by Ian Geraghty
In discussions about contemporary art, we are accustomed to hearing about how art has moved out beyond the frame into real space and time; we are familiar with theories relating to the destabilization of the artwork's definitive edge; and we are well versed in how distinctions between art and life have been eroded. As 'viewers' of art (and more recently as 'participants' in art) we have experienced this convergence within an evolving landscape of immersive art installations, site-specific artworks and collaborative art events. Despite art having entered into an expanded field of new possibilities - transgressing traditional media - physical frames (plinths and vitrines included) continue to play an important part in how artists and institutions display, protect and mediate works of art.
With contemporary artists regularly incorporating vitrines and plinths into their work (in many ways echoing the colonization of the picture frame by late nineteenth-century painters), coupled with the more general shift away from the discreet art object (as described above), it has become increasingly difficult to ascertain the exact boundary of an artwork. Where does an artwork end and the physical staging of that work begin? Where does exhibition design start to cut in? When is a plinth or vitrine part of museum furniture or part of an artwork?
Ambiguity surrounding what constitutes the edge or limit of an artwork has obvious implications for the collection and conservation of that work. What exactly constitutes the work? When is it necessary to conserve the mode of presentation as well as the work being presented? Is an artist-controlled frame necessarily an integral and indispensable part of the work?
When analysing the various forms and functions of physical frames in contemporary art, it becomes clear that frames (plinths and vitrines again included) fulfil myriad roles. Damien Hirst's glass and steel containers, Chris Ofili's elephant dung pedestals, Marc Quinn's refrigeration display cases, and inconspicuous museum vitrines (which might house more than one artwork by more than one artist) all have unique physical and conceptual functions. A frame cannot simply be described as being part of an artwork or not, relevant or not, but must be regarded as relevant in different ways.
Access the PDF version of this abstract via the link below. It includes a list of categories, definitions and examples that relate to artist-controlled physical frames (particularly picture frames, plinths, and vitrines) at the point of exhibition.
Ian Geraghty (ian@digimatter.com) is currently completing his PhD thesis which is titled 'The Reconfigured Frame: Various Forms and Functions of the Physical Frame in Contemporary Art' at the College of Fine Arts (UNSW), Sydney. He is also a Framing Consultant at Andersen Shaw & Associates (ASA) Conservation Framing, Sydney.
Important copyright information
This abstract was presented as a poster at the IIC congress Conservation and Access in London from September 15-19, 2008. The text was first published in the IIC 2008 congress preceedings. Permission to publish this abstract on the INCCA website has kindly been given by the IIC and the author. This abstract may only be downloaded for personal use. It may not be redistributed. Permission for redistribution must be requested from IIC and the author.
This thesis was completed in 2008. For more information see the article here.