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This book begins with the observation that contemporary artists L
have embraced and employed gravity as an immaterial ready- I
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mFaade. LNeLcesIsanrilyg foc usFingO on rma tegrial rpraacticeVs I– tchiYefly
sculpture, installation, performance, and film – this discus- g
sion takes account of how and why artists have used gravity and
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explores the similarities between their work and the popular
O
cultural forms of circus, vaudeville, burlesque, and film.
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Works by Rodney Graham, Stan Douglas, and Robert Smithson
g
are mediated through ideas of Gnostic doubt, atomism, and
r
new materialism. In other examples – by John Wood and Paul
FaLLIng FOr graVItY
Harrison, Gordon Matta-Clark, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, a
Trisha Brown, and Bas Jan Ader – mass and momentum, V
falling objects, and falling bodies are examined in relation to I
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FarcahiteLcturLe, Iscnulptugre, anFd Odancre. I n gperfrormaancVes, IprtojeYcts,
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and events by Bruce Nauman, Santiago Sierra, and Catherine Yass,
gravity is resisted in Sisyphean ordeals and death-defying stunts.
This account of contemporary art and performance, read
through the invisible membrane of gravity, exposes new and
distinctive approaches to agency reduction, authorial doubt, and
redemptive failure. FaLLIng FOr graVItY
FaLLIng FOr graVItY FaLLIng FOr graVItY
C
a
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Catherine James is Lecturer in Academic Practice at University h
FaLLIng FOr graVItY e
of the Arts London. Since completing her doctoral studies at the
r
i
London Consortium in 2004, she served as Lecturer in Modern n
e FaLLIng FOr graVItY
& Contemporary Art at Christie’s Education for many years and has
contributed to a variety of conferences and journals related to her Ja
research on gravity in art and performance. m FaLLIng FOr graVItY
e Invisible Forces in Contemporary Art
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FaLLIng FOr graVItY
Catherine James
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FaLLIng FOr graVItY n
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FaLLIng FOr graVItY L
www.peterlang.com er
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FALLING FOR GRAVITY
FALLING FOR GRAVITY
Invisible Forces in Contemporary Art
Catherine James
PETER LANG
Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National-
bibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: James, Catherine, 1962- author.
Title: Falling for gravity : invisible forces in contemporary art / Catherine
James.
Description: Oxford ; New York : Peter Lang, 2018. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017028844 | ISBN 9783034317269 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Gravity in art. | Art, Modern--21st century--Themes, motives.
Classification: LCC N8217.G747 J36 2017 | DDC 709.05--dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028844
Cover image: Stan Douglas, Intrigue, 1948, 2010. Digital fibre print mounted on Dibond
aluminium. 45.7 × 45.7 cm (18 × 18 in.). Courtesy of the artist, David Zwirner, New York/
London and Victoria Miro, London. © Stan Douglas.
Cover design by Peter Lang Ltd.
isbn 978-3-0343-1726-9 (print) • isbn 978-1-78707-820-8 (ePDF)
isbn 978-1-78707-821-5 (ePub) • isbn 978-1-78707-822-2 (mobi)
© Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2018
Wabernstrasse 40, CH-3007 Bern, Switzerland
[email protected], www.peterlang.com, www.peterlang.net
All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the
publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and
processing in electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
Printed in Germany
For Susan and Graham
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
On Shaky Ground 13
Chapter 2
The Cosmic Cage 47
Chapter 3
Heavy Stuff 83
Chapter 4
Vertigo 119
Chapter 5
Critical Mass 157
Afterword 185
Bibliography 195
Index 203
