John Baldessari, Toy Ship Alignment, intervention at Pier 18, 1971 Photo: Shunk-Kender (C) Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
written by Arden Sherman © 2010 all rights reserved
Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice Alumna 2010
For a brief moment between February and March of 1971, twenty-seven artists (among them Vito Acconci, Robert Morris, John Baldessari, Gordon Matta-Clark, Daniel Buren, Dan Graham, William Wegman, Dennis Oppenheim, and Richard Serra) reclaimed a defunct Manhattan Pier by participating in an exhibition called Projects: Pier 18. Apart from the intermittent attendance of the project coordinator and a visiting artist or two, the performers had no immediate audience other than the lenses of two photographers, Harry Shunk and Janos Kender—an unsung and enigmatic duo whose photographs stand as the sole documentation and singular representation of the little known exhibition. Their work, however, transcends documentation in a conventional sense and actually functions as an integral part of staging the Projects: Pier 18 exhibition.
Dan Graham, "Spin off of Body-Press Hand-Off", performance for Projects: Pier 18, February 1971 Photo: Shunk-Kender (C) Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
This thesis analyzes the work of the photographic duo who went under the name “Shunk-Kender” and focuses on the exhibition, Projects: Pier 18. The site of Pier 18 was devoid of people and activity in early 1971, so the audience-free exhibition was dependent on the camera to locate the viewer to its place and moment. Largely through analysis of the photographs from Projects: Pier 18, my paper addresses the important characteristics of the under-recognized historic exhibition: the unique and complicated collaborative aspects that shaped the exhibition, and the exhibition as a conjunction between two distinct photographic conventions of the 1960s and 1970s—Photo Conceptualism and the Documentary practices increasingly required by process and performance oriented art.
Vito Acconci, Security Zone, performance for Projects: Pier 18, February 1971 Photo: Shunk-Kender (C) Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
In their performance-based works, artists Vito Acconci, Dan Graham, John Baldessari, and Richard Serra called attention to the possibilities and limitations of the photographic medium and its relation to artwork and site. While it is widely accepted that the production of ephemeral, performance-based work was popularized during the late 1960s and early 1970s, I propose to explore how Projects: Pier 18 tested the boundaries of this type of artwork by eliminating a live audience and staging these works exclusively for the camera. My research highlights an unusual exhibition space where photographic collaborations, some more harmonious than others, shaped the way the exhibition project was documented by photographers Shunk and Kender. Please check the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation for more information on photographers Shunk-Kender.
Arden Sherman ~Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice Alumna 2010
~why CCA?
Studying at CCA was one of the best decisions I’ve made. For starters, a chance to move to beautiful San Francisco simply could not be passed up; and the opportunity to study Curatorial Practice at CCA’s well-regarded program–a still relatively new curriculum offered at only a handful of institutions–was a privilege. Set in the heart of a city whose unique art scene is constantly reviving and revamping itself, the Curatorial Practice program at CCA provided a novel experience that interacted and analyzed its setting. My time at CCA was extremely fruitful; replete with a diverse and engaging course load, incredible guest lectures, and an elevated level of investigation into exhibitions and their history.
