Carl Andre, Hollis Frampton: 12 Dialogues, 1962–1963 (1980)

Twelve conversations between the minimalist sculptor Carl Andre and his close friend, photographer-filmmaker Hollis Frampton, about sculpture, photography, painting, music, literature, poetry and film. The two generated the dialogues over the course of a year, from October 1962 to September 1963 mostly on evenings and weekends in Andre’s one-room apartment in Brooklyn. A number of the dialogues begin with a discussion of recently shared art encounters, proceeding to examine a wide range of topics, including the development of avant-garde aesthetics, the significance of Duchamp, the legacy of the New York School, the relevance of photography, etc.

Edited and annotated by Benjamin H.D. Buchloh
Publisher The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and New York University Press, 1980
ISBN 0919616178, 9780919616172
134 pages
via x

WorldCat

PDF (first 93 of 134 pages, 24 MB)

Seth Kim-Cohen: Against Ambience (2013)

“Against Ambience diagnoses – in order to cure – the art world’s recent turn toward ambience. Over the course of three short months – June to September, 2013 – the four most prestigious museums in New York indulged the ambience of sound and light: James Turrell at the Guggenheim, Soundings at MoMA, Robert Irwin at the Whitney, and Janet Cardiff at the Met. In addition, two notable shows at smaller galleries indicate that this is not simply a major-donor movement. Collectively, these shows constitute a proposal about what we want from art in 2013.

It’s impossible to play possum. While we’re in the soft embrace of light, the NSA and Facebook are still collecting our data, the money in our bank accounts is still being used to fund who-knows-what without our knowledge or consent, the government we elected is still imprisoning and targeting people with whom we have no beef. We deserve an art that is the equal of our information age. Not one that parrots the age’s self-assertions or modes of dissemination, but an art that is hyper-aware, vigilant, active, engaged, and informed.

We are now one hundred years clear of Duchamp’s first readymades. So why should we find ourselves so thoroughly in thrall to ambience? Against Ambience argues for an art that acknowledges its own methods and intentions; its own position in the structures of cultural power and persuasion. Rather than the warm glow of light or the soothing wash of sound, Against Ambience proposes an art that cracks the surface of our prevailing patterns of encounter, initiating productive disruptions and deconstructions.”

Publisher Bloomsbury, 2013
ISBN 9781628921366

Interview about the book (EarRoom, 2013)
Review: Joseph Nechvatal (On Verge, 2014).

Author’s blog

EPUB (updated on 2018-7-6)
PDF (added on 2018-7-6)

See also sound art page on Monoskop

The Journal of Eugène Delacroix (1893/1995) [FR, EN]

“The journal of the French 19th-century Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix is one of the most important works in the literature of art history. Expressive and unselfconsciously spontaneous, it offers a compelling insight into the painter’s life and the cultural scene of 19th-century Paris (his friends and acquaintances included Géricault, Stendhal, Victor Cousin, Baudelaire, George Sand, Chopin, Hugo, and Dumas).”

Journal de Eugène Delacroix
Compiled by Paul Flat and René Piot
Publisher Plon, Paris, 1893

English edition
A Selection Edited with an Introduction Hubert Wellington
Translated by Lucy Norton
First published in 1951
Third edition, Phaidon, 1995
ISBN 0714833592
570 pages

Reviews (of new French ed.): Wright (H-France Review, 2010), Barnes (Times Literary Supplement, 2010), O’Brien (19th-Century Art Worldwide, 2012).
Commentaries: Hannoosh (RIHA Journal, 2010, in French).

Publisher (EN)
Publisher (FR, 2009 edition)
WorldCat (EN)

Manuscripts (at INHA)
French edition, 1893: Tome 1: 1823-1850, Tome 2: 1850-1854, Tome 3: 1855-1863 (at Internet Archive), at Wikisource-FR
English edition, 1995: PDF (85 MB, no OCR)