Page 21 - Studio International - December 1970
P. 21

Hudson's contribution was one of several dozen   News and notes                      Technology
          and the content and standpoints taken varied con-
          siderably. It was unfortunate that Mr Benthall
          chose to be at Coventry on the one day when,                                         and art 20
          agreed, there was, manifestly, a 'lack of intellectual
          coherence' which was well exemplified by the
          panel game led by Jasia Reichardt. Mr Benthall
          would have found the other ten days much more
          intellectually stimulating, coherent and satisfying.   Mrs Lilian Somerville,  Director of the British
          Secondly, the impression, is given that the Con-  Council Fine Art Department since 1948, retired at
          gress was mainly concerned with 'art-school art'   the end of last month. Mrs Somerville organized the
          whereas, of necessity, the main concern was the   first British contribution to the Venice Biennale and
          contribution art education makes within general   has been responsible for all major British exhibitions
          education. Whilst the training of artists and   abroad since the year of her appointment as
          designers is important it is only so within a SOcietal   Director. She alSO represented the British Council
          context and, after all, the number of individuals it   on the Arts Panel of the Arts Council and was a   ANTONIONI AND INDUSTRIALIZATION
          affects is minimal compared to that of the general   member of the Court of the Royal College of Art
          education sector.                          and a member of the Purchasing Committee for the   It was interesting to see again Antonioni's film
          Over the last few years a lot of headway has been   collection of the Stuyvesant Foundation.   The Red Desert  (now some six years old) just
          made to take art education out of the aura of                                        after the Hayward kinetics exhibition. This is
          romantic woolliness Mr Benthall sampled. The   Pop 70, the exhibition currently at Mayfair Fine   not Antonioni's best-integrated film but it
          identification of aims, purposes and the specifica-  Art, 100 New Bond Street, London, offers a rare   contains some powerful images of industrializ-
          tion of objectives within art education has been   opportunity to see recent work by Wesselmann
          paralleled by a great deal of work in the field of   (Bedroom Tit Box 1968-70), Rosenquist (States 1970,   ation and machinery: the grey factory chim-
          capacities and capabilities in relation to learning   102x 120x 120 in.), Indiana  (Apogee  1970, 60 x   neys smoking white or a sulphurous yellow,
          in art. It is true that much remains to be done and   50 in.), Lichtenstein (Modular Painting with 4 Panels,   and the robot toy which batters itself against
          that, although there are fundamental questions   No. 9 1970, 90 x 120 in.), Paolozzi, Segal and other   the wall of the little boy's bedroom.
          waiting to be answered, a solid foundation, which   artists asSOciated with Pop. The exhibition also   Antonioni's aesthetic fascination with tech-
          is neither 'unacademic' nor 'vague', has been laid   includes a scene from Warhol's film Trash.
          for experimental and empirical investigation along                                   nology is evident from this film : the shots of the
          with philoSOphical analysis of roles and functions.   The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York   huge radio-telescope at Bologna can only be
          The vacuum is nowhere near as mighty as Mr   has introduced a new general admission charge at   described as romantic. But the poisoning of
          Benthall would have his readers believe.   the main building at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street.   nature is more strongly stressed. It is hard to
          Brian AlliSOn                              The policy went into effect at the Museum's branch   forget the image of the factory complex where
          Senior Lecturer in Education               for medieval art, The Cloisters, in August. The new
          Leeds Polytechnic Department of Art Education   admission is hoped to provide critically needed   (we are told) no birds fly, as they know the
          Leeds                                      income for the Museum which had a deficit for   sulphurous fumes are lethal to them; or of the
                                                     1969-70 of about $1 million and anticipates an   heroine (Monica Vitti) munching at a sand-
                                                     operating deficit for 1970-71 of $1.5 million. The   wich she has just hysterically bought from a
                                                     admission is on a Pay-What-You-Wish-But-You
          Henryk Gotlib                              Must-Pay-Something basis, which has SO far proved   workman, amid scrap and detritus—she in the
          Mrs Henryk Gotlib is compiling a catalogue of the   very successful. Per capita admission for the first   most elegant Parisian dress, some of the factory
          works of her husband, Henryk Gotlib. She would   show attended on these terms averaged $.74 and   workers in protective clothing; or the shack
          be very grateful to hear from present owners of his   only 2 visitors out of the first 188,940 complained at   beside a polluted river, where the executives
          pictures, drawings or water colours, with details   the introduction.                and their women come for obscure weekend
          such as when and where purchased, date of                                            recreation; or the greyed fruit and vegetables
          execution (if known), medium, size, subject and/or   The Penwith Society of Arts is having a draw
          title (if known) and if possible, a photograph.   for over £2000 of paintings, sculptures, pottery,   sold on a barrow; or the arrival of a ship in the
          Replies to: The Grange, South Godstone, Surrey.   drawings, prints etc., by St Ives artists on December   fog flying a quarantine flag.
                                                     19. Tickets are £1 each and details can be obtained   The poisoning of nature, and the physical
                                                     from The Penwith Society of Arts, Back Road West,
                                                     Downalong, St Ives, Cornwall. Money raised will
          Correction                                 go towards a new Print Work-shop in St Ives.
          Charles HarriSOn writes: 'I made three unfortunate                                   Electronic tactile device, multiple, by John Wood
          errors in my article, 'A very abstract context', in   The exhibition Les Arts en Europe will be held
          the November issue: 1) In footnote 11, I omitted the   in June 1971 at the Centre International Rogier at
          name of Roger Cutforth from the constituents of the   Brussels. Work in any of the arts is eligible and
          Society for Theoretical Art and Analyses*; 2) The   there are numerous prizes. Information and forms
          date of Robert Morris's Metered Light Bulb is 1963,   can be obtained from The Secretariat du C.E.A.E.,
          not 1961 as I stated; and 3) the date of his Card File   35a rue Murillo, 1040 Brussels. Applications must
          is 1962, not 1961. I am in good company in mis-  be made by December 31, specifying in which field
          dating the latter. Jack Burnham, in his review of   of the arts the work is being entered.
          the Morris retrospective in Detroit (Artforum, March
          1970) gives both works as 1961 (following the   Flatsfixed, a new experimental downtown gallery
          catalogue perhaps?), and as apparently unim-  has opened in New York at 453 West Broadway,
          peachable a SOurce as the (otherwise thorough)   New York 10021 (Tel. (212) 533-0690). Perform-
          catalogue for Morris's recent Whitney Museum   ances of avant-garde dance, music, theatre, film etc.
          show lists the Card File as 1963. The  CardFile itself, of   will be held as well as exhibitions.
          course, provides the answer where one would expect
          to find it, under 'DATES' : July 1962. Some con-  The International, Artist's Invitational, One-
          fusion may have been caused by the first entry in the   Man, One-Work, Continuous, Free Exhibition
          file, under `ACCIDENTS': 'Accident 7/12/62,   opens at the New York Cultural Centre on January
          1 :03 p.m. Three minutes late from lunch due to   1  with the work of an artist invited by Robert
          trip (See Trip 1.).' This could conceivably be read   Rauschenberg and Sol LeWitt. Donald Karshan,
          either as 12 July 1962 or as 7 December 1962; if the   the Director of the Centre, describes it as a 'radical,
          latter it would be reasonable to suppose that the   new approach to meeting several of the more
          file was completed early in 1963.'        urgent needs of today's artist.' As the title suggests,
          *Although I understand he is no longer a member   artist will invite artist, the exhibitions will be free
          of the group he did contribute to their earlier pub-  and one work will be exhibited by one artist con-
          lications.                                 tinuously, each show lasting 2 weeks.
   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26