1. Neo-­‐Dadaism
Art
109A:
Contemporary
Art
Westchester
Community
College
Fall
2012
Dr.
Melissa
Hall

2. The
Legacy
of
Marcel
Duchamp
Rediscovery
of
Marcel
Duchamp
in
the
1950s
Robert
Motherwell,
ed.,
The
Dada
Painters
and
Poets:
An
Anthology
1951
Eliot
Elisofon,
Marcel
Duchamp,
1952
LIFE

3. The
Legacy
of
Marcel
Duchamp
Dadaism:
profoundly
“anK-­‐art”
“The
Dadaist
considers
it
necessary
to
come
out
against
art,
because
he
has
seen
through
its
fraud
as
a
moral
safety
valve
.
.
.
.
art
.
.
.
is
a
large-­‐scale
swindle.”
Richard
Hulsenbeck

4. The
Legacy
of
Marcel
Duchamp
The
“ready-­‐made”
challenged
accepted
ideas
about
art
Marcel
Duchamp,
Bicycle
Wheel,
1913
Museum
of
Modern
Art
Marcel
Duchamp,
Fountain,
1917
(1964
replica)
Tate
Gallery

5. The
Legacy
of
Marcel
Duchamp
 Art
should
be
“handmade”
 Art
should
be
“original”
 Art
should
be
disKnct
from
the
“commonplace”
 Art
should
be
“beauKful”
 Art
should
“express
intended
meaning”
Marcel
Duchamp,
Fountain,
1917
(1964
replica)
Tate
Gallery

6. The
Legacy
of
Marcel
Duchamp
Duchamp
also
challenged
prevailing
ideas
about
the
nature
of
creaKvity
“All
in
all,
the
creaKve
act
is
not
performed
by
the
arKst
alone;
the
spectator
brings
the
work
in
contact
with
the
external
world
by
deciphering
and
interpreKng
its
inner
qualificaKon
and
thus
adds
his
contribuKon
to
the
creaKve
act.”
Marcel
Duchamp,
“ The
CreaKve
Act,”
1957
John
D.
Schiff,
Marcel
Duchamp,
1958/1959
Image
source:
h^p://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/11/view/2045/designboom-­‐x-­‐mas-­‐picks-­‐from-­‐art-­‐and-­‐design-­‐aucKons-­‐
kunsthaus-­‐lempertz.html

7. Neo-­‐Dada
These
ideas
had
a
deep
influence
on
Jasper
Johns
and
Robert
Rauschenberg
Jasper
Johns
and
Robert
Rauschenberg,
1950s
Image
source:
h^p://jameswagner.com/nyc/2008/05/

8. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg
studied
with
Josef
Albers
at
Black
Mountain
College
–
where
he
met
the
American
composer
John
Cage
Allan
Grant,
Robert
Rauschenberg
,
1953
LIFE

9. John
Cage
Cage
revoluKonized
modern
music
with
his
exploraKon
of
“aleatory”
music
(sounds
produced
by
chance)
John
Cage
preparing
a
piano,
c.
1964
Image
source:
h^p://usoproject.blogspot.com/2008/01/european-­‐premiere-­‐john-­‐cage-­‐variaKons.html

10. John
Cage
Cage
re-­‐conceptualized
music
as
an
an
orchestraKon
of
concrete
sounds
assembled
by
chance
He
wanted
“to
let
sounds
be
themselves
rather
than
vehicles
for
manmade
theories
or
expressions
of
human
senKment”
John
Cage
preparing
a
piano,
c.
1964
Image
source:
h^p://usoproject.blogspot.com/2008/01/european-­‐premiere-­‐john-­‐cage-­‐variaKons.html

11. John
Cage
4’
33”
performed
before
a
live
audience
in
Woodstock
in
1952
John
Cage,
4’
33”,
1952
h^p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY

12. John
Cage
Cage
collaborated
with
the
choreographer
Merce
Cunningham,
who
also
taught
at
Black
Mountain
College
John
Cage
and
Merce
Cunningham,
London,
1962;
photographed
by
Hans
Wild.
Courtesy
of
the
John
Cage
Trust
at
Bard
College.
Image
source:
h^p://www.rbge.org.uk/the-­‐gardens/edinburgh/inverleith-­‐house/archive-­‐exhibiKons/
inverleith-­‐house-­‐archive-­‐main-­‐programme/john-­‐cage-­‐and-­‐merce-­‐cunningham

13. John
Cage
Cunningham
pioneered
a
new
form
of
dance
based
on
“found
movement”
Merce
Cunningham
Image
source:
h^p://www.senKreascoltare.com/arKcolo/949/merce-­‐cunningham-­‐lulKma-­‐danza-­‐di-­‐merce.html

14. John
Cage
He
used
random
movements
based
on
ordinary
acKviKes
such
as
walking,
falling,
or
jumping
And
he
eliminated
any
kind
of
narraKve
or
emoKonal
expressionism
that
would
imply
a
pre-­‐determined
concept
“There’s
no
thinking
involved
in
my
choreography
.
.
.
I
don’t
work
through
images
or
ideas
.
.
.
When
I
dance,
it
means:
this
is
what
I
am
doing.”
Merce
Cunningham
Merce
Cunningham
Dance
Company,
Way
StaHon,
2001
Photo
by
Tony
Dougherty:
Flickr

15. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg
designed
sets
for
Cunningham’s
dance
performances
and
parKcipated
in
some
of
his
producKons
Robert
Rauschenberg,
set
design
for
Merce
Cunningham’s,
MinuHae,
1954
Private
collecKon
Image
source:
h^p://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibiKons/ig/rauschenberg_combines/rrc_02.htm

