Page 51 - Studio International - September 1972
P. 51

Charge it . . .






         Recently, I received an invitation to an
         `historic first'. The offering that I could charge
         to my American Express, Diners Club, or
         Master Charge card, was for a signed and
         numbered multiple object Fallen Astronaut by
         Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck. It costs
         $750, a price not determined because of
         startling demand, production expenses or
         extraordinary aesthetic merit (it looks like a
         Bauhaus clothespin), but because another
         Fallen Astronaut is in a small crater at the
         Hadley Moon base. The 3 3/8 inch aluminium
         sculpture was placed there by the Commander
         of the Apollo 15 space craft on 2 August 1971.
         Walter Cronkite announced what is billed in
         its press kit as 'the first work of art on the
         moon' during his CBS countdown coverage.
         The Smithsonian Institution made a replica
         for permanent display, and now Fallen Astronaut
         is available in an expensive edition of 950, a
         souvenir with instant history.
            Reminiscent of an updated and diminutive
         Falling Man by Ernest Trova, Van Hoeydonck's
         Astronaut lacks aesthetic merit. It is a
         marketable concept, more accurately a gimmick,
         realized by an artist, and, as such, represents
         why most multiples fail.
           There is nothing new about commissioned
         art, especially commemorating historic events.
         But in the Renaissance commissions were
         preceded by competitions. They got the right   less works are being produced. Publishers offer
         man for the job. Time was plentiful; Ghiberti   similar explanations of high production costs
         spent from 1403 to 1427 completing the North   and an uncertain market.
         Gate of the Florentine Baptistery and he had   There are few exciting recent multiples. The
         the help of others including Donatello.   better recent publications are designed to be
            Today's artist is seldom the beneficiary of   read, like Lucas Samaras's book Samaras
         time-to experiment or even fail in what for   Album and Steve Reich's two-record album
         him is often a new medium. To use and direct   Drumming. A co-publication of the Whitney
         the high-speed complex procedures of modern   Museum of American Art and Pace Editions,
         technology to aesthetic goals, even with   the Samaras Album contains four-hundred and
         collaboration, an artist needs time. As a result,   ten auto-polaroid snapshots of the nude
         average publishers, who can't afford time, issue   Samaras and a text of ritualized narcissisum.
         carelessly edited coffee-table merchandise,   Samaras's auto-interviews relate everyday pains,
         that's frequently more expensive than the table   sorrows, and fears. But it is worth reading if
         it eventually sits on. The production of these   only to discover what our own common or garden
         unimportant decorative objects has been   variety fantasies look like in print. Multiples
         supported by the idea there is a great American   Inc's recent co-publication with John Gibson,
         `multiples market', paralleling that for prints.   of Steve Reich's Drumming is worth listening
         Ironically, what has hindered the development   to. The over-conceptualized music-variations
         of this market is the paucity of quality objects   not on a theme, but on one rhythmic beat-
         produced.                                 comes with a long signed and numbered score.
           Another factor that's plagued the multiple's   The editioned objects of most interest   (Top)
         development is general confusion on the part   remain on the edge of conventional taste,   Claes Oldenburg
                                                                                             Geometric Mouse Scale B (red) 1971-2
         of artists, dealers, and publishers as to what a   revealing a sound, a word, an image, we   Painted steel, 43 in. high
         multiple is or is not. All the term 'multiples'   wouldn't have known without them, like the   Edition 18, published by Lippincott Inc.
         refers to are methods of bringing more art to   pure funkiness of Edward Kienholz's recent   Photo : Otto Nelson
         more people. Any object, be it a large scale   The Marriage Icon.                   (Above)
         sculpture or a book, made by an artist in   Published by Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles,   Paul Van Hoeydonck
                                                                                             Fallen Astronaut 1972
         edition, is a multiple. The problem is one of   The Marriage Icon succeeds in its campy   Aluminium, 3 3/8 in. high
         emphasis, which has been placed on the    intentions. It is a newly manufactured object   Edition 95o, Waddell Gallery
         merchandizing and egalitarian aspects of   embodying an out-of-date concept-courtship
         multiples instead of on the art. The effect is that    and marriage. Everything about it is
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