Dorine Mignot
«Statements on Gerry Schum»

[Excerpt]

[...] With reference to Schum's introduction to , questions were submitted to as many of the participating artists as possible; a selection from their answers, some of which were given orally and some in writing, is given below.


The works are conceived and realized specifically for the medium of television.
Do you regard your work primarily as a form of documentation or as an independent work of art?

Arnatt
I considered 'Self-Burial' a completely independent work of art that had to be realized on television. The idea to use photographs in this way occurred to me some time after the sequence was first taken. It was originally made as a comment upon the notion of the 'disappearance of the art object'. It seemed a logical corollary that the artist should also disappear.

Dibbets
An independent artwork.

Flanagan
An independent artwork.

Long
The film itself is the work.

Ruthenbeck
Information/documentation was the original idea; once the work had been realized, I recognized the autonomous character of the film.

Serra
An independent artwork only.

Walther
An independent work.

Weiner
I consider films and videotapes just that: films and videotapes.

Zorio
A demonstration of an object.

Did you fee/ the need to break through the triangle studio – gallery –collector?

Arnatt
I was not particularly interested in breaking through the triangle, but simply in using television as a medium.

Beuys
It is of the utmost importance to break through that triangle and to reach as big an audience as possible. Schum took a big step in the right direction with his television gallery. His concept was clear. He realized that concept purely; the work of art itself was directly broadcast on television.

Buren
Now, in 1979, I still think it is extremely interesting, even of vital importance, to break through that triangle whenever possible. But, unlike Gerry, I do not think the use of video has broken through the triangle. I think the use of video has persisted up to now thanks to the strengthening of that triangle. And this situation will not change until the distribution of video works has been taken in hand by all the museums (more or less the way public libraries function). It is conceivable that in a next phase video works made by artists will be regularly included in the television programmes of every country. When that point has been reached the triangle will cease to exist.

Dibbets
Taking part is breaking through.

Flanagan
Yes.

Ruthenbeck
Yes there was and still is a lot of discontent among artists about this triangle. The triangle exists by the grace of the artist and the art he makes. The other two corners of the triangle are often regarded as being more important than the 'studio corner'.

Serra
I find the triangle question a bore. The impossibility of excluding contradictions, either internal or external is in part a defining structure of my work. To face contradictions; to make decisions in context affects the character of the content of my work.

Walther
l did not think about commercial and official art systems very much at that time, because they had little to do with what I was involved with. It was quite obvious that there was no room for my work there. This has changed since then.

Weiner
The triangle is worthy of either attack or celebration. Schum, in fact, did not attempt to break out of any blind. The T.V. station functioned as a surrogate museum structure.


The television gallery originated from the idea to confront as large a public as possible with current trends in the international development of art.
Do you uphold this idea?

Arnatt
My concern was not with reaching a wider audience, though I am not unsympathetic to the idea.

Buren
The creation of the television gallery proved all over again that only those people who were already interested in the most recent manifestations of visual art had any interest in this gallery.

Dibbets
That was, unfortunately, just Schum's optimism.

De Maria
Schum was one of the first to recognize the enormous scope of television. The time people spend watching television is inversely proportionate to the time they spend reading the paper or a book. It is high time that artists get broadcasting-time, that they start using television intensively as a medium. It's still in its infancy. Schum should only have organized his affairs better financially.

Ruthenbeck
I wasn't interested in that.

Serra
Art is not suitable for mass communication, except when it is especially made for that purpose (as in 'Television Delivers people').

Walther
I thought the idea was important, although I did not believe that this confrontation would make any difference.

Weiner
Did and do agree that the utilization of open (public) media to present the work of artists is not only the responsibility of the artist and the media but of the public as well.


Why did you participate in Gerry Schum's television gallery?

Arnatt
l was interested in using television as a medium.

Buren
I accepted the offer of working with Gerry because he not only gave everyone he worked with invaluable technical assistance, but also because he had a keen sense of what was going on, let's say a keen sense of topicality, and because he was always ready to listen to suggestions and ideas, even if they were totally unfeasible (...).
Another reason was the desire to use and experiment with a new and in many respects fascinating, predominantly visual, medium, more than the desire to operate outside the existing system of art.

Dibbets
Because of the integrity of Schum's ideas.

Flanagan
Because it seemed more appropriate to some ideas.

Long
I was happy to have the chance of conceiving a work in a new medium for me (film), which gave a new expression to my straight moorland walks of that time.

Ruthenbeck
I was interested in the new medium.

Serra
Gerry was possessed with an idealistic vision, which accounted for his intense positive energy. He asked if I would collaborate and, given my interest and his production capacity, I felt it would be interesting. As it turned out we both had a worthwhile interaction.

Walther
Because the idea of a television gallery was so clear to me.

Weiner
Gerry offered production means and an amenable structure.

Boezem
The world as a 'negative' of the work of art.
What prompted me in the sixities to use television, apart from other media, was the opportunity to experiment with a new context for my work.
The 'environment' or context in which art becomes real art, has always interested me as an artist.
I consider reflection, or the interaction between the work of art and its context, of vital importance for my work. Looking back I can now say that this component of the work of art played a part in the work of a large number of artists in those days, particularly those whose work was labelled 'conceptual art'. It was not so much a matter of creating a different type of art but of aiming at a new space, the masses, society. We used all the relevant media at the time, newspapers, magazines, television, sound, film, telex etc.
However, the idea of a greater social responsibility was less important to us than the search for new spaces. Consequently I was very willing to comply with Gerry Schum's request when he asked me to contribute to his film 1969. I was impressed because of the totally new range of this type of art.

Fulton
Gerry Schum presented alternative ways of making and of showing contemporary art to a large public, and for this reason his presence is greatly missed. Any expansion of possibilities regarding the studio – gallery – collector triangle must be good. Creating viable alternatives is of the greatest importance, perhaps more so now than when Schum first started his work with television.

Kuehn
I have always been an object maker. The way in which my works are distributed is not of primary importance to me. Further, I took no interest whatsoever in the political and moral implications of the studio – gallery –- collector connection which for a time was elevated to the level of subject in the work of certain artists in the early seventies. The work I did with Gerry Schum for 'Identifications' was closely related to the drawings I was doing at the time.
Gerry invited me to do a piece for and after considering if for a time I became interested in video as a means of revealing the process involved in those particular drawings and through video specifying my intentions. Of course, once we began working, the video medium asserted itself quite forcefully and I found that my original intent was somehow overwhelmed by the possibilities of the medium and that I was working within the medium as an end in itself.


Source: Dorine Mignot (ed.), , Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1979, p. 75–76