16. Merce
Cunningham,
MinuHae,
1954
Set
design
by
Robert
Rauschenberg
Image
source:
h^p://www.voiceofdance.com/v1/features.cfm/1645/Merce-­‐Cunningham-­‐and-­‐A-­‐History-­‐of-­‐UnconvenKonal-­‐CollaboraKon645.html

17. Robert
Rauschenberg
While
sKll
at
Black
Mountain
College,
Rauschenberg
completed
White
PainHng,
which
consisted
of
seven
panels
of
canvas
painted
a
monochrome
white
Arnold
Newman,
Josef
Albers,
1948
Photograph
of
Robert
Rauschenberg
seated
on
UnKtled
(Elemental
Sculpture)
with
White
PainKng
(seven
panel)
behind
him
at
the
basement
of
Stable
Gallery,
New
York
(1953).
©
Photograph:
Allan
Grant
Life
Magazine

18. Robert
Rauschenberg
They
were
the
inspiraKon
for
Cage’s
4’
33”
Robert
Rauschenberg,
White
PainHng,
1951
Guggenheim
Museum

19. Robert
Rauschenberg
The
painKngs
were
so
blank
they
became
recepKve
to
the
shadows
and
other
effects
caused
by
the
surrounding
environment
In
the
words
of
Cage,
these
painKngs
“were
airports
for
shadows
and
for
dust,
but
you
could
also
say
that
they
were
mirrors
of
the
air.”
Robert
Rauschenberg,
White
PainHng,
1951
Guggenheim
Museum

20. Robert
Rauschenberg
“What
Rauschenberg
was
geong
at
was
a
kind
of
painKng
in
which
the
arKst
-­‐-­‐
his
personality,
his
emoKons,
his
ideas,
his
taste
-­‐-­‐
would
not
be
the
controlling
element.
He
was
thus
moving
in
a
direcKon
contrary
to
the
subjecKve
art
of
the
New
York
Abstract
Expressionists
–
the
so-­‐
called
“acKon
painters,”
who
have
sought
to
make
their
own
encounter
with
paint
and
canvas
the
subject
of
their
art.”
Calvin
Tomkins,
The
Bride
and
the
Bachelors:
Five
Masters
of
the
Avant
Garde,
p.
204
Robert
Rauschenberg,
White
PainHng,
1951
Guggenheim
Museum

21. Robert
Rauschenberg
“There
was
something
about
the
self-­‐confession
and
self-­‐
confusion
of
abstract
expressionism
-­‐-­‐
as
though
the
man
and
the
work
were
the
same
-­‐-­‐
that
personally
always
put
me
off
because
at
that
Kme
my
focus
was
in
the
opposite
direcKon.
I
was
busy
trying
to
find
ways
where
the
imagery,
the
material
and
the
meaning
of
the
painKng
would
be,
not
an
illustraKon
of
my
will,
but
more
like
an
unbiased
documentaKon
of
what
I
observed,
leong
the
area
of
feeling
and
meaning
take
care
of
itself.”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Martha
Holmes,
Painter
Jackson
Pollock
working
in
his
studio,
cigare^e
in
mouth,
dropping
paint
onto
canvas,
1949
LIFE

22. Robert
Rauschenberg
The
picture
is
no
longer
“about”
the
arKst
Its
content
is
the
viewer’s
own
perceptual
experience
Robert
Rauschenberg,
White
PainHng,
1951
Guggenheim
Museum
Ellsworth
Kelly,
Colors
for
a
Large
Wall,
1951
Museum of Modern Art

23. Robert
Rauschenberg
In
1957
Rauschenberg
created
Factum
I
and
Factum
II
-­‐-­‐
two
pictures
that
were
idenKcal
to
one
another
He
wanted
to
see
if
there
was
any
difference
between
the
“original”
and
its
“copy”
He
said
he
couldn’t
tell
the
difference
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Factum
I
and
Factum
II,
1957
Museum
of
Contemporary
Art
Los
Angeles
and
Museum
of
Modern
Art

24. Which
one
is
authenKcally
“expressive”
and
which
one
is
“faked
emoKon”?
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Factum
I
and
Factum
II,
1957
Museum
of
Contemporary
Art
Los
Angeles
and
Museum
of
Modern
Art

25. Robert
Rauschenberg
Erased
de
Kooning
draws
on
a
familiar
Dada
strategy
–
the
act
of
defacing
a
work
of
art
Marcel
Duchamp,
L.H.O.O.Q.,
1919,
Private
collecKon
Image
source:
About.com
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Erased
de
Kooning,
1953
SFMOMA

26. Robert
Rauschenberg
In
1955
Rauschenberg
created
his
first
combine
"Combine"
is
Rauschenberg's
term
for
a
work
that
joins
elements
of
painKng
and
sculpture.
.
.
A
Combine
is
not
only
a
painKng
transformed
into
a
sculpture
but
a
turbulent
collision
of
a
threadbare
downtown
lifestyle
with
the
demands
of
high
art.
Frances
Colpi^,
Art
in
America
h^p://findarKcles.com/p/arKcles/
mi_m1248/is_11_94/ai_n27084087/
pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
1955
Museum
of
Modern
Art

27. Robert
Rauschenberg
It
consists
of
actual
bed
sheets,
pillow,
and
quilt,
spla^ered
with
paint
and
scribbles,
and
hung
verKcally
like
a
painKng
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
1955
Museum
of
Modern
Art

29. Robert
Rauschenberg
Is
this
“painKng”?
Is
this
“sculpture”?
Is
this
“art”?
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
in
Museum
of
Modern
Art
Image
source:
h^p://seamslikely.blogspot.com/
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
1955
Museum
of
Modern
Art

