Everything #10, 2007

Artists Weekly: A Look at the Works of Adrian Piper, by Brianne Davis

 

Artists Weekly: A Look at the Works of Adrian Piper, by Brianne Davis

   

Adrian Margaret Smith Piper (b. 1948) is a first-generation Conceptual artist who began exhibiting her work internationally at the age of twenty and graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1969. While continuing to produce and exhibit her artwork, she received a B.A. in Philosophy from the City College of New York in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1981 under the supervision of John Rawls; and studied Kant and Hegel with Dieter Henrich at the University of Heidelberg in 1977-1978.

            Throughout the years, Adrian Piper has made some interesting works. Her works tend to include people, print, mixed media, sound, video, lights, paint, stencils, and furniture just to name a few. Her work can be very geared towards racial bias, sex, and class from a personal and political standpoint. She tends to point out the problems in our society and the dealings with her racial identity, for example, her videos on YouTube called "Cornered, 1988".She also wrote a very lengthy letter to a NY Times editor in January, 2003 which    asks the editor not to call her a black, female, African American, female artist, philosopher, or woman in various ways or forms. She emphasizes the need to not label herself racially, or sex-wise. Her last known works were done with the above photo, and lasted about five years various forms from 2003-2008.

The above text on the gentleman's forehead reads "Everything Will Be Taken Away". The text was written in henna and was written backwards so that it could be displayed in a mirror. It was displayed at Cooper Union in N.Y., N.Y., at NYU at the Steinhardt Barney Building, as well as the Elizabeth Dee Gallery. I fell in love with this piece the moment I saw it. It evoked so much emotion inside me. The reason being is because I believe it talks about one's life; nothing in this world is permanent, especially us. When we die everything is taken away. It is some what of a harsh reality, but the look on this man's face says to me that he is peaceful, and ready when the time comes. These performances were public and volunteers were strewn all over  N.Y.C. This public display was brought to us by Creative Time, and the website had this to say about the displays: "Adrian Piper creates a poetic and philosophical duration performance in which the text “Everything will be taken away” will be written, in henna, on an unspecified number of participants’ foreheads that respond to an open call. The henna will be applied to respondents on May 1 and May 2. Written in reverse, the message becomes readable when seen through the reflection of a mirror, and the dye is anticipated to endure on the skin for 1- 2 weeks. The participants will be asked keep journals of their experiences and audience reactions during the project, then re-read the journals a year after the performance. Written directly on the forehead the text suggests the layered, shifting organization and loss of memory. It is both a promise and a threat. What will be taken away and what do we consider to be ‘our’ everything? Everything will be taken away is labeled #10 as it is the tenth rendition of the ongoing series the artist began in 2003. The simple prose has been displayed in a variety of media including sandwich boards and on personal photographs that have been photocopied, printed and erased. Contingent upon the context and relationship to the audience, the sentence reveals new aspects of its potential meanings with each adaptation. The endurance and repetition of the phrase is crucial to the series and the relationship to Piper’s writings and philosophical work. A student and teacher of philosophy and meta-ethics, Piper often employs Hindu philosophical imagery and concepts, such as the henna used in this project. " Megan Metcalf had this to say about the project: "On the next block, Adrian Piper's stunning Everything provides an abstract companion that kicks you squarely in the gut. The phrase "Everything will be taken away" appears in nearly every piece: over a mirror, the Bill of Rights, a gravestone-shaped hole in the gallery wall, the newspaper story of a gruesome kidnapping and rape, the photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, Malcolm X, and others, and a garbage can full of trash. Her promise is both sinister and liberating, challenging us to consider the costs of freedom and asking if the erosion of freedom is something we have the power to halt."                                                                                                

          As you can clearly see from the above critics, art can evoke two completely different opinions on the art as well as the artist itself. This work reminds me of Marina Abramovic's Modern O from 1974. The concept is extrodinarily similar; the writing on one's forehead plus using live people as art. It is truly amazing how history can repeat itself.  




"O'Neil-Butler, Lauren.Art Forum International Magazine, Inc". 2008, May. findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_9_46/ai_n31609080/. Elizabeth Dee Gallery, NY.11 November, 2009.

<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_9_46/ai_n31609080/>


Piper, Adrian. "Adrian Piper Research Archive". Adrian Piper.com. Dr. Constanze von Martin.                                                     3 October, 2008. 11 November, 2009.<http://www.adrianpiper.com/art/g_everything_no10.shtml>


Beasley, Mark. "Six Actions for New York City". Creativetime.org. Mark Beasley. 1 May, 2007.                                                   11 November, 2009.<http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2007/performance/piper.html>


Metcalf, Megan. "Fix - Eco art in NYC". fixproject.squarespace.com. Megan Metcalf. 13 April, 2008. 
11 November, 2009. <http://fixproject.squarespace.com/fix/2008/4/14/eco-art-in-nyc-and-online.html>