Assessment 3_An Interview with Bird in Space_Frances Danckert_s3850908

IN CONVERSATION

L’OISEAU DANS L’ESPACE

ART SUCCEEDING THE ARTIST WRITTEN BY FR ANCES DANCKERT

(Figure 1) Cover Image: Sunami, Soichi. 1944. “Installation view of the exhibition, “Design for Use,” in the series, “Art in Progress: 15th Anniversary Exhibition.””. The Museum of Modern Art Archives. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81033?installation_image_index=1.

Figure 1: cfm?irn=74152.

Steichen, Edward. 1953. “No title (Brâncuși’s “Bird in Space” sculpture)”. National Gallery of Australia. https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.

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background L’Oiseau dans l’espace (Bird in Space) is an established sculptural form existing in 16 versions (seven in marble, nine in bronze) developed by Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuşi. The bird was a dominant theme in Brâncuşi’s body of work; over a period of at least 30 years (c. 1910-1936) he completed 27 sculptures of birds, in increasing stages of abstraction.

Sitting down with one of the final refinements of Bird in Space, we discuss questions of life, philosophy and decades of influence from the perspective of an incredibly influential piece of art that has succeeded its artist.

All images credited are the works of Constantin Brâncuşi (1876-1957). Any others not listed are original works of Frances Danckert (2020).

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(Figure 2)

III WHAT DOES THE NOTION OF POWER MEAN TO YOU?

Power is integral to life. There is an element of duality and struggle within us all. Pain, and the struggle for life is inherent and universal to the human condition. The essence of creation, the reason why we feel the need to venture out into the world and claim a space in it is to find this power within ourselves. We ourselves are created, we came onto this earth out of circumstances not of our own doing, and so we spend our lives trying to make sense of that. We reach out into the void to claim a sense of power and competence back from the absurdity of our existence.

The whole idea of myself is competing with nature - I came into existence at a time of great experimentation and challenge; Brâncuşi was pushing boundaries, seeing how far he could stretch his own existence and in turn, mine.1 We create these things, not knowing of the consequence or the influence that they may have and spend the rest of our time grappling with nature to gain control.

I am of the belief that art is above Man himself. I am something more-than; the determination of which is not my own, but of each individual standing in front of me at countless points in time. Does that give me power, or power to the people? Is power itself ours to own, or is it ever-present, constantly ebbing and flowing between different weights of balance?

There is also incredible power in numbers. I am one of 16 iterations, 16 lengthenings and abstractions of form;2 I’m neither the beginning nor the end, but a marker point in a journey of dedication to practice. We live in a world which has a constant yearning and desire for a new form, a new material realisation.

Through the senses you develop ideas, and Brâncuşi was able to abstract these ideas to a point of pure sensory immersion. The birds are more than sculptural pieces, we are vehicles to have a dialogue about life, the fleeting nature of it and the power found in the knowledge and acceptance of impermanence. The multiples are about our place within the community, within the flock. Standing in front of me right now, what do you feel? I am the embodiment of big ideas, vast notions of time and space that you can feel within your own body. What it feels like to be in flight, to be ascending the material plain.

1 Dr. Steven Zucker, Dr. Beth Harris, Brâncuși, Bird in Space (01 October 2011) Smart History <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWTzH7RV80g&list=LL6uLRceqXzcaW-7ITjZt0Nw&index=6&t=0s> 2 National Gallery of Australia, Constantin BRÂNCUŞI, L’oiseau dans l’espace [Bird in space] (n.d) European and American Paintings and Sculptures <https://nga.gov.au/international/catalogue/detail.cfm?IRN=89748> Figure 2: jpg

Faujour, Jacques. 1931-1936. “Constantin Brâncuși – Oiseau dans l’espace, “Bird in Space” (Black marble)”.Imgur. https://i.imgur.com/OaITh1w.

IV YOU’VE EXHIBITED IN AND HAVE BEEN OBSERVING THE ART WORLD FOR ALMOST A CENTURY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEPTION?