30. Robert
Rauschenberg
Pollock
had
already
challenged
the
idea
that
art
must
be
made
from
“fine
art”
materials
Martha
Holmes,
Jackson
Pollock
pouring
sand
into
his
painKng,
1949
LIFE

31. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg
took
this
one
step
further
by
suggesKng
that
art
could
be
made,
literally,
from
anything
“PainKng
relates
to
both
art
and
life.
Neither
can
be
made.
(I
try
to
act
in
the
gap
between
the
two).
A
pair
of
socks
is
no
less
suitable
to
make
a
painKng
than
wood,
nails,
turpenKne,
oil,
and
fabric.”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Wallace
Kirkland,
Robert
Rauschenberg
creaKng
artwork
using
blueprint
paper
and
sun
lamp.
1951
LIFE

32. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg
was
looking
for
a
way
to
make
art
that
did
not
involve
simulated
realiKes
or
emoKons
“I
don’t
want
a
picture
to
look
like
something
it
isn’t.
I
want
it
to
look
like
something
it
is”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
1955
Museum
of
Modern
Art

33. Robert
Rauschenberg
He
liked
to
work
with
real
things
because
it
leaves
room
for
the
viewer
“I
would
like
to
make
a
painKng
and
a
situaKon
that
leaves
as
much
space
for
the
person
looking
at
it
as
for
the
arKst.”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
1955
Museum
of
Modern
Art

34. Robert
Rauschenberg
What
is
the
difference
between
a
“painKng”
and
an
“object”?
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Bed,
in
Museum
of
Modern
Art
Image
source:
h^p://seamslikely.blogspot.com/
Un-­‐made
Bed
I
Image
source:
h^p://denisefotheringham.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/the-­‐narraKve-­‐conKnued/

35. Robert
Rauschenberg
We
expect
a
picture
to
express
an
arKst’s
idea
Felipe
T.
Marques
Image
source:
h^p://www.flickr.com/photos/pseudopff/51890707/

36. Robert
Rauschenberg
Objects
mean
only
what
we
bring
to
them
Un-­‐made
Bed
I
Image
source:
h^p://denisefotheringham.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/the-­‐narraKve-­‐conKnued/

37. Robert
Rauschenberg
“I
don’t
want
a
painKng
to
be
just
an
expression
of
my
personality.
I
feel
it
ought
to
be
much
be^er
than
that.
And
I’m
opposed
to
the
whole
idea
of
concepKon-­‐execuKon
-­‐-­‐
of
geong
an
idea
for
a
picture
and
then
carrying
it
out.
I’ve
always
felt
as
though,
whatever
I’ve
used
and
whatever
I’ve
done,
the
method
was
always
closer
to
a
collaboraKon
with
materials
than
to
any
kind
of
conscious
manipulaKon
and
control.”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Photograph
of
Robert
Rauschenberg
seated
on
UnKtled
(Elemental
Sculpture)
with
White
PainKng
(seven
panel)
behind
him
at
the
basement
of
Stable
Gallery,
New
York
(1953).
©
Photograph:
Allan
Grant
Life
Magazine

38. Robert
Rauschenberg
"I
want
to
eliminate
the
'I
made
this'
from
my
work.”
Ellsworth
Kelly
“I
am
less
interested
in
marks
on
the
panels
than
the
‘presence’
of
the
panels
themselves.
In
‘Red,
Yellow,
Blue,’
the
square
panels
present
color.”
Ellsworth
Kelly
Ellsworth
Kelly.
Photograph
©
Jack
Shear

39. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg’s
combines
are
a
random
collecKon
of
elements
drawn
from
everyday
life
In
Canyon,
the
arKst
affixed
a
taxidermed
bird
to
the
canvas,
along
with
a
pillow
dangling
from
a
piece
of
rope
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Canyon,
1959
Private
collecKon

40. Robert
Rauschenberg
First
Landing
Jump
includes
automobile
parts
and
a
working
light
bulb
Robert
Rauschenberg,
First
Landing,
Jump,
1961
Museum
of
Modern
Art

41. Robert
Rauschenberg
There
were
other
arKsts
making
art
from
“junk”
in
the
1950s,
but
they
transformed
their
materials
into
aestheKcally
pleasing
objects
Louise
Nevelson,
Black
Wall,
1964,
Hirshhorn
John
Chamberlain,
Hatband,
1960

42. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg
lev
his
materials
in
their
raw
un-­‐edited
state
Robert
Rauschenberg,
First
Landing,
Jump,
1961
Museum
of
Modern
Art

43. Robert
Rauschenberg
“Some
art
tries
to
transcend
messy
reality.
The
combines
celebrate
it
.
.
.
They're
in
the
trenches,
where
real
life
happens.”
Michael
Kimmelman,
“Art
Out
of
Anything:
Rauschenberg
in
Retrospect,”
New
York
Times,
Dec
23,
2005
h^p://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/
visualarts/NYT-­‐Kimmelman-­‐Rauschenberg-­‐in-­‐
Retrospect-­‐12-­‐23-­‐05.html
Robert
Rauschenberg
retrospecKve
at
the
Metropolitan
Museum,
2005
Image
source:
h^p://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/NYT-­‐Kimmelman-­‐Rauschenberg-­‐in-­‐
Retrospect-­‐12-­‐23-­‐05.html

44. Robert
Rauschenberg
“Rauschenberg’s
uncompromising
acceptance
of
‘inappropriate’
materials
unequivocally
marked
him
as
a
renegade
.
.
.
The
results
infuriated
criKcs
.
.
.
The
component
materials
of
his
‘combines’
.
.
.
seemed
u^erly
too
ephemeral
and
pedestrian
to
qualify
as
high
art.
“
Barbara
Haskell
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Canyon,
1959
Private
collecKon

