolris just a sparkin the wind, but ir is th spark which seeksrhe powder.",' Buchloh'sfunctionalism

monad of to appears wish to rekindle this spark - the conscious which tremblestoward the social negariviry,revolt and xposure, force it seesitself as destinedto ignite. But in rhe self imposed of the the blankness ns own character, ciphererass identityofthose of The consequence forcesin the city which can transformsociety. itselfin the very this erasure rhat the impalseofnegativitynegates is concept gesrure which it appears in beforethe public'.The abstract of the public'though, is also the product of the historicalloss of Th inability (in many cases) of memoryembodiedby the erasure. 'the public'to recognize Buren, a forexample, a work ofart, is only as the corollary of the inability - or rhe refusal- of the artist to recognize forgottenrevolutunary classbehindthe mask of the the combines wirh instrumental concept of'rhe public'.,,Misrecognition nonjecognition, and silence reigns. is as if the spark,in the act of k rurning roward thc powder,puts itselfout. ofclass.This absence doubt casr Buchloh\ critiques not speak do of upon his apparent integration rhe Marxian c{}ncepis use-value of picture which hedoesreferto in hisessays.''His andexchange-value, of societyis indistinct and abstract,exceptwhere the unopposed to advance barbarism described paxagesexplicitlyindebted of is in Marx's political-ecoAdorno. Like his mentor,Buchlohpreserves primarily for the bbjective'and scientific aurathey nomicconcepts such as the process hyposratization other concepts, of of bring to reification and fetishism,from which they have been politically Since Buchloh separatd. This is symptomatic ofhis entireapproach. rnergiestoward breakingthrough the directsall his considerable mode,and divisionberween as criricalcognitionin the asthetic arr legacy reality',wmusrrecognize heavy the themovement 'change to of Frankfurt Schoolpessimism his inability to speakof any force in in societywhich could carry through this change,this defeat of capitalistbarbarism.Pessimism inducesBuchlohto take from the

t
I
: collapse ofconceptualism primarilythe defearist strain,!heaspedor symptom ot historical amnesiaor denial within conceprualism. Buchloh'saggrandizingof thiseiernent,however, leadsinexorablyt,, the problm of historical mernory,:nd rhus the inrenrion of his criticismis fulfilled,thoughnor in rhe way he erpects. The exposure ot theamnesia wirhin Buchlohsculrivated defeatisrn leads backto us the quesrion ofthe silence Communism, of emblematized Waher by Benjamin45 yearsaso.Thus, Buchloh sposition appears a further as consequence the samehistoricalshocksof the 1930s,mediated of through the effects the political neutralization modernart on of of Americantermsin the post war period. The New L.ft movement the art world of the 1950s in and 1970s inherited rnuchofthis outlookandcouldnot overcome conrradic irs tionssocollapsed beneath Nevertheless, it. muchof the artisticwork identified with rhemovement reflects oncetheinadequacy the at and struggleagainst the inadequacyof this theoretical:nd political heritage. Buchloh'sdemands reflectthe struggle more acutelythan those of any orher critic. However, wirhout breaking from rhe defeatistsocial perspedive,there can be no resolutionof rhe di.hotomy in his posrrionberween functionalist the desirefor actuali zation of critical negation,and rh ironic autocririquof existing esrrangement, resulringin withdrawal. Within rhefunctionalism Buchlohimputest(,his favouriteartists, theseenergies thereforecan only express themselves intwisring back and forth under the sign of the defensive antr-barbarism inherited lrom Adorno. As soon as this withdrawn and gloomy srernness is .elaxed, functionalistworkis indeed the ruinedby reality.tris turned into a helpless, mute,decorative object,aswe see Buren,ora witry in piec contextua virtuousity, with manyofAsheaslesser of I as works. Althoughthisfunctionrlism wishes rematerialize to criticalthought in realsociallife it is unableto actuallydo so without addressing the for from the Marxism ir uses historicalquestionofits own disrance ofa questions alsoimpliesthe development emblems. Openingrhese grearest new form of critlque of rhoseworks in which it saw the possibilities the 1970s. in \Yithout in anyway denigrating that work, it musrbe recognized that Buchloh'scriterion of functionalismhas given n a canonical The statusas criticaldiscourse which all otherart is submitted. frc to instabilityof the position of works of Craharn,Buren and Asher and derivesfrom rhc inabihy of funcrionalistrheory to rccognize of .ccount for conflictingfadors in that work. The presence these strains or non-functionalelementsindicate that the social limits of oudined hcre leavetheir traceson rhe effectiveness this work in critiqueof administrative 'changingreality'andconstitutearesolved cultural institutions. In addition, these limits or problems find worksthemselves. reflection the deep in structure andmeaningofthe in into doubt their raiher serene canonicalexistnc This rhrows imBuchloh'stexts; it raisesquestions about the 'progressiveness' puted to them so insistently;but it may also make them more interesting,complex and productive than they have seemedin they have not comfunctionalistterms.This is of coursebecause They havenor pletelydissolved their character aerthetic as obiects. resolvedtheir position in society.This is strikingly evidentin the work of Dan Graham.