The nature of art is always changing. It shifts and changes with society and at times reacts against it. This much we know to be true. The influence of perception is never a standalone element. It’s a multi-faceted beast that draws on the changing variables of each individual’s politics, sociology, culture, gender and race.3 People’s understanding of art will always develop and change over time.

Things that hold a significant meaning now, will take an entirely different shape in another 30 years. It’s all about learning how to view art with an informed context, an open frame of mind and being able to accept the fact that you most probably will never be able to grasp its full meaning in your lifetime.

For me, at the time of my creation, I was considered to be completely radical and controversial. “A bird?” People would say, “that’s not a bird.”

We were at a point in history where Brâncuşi was beginning to abstract from a fairly naturalistic image, into forms that were purer and more simplified down to their essential features.⁴ In museums today, 100 years later, people look at me and they know that what they’re looking at is a bird, because they’ve been trained to see art in this way. At that time, it was almost incomprehensible; that a sleek, seamless beacon could represent a bird. My existence redefined sculpture in the modern age and challenged people’s perception of the Renaissance ideologies of mimesis and direct representation.

The notion of the multiple sculptural iterations, in a number of ways, was a true challenge to the conventions around art that had built up in the West. From what I’ve seen over these past decades, society became very used to the idea of artists having a flash of inspiration, putting out solitary, standalone pieces of work, and then being done. That’s not necessarily the way that it happens.

It wasn’t until artists such as Brâncuşi, Picasso and Malevich started releasing obsessive, repetitive bodies of work that homed in on developing a fine-tuned outcome, that people’s understanding of what art could be, started to expand.

Myself, and the other birds in my flock emerged in the same way of a master slowly sharpening his toolset. We found our final shape as a result of many forces acting independently, and a layering of texture and seemingly uniform technique over time.

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(Figure 3)

(Figure 4)

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Eli Anapur, Perception in Art (06 December 2016) Wide Walls <https://www.widewalls.ch/perception-in-art/>

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National Gallery of Australia, BRÂNCUŞI

Figure 3: Brâncuși, Constantin. 1923. “A corner of the artist’s studio”. Mutual Art. https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/A-corner-of-the-artist-s-studio/2A56FB0AD684E7EB. Figure 4: National Gallery of Australia. N.D. “L’oiseau dans l’espace [Bird in space]”. National Gallery of Australia. https://nga.gov.au/international/ catalogue/detail.cfm?IRN=89748&ViewID=2&GalID=ALL.

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VII

Figure 5:

Brâncuși, Constantin. 1919. “Untitled (Golden Bird)”. The Museum of Modern Art. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/83685.

VIII

YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE CONSIDERED TO BE THE EMBODIMENT OF FLIGHT.

DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH THIS REPRESENTATION?

(Figure 6)

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I think this idea of flight and representation comes back to what we were discussing earlier; about the duality of our existence and the struggle between our physical being and our emotional or spiritual space. Oftentimes, when people look at me, they are seeing me through the lens of my title; a bird in space. My physicality is in direct opposition to my essence; the perception of flight and weightlessness.

My materiality is anchored in space; I am cast in highly polished bronze, mounted on a limestone pedestal, my internal structures supported by a metal rod.⁵ My brothers and sisters are carved of solid marble – these elements alone suggest permanence and rigidity. However, I am a dichotomy within myself. The reflectivity of my polished bronze outer looks like gold, the immersive experience that I create as a sculptural piece is all about light and movement. I am not a sculpture that is in any way a literal depiction of a bird, I am more a depiction of a soaring figure, gentle and fluid, organically arcing upwards towards the immaterial.⁶ As one moves around me and looks upward, the light that reflects off my body shifts and changes, flickering, almost kinetically, as if I truly were moving and soaring. Although I may be made of metal, my propulsion is in no way mechanical; in that moment I am flying.

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National Gallery of Australia, BRÂNCUŞI

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Zucker, Harris, Brâncuși, Bird in Space

Figure 6: Steichen, Edward. 1927. “The Bird: abstract brass sculpture”. Condé Nast. https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/abstract-brass-sculpture-by-the-franco-romanian-artist-news-photo/507050484?adppopup=true.