45. Robert
Rauschenberg
One
of
Rauschenberg’s
most
controversial
pieces
was
Monogram
In
this
work,
the
arKst
placed
a
stuffed
goat
on
a
canvas
laid
horizontally
on
the
floor
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

49. Robert
Rauschenberg
What
is
a
painKng?
Does
it
have
to
be
on
“canvas”?
Does
it
have
to
go
on
the
wall?
“Aver
you
recognize
that
the
canvas
you
are
painKng
on
is
simply
another
rag
then
it
doesn’t
ma^er
whether
you
use
stuffed
chickens
or
electric
light
bulbs
or
pure
form”
Robert
Rauschenberg
"There
is
no
reason
not
to
consider
the
world
as
one
giganKc
painKng."
Robert
Rauschenberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

50. Robert
Rauschenberg
By
taking
the
“painKng”
off
the
wall
and
puong
it
on
the
floor,
Rauschenberg
was
re-­‐defining
what
a
“picture”
is
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

51. Robert
Rauschenberg
“For
the
criKc
Leo
Steinberg,
Rauschenberg’s
work
.
.
.
marked
a
highly
significant
turn
in
the
development
of
painKng.
This
was
a
turn
away
from
the
idea
of
painKng
as
an
illusion
of
space
behind
the
literal
plane
of
the
canvas,
and
toward
the
‘flatbed
picture
plane’
in
which
the
canvas
becomes
a
surface
more
like
a
table-­‐top
or
pin-­‐board.”
David
Batchelor,
Minimalism,
p.
15
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

52. Robert
Rauschenberg
“This
is
not
a
composiKon.
It
is
a
place
where
things
are,
as
on
a
table
or
a
town
seen
from
the
air”
John
Cage
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

53. Robert
Rauschenberg
Do
these
random
elements
add
up
to
make
a
story?
Robert
Rauschenberg,
First
Landing,
Jump,
1961
Museum
of
Modern
Art

54. Robert
Rauschenberg
Scholars
have
a^empted
to
decipher
the
dense
iconography
of
the
combines
Rembrandt,
The
AbducHon
of
Ganymede,
1635
Alte
Meister
Gallerie,
Dresden,
Germany
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Canyon,
1959
Private
collecKon

55. Robert
Rauschenberg
Many
have
detected
homosexual
allusions
William
Holman
Hunt,
The
Scapegoat,
1854-­‐55
Lady
Lever
Art
Gallery,
Liverpool
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Monogram,
1955-­‐9
Moderna
Museet,
Stockholm

56. Robert
Rauschenberg
But
Rauschenberg’s
combines
ulKmately
defy
-­‐-­‐
and
oven
exceed
-­‐-­‐
any
singular
interpretaKon
Robert
Rauschenberg,
First
Landing,
Jump,
1961
Museum
of
Modern
Art

57. Robert
Rauschenberg
“I
believe,
however,
that
.
.
.
this
search
for
the
"hidden
meaning"
is
misguided-­‐-­‐not
because
it
is
wrong
(there
can
be
no
"wrong"
interpretaKon
of
Rauschenberg,
as
John
Cage
noted),
but
because
it
is
too
limited.
Or
rather
too
limiKng:
Profoundly
anKtheKcal
to
Rauschenberg's
Cagean
leveling
of
hierarchies,
this
approach
edits
out
the
noise
and
selects,
among
many
possible
elements,
those
that
can
be
synthesized
into
a
narraKve
through
a
chain
of
associaKon
.
.
.
this
iconological
method
surrepKKously
transforms
Rauschenberg's
Combines
into
old-­‐master
pictures.”
Yves
Alain
Blois,
“Rauschenberg’s
Combines,”
Arorum
March
2006
h^p://findarKcles.com/p/arKcles/mi_m0268/is_7_44/
ai_n26804452/pg_2?tag=content;col1
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Canyon,
1959
Private
collecKon

58. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg’s
combines
are
as
clu^ered
and
random
as
life
itself
And
life
cannot
be
reduced
to
a
simple
narraKve
or
meaning
Robert
Rauschenberg,
First
Landing,
Jump,
1961
Museum
of
Modern
Art

59. Robert
Rauschenberg
In
1962
Rauschenberg
discovered
the
technique
of
photo
silkscreen,
already
being
used
by
Andy
Warhol
Andy
Warhol,
Double
Elvis,
1963
MOMA

60. Robert
Rauschenberg
This
technique
of
transferring
ready-­‐
made
images
from
the
media
became
the
basis
for
his
silkscreen
painKngs
of
the
1960’s
Burton
Berinsky,
Robert
Rauschenberg
with
silkscreen
painKngs,
1967
Image
source:
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/0,9171,1806817,00.html

61. Robert
Rauschenberg
Media
imagery
became
a
new
kind
of
“found
object”
John
F.
Kennedy
accepKng
the
DemocraKc
presidenKal
nominaKon,
July
15,
1960
Image
source:
h^p://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/VCE/
JFK_Accepts/
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

62. Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Robert
Rauschenberg,
Estate,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum
Philadelphia
Museum
of
Art

63. Robert
Rauschenberg
As
John
Cage
observed,
the
imagery
streams
across
the
picture
like
mulKple
TV
sets
tuned
to
different
channels
John
F.
Kennedy,
1960
Image
source:
h^p://pro.corbis.com/Enlargement/
Enlargement.aspx?id=IH015378&ext=1
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

64. Robert
Rauschenberg
“I
was
bombarded
with
television
sets
and
magazines,
by
the
excess
of
the
world.
I
thought
an
honest
work
should
incorporate
all
of
those
elements,
which
were
and
are
a
reality.”
Robert
Rauschenberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

