Group Show
February 1971 112 Greene Street/Workshop
Richard Haynes, ‘Focus’ section from ‘Self-Portrait’ from Group Show: February 1971, 1971
Joel Fisher, installation view, 1971
Exhibition Description
JOEL FISHER fabricated large sheets of paper in a shallow tub which he constructed with two-by-fours and a plastic dropcloth. The paper was then laid out to dry on black felt fabric and later hung on the wall. Because Bill Beckley’s birds were feeding overhead, seeds fell into the tub and became mixed with the paper. While it was drying, the birds and a dog, which belonged to Kitty Duane, walked over the paper, making tracks. Some human tracks also became part of the paper. The birds continued to peck at the paper even after it has dried and was hung on the all. [from a conversation with the artist]
RICHARD HAYNES: “This piece is a self-portrait using a photographic image which is manipulated by focus, exposure, and position :
Focus–camera is set up at closest focal point so that the image of the face takes up the entire frame. In the space of 10 intervals, the focus changes from high resolution to complete blur.
Exposure–is manipulated by shutter speed and f-stop. in the space of 10 intervals the frame goes from black to white.
Position–a circle approximately 8′ in diameter is drawn on the floor. The subject is in the center. Shots are taken at 12, 6, and 9 o’clock. Going clockwise a second time, the camera stops at midpoints-at 8 interval positions (1 :30, 4:30, etc.). In the third pass. all points are again bisected, thus 16 shots. The progression is 4, 8, and 16.
Photostats were made from contact sheets of the above. The installation consisted of black-and-white photostats hung on the wall. Color slides utilizing the aforementioned procedure were projected onto the wall adjacent to the black-and-white photostats. The color image was approximately three times the size of the black-and-white image. The slides changed at three-second intervals. ” [artist’s statement]
DOUGLAS LICHTER installed one huge painting made with drips of roplex and fastened directly to the wall with Velcro.
CHARLES REHWINKLE exhibited his trompe-l’oeil bogus postage stamps which hehad attached to an envelope and mailed to himself undetected by the U.S. Postal Services [see Artists’ section]
lTALO SCANGA exhibited in New York City for the first time at 112 Greene Street. He recalls, “| had the space in the basement between the two columns and I did a piece in which I used a scythe, racoon traps, and some glass with a lighted lantern. The piece was dedicated to Ezra Pound. There are no photographic records, as it was very dark.”
Avalanche magazine reported: “Scanga has weekly changing installations in the basement, the latest consisted of a rusty metal easel, two oars hung from an overhead pipe, a small bench on white plaster cubes, a basket of red peppers, a large empty glass bottle, and a wooden cask containing a dried fish.”
TOM WATTS constructed a “wishing well”- shaped structure out of coal tar and bricks.
Excerpted from Brentano, R., & Savitt, M. (1981). 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, artists & artworks. New York: New York University Press.
Richard Haynes, ‘Focus’ section from ‘Self-Portrait’ from Group Show: February 1971, 1971
Joel Fisher, installation view, 1971