X WITH ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I’D LIKE TO GET YOUR OPINION ON THE STATE OF THE ART WORLD TODAY. WHAT TRAJECTORY DO YOU SEE ART MOVING FORWARD IN?

As I see it, the art market is becoming more about the acquisition of wealth and social status rather than the actual art. Big players are dominating the market and galleries and auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s are focusing more on selling to the highest bidder than supporting living, breathing artists.⁷ It’s all about the money, as it always has been for a long time – but it seems to be reaching breaking point. The nature of the art world as we know it today simply isn’t sustainable.

We are seeing 20th century masterpieces becoming inaccessible to the general public as private collectors tighten their hold on the market and bury the artworks they purchase in penthouse suites. Art should be for the public, but museums become cemeteries as most artworks in circulation are buried underground and rarely see the light of day. Even when they do, there are tensions between private money and public institutions, as we saw with renowned collectors Edlis and Gael Neeson’s $500 million donation of 43 works to the Chicago Art Institute. As per the terms of agreement, the works must stay on show until 2066.⁸ This raises the very real issue of everything becoming commodified – in a world where everything can be bought and sold, how do we truly determine the value of art?

I believe if the state of things continues as they are, we will see a revolt and a crash in the market, there must be a crash. Something drastic must change, it’s inevitable – the push of capitalism, technology and its grasp on the art world is going to eventually combust.

It’s not about stopping it, but about how we deal with it afterwards that matters.

7 Tim Schneider, ‘The Price of Everything’ Has a Vision of the Art Market to Sell You. Don’t Buy It (31 October 2018) Art Net News <https://news. artnet.com/market/price-of-everything-film-review-1384303> 8 Henri Neuendorf, Plastics Mogul Stefan Edlis Donates $500 Million to Art Institute of Chicago (22 April 2015) Art Net News <https://news. artnet.com/art-world/art-institute-chicago-donation-290762> Figure 7 (opposite page): Doorly, Denis. 2018-2019. “Constantin Brâncuși, Bird in Space, 1928”. The Museum of Modern Art. https://www.moma.org/collection/ works/81033?installation_image_index=14.

XI WHAT WOULD BE YOUR APPROACH?

Look, that’s a big question… ask me in another 100 years! I think in times like these, it always serves to analyse pivotal moments in history in order to prepare ourselves for the future. Art is intrinsically linked to the human condition, and is incredibly adaptable – it can and will change to fit every situation that it is put in. Though it may be true, that in some fundamental aspects art has lost its way, in previous times of struggle and chaos, new waves of art movements have emerged.

Think back to the destruction of artworks during Nazi rule in World War II,⁹ the suppression and censorship of artworks by the Soviet Union under Stalin,¹⁰ the silencing of female artists throughout history. Borne of these struggles we saw new facets of understanding rise; the birth of Suprematism brewed in the isolation of war, the discovery of countless saved masterpieces in the rubble of destruction and art lending its hand to the powerhouse of political activism.¹¹ Art will always find a way. I hope to see the end of money-hungry art fairs, biennials, triennials and the like – and what to replace them with? We won’t have an answer for that until it happens. The fact of the matter is, the future is wide open and unpredictable, but I do hope we are able to make art available to more than the 1%.

(Figure 7) 9 Max Fisher, Why Nazi-seized art is only now resurfacing – and how it will change the art world (06 November 2013) The Washington Post <https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/11/06/why-nazi-seized-art-is-only-now-resurfacing-and-how-it-will-change-the-art-world/> 10 Frances Spalding, Kazimir Malevich: the man who liberated painting (04 July 2014) The Guardian <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/04/kazimir-malevich-liberated-painting-tate> 11 Emma Brockes, The Guerrilla Girls: 30 years of punking art world sexism (30 April 2015) The Guardian <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/apr/29/the-guerrilla-girls-interview-art-world-sexism>\\