65. Robert
Rauschenberg
“I
find
it
nearly
impossible
to
free
ice
to
write
about
Jeepaxle
my
work.
The
concept
I
planetarium
struggle
to
deal
with
ketchup
is
opposed
to
the
logical
community
liv
tab
inherent
in
language
horses
and
communicaKon.
My
fascinaKon
with
images
open
24
hrs.
is
based
on
the
complex
interlocking
if
disparate
visual
facts
heated
pool
that
have
no
respect
for
grammar.
The
form
then
Denver
39
is
second
hand
to
nothing.
The
work
then
has
a
chance
to
electric
service
become
its
own
cliche.
Luggage.
This
is
the
inevitable
fate”
Robert
Rauschnberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

66. Robert
Rauschenberg
“Rauschenberg’s
canvases
were
loaded
with
image
shards
.
.
.
The
surface
of
the
painKng
now
received
a
kaleidoscope
of
informaKon,
a
process
that
created
what
the
art
historian
Leo
Steinberg
called
a
‘flatbed
picture
plane’
.
.
.
[which]]
was
a
metaphor
for
the
contemporary
mind
itself
-­‐-­‐
a
‘running
transformer
of
the
external
world,
constantly
ingesKng
incoming
unprocessed
data
to
be
mapped
in
an
overcharged
field.”
Lisa
Phillips.
The
American
Century
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

67. Robert
Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg’s
“kitchen-­‐sink-­‐and-­‐all”
approach
to
art
was
a
direct
assault
on
the
“purity”
demanded
by
Clement
Greenberg
and
other
advocates
of
“pure
painKng”
“There
is
simply
no
way
to
fit
an
arKst
like
Rauschenberg
into
a
scheme
of
theory
that
insists
art
has
to
get
purer
and
purer
and
fla^er
and
fla^er
unKl
its
"pictorial
essence"
is
at
last
defined
.
.
.
Our
experience
of
the
world
and
of
art,
he
insists,
is
never
pure
and
cannot
be.”
Robert
Hughes
h^p://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/jan/26/
art1
Clement
Greenberg
looking
at
a
painKng
by
Ken
Noland
Image
source:
h^ps://www.artnet.sk/Magazine/features/kostabi/kostabi9-­‐11-­‐18.asp

68. Robert
Rauschenberg
He
proposed
that
anything
could
be
the
material
of
art
“It
is
largely,
if
not
exclusively,
thanks
to
Robert
Rauschenberg
that
Americans
since
the
1950's
have
come
to
think
that
art
can
be
made
out
of
anything
.
.
.
[and]
to
suggest
that
the
stuff
of
life
and
the
stuff
of
art
are
ulKmately
one
and
the
same.”
Michael
Kimmelman,
Art
Out
of
Anything:
Rauschenberg
in
Retrospect,
NY
Times,
December
23,
2005
h^p://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/
visualarts/NYT-­‐Kimmelman-­‐Rauschenberg-­‐in-­‐
Retrospect-­‐12-­‐23-­‐05.html
Wallace
Kirkland,
Robert
Rauschenberg
creaKng
artwork
using
blueprint
paper
and
sun
lamp.
1951
LIFE

69. Robert
Rauschenberg
But
Rauschenberg
also
challenged
the
prevailing
noKon
of
art
as
individual
expression
“Rauschenberg
a^empted
to
deny
that
there
was
a
fixed
core
idenKty
at
all
.
.
.
.
Instead
of
discovering
oneself
in
the
act
of
painKng,
one
perpetually
reconstructs
oneself
in
the
process
of
adapKng
to
one’s
encounters
with
the
world.”
Jonathan
Fineberg,
p.
178
Martha
Holmes,
Painter
Jackson
Pollock
working
in
his
studio,
cigare^e
in
mouth,
dropping
paint
onto
canvas,
1949
LIFE

70. Robert
Rauschenberg
Is
“self
expression”
ever
really
original,
or
is
it
merely
a
“collaboraKon”
with
pre-­‐exisKng
materials
and
meanings?
A
Lump
of
Clay
Image
source:
h^p://www.flickr.com/photos/
40298691@N00/101243346
Express
Yourself,
by
Monica
Arone
h^p://socialdesigner.com/submissions/express-­‐yourself

71. Robert
Rauschenberg
Do
images
express
our
ideas,
or
do
we
use
images
to
make
meaning?
Do
we
speak
language,
or
does
language
speak
us?
Barbara
Kruger,
You
Are
Not
Yourself,
1984
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

72. Jasper
Johns
Jasper
Johns
also
wanted
to
eliminate
the
“I
made
this”
from
his
art
Jasper
Johns
Image
source:
h^p://www.mycontemporary.com/gallery/arKst/name/
ma^hew_marks_gallery

73. Jasper
Johns
He
used
“readymade”
images
like
flags
and
targets
to
make
us
reflect
on
the
acKvity
of
seeing
and
knowing
“It
all
began,"
he
says,
"with
my
painKng
a
picture
of
an
American
flag.
Using
this
design
took
care
of
a
great
deal
for
me
because
I
didn't
Jasper
Johns,
Target,
1958
have
to
design
it.
So
I
went
on
to
similar
things
Image
source:
Saatchi
Gallery
like
the
targets—things
the
mind
already
knows.”
“Art:
His
Heart
Belongs
to
Dada,”
Time
Magazine,
May
4,
1959
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/
0,9171,892526,00.html
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
Museum
of
Modern
Art

