Donald Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminum (detail), 1982–86,
aluminum. Installation view, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX, 2009.
Photo: Douglas Tuck.
Check out Lewis Hyde's 'Top Ten' in this summer's edition of ArtForum - note #2 and 6 in particular! (links courtesy of newsgrist). Of course, #1 is hard to beat.
1
DONALD JUDD, 100 UNTITLED WORKS IN MILL ALUMINUM, 1982–86 (CHINATI FOUNDATION, MARFA, TX)
This installation is the American Taj Mahal. Spend an afternoon in the old army artillery sheds—now walled in glass––and watch the sunlight endlessly transform Judd’s simple-complex boxes. In the distance, thirty miles across the Chihuahuan Desert, Goat Mountain marks the horizon. [LINKS: YouTube; Chinati]
2
THOMAS JEFFERSON, LETTER TO ISAAC McPHERSON, AUG. 13, 1813
The seminal American defense of the common ownership of art and ideas. Economists now like to speak of the fruits of human wit and imagination as being “nonrival.” How much more eloquent was Jefferson: “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” Read the whole letter and count up how many books Jefferson just happened to have at hand to make his argument. [LINK]
6DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS’ STATEMENT OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE (CENTER FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, WASHINGTON, DC; NOV. 18, 2005)
If my film history of the 1950s uses TV clips, do I need to clear permissions? If one scene has a radio playing in the background, do I need to pay for music rights? This handy pamphlet does more than help filmmakers answer such questions; it helps them claim the “fair use” rights that copyright law actually bestows on all creative artists. Now all we need is a national movement to do the same for each and every creative community. Artists arise! You have nothing to lose but those endless permissions hassles! [LINK]
