Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees: over thirty years of conversations with Robert Irwin

331 Pages·2009·7.936 MB·English

by  Irwin, Robert;Hockney, David;Weschler, Lawrence

Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page A
Praise for the first edition of Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees:
“A milestone first biography of an important California artist. Better yet, it is a
lively narrative which . . . manages to be about something deeper than its enter-
taining surface. The book is full of wonderful anecdotal bits. . . . the whole book
still manages to be an extended metaphor about the nature of aesthetics.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Mr. Weschler’s efficient account of the scene that galvanized, among others, Mr.
Irwin, Edward Kienholz, Ken Price, Ed Moses, John Altoon, Craig Kauffman, John
Mason and Billy Al Bengston is the best I’ve read. He compellingly evokes a mi-
lieu ofburning ambition, provincial naivete and leap-frogging inspiration. . . . this
is an absorbing book.” —New York Times
“On its more radical fringes, modern art merges with modern philosophy, and this
excellent, provocative profile . . . points up the extent to which the act of percep-
tion, rather than any specificobject, has become the subject ofthe avant-garde Cali-
fornia artist’s work. . . . Weschler has a knack for clarifying abstruse artistic and
philosophical concepts. Irwin emerges as a charming, unpretentious man. . . . whose
artistic beliefs are passionately felt.” —Publishers Weekly
“[A] superb book. . . . Weschler’s focus is on process, on Irwin’s particular pursuit
of presence, with its discipline and its drifting, its digressions and its obsessions,
its naivete and its subtlety. And it is a mark ofWeschler’s success that he has made
that pursuit as absorbing for the reader as it was for the artist, ‘who one day got
hooked on his own curiosity and decided to live it.’” —Portfolio
“Weschler, clearly intrigued, charmed, and inspired by Irwin, has written an ap-
preciation ofthe artist—acelebration, rather than a critique. . . . [He] tries to un-
derstand Irwin, his work, his ideas, essentially through the artist’s own understand-
ing ofthem. He is trying to introduce us, as resonantly, as humanly as possible, to
avery hermetic, even if garrulous sensibility.” —Washington Post
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Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page a
A H M A N S O N •(cid:13) M U R P H Y
F I N E A R T S I M P R I N T
                   
has endowed this imprint
to honor the memory of
        .      
who for half a century
served arts and letters,
beauty and learning, in
equalmeasurebyshaping
with a brilliant devotion
those institutions upon
which they rel(cid:13)y.
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page b
THE PUBLISHER GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE
GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO THIS BOOK PROVIDED
BYTHE ART ENDOWMENT FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY A
MAJOR GIFT FROM THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION.
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page i
seeing is forgetting
the name of the thing
one sees
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page ii
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page iii
seeing is forgetting
the name of the thing
one sees
EXPANDED EDITION
OVER THIRTY YEARS
OF CONVERSATIONS WITH
ROBERT IR WIN
LAWRENCE WESCHLER
PUBLISHED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
THE GETTY FOUNDATION
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page iv
“Seeing Is Forgetting the Name ofthe Thing One Sees,” part 1 ofthis
book, originally published in 1982, was extensively excerpted in the New
Yorker,March 8 and 15, 1982, under the title “Taking Art Down to Point
Zero.”
University ofCalifornia Press, one ofthe most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information,
visit www.ucpress.edu.
University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University ofCalifornia Press, Ltd.
London, England
©2008 byThe Regents ofthe University ofCalifornia
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weschler, Lawrence.
Seeing is forgetting the name ofthe thing one sees: over thirty years
ofconversations with Robert Irwin / Lawrence Weschler–Expanded ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978-0-520-25608-8 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn978-0-520-
25609-5(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Irwin, Robert, 1928– 2. Artists—United States—Biography.
3. Irwin, Robert, 1928—Aesthetics. 4. Art, Modern—20th century.
I. Hockney, David. II. Title.
n6537.164w4 2009
709.2–dc22 2008019914
Manufactured in Canada
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/nisoz39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence ofPaper).
Weschler, Seeing Is Forgetting 8/21/08 9:38 AM Page v
In memory of
my father,
IRW
&
for David