Page 19 - Studio International - July August 1972

Feedback Leaving aside the enormous differences in
A police assault of this kind ought, one
would think, to have finally made the exhibitors the relevance of 'pictorial' and related channels,
and organizers finally realize the true character it is probably true to say that sound recordings
of their exhibition, to see it as expressing a are as little used by both groups; but they cannot
[It is intended that this column will draw
system of power, as exposing 'the privileges of be ignored. Aside from the question of the
attention to articles in other magazines, to new
art', as demonstrating art's strictly reactionary magazines, to exhibition catalogues and other relevance and the relationship of purely
function, avoiding so disgracefully any publications that are not normally discussed or auditory phenomena to the visual arts, an
questioning of art. In this context, its failure increasing ( ?) amount of information is
reviewed widely, as well as to other media of
might have been put in question by the untimely available uniquely through the medium of
communication relevant to the visual arts,
intervention of its armed and helmeted radio, since not many discussions, talks or
regardless of origin. If it is to be useful, however,
defenders. For the logical result, the closing much depends on feedback to `Feedback'; copies interviews are transposed into print.
down of the exhibition by exhibitors and of publications will be welcomed, and will be The 'magazine in a box' : Aspen (last address
organizers, would have forestalled the failure considered for inclusion along with news from 333 Sixth Avenue, New York. N.Y. 10014.
which they had themselves prepared. $12.95 for 4 issues) may not be very widely
producers or consumers. Items should be sent to
Some exhibitors did withdraw. known. However it has reached its ninth number
Clive Phillpot,' Feedback' , Studio International,
But undoubtedly, this exhibition had to take and its arrival appears to be relatively
37 Museum Street, London WCi. Clive Phillpot
place. predictable. One of its attributes, apart from
writes this column in his personal capacity, and his
Exhibitors and organizers first of all set the encouragement of non-standard formats, is
views should not necessarily be taken to represent
about violently denouncing the demonstrators the multi-media transmission of information.
those of the body for which he works.]
as embittered and hysterical reds. They made Number 5 and 6 (now unobtainable) contained
full use of every facility provided them by the a record of Duchamp reading from early Dada
establishment (press, radio, television); and no writings, a recent number contained a record
smear was too unscrupulous to use against The information requirements of contemporary made by La Monte Young, and there have been
those who from the beginning had seen clearly artists have not, to my knowledge, been several others, as well as films and even
what was going on. systematically investigated. Understanding of cardboard modules with which to construct
But then, as though to make quite clear that the kinds of information sought and/or your very own Tony Smith sculpture. Thus
baseness has no limits, the exhibitors and received would appear to be on a purely `readers' are expected to possess the hardware
organizers, instead of recognizing (perhaps so empirical level. It would seem however, that the necessary to make the transmission of non-print
as not to recognize) the nature of their actual information channels can more easily information possible.
`achievement', by an unprincipled reversal of be identified and that many of these are, One of the problems of information retrieval
truth, turned the police charges to advantage unsurprisingly, not unique to this subject area. is the degree of scatter of relevant information.
as the final justification for their exhibition! Consideration of investigations in another One can possibly discover the existence of a
According to them they decided to keep it on field might provide us with a working model for magazine such as Aspen in the first place,
so as not to give in to the police. One's first a possible structure of information channels. through the channels described above, or, for
reaction is amazement at such flagrant For example a recent short piece in New Society example, here, now—for it will be one of the
dishonesty: how could they dare to present the by Maurice Line (4 November 1971, p 888), functions of Feedback to facilitate this process
police violence as part of the opposition to the refers to reports which he has compiled on the through the medium of Studio International.
exhibition, when it was so obviously the Information Requirements of Researchers in the In almost any subject field one can predict or
automatic defence of all support of the system, Social Sciences. One in seven of all known encompass perhaps 90 per cent of the sources
its art in general and this exhibition in particular. social scientists in this country had one of their of information; however, location and retrieval
And the statements and the photos inside are in tools turned on themselves when they were of the missing 10 per cent demands effort out of
fact themselves an addition to the exhibition, asked to complete a questionnaire. Two tables all proportion to the quantity of information
the new work which is in a sense its justification. accompanying the article summarize the results. retrieved. But since the quality of the
After all, though, this last piece of The most popular sources of information were information occurring in unlikely sources
skulduggery fits well enough with the earlier found to be books and periodicals; the next most cannot be predicted with certainty the effort
pattern of mistakes and exhibitionist mediocrity. popular were specialized kinds of publication required to reduce the 10 per cent may be
For them, anything is expedient so long as Art such as conference proceedings, research considered worthwhile.
survives in comfort, so long as Artists and those reports and government publications, though Take two recent examples of relatively
who live off art can go on in spite of everything, equally popular informal sources were colleagues unpredictable sources. Rolling Stone of 13 and
successfully exploiting emptiness. and experts elsewhere. Newspapers were of 27 April 1972 had articles on Correspondence
In France, by the fact of its wistlessness, the lower relevance; while the least used Art by Thomas Albright, which were written
art world was fated to an alliance with a scabrous physical and informal channels were 'films as straight reportage and were studded with
political power. (pictorial)', 'other pictorial', sound recordings, many items of precise information (actual
But in other circumstances, in other video-tape, and radio and television. addresses); they also included descriptions of
provinces, there is a proliferation of cases It will have been immediately obvious from some really funny incidents. So, one finds hard
where this complicity is (also) asserted, consideration of social scientists' least used art information in Rolling Stone. One's net must
confirming, as by the absurd, that the question information channels, (had one not already be cast wider. But it still would not be wide
of art is essentially political. q expected it), that their needs are very different enough, in the normal way, to catch a special
MICHEL CLAURA from artists. However, restricting one's number of ARARAT devoted to Arshile
attention to printed sources of information, it Gorky. This costs $2 and is published by the
[The following artists were invited to participate would seem possible to draw parallels between Armenian General Benevolent Union of
in the exhibition, but refused to do so: Aillaud, the two groups. In the absence of facts about America, Inc., 1o9 E 40th Street, New York,
Arroyo, Barthelemy, Bioules, Buren, Cane, artists' usage, it would seem reasonable that the N.Y. 10016, and includes interviews with De
Cremonini, Devade, Dezeuze, Dorgeaud, order of priority of use was the same, ie books Kooning amongst others.
Dubuffet, Filiou, Ipousteguy, Journiac, Le Parc, and periodicals most useful, specialized It will have become apparent that the
Messagier, Mosset, Pane, Martial Raysse, publications (preeminently exhibition word 'information' has been used above in more
Recalcati, Sarkis, Toroni, Valens* catalogues) next, and newspapers least. than one sense. N. E. Thing Co. Ltd. have

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