rbo& md|'!mo

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Footnotcg
l. B.H.D.&E o[! 'Conr.rt,FutEri@U* V.lc. Mii||cl A.hcit R.-M.t ri.lia, tion of dE Anwo.t'h it d Ad'e Ethibht'! i,t E.ftt. 1972-r9n. lrD Attcuu.ura E dhora r9E0,p.{3. 2. !c.l6 Ldmitu'Th.Worl of ni! rt. At ofrr.ch.nic.t R.prodEid', i! lltlrriutirr, Jmrlm C.F, It'd.n,l'0, D,U1. J. d. T.w' Ttorr.ld fi. p.tEtr o{Frci.r pioFS.rd., i! Tr. E ,nnd F6Urt ^dma'Frtrdiu R r&', .d. A'dr!' Anto .nd Eilc c.h[tdq U.i@ Jtt6'l Dooli lLr YqL, 1978,pI[ttS-137. a. B.njuit! ibid., p.220, 5 . Mu Horlh.iffi .nd T.V. Ld('M Drthcri. of EaligtEffi%., TIE Sablry ?rcs, l\L* YqI, t9Z, p.nni. 5.ibid,,p,22, 7 .'1.V, Ado@t?bilo.oihtofModn t{si., ThG S..bur/ pcs, N.e yo.tq 1980, p.l3J. 8 . B8lrlob, ibid., pp..(),tr. 9. &rdlol, ibi.L, p.41. 10. E|xU.t, ibid, p.ao lt . lEtbt, ibid. p.{3. 12 . SirE lt+75, undcr V.r[ot's h.d.uhip, r[. on!.r-lwlmih ta r.td p6irr oJdF 6.ld- N|Fi$iri. F6!d!.. |tt.!d ![. icr tF of Fiorirg.rt ,orffi |'Ibng hir Ltior rtu b.td. it ia Fn oE rh. iallrpct rid of ![..ttoI rn r960.ndti.fit oftho..ti..ldiwiou. V.tlot.n.c8i![r*itcab@L .boutth..iltk (?ofnn),.od d.EloF. p@Fg.n& orro b.r.d Gxpti.irl,!po! rh. rupp.dio.' of rlt.oEri.il l.qr.s. {r"dntl), W.dFt h., bccn*d borh r ..diql' md | 'scrion|rt' ..ri.t Both d.signrtid ... irucc!r.r.. V-hd i. . cour.Fr.voluti@ry rnitt. 13. EBHoh, ibd., p.43. la. 'Th. potcntid Fnicipnid of dt ao[.c1iE .ubi.!t rdlrl, b@o,B r! l i!E6!d.rd..!rir.liniur..bi@f .ndhn.!fiooliD. tt@drc.dr,iddld ri. co[..tiE .ubi.rt s. [ii.odd h.cod., pd!d.ll, a! 6..tti. .@Lr|t.. itit Foc.. of d.slopodt '..c.r.t, riq! hr roL |nd ,ir}dnwi!, fir br ..t ob.olc 6&rio|r ir di.L.riel F.nE of rnott Diry.' (in Eftt G ro St d., B6un)&F.D.&d'loL.Fo@lit6.d iino'tirr-ct isir!@FirA!Fi:! ,'nd .rd Eurcp..r .rr .incc r 94t n Esop. ,, rt. 5.r{,''4 p.95. 15. Aldn &.16: rr.d. t7, Ed* S.tit n , p..i., lti,t, p.rj.'. 15. 'ft ir thu hldly.utpri.irthd.v.! D!.h ir m./ h.E uF.r fiiE hb_ rt r

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