NO SHOW MUSEUM

2nd

The Art of Doing Nothing

The Art of Destruction

i Michael Asher

Vertical Column of Accelerated Air, 1969

* 1943 in Los Angeles, USA. † 2012 in Los Angeles

American artist

Known for: Architecture based, site-specific interventions

Art historical context: Institutional critique, Conceptual art

Michael Asher is regarded as one of the most important representatives of Institutional Critique. His interventions are minimal, often barely perceptible. The starting material for his works is always a given venue, which Asher either leaves exactly as he finds it, or he introduces only minor alterations, by repositioning or removing objects, walls, facades, etc. With these often imperceptible changes to an existing space, Asher tries to make visible the invisible conventions and codes that control the presentation and reception of art.

Exhibited works

Vertical Column of Accelerated Air, 1969. 1st \| B		In 1966, Michael Asher began to produce a series of works titled Planes and Columns, which were made from horizontal and vertical air currents. In 1969, at both the Newport Harbor Museum of Art in California and at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, he created an invisible sculpture of air (Vertical Column of Accelerated Air) – a 40 cm thick column of air, which reached from the ceiling to the floor. Installed in the ceiling, inconspicuously placed in the room's architecture, a fan created a downward air current that could be felt by the visitor when passing through the column of air.

Untitled installation, 1970. 1st \| A		For his untitled installation at the Pomona College Museum of Art in 1970, Asher built triangular empty spaces into the museum. The two adjoining rooms had no doors and no artificial lighting, and led directly to the street. They were open around the clock.

Untitled exhibition, 1973. 1st \| A		For his exhibition at Galleria Franco Toselli in Milan in 1973, Michael Asher left the gallery empty – only the walls had been sandblasted, until the plaster appeared.

Untitled intervention, 1974. 1st \| A		When Asher was invited to exhibit at Claire Copley Gallery in Los Angeles, he removed the wall that separated the showroom from the gallery office. He displayed nothing; thus, the viewer's attention was drawn to the commercial reality of the art space, which normally remains hidden from her gaze.

Untitled exhibition, 1974. 1st \| A		For his exhibition at Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax, N.S., Canada, Michael Asher left everything exactly as he had found it in the space. Neither the interior, nor architecture of the gallery was altered. The only artistic intervention was not to turn on the lights. Due to the absence of objects, the viewer's attention was driven to the architectural space, and in so doing, to his own expectations of what an exhibition should look like. The visitors were left in the dark about whether they themselves were, perhaps, the exhibit, or whether they had been invited to project an imaginary exhibition into the empty room.

Links Further informations 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 Credits All reproductions © Michael Asher Estate

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The Art of Minimalism

The Art of Omission

The Art of Saying Nothing

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The Art of Saying Nothing

The Art of Pure Imagination

Vertical Column of Accelerated Air, 1969. 1st \| B		In 1966, Michael Asher began to produce a series of works titled Planes and Columns, which were made from horizontal and vertical air currents. In 1969, at both the Newport Harbor Museum of Art in California and at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, he created an invisible sculpture of air (Vertical Column of Accelerated Air) – a 40 cm thick column of air, which reached from the ceiling to the floor. Installed in the ceiling, inconspicuously placed in the room's architecture, a fan created a downward air current that could be felt by the visitor when passing through the column of air.

Untitled installation, 1970. 1st \| A		For his untitled installation at the Pomona College Museum of Art in 1970, Asher built triangular empty spaces into the museum. The two adjoining rooms had no doors and no artificial lighting, and led directly to the street. They were open around the clock.

Untitled exhibition, 1973. 1st \| A		For his exhibition at Galleria Franco Toselli in Milan in 1973, Michael Asher left the gallery empty – only the walls had been sandblasted, until the plaster appeared.

Untitled intervention, 1974. 1st \| A		When Asher was invited to exhibit at Claire Copley Gallery in Los Angeles, he removed the wall that separated the showroom from the gallery office. He displayed nothing; thus, the viewer's attention was drawn to the commercial reality of the art space, which normally remains hidden from her gaze.

Untitled exhibition, 1974. 1st \| A		For his exhibition at Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax, N.S., Canada, Michael Asher left everything exactly as he had found it in the space. Neither the interior, nor architecture of the gallery was altered. The only artistic intervention was not to turn on the lights. Due to the absence of objects, the viewer's attention was driven to the architectural space, and in so doing, to his own expectations of what an exhibition should look like. The visitors were left in the dark about whether they themselves were, perhaps, the exhibit, or whether they had been invited to project an imaginary exhibition into the empty room.

Links Further informations 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 Credits All reproductions © Michael Asher Estate

NO SHOW MUSEUM

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