https://stephenvitiello1.bandcamp.com/album/listening-to-donald-judd
Donald Judd’s Frontier Landscape
Faced by the numerous demands of museums and galleries, tired of all their requirements, which he deemed pointless, Donald Judd went out to the desert and found there a place to create his own art space – a fixed space for him and his friends. This process is exquisitely described, along with his rich view on his art and adaptative architecture, in his Complete Writings*. How to build a wall, according to what proportions? And a bed? And a chair? How to adapt to a series of existing buildings? Why do his “specific objects” require so much space, a certain space?
In 1973, Judd acquires a series of buildings in Marfa, Texas. He sees each piece as a fragment of one group layout. Each work draws its meaning from its own dimensions, from space itself, integrating space as much as space integrates it.
Since then, his specific objects have been absorbing the landscape.
In 2002, Stephen Vitiello recorded their sonic capacity. The picture will show how, where and under what circumstances his microsensors have captured the sounds produced not only by the sculpture itself, but also by the whole landscape.
> Complete Writings, 1959-1975 (Halifax: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1975)
> Ecrits, 1963-1990 (Daniel Lelong éditeur, 1991)
Paysage-frontière de Donald Judd
Affrontant toutes les nécessités imposées par musées, lassé par leurs exigences qu’il percevait comme dénuées de sens, Donald Judd alla dans le désert, y trouva un lieu et créa son propre espace – un espace fixe pour lui et ses amis. Ce processus est superbement décrit, en même temps que sa conception profonde de son art et de l’architecture adaptative, dans ses Ecrits *. Comment construire un mur et selon quelles proportions ? un lit ? une chaise ? comment s’adapter à une série de bâtiments existants ? pourquoi ses « objets spécifiques » ont tant besoin d’espace, d’un certain espace.
En 1973, il prend définitivement possession d’une suite de bâtiments, à Marfa, Texas. Judd considère alors chacune de ses pièces comme le fragment d’une disposition d’ensemble. Chaque œuvre prend son sens, en son étendue propre, l’espace, même, l’intégrant en même temps qu’il est intégré par elle.
Ses objets spécifiques, depuis lors, y absorbent le paysage.
En 2002, Stephen Vitiello en capte la contenance sonore. L’image montrera comment, où, et dans quelles circonstances ses micro-capteurs ont saisi à la fois la sonorité produite par la sculpture même et par-delà elle, le paysage tout entier.
> Complete Writings, 1959-1975 (Halifax: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1975)
> Ecrits, 1963-1990 (Daniel Lelong éditeur, 1991)
Stephen Vitiello : Listening to Donald Judd
This piece is a work in progress evolving from the numerous recordings Vitiello made of the sculptures of American artist Donald Judd in Marfa, Texas. High-precision microphones are placed directly on the surface of Judd’s « specific objects. » They capture a subtle combination of sounds resonating through the artwork and ambient sounds. Indubitably, I see this work as a tribute (and what better form for a tribute than a new work of art) to one of the greatest American artists of the 20th century.
These recordings were created during an impromptu residency sponsored by the Marfa Theater and the Chinati Foundation. The results were a performance (with and without Tetsu Inoue) and two fairly large sound installations. I was there to somehow record the elusive Marfa Lights that appear almost nightly in the sky. They were easy to see but impossible to record with my small photocell and borrowed telescope. Sounds were captured in and around the Donald Judd installations at Chinati, in a glider, in fields of grasshoppers and along some unknown street. Marfa is a very quiet town. The most significant sound event is when the train comes through each day which can happen at any time of day or night. 3 years after my visit, most of what I experienced in Marfa has probably been modified by memory. The sound of the train is the only recognizable source sound that has been left fairly unhurt by time-stretching and other forms of electronic and mental processing.
Recorded on location in Marfa, Texas.
Published by Sub Rosa in 2007.