74. Jasper
Johns
Rather
than
focus
on
the
arKst,
he
focused
on
the
role
of
the
viewer
in
making
meaning
Jasper
Johns
Flag
in
the
Museum
of
Modern
Art
Image
source:
h^p://www.daleyblog.com/weblog/photos/photoblog_04/

75. Jasper
Johns
Although
it
is
a
later
work,
The
CriHc
Sees
is
a
good
place
to
begin
Jasper
Johns,
The
CriHc
Sees,
1964

76. Jasper
Johns,
The
CriHc
Sees,
1964

77. Jasper
Johns
The
criKc
“sees”
with
his
mouth,
rather
than
his
eyes
Jasper
Johns,
The
CriHc
Sees,
1964

78. Jasper
Johns
This
means
he
does
not
“receive”
meaning,
but
imposes
his
own
ideas
on
the
work
Norman
Rockwell,
The
Connoisseur,
The
Saturday
Evening
Post,
January
13,
1962

79. Jasper
Johns
CriKcs
of
the
Kme
made
much
of
the
“expressive”
meaning
of
Abstract
Expressionism
Norman
Rockwell,
The
Connoisseur,
The
Saturday
Evening
Post,
January
13,
1962

80. Jasper
Johns
They
saw
the
arKst’s
personality
embedded
in
the
marks
he
made
on
the
canvas
“It
is
always
the
case
that
interpretaKon
of
this
type
indicates
a
dissaKsfacKon
(conscious
or
unconscious)
with
the
work,
a
wish
to
replace
it
by
something
else.
InterpretaKon,
based
on
the
highly
dubious
theory
that
a
work
of
art
is
composed
of
items
of
content,
violates
art.
It
makes
art
into
an
arKcle
for
use,
for
arrangement
into
a
mental
scheme
of
categories.”
Susan
Sontag,
“Against
InterpretaKon”

81. Jasper
Johns
Rauschenberg
and
Johns
did
not
buy
into
this
mythology
“Everything
Abstract
Expressionism
was,
Rauschenberg
and
Co.
weren't.
Ab-­‐Ex
was
big,
lovy,
abstract
and
made
by
older
straight
men.
This
neo-­‐Dada,
proto-­‐Pop
and
Pop
art
was
smaller,
cooler,
figuraKve,
vernacular
and
oven
made
by
younger
gay
men.
As
Rauschenberg
professed,
"I
could
never
make
the
language
of
Abstract
Expressionism
work
for
me
-­‐-­‐
words
like
'tortured,'
'struggle'
and
'pain,'
I
could
never
see
those
qualiKes
in
paint.
How
can
red
be
'passion?'
Red
is
red.
Jasper
and
I
used
to
start
each
day
by
having
to
move
out
from
Abstract
Expressionism.”
Jerry
Salz
h^p://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/
saltz1-­‐11-­‐06.asp
Jasper
Johns,
PainHng
with
Two
Balls,
1960.
EncausKc
and
collage
on
canvas
with
objects.
CollecKon
of
the
arKst

82. Jasper
Johns
PanHng
with
Two
Balls
is
an
ironic
send
up
of
the
mythology
of
Abstract
Expressionism
Jasper
Johns,
PainHng
with
Two
Balls,
1960.
EncausKc
and
collage
on
canvas
with
objects.
CollecKon
of
the
arKst

83. Jasper
Johns
Johns
was
deeply
influenced
by
the
linguisKc
theories
of
Ludwig
Wi^genstein
Jasper
Johns
in
1966
with
one
of
his
flag
painKngs
Image
source:
h^p://angelfloresjr.mulKply.com/journal/item/6965?
&show_intersKKal=1&u=%2Fjournal%2Fitem

84. Jasper
Johns
Wi^genstein
proposed
that
the
meaning
of
language
is
not
“intrinsic”
to
the
words
themselves,
but
is
socially
produced

85. Jasper
Johns
LinguisKc
theory
teaches
us
that
the
relaKon
between
“signifiers”
and
“signifieds”
is
arbitrary,
rather
than
inherent

86. Jasper
Johns
False
Start
explores
the
slippery
relaKonship
between
signifiers
and
signifieds
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

88. Jasper
Johns
What
is
the
relaKonship
between
a
color
and
its
name?
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

89. Jasper
Johns
What
happens
when
you
separate
a
signifier
from
its
signified?
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

90. Jasper
Johns
It
is
similar
to
what
happens
when
you
repeat
a
word
over
and
over
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
RedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRedRed
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

91. Jasper
Johns
The
word
becomes
dislocated
from
its
meaning
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

92. Jasper
Johns
And
we
see
it
“as
it
is”
for
the
first
Kme
-­‐-­‐
divorced
from
the
convenKonal
meaning
a^ached
to
it
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

93. Jasper
Johns
To
see
with
our
eyes
is
very
different
from
seeing
with
our
mind
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

94. Jasper
Johns
Ellsworth
Kelly,
and
Josef
Albers
were
both
exploring
this
idea
by
different
means
Josef
Albers,
Homage
to
the
Square:
With
Rays,
1959
Metropolitan
Museum
Ellsworth
Kelly,
Colors
for
a
Large
Wall,
1951
Museum of Modern Art

95. Jasper
Johns
And
so
were
Robert
Rauschenberg
and
John
Cage
Photograph
of
Robert
Rauschenberg
seated
on
UnKtled
(Elemental
Sculpture)
with
White
PainKng
(seven
panel)
behind
him
at
the
basement
of
Stable
Gallery,
New
York
(1953).
©
Photograph:
Allan
Grant
Life
Magazine

96. Jasper
Johns
The
mind,
with
its
expectaKons,
said
there
was
nothing
to
see
or
hear
Photograph
of
Robert
Rauschenberg
seated
on
UnKtled
(Elemental
Sculpture)
with
White
PainKng
(seven
panel)
behind
him
at
the
basement
of
Stable
Gallery,
New
York
(1953).
©
Photograph:
Allan
Grant
Life
Magazine

