(to) resist spatial recession

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Tacia - 14 Jan 2010 19:27 GMT

Ladies and Gentlemen:

What follows is a profile of Anish Kapoor's work of art, /Marsyas/:

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Designed as a temporary installation to fill the vast central Turbine
Hall at London's Tate Modern, /Marsyas/* consists of a dark-red
plastic membrane joining together three stell rings, two positioned
vertically at either end and the third hung horizontally between. Its
title refers to Marsyas, the satyr whom, in Greek mythology, Apollo
flayed alive, and the membrane's color and contortions evoke flesh,
even mutilated flesh. Yet the whole structure also has an ethereal
quality, opening around each ring like the throat of an enormous
flower. Suspended in the air, its intense, monochromatic surface
resisting spatial recession, it seeks, as Kapoor has commented, "to
make body into sky."

* The picture of /Marsyas/:
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/7379/marsyas.jpg
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I have no notion what "(to) resist spatial recession" means. Please
shed some light.

Regards,
Tacia

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Jerry Friedman - 14 Jan 2010 19:53 GMT

> Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> I have no notion what "(to) resist spatial recession" means. Please
> shed some light.

A lot of this is understandable, and we can't expect /everything/ in a
description of an art work to be understandable.

But the idea may be is that the color and texture surface keep it in
the forefront of the viewer's attention instead of letting it
figuratively move away.

--
Jerry Friedman

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JimboCat - 15 Jan 2010 18:15 GMT

> > Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> the forefront of the viewer's attention instead of letting it
> figuratively move away.

I would suggest a more literal interpretation (strangely enough, for
such a lyrical and metaphorical medium as an art review). I think it
means that the bright, uniform color reduces the perception of
perspective: the work seems to be all in one plane, all at one
distance from the viewer.

But I admit I am guessing.

Jim Deutch (JimboCat)
--
Tolkien is one of the few people who could get away with putting an
Elf in overcoat and rubbers, walking down the street with an umbrella
and a magic ring. - Michael Martinez

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aquachimp - 15 Jan 2010 19:56 GMT

> > Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> --
> Jerry Friedman

Or, if I understood you correctly, it's very much an in-you-face
artwork.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

(to) resist spatial recession