Farhad
to yield to accommodate materials chosen precisely because of their propensity to decay Would you help me to understand these phrase in this context? '' to yield to accommodate materials chosen precisely because of their propensity to decay'' When it comes to works of modern art, the experimental embrace of new materials that gave the period much of its dynamism poses a whole new set of challenges. These are not only technical but conceptual, since the use of the new materials -- many of them never meant to last -- often went hand in hand with a disdain for the traditional notion of the artwork as a precious artifact and embodiment of eternal values. A case in point was when the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard recently acquired a sculpture made of dirt and rabbit feces by the German artist Dieter Roth (1930-98). Conservators had to face the fact that their mission to preserve for future generations the culture of the moment would have to yield to accommodate materials chosen precisely because of their propensity to decay. Thank you here is the whole text of the reading : https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/arts/art-architecture-modern-art-shows-its-age-summoning-modern-science.html
Oct 21, 2019 7:02 PM
Answers · 2
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The sculpture was not made of material which is meant to last, like stone or glass. It was made from dirt and rabbit feces. I assume this sort of statue falls apart after a short period of time. Conservators are in the business of preserving art. This is their "mission". They do this so that the "culture of the moment" can be shown to future generations. This mission will have to "yield" (to be given up, to be abandoned). Why? Because the conservators are forced to accommodate the materials the statue was made of. The artist wanted the statue to decay quickly. He or she made the statue out of dirt and feces because these materials have a propensity (a natural inclination) to decay quickly.
October 21, 2019
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