97. Jasper
Johns
But
if
one
truly
looked
or
listened,
without
preconcepKon,
there
was
much
to
see
and
hear
Photograph
of
Robert
Rauschenberg
seated
on
UnKtled
(Elemental
Sculpture)
with
White
PainKng
(seven
panel)
behind
him
at
the
basement
of
Stable
Gallery,
New
York
(1953).
©
Photograph:
Allan
Grant
Life
Magazine

98. Jasper
Johns
By
dislocaKng
signifiers
from
their
signifieds,
Johns
forces
us
to
think
about
the
relaKons
between
seeing
and
knowing
“How
can
red
be
'passion?'
Red
is
red.
Jasper
and
I
used
to
start
each
day
by
having
to
move
out
from
Abstract
Expressionism.”
Jerry
Salz
h^p://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/
saltz1-­‐11-­‐06.asp
Jasper
Johns,
False
Start,
1959
Museum
of
Modern
Art

99. Jasper
Johns
The
work
that
catapulted
Johns
to
fame
was
his
painKng
of
a
flag
“Jasper
Johns,
29,
is
the
brand-­‐new
darling
of
the
art
world's
bright,
bri^le
avantgarde.
A
year
ago
he
was
pracKcally
unknown;
since
then
he
has
had
a
sellout
show
in
Manha^an,
has
exhibited
in
Paris
and
Milan,
was
the
only
American
to
win
a
painKng
prize
at
the
Carnegie
InternaKonal,
and
has
seen
three
of
his
painKngs
bought
for
Manha^an's
Museum
of
Modern
Art
by
Director
of
CollecKons
Alfred
Barr
Jr.”
“Art:
His
Heart
Belongs
to
Dada,”
Time
Magazine,
May
4,
1959
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/
Eliot
Elisofon,
Art
dealer
Leo
Castelli
in
his
art
gallery
surrounded
by
artwork
(L-­‐R):
Arundel
0,9171,892526,00.html
Castle
by
Frank
Stella,
American
Flag
by
Jasper
Johns,
unKtled
by
Lee
Bontecou,
Torso
by
Eugene
Higgens
and
The
Bed
by
Robert
Rauschenberg,
1960
LIFE

100. Jasper
Johns
The
painKng
looks
simple,
but
the
quesKons
it
raises
are
complex
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

101. Jasper
Johns
Is
it
a
painKng
or
an
object?
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

102. “I've
always
thought
of
a
painKng
as
a
surface;
painKng
it
in
one
color
made
this
very
clear.
Then
I
decided
that
looking
at
a
painKng
should
not
require
a
special
kind
of
focus
like
going
to
church.
A
picture
ought
to
be
looked
at
the
same
way
you
look
at
a
radiator.”
Jasper
Johns,
“Art:
His
Heart
Belongs
to
Dada,”
Time
Magazine,
May
4,
1959
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/
arKcle/0,9171,892526,00.html

103. Jasper
Johns
Is
it
“expressive”?
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

106. Jasper
Johns
What
makes
a
“drip”
or
a
“smudge”
expressive?
“I
didn’t
want
my
work
to
be
an
exposure
of
my
feelings.”
Jasper
Johns

107. Jasper
Johns
Does
it
have
meaning?
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

108. Jasper
Johns
What
did
the
flag
mean
in
the
1950s?
Robert
Frank,
Parade
–
Hoboken,
New
Jersey
From
the
Americans,
1958
Senator
Joseph
McCarthy,
Time,
March
8,
1954

109. Jasper
Johns
“Nineteen
fivy-­‐four
was,
in
reality,
a
year
of
hysterical
patrioKsm
.
.
.
.
This
was
the
year
when
McCarty,
pushing
his
luck
too
far,
had
taken
on
the
Army
as
a
new
domain
of
invesKgaKons
.
.
.
.
The
American
public
was
bombarded
with
uninterrupted
media
coverage
.
.
.
.
Johns
took
the
American
flag
and
reduced
it
from
a
potenKally
emoKonal
symbol
to
a
passive,
flat,
neutral
object
.”
Moira
Roth,
“An
AestheKcs
of
Indifference,”
Arorum,
Nov
1977,
p.
50
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

110. Jasper
Johns
“But
I
wasn't
trying
to
make
a
patrioKc
statement,"
says
Johns.
"Many
people
thought
it
was
subversive
and
nasty.
It's
funny
how
feeling
has
flipped.”
Interview
with
Jasper
Johns
h^p://www.buzzle.com/editorials/
7-­‐26-­‐2004-­‐57112.asp
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA

111. Jasper
Johns
It
is
impossible
to
a^ribute
arKsKc
intenKon
to
the
flag,
since
it
is
essenKally
a
“found
object”
The
arKst
is
not
the
“author”
of
its
meaning
Jasper
Johns
Flag
in
the
Museum
of
Modern
Art
Image
source:
h^p://www.daleyblog.com/weblog/photos/photoblog_04/

112. Jasper
Johns
In
his
series
of
targets,
Johns
employed
another
familiar
symbol
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Plaster
Casts,
1955

113. Jasper
Johns
The
target
moKf
has
also
been
interpreted
as
an
invesKgaKon
into
familiar
public
symbols
and
their
presumed
meaning
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Plaster
Casts,
1955

