{"id":14,"date":"2007-04-06T13:25:32","date_gmt":"2007-04-06T17:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/2007\/04\/06\/patrimonial-emphasis\/"},"modified":"2009-01-21T22:00:17","modified_gmt":"2009-01-22T02:00:17","slug":"patrimonial-emphasis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/outsider-art\/patrimonial-emphasis\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrimonial Emphasis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The fourth model I propose requires a slight stretch of the imagination and, admittedly, may not be applicable to all instances of outsider production. Nonetheless, it&#8217;s worth contemplating as part of a larger conversation (too large for the confines of this paper, I&#8217;m affraid) regarding the inevitable necessity of preserving marginalized art forms from the increasing homogenization of cultures, as well as from the art market\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insatiable commodification of the construct of authenticity. While the implications of the following argument may be global in scope, I intend to use what is most familiar, American examples, to frame my point.<\/p>\n<p>To begin one must consider a seemingly far-fetched comparison between a privately owned pre-Columbian mural fragment from Central Mexico and a twenty-foot scroll of newsprint bearing the collaged images of an army of children waging war on their adult oppressors. Such a clumsy juxtaposition begs the question of what similarities, if any, might be gleaned from these disparate objects? While the former may be acknowledged as the crowning artistic achievement of a highly sophisticated ancient civilization, the latter, created by Henry Darger in his cluttered apartment, appears as strange and incongruous company. Pushing the envelope even further, what correlation can be drawn between a 16th-century Benin relief offered at auction, and a piece of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcyard art\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 cleaved from corrugated tin by Mary T. Smith, a seventy-four-year-old African American woman from Hazelhurst, Mississippi? As it turn out, the two have more in common than one might think.<\/p>\n<p>Though the above examples appear extreme, all of these objects have been subjected to like treatment by the art market. As with the mural fragment and the relief, the work of Darger and Smith, two outsider artists deemed in the last decade to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153blue chip\u00e2\u20ac\u009d commodities by dealers and collectors, have been subjected to removal from their original context and assigned value based overwhelmingly on their relative scarcity (Hamilton 2003:A1). Divorced from their intended purpose and alienated from their origins, the fate of these artists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 creations is indicative of the issues currently facing the preservation of a range of self-taught forms, including outsider art. <\/p>\n<p>In this final section I intend to draw such parallels between the greater implications of subjecting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccultural properties\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to movement on the international market and those challenges particular to growing interests in the commercialization of what I will refer to, for the sake of convenience, as American vernacular art. In no way, however, do I wish to trivialize the repercussions felt by cultures and communities affected by the loss of their heritage to the trade in art and antiquities. Rather, I hope to channel the gravity of such experiences into a cautionary examination of the impact of American attitudes towards an expressive modality that uniquely reflects important elements of our collective identity. In doing so, it is my intent to call attention to the need for a pragmatic and responsible approach to the conservation of our rich vernacular traditions.<\/p>\n<p>With roots stretching back to colonial America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impulsive reinterpretation of dominant European aesthetics and the unprecedented intermingling of disparate cultural influences due to slavery, mass immigration and migration, vernacular art marks a truly democratic expression of deep-seated notions of the American experience. Encompassing a wealth of subcategories including folk, visionary and outsider art, the work of vernacular artists is highly individual, often irreverent, and characteristically rough around the edges in a way that radiates an essential dissonance within the presupposed ordering of high art. Evident in this discord is the elemental nature and architecture of American culture, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorderly in its natural sense of evolving improvisation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Morris 2001:118). In this sense, it is plausible to argue that American vernacular art is a valuable cultural resource, worthy of our attention and admiration as an honest and exuberant reflection of the pluralism inherent in, and fundamental to the American experience.<\/p>\n<p>Quite possibly, it&#8217;s this ability to simultaneously embody individual and collective interpretations of American culture that is responsible for the rise of vernacular art\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s popularity in America. While a scattering of museums have made efforts to incorporate representations of the genre in their collections, fascination with vernacular art is particularly evident in market activity. Sought after by collectors for the better part of the century, interest in vernacular artists has reached an all-time high in the last two decades, exemplified by the first stand-alone auction of 20th-century self-taught art at Christie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, New York, in January 2003. <\/p>\n<p>Comprised of art from the collection of Robert M. Greenberg, including work by Darger and the stone carver William Edmondson, the Christie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sale, while undoubtedly affording the genre well-deserved public exposure, has been criticized as a single collector\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shortsighted attempt to liquidate his assets at an inflated cost. Writing in the New York Times on the eve of the auction, William Hamilton expressed concern over Greenberg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s agenda, implying that the collector\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insistence on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153aggressive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d estimates was motivated by the desire to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rais[e] money for architectural projects\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Hamilton 2003:A6). Commenting