Provisionalism in Art

                                           Provisionalism 

      Let's start with a dictionary definition of provisional, that is, arranged or existing for the present, possibly to be changed later.
      There is another meaning used in Psychology or in conflict resolution. There, Provisionalism is non defensive communication that shows you are not completely certain you are correct (or you act that way). That, in turn, allows for the possibility that the other person is correct. 

         Still another meaning exists in religion, philosophy, and science. It holds that knowledge is provisional and subject to change or revision in the future.

                                    Provisionalism in Art

        For a detailed and extensive discussion of Provisionalism in art consult an article called Provisional Painting Part 2: To Rest Lightly on Earth.  It was written by Raphael Rubenstein in 2012 for Art in America.  He discusses famous artists despairing about the high paintings of such great importance that they wish to paint but despair of accomplishing.

       By the way, as a related and tragic aside from ordinary life, I recall reading some years ago of a Tokyo subway crash in which people died.  The train was traveling too fast around a curve and derailed.  The train driver was, as I recall, just two minutes behind schedule and wanted to catch up so as to be on time, thus perfect as expected in his culture.  I couldn't help thinking: two minutes behind on the New York subway would be considered just fine.  

        Such are the dangers of seeking the perfect.  In fact, you may already know the phrase "the perfect is the enemy of the good".

       To counter those thoughts of desiring to make perfect art thus leading to impossibility of execution, some artists came to embrace decidedly less than perfect art.  As an example in that regard, one of the signs of achievable perfection is a work being considered finished.  Hence the question of whether a work should be, or should look, finished.  For that, Rubenstein in his article, referred to above, gives an introduction and quote which I do too as follows.

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        In his invaluable book on Chinese painting, called Empty and Full, French scholar François Cheng quotes Chang Yen-Yuan, a Tang dynasty historian, writing in the year 847AD in praise of the incomplete:

        From Chang Yen-Yuan:  In painting, one should avoid worrying about accomplishing a work that is too diligent and too finished in the depiction of forms and the notation of colors or one that makes too great a display of one’s technique, thus depriving it of mystery and aura. That is why one should not fear the incomplete, but quite to the contrary, one should deplore that which is too complete. From the moment one knows that a thing is complete, what need is there to complete it? For the incomplete does not necessarily mean the unfulfilled.

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        There is a practicality related to that. All artists have experienced making something that has some freshness and charm which goes away the more they keep working or overworking.  This happens to accomplished artists though they guard against it or they eventually abandon the now stale, contrived artwork.

                                            Casualism

        So, you see where we are going.  Before we look at artworks it helps to consider a closely related movement called Casualism. It actually features as virtues imperfection, spontaneity, awkwardness, instability, and willful unconcern with details and finish.  All of that resides within the Casualist mindset.  In its fullest form Casualist artworks can look thrown together, haphazard, sloppy, and trivial.  But surprisingly sometimes they work.

                                           Wabi-Sabi

    Casualism in western art corresponds in some ways to Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese aesthetic, philosophy, and world view that appreciates the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. In the art field that aesthetic translates to asymmetry, lack of polish, simplicity, and economy -- or in personal terms, lack of ostentation, quietness, modesty, and intimacy.
     In Wabi-Sabi there is none of a certain appearance, bordering-on-sloppy and thrown-together that does appear in some Casualist works.   Casualist works vary and the works we show are better placed in the provisionalist category.

                                           Martin Barre

    Martin Barre was a French artist who lived from 1924 to1993.  He was described as a quiet man and not skilled in or not concerned with self promotion.  Hence he was overlooked or under appreciated but now he has been rediscovered by the art world.

      Here is a lovely quote from Barre: I don't paint Venuses or apples, or my last dream.  I paint questions about painting.  Now, see his painting of squares.

  
                                   

    Notice the rounded paint strokes, approximately but not exactly spaced and the third square more loose and sparse than the first two.  The strokes could even be taken for sticks.  The edges of the squares are only indicated which the mind readily comprehends.  The placement has an oriental character by off center positioning within ample space.

   Some questions.  How would you feel about a color other than earth tone?  different colors in different squares? different colors within a square? 

     To continue the mind-fills-the gaps see his string-of-paint group on four canvases.  Note that he used stretched canvases at a time when they were out of fashion in France, namely, when the Supports/Surfaces movement had influence and was using loose canvas, thin textiles, and other limber supports.  We will see those just a little later.

                

     Observe that all the canvases have parallel edges.  I take that as a sign that this is a provisionalist work rather than a casualist one.  

To make the group casualist, you could place the frames casually, that is, tilted a bit off kilter in a random way and perhaps the painted line could be more slap dash and splotched. That would do it.            

     Further paring down is seen in Barre's four arrows.  Notice the stems getting blurred and a tiny bit of stray paint.  Good?  Bad? Explain.  What other non regularities do you see?  

                      

Furthermore, Barre has other paintings with just a single little arrow or just a single but larger crooked line.  By the way, notice also that none of  Barre's backgrounds are pure white.

                                        Raoul De Keyser

         Raoul De Keyser was a Belgian artist who lived from 1930 to 2012.  See his painting titled Kalklign, that is, chalk line.  It represents or suggests a sports-soccer field.  It could be regarded as a semi-abstract landscape.  

                            

    What do you think of his color choices and composition?  Is there really a little gray-pink in the sky or is it caused by the affect of the turquoise below?  Does the painting seem to be flat or to suggest depth?   It may seem strange to ask, but what about if the angle between the chalk lines were more or less?  

        It is claimed that De Keyser used cut outs of shapes and moved them around to find a good composition.  Isn't it interesting that we can't know or calculate ahead of time but we do recognize a superior placement when we see it.

        Japanese prints have an angularity and cut-off quality as does this painting. Those prints influenced Van Gogh and his generation and have seeped into subsequent western artist's sensibilities. 

        The next work by De Keyser is a brush drawing (or other tools, sticks?) and is more casualist. Notice the "diagonal" blue line is curved and lighter and darker in places and has little drop outs. Further, the distances to the corners are different at top and bottom. Are the maroon (burnt sienna?) lines drawn in a casualist way? Specifically how? Again a nature reference, you could picture thin tree branch ends looking like this.

     My sentiments tell me the work has a more fragile, ephemeral (wabi-sabi?) look that solid painting throughout would surely not give.

    
                    
                                           Noel Dolla

        Noel Dolla is a French male artist born in 1945.  He was a student of Claude Viallat, which gives us an opportunity to see a room of Viallat works representative of the Supports/Surfaces movement mentioned earlier.  Notice in particular the hanging screen in the foreground with ladder like openings in the center.

                           

Now, please see a Dolla work of the provisionist type.

                 

                                  

        So, how is it of the type?   The means are spare -- just dots, and the groups are not all parallel.   And the surprising part is the cluster of three blue dots.  Note the blue dots are more intense than the muted pink dots, but still have airiness.  Well there we are -- high drama in spare art.