Donald Judd and the Pursuit of the Technology of Enchantment

Donald Judd and the pursuitPof the Technology of Enchantment

Alfred Gell, in his The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology, argues that “as a technical system, art is oriented towards the production of the social consequences which ensue from the production of these objects,” (Gell 44). Gell reasons that the public’s fascination with an art object lies not just in the aesthetic prowess of the object itself, but in the means employed by the artist in the actual creation of that art object. Artists who desire to impress new ideas upon the public often employ technologies not synonymous to the concept of traditional art. Modern art, in particular, has lent itself to the exploration of modern technology; artists hope to realize an art unique from that of the classical masters, an art which focuses more on positive inclusion of technology as not a substitution, but a medium for creativity.

Gell discusses the power of art objects further: “The power of an art objects stems from the technical processes they objectively embody: the technology of enchantment is founded on the enchantment of technology. The enchantment of technology is the power that technical processes have of casting a spell over us so that we see the real world in an enchanted form. Art, as a separate kind of technical activity, only carries further, through a kind of innovation, the enchantment which is immanent in all kinds of technical activity,” (Gell page 44.) One artist who supports Gell’s theory is Donald Judd. Judd stands out as a modern artist who has accepted, wholeheartedly, the concept of modern technology into his sculptural pieces, utilizing technology not simply as a means of production but as a source of inspiration, as well.

Judd, a conceptualist active from the 1950’s onward, began his sculptural career in a post-war world rich with the recent advancement in technologies of construction. He understood that, by natural definition, technology produces perfection; it follows that his works gravitate toward a dialogue with the human fascination for all things “perfect.” Gell’s theories of “the enchantment of technology” and “the technology of enchantment” apply perfectly to many of Judd’s shiny, angular, free-standing, enormous, and solid sculptural pieces. Judd designs his works with decisive aggression against traditional European sculptural representation, preferring to instead to celebrate simply their own precision of form and the means of their construction.

Seminal pieces Judd created in the 1960’s, the majority of them consisting of simple equally sized boxes and cubes placed equidistant along the length or the height of a wall, utilize industrial materials such as concrete, plywood, metals, plastics, and synthetics. A key aspect of Judd’s philosophy differentiates the space of his work between his own creative design and the actual production of his pieces by unknown factor workers. Here Gell’s technology theory comes into play. Judd designs a piece, for example, any of his Untitled Stacks from the 1960’s, with geometric perfection, and then contracts, for example, a galvanized steel or Plexiglas factory, to construct his work with machinery, in order to create a piece “devoid of every trace of the human hand” (Beyst, 2005). The final result confronts viewers with a bold assertion of its realization through technology, and the focus of the work shifts from the work as a piece of art to the work as created without the help of the human being. Judd’s works do not create themselves; they take sustenance from his initial designs, and then are brought to full form by the wonders of modern technology.

Judd’s pieces enchant the public because of their total dependence upon and ultimate embodiment of the possibilities of modern technology. They, in and of themselves, surprise the viewer as indeed interesting to behold; their forms are simplistic and cubic, their colors, though vivid, are monochromatic, and their textures are smooth, often glaringly shiny. Combined, however, these aesthetics dazzle the viewer with a pronunciation of the power of technology through an overwhelmingly gleaming, and hugely solid mass. Viewers are enchanted by technology, which has, in its own way, set out to enchant those viewers; Judd’s sculptures succeed in “casting a spell over us so that we see the real world in an enchanted art form” (Gell 44). Judd’s celebration of technology allows viewers to view other aspects of their worlds produced by technology, cars, buildings, cities, for example, as works of art. These sculptures confront viewers with the realization that technology can be beautiful, and its can be considered art. Judd succeeds, indeed, in capturing the enchantment of the public through the use of the human-devoid precision of modern technology.

Bibliography

Beyst, Stefan. “Donald Judd’s Design: A turning Point in the History of Sculpture?” July 2004 <http://d-sites.net/english/judd.htm >.

Fried, Michael. "Art and Objecthood." 1967.

Gell, Alfred. “The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of technology.” in Anthropology, art and aesthetics. Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton (eds.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 40-63.

The Tate Modern Online. “Donald Judd.” 5 February to 25 April 2004 < http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/judd/ >.