114. Jasper
Johns
“Everyone
"knows"
what
a
target
is-­‐-­‐a
test
of
a
marksman's
skill.
But
beneath
its
muteness
a
target
is
supercharged
with
an
imagery
of
aggression:
every
target
implies
a
weapon
and
someone
aiming.
This
had
an
inescapable
point
in
the
mid-­‐'50s,
when
poliKcians
and
all
the
American
media
were
pounding
into
the
collecKve
imaginaKon,
like
a
10-­‐in.
spike,
the
message
that
the
whole
naKon
was
a
target
for
Russian
thermonuclear
weapons.”
Robert
Hughes,
“Behind
the
Sacred
Aura,”
Time
Magazine,
Nov
11
1996
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/
0,9171,985520-­‐2,00.html
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Plaster
Casts,
1955

115. Jasper
Johns
The
compartments
above
are
filled
with
plaster
casts
of
body
parts
–
which
evokes
another
kind
of
“targeKng”
“This
is
part
of
the
background
to
Johns'
targets,
and
a
li^le
further
back
is
another
form
of
"targeKng"-­‐-­‐the
virulent
hatred
and
distrust
of
homosexuals
as
deviants
and
possible
spies
that
the
right
encouraged.”
Robert
Hughes,
“Behind
the
Sacred
Aura,”
Time
Magazine,
Nov
11
1996
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/
0,9171,985520-­‐2,00.html
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Plaster
Casts,
1955

116. Jasper
Johns
“Four
Faces,
1955,
is
all
about
threat
and
concealment.
Its
impassive,
idenKcal
plaster
casts
of
faces
are
contained
in
a
box
with
a
hinged
door,
a
"closet"
above
the
ominous
target.
Your
gaze,
in
looking
at
them,
is
assimilated
to
the
eye
of
the
inquisitor,
hunKng
out
what
is
concealed.
It
is
a
pessimisKc
and,
above
all,
defensive
image.”
Robert
Hughes,
“Behind
the
Sacred
Aura,”
Time
Magazine,
Nov
11
1996
h^p://www.Kme.com/Kme/magazine/arKcle/
0,9171,985520-­‐2,00.html
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Four
Faces,
1955

117. Jasper
Johns
“Bodies,
we
believe,
simply
mean
-­‐-­‐
though
of
course
they
mean
differenKally:
female
bodies
mean
differently
than
male,
black
than
white,
old
than
young,
and
so
on.
In
this
context,
these
plaster
casts,
defleshed,
decontextualized,
made
arKfact,
strip
the
body
of
any
‘inherent’
corporeal
meanings.
Instead,
the
body
-­‐-­‐
just
like
a
target
-­‐-­‐
conspicuously
awaits
its
use
by
the
viewer.”
Jonathan
Katz,
“Dismembership:
Jasper
Johns
and
the
Body
Policic,”
in
Amelia
Jones,
ed.
Performing
the
Body/Performing
the
Text
(Routledge,
1999),
p.
177
Jasper
Johns,
Target
with
Four
Faces,
1955

118. Jasper
Johns
In
his
flags
and
targets
Jasper
Johns
drew
on
Marcel
Duchamp’s
concept
of
the
“readymade”
Jasper
Johns,
Flag,
1954-­‐5
MOMA
Marcel
Duchamp,
Bicycle
Wheel,
1913
MOMA

119. Jasper
Johns
Painted
Bronze
explored
the
concept
of
the
readymade
from
a
different
angle
“I
was
doing
at
that
Kme
sculptures
of
small
objects
–
flashlights
and
light
bulbs.
Then
I
heard
a
story
about
Willem
de
Kooning.
He
was
annoyed
with
my
dealer,
Leo
Castelli,
for
some
reason,
and
said
something
like,
‘That
son-­‐of-­‐a-­‐bitch;
you
could
give
him
two
beer
cans
and
he
could
sell
them.’”
Jasper
Johns
Jasper
Johns,
Painted
Bronze,
1960

121. Jasper
Johns
Is
this
“art?
Jasper
Johns,
Painted
Bronze,
1960

122. Jasper
Johns
Why
is
Painted
Bronze
different
from
Degas’
Liale
Dancer?
Jasper
Johns,
Painted
Bronze,
1960
Degas,
Liale
Dancer,
1880;
1922
Metropolitan
Museum

123. Summary
“Advanced
art,
from
Walt
Whitman
to
Jackson
Pollock,
for
the
most
part
rested
on
the
romanKc
assumpKon
that
meaningful
subject
ma^er
emanates
from
within
the
individual.
But
the
art
of
both
Robert
Rauschenberg
and
Jasper
Johns
called
this
noKon
into
quesKon.”
Jonathan
Fineberg
Jackson
Pollock
in
front
of
a
blank
canvas

124. Summary
“In
an
implicit
a^ack
on
ontology
they
recast
man
as
a
nexus
of
informaKon,
reorienKng
input
rather
than
originaKng
content.”
Jonathan
Fineberg
Robert
Rauschenberg,
RetroacHve
I,
1963
Wadsworth
Atheneum

125. Summary
“By
the
end
of
the
fivies
the
human
mind
began
to
seem
to
more
and
more
arKsts
and
intellectuals
like
a
complex
circuit
board
for
processing
‘nature.’
Meanwhile,
‘nature’
came
increasingly
to
mean
representaKons
of
things
as
well
as
the
things
themselves.
This
radical
shiv
in
culture
affected
all
quarters
of
the
culture,
with
the
explosive
development
in
electronics
and
mass
media
being
its
major
catalyst.”
Jonathan
Fineberg
Marshal
McLuhan
Image
source:
h^p://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/03/marshall-­‐mcluhan-­‐and-­‐the-­‐wired-­‐
future/

126. Summary
Marshal
McLuhan
Image
source:
h^p://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/03/marshall-­‐mcluhan-­‐and-­‐the-­‐wired-­‐
future/