on the potentially damaging long-term effects of the sale, Hamilton cites the possibility of a subsequent \u00e2\u20ac\u0153critical shakeout\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that would launch the more rarefied and sought-after objects in Greenberg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collection \u00e2\u20ac\u0153into the vault of collectible contemporary art,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while leaving the work of other important vernacular artists \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as devalued as slag by the publicity of [the] auction\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Hamilton 2003:A6). In the same article, Lyle Rexler, a scholar specializing in outsider art, acknowledges that vernacular art exists within a greater \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nexus of contemporary art,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d making it equally subject to valuation based on demand and marketability (Hamilton 2003:A6). For collectors to stimulate interest in the genre through auction is not unheard of, Rexler continues, but the assumption that interest equates understanding is misleading. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Making art visible and making it meaningful,&#8221; he concludes, should not be assumed to be the same thing (Hamilton 2003:A1). <\/p>\n<p>True to this argument, the popularity of vernacular art in America is inclined to rest, for the most part, with the speculative investments of dealers and collectors while scholarly engagement struggles to stay abreast of those trends initiated by the market. Although this tends to be the natural ordering of the art world, it&#8217;s apparent in the case of vernacular art that something is inherently lost in the symbolic function of the object when rendered as a commodity. An excellent example of this can be seen in the work of Mary T. Smith. <\/p>\n<p>Painted on scavenged panels of wood and tin, each piece by Smith bears a highly expressionistic and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153allegorized\u00e2\u20ac\u009d record of the artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religious convictions (Maresca and Ricco 1993:220). Displaying them for years in her front yard, Smith regarded her assemblage of paintings, often depicting friends and neighbors, as a kind of evangelical experience intended for the moral edification of her immediate community. Inevitably, her creations caught the eye of a dealer trawling back roads for fresh discoveries, who, as the story is told, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153backed his truck up to [Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s] yard,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a price that would now buy a single piece, carted everything off to a warehouse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to appreciate until the climate was right to enter it into the market (Maresca and Ricco 1993:xii). Unfortunately, little first-hand documentation of the work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s original environment exists, lending the tragic impression of a creative spirit cut loose to haunt the white-walled purgatory of a SoHo gallery space.<\/p>\n<p>The manner in which Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s art was acquired calls attention to a troublesome issue. Much like the pre-Columbian mural fragment or the Benin relief, the intended use and cultural relevance of works by vernacular artists are shadowed by the imposition of subjective aesthetic and financial considerations. It&#8217;s unrealistic, however, to advocate for a remedy that excludes private acquisition and ownership. In fact, there are many examples of dealers and collectors who have been instrumental in the promotion and preservation of vernacular production, fostering relationships with artists grounded in a profound respect for their creative processes and the social\/cultural environments that inform their work. This said, it is crucial to articulate an approach to the continued activity of collection that perpetuates the notion of responsible acquisition and provides a model for the enlightened stewardship of vernacular traditions. Perhaps then, a useful place to turn for inspiration regarding this challenge is the ongoing issue of creating and implementing effective protection for cultural properties. <\/p>\n<p>Article One of the 1970 UNESCO Convention defines cultural property as that which, on either religious or secular grounds, is determined by a nation to be of unique importance for reasons relating to history, science, or art. Included under the category of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153property of artistic interest,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Convention identifies \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pictures, paintings and drawings produced entirely by hand, works of statuary art and sculpture, and artistic assemblages and montages in any material\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Malaro 1998:458). While it is doubtful that vernacular art was on anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind when this definition was penned, certain correspondences are obvious. Though no specific regulations stand in the United States regarding the genre, for the purpose of this argument it is sufficient to focus on the spirit, rather than the letter of the law, while keeping in mind that today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vernacular art could well be tomorrow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cultural property.<\/p>\n<p>Turning to the theoretical foundations of the legislative efforts currently protecting cultural properties, Karen J. Warren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s essay, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Philosophical Perspective on the Ethics and Resolution of Cultural Property Issues\u00e2\u20ac\u009d serves to articulate the key incentives for increasing our awareness in the collection and care of vernacular art works. Recognizing the inherent conflict between the rights of artists, dealers, collectors, and the greater public, Warren asserts that, although property rights belong to the first three invested interests, general access and inheritance of cultural heritage must be considered whenever discussions of cultural property take place. In order to do so, the author continues, we must begin by examining the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conceptual frameworks\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from which we operate, meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the values, attitudes, and assumptions through which we conceive ourselves and our world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Warren 1999:11). Too often, Warren cautions, these