I enjoyed this video deeply. Levitch’s thinking seems to be consumed with the struggle between emptiness and fullness, creating and destruction, death and rebirth. One point that resonated with me was humans being able to experience the stereophonic nature of human feeling, being able to feel sorrow and loss. Levitch implements this thinking and ideas to New York City as a whole, seeing the entire city as a living art piece. I feel that collapsing the city into one art piece resonates with Krauss claims that art and sculpture have become much broader. In a sense, Levitch is expanding art to include the entirety of the human experience, which is encapsulated in New York City.
Yes. Technically he is a writer, performer, and poet but when I discuss site-specificity I always include him because of the way he questions and relates to his surroundings through critical interpretation and historicalk and observational research.
Just like in Smithson’s “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey”, Levitch compares what we see as everyday objects to sculpture. He makes us think beyond are normal understanding of what is sculpture. A gash in a tarp to allow viewers to see alters or a hand written sign that is on a door of a memorial alter in a walk way. Levitch gives anthropomorphism (human traits to objects) as if they are a living person, just like people the sculptures change overtime.
Good comparison. He has the wide-eyed approach to site and place as Smithson. Coming at from different places and for different reasons but definitely making us see the city in different ways.
I found Levitch’s philosophy regarding New York City to be very interesting. He mentions how creation and destruction are a part of our everyday. He makes a lot of comparisons to get his points across, saying how New York is like a huge dance floor for a performance piece. He is very optimistic and has an open mind for appreciating the layout of the city. With the destruction, it opens up more possibilities in the city. Levitch mentions how there is more room in the sky. He sees things as opportunities for a new birth within the city.
I enjoyed the videos a lot because he is telling me the story which related to the space. I can see the developments of the city and how it grew up. I think New York is the most busiest city and a lot of people are live to work. I think the reason NY changes fast is the people.
I found myself getting lost in Levitch's words much like how he states one can get lost in the city. His analysis of the city around him and the endless stories it can tell offered a different perspective. I found it interesting the section in which he spoke about the twin towers being destroyed opening up the sky more. He addresses the cocept of destruction and creation in a unique way.
Speed Levitch’s seeming historical tours around New York are imbued with humor and are delivered with critical intellect. He refences history at times to make logical connections about things he seems to interpret as illogical. His tours are not the type of tours one would think of related to traditionally thought of as historical tours of New York. They are performative. Site-specific. Humorous. Insightful. Entertaining. Even potentially plausible alternative solutions to occurrences in the city he deems inappropriate. Thus, Levitch’s suggestion of creating a joy park with Buffalo almost seems like a valid alternative to creating holes as a monument at ground zero.
His performance is different than the other performers mostly because his approach is rooted in entertainment and a comedic approach. The humor in the other performers work does not exist at the level Speed delivers except for the Counter-tourism videos with the Crab Man. However, the tone of humor in Crab Man is a more serious dry humor than Levitch’s performances. Mutu, Cave, Allora/Colzadilla, or Kimsooja performances are not intended to be humorous. These artists are concerned with very serious concepts and use traditional mediums within the context of cultural, political, and art history. Levitch’s approach to performance and identifying monuments evoke similar poetic sentiments similar to Smithson’s tour of New Jersey.
I enjoyed this video deeply. Levitch’s thinking seems to be consumed with the struggle between emptiness and fullness, creating and destruction, death and rebirth. One point that resonated with me was humans being able to experience the stereophonic nature of human feeling, being able to feel sorrow and loss. Levitch implements this thinking and ideas to New York City as a whole, seeing the entire city as a living art piece. I feel that collapsing the city into one art piece resonates with Krauss claims that art and sculpture have become much broader. In a sense, Levitch is expanding art to include the entirety of the human experience, which is encapsulated in New York City.
ReplyDeleteYes. Technically he is a writer, performer, and poet but when I discuss site-specificity I always include him because of the way he questions and relates to his surroundings through critical interpretation and historicalk and observational research.
DeleteJust like in Smithson’s “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey”, Levitch compares what we see as everyday objects to sculpture. He makes us think beyond are normal understanding of what is sculpture. A gash in a tarp to allow viewers to see alters or a hand written sign that is on a door of a memorial alter in a walk way. Levitch gives anthropomorphism (human traits to objects) as if they are a living person, just like people the sculptures change overtime.
ReplyDeleteGood comparison. He has the wide-eyed approach to site and place as Smithson. Coming at from different places and for different reasons but definitely making us see the city in different ways.
DeleteI found Levitch’s philosophy regarding New York City to be very interesting. He mentions how creation and destruction are a part of our everyday. He makes a lot of comparisons to get his points across, saying how New York is like a huge dance floor for a performance piece. He is very optimistic and has an open mind for appreciating the layout of the city. With the destruction, it opens up more possibilities in the city. Levitch mentions how there is more room in the sky. He sees things as opportunities for a new birth within the city.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the videos a lot because he is telling me the story which related to the space. I can see the developments of the city and how it grew up. I think New York is the most busiest city and a lot of people are live to work. I think the reason NY changes fast is the people.
ReplyDeleteI found myself getting lost in Levitch's words much like how he states one can get lost in the city. His analysis of the city around him and the endless stories it can tell offered a different perspective. I found it interesting the section in which he spoke about the twin towers being destroyed opening up the sky more. He addresses the cocept of destruction and creation in a unique way.
ReplyDeleteYes. As artists how can we open up space through our works? He does it through performance, tours, and writing.
DeleteSpeed Levitch’s seeming historical tours around New York are imbued with humor and are delivered with critical intellect. He refences history at times to make logical connections about things he seems to interpret as illogical. His tours are not the type of tours one would think of related to traditionally thought of as historical tours of New York. They are performative. Site-specific. Humorous. Insightful. Entertaining. Even potentially plausible alternative solutions to occurrences in the city he deems inappropriate. Thus, Levitch’s suggestion of creating a joy park with Buffalo almost seems like a valid alternative to creating holes as a monument at ground zero.
ReplyDeleteHis performance is different than the other performers mostly because his approach is rooted in entertainment and a comedic approach. The humor in the other performers work does not exist at the level Speed delivers except for the Counter-tourism videos with the Crab Man. However, the tone of humor in Crab Man is a more serious dry humor than Levitch’s performances. Mutu, Cave, Allora/Colzadilla, or Kimsooja performances are not intended to be humorous. These artists are concerned with very serious concepts and use traditional mediums within the context of cultural, political, and art history. Levitch’s approach to performance and identifying monuments evoke similar poetic sentiments similar to Smithson’s tour of New Jersey.
Good points. What is the role of humor in art? Why do some make use of it and others do not? Why do you think?
ReplyDelete