2012.16 Work (Bell) | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

In the aftermath of World War II, many young artists in Japan—as in Europe and the United States—challenged themselves to rethink their inherited artistic and pictorial traditions. Recognizing this growing cultural foment, in 1954 the painter Jiro Yoshihara rallied together a number of such artists in Osaka to start the avant-garde group known as the Gutai Art Association, of which Atsuko Tanaka was a member between 1955 and 1965. Inspired by Yoshihara’s ambitious calls to “create what has never existed before,” the association of Gutai artists produced experimental work using unusual materials and techniques such as throwing bottles of paint, wrestling in mud, and breaking through paper screens, which often took place in unconventional settings such as the outdoors and on stage.

Work (Bell) is an interactive conceptual sculpture that Tanaka described as “painting with sound.” Arranged on the floor, the work consists of a series of electric bells attached to a long, snaking cord, echoing the composition of Tanaka’s many colorful works on canvas of interconnected networks and hubs. At the top of every hour, the gallery attendant will press the button, triggering a series of shrill electric bells to ring sequentially throughout the exhibition space.

Excerpt from

Gabriel Ritter, Label text, Never Enough: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art, 2014.

NOTES

Catalogue essays

From Object to Image: Sculpture, Installation, Media

Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art

Artist/designers

Tanaka, Atsuko (Japanese, 1932-2005)

Cultures

Geography

Process/materials

Function

Historical periods

1952-1989, Japan, Postwar Showa period

Individuals

Subject terms

Gutai

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

n.d.: Atsuko Tanaka (1932-2005), Osaka

n.d.: private collection, Tokyo

2012: Dallas Museum of Art and The Rachofsky Collection through the DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund, purchased from Olivier Renaud_Clément, New York

Notes:

The main source of this provenance is the copy of the Invoice from Olivier Renaud_Clément dated February 24, 2012 in the Collections Record object file.

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

The original sculpture created in 1955 was lost and reconstructed in 2000.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 2012.16

General Description

In the aftermath of World War II, many young artists in Japan—as in Europe and the United States—challenged themselves to rethink their inherited artistic and pictorial traditions. Recognizing this growing cultural foment, in 1954 the painter Jiro Yoshihara rallied together a number of such artists in Osaka to start the avant-garde group known as the Gutai Art Association, of which Atsuko Tanaka was a member between 1955 and 1965. Inspired by Yoshihara’s ambitious calls to “create what has never existed before,” the association of Gutai artists produced experimental work using unusual materials and techniques such as throwing bottles of paint, wrestling in mud, and breaking through paper screens, which often took place in unconventional settings such as the outdoors and on stage.