conceptual frameworks become \u00e2\u20ac\u0153oppressive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in their construction of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dominant-subordinate relations,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and are typified by values based on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hierarchical organization and exclusive dualisms\u00e2\u20ac\u009d justified and perpetuated by a supportive \u00e2\u20ac\u0153logic of domination\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Warren 1999: 12). In the case of the prevailing attitude towards the treatment of vernacular art and the larger realm of art not of the mainstream, it&#8217;s this repressive framework, perpetrated by art history\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s narrow margins, that&#8217;s responsible for perpetuating the long-standing schism between high and popular art. This divide, in turn, adds to the ease with which vernacular material may be commodified with little regard to its potential cultural significance.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, Warren offers a remedy for the problem, obtainable in two crucial steps. The first step requires the recognition of the frameworks informing our view of particular objects of cultural heritage. With vernacular art, scholars in the field actively examining the validity of art history\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paradigmatic assumptions have recently initiated this process. The second step involves factoring context into our understanding and appreciation of those objects linked to cultural heritage. Because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all cultural properties come with context,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Warren writes, to dismiss their contextual relevance renders them \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dispossessed of the very sorts of information that are essential to their constituting a cultural heritage\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Warren 1999:22). The notion that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true value\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of our heritage \u00e2\u20ac\u0153can be appreciated only in relation to the fullest possible information regarding its origin, history, and traditional setting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is further reiterated by UNESCO, illustrating the concept\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overwhelming importance to all issues concerning cultural property (Malaro 1998:457). Therefore, whether inadvertently or with careful calculation, those individuals engaging in collection practices that irreparably alienate the object from its context, as in the case of Mary Smith, make it impossible for the life and work of a given artist to contribute to a collective heritage.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, several American museums have begun to integrate examples of vernacular art into their permanent collections with careful consideration as to the representation of the cultural contexts informing the artists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 creative endeavors. One such collection comprised of Henry Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s puzzling masterpieces, part of the American Folk Art Museum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Contemporary Center, functions as an ideal model for the thoughtful treatment of a difficult body of outsider art. After Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, Nathan Lerner took immediate steps to document the artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s output by photographing the contents of Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room and meticulously preserving its contents, including the massive amount of source material used in Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s illustrations. While some pieces were relinquished over the years to eager collectors, the great bulk of Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s production was maintained as a whole by Lerner and later donated by his wife, Kiyoko Lerner, to the AFAM in 1997. Faced with the challenge of making the material accessible to both scholars and the public, Lerner envisioned a detailed archive where the work could be experienced collectively. This idea was eventually realized with the opening of the Henry Darger Study Center in 2000. Now the definitive repository for Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manuscripts and illustrations, as well as for Lerner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s records of Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cluttered apartment, the center plays a crucial role in the excavation of Darger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eccentric vision. Brimming with references to American history and popular culture, the artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oeuvre contains an inestimable wealth of information pertaining to the American experience. In recognition of the collection\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cultural value the AFAM has assumed guardianship over this precious time capsule, ensuring its careful analysis by generations to come.<\/p>\n<p>Greater than any monetary value that may be assigned, this is the true worth of the collection, as may be said for the great majority of vernacular expression produced in this country. Examined as a whole the vernacular tradition, whether manifested in folk or outsider material, perfectly exemplifies the plurality of identity, experience and vision that combine to form a shared heritage. That the work of American vernaculars will continue to enter the art market is an undeniable reality. In light of this, cooperative measures between those involved in the collection and representation of the art work must be enacted to guarantee that its cultural context remains closely associated. By looking to recent efforts in the preservation of cultural patrimony, a reasonable model for the protection of the public\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investment in a wide range of artistic production may be implemented, with museums at the forefront of this rich resource\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s preservation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fourth model I propose requires a slight stretch of the imagination and, admittedly, may not be applicable to all instances of outsider production. Nonetheless, it&#8217;s worth contemplating as part of a larger conversation (too large for the confines of this paper, I&#8217;m affraid) regarding the inevitable necessity of preserving marginalized art forms from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/frenchart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}