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Dialectical Passions COLUMBIA THEMES IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL CRITICISM, AND THE ARTS COLUMBIA THEMES IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL CRITICISM, AND THE ARTS Lydia Goehr and Gregg M. Horowitz, Editors ADVISORY BOARD J. M. Bernstein T. J. Clark Noël Carroll Arthur C. Danto Martin Donougho David Frisby Boris Gasparov Eileen Gillooly Th omas S. Grey Miriam Bratu Hansen Robert Hullot-Kentor Michael Kelly Richard Leppert Janet Wolff Columbia Th emes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts presents monographs, essay col- lections, and short books on philosophy and aesthetic theory. It aims to publish books that show the ability of the arts to stimulate critical refl ection on modern and contemporary social, political, and cultural life. Art is not now, if it ever was, a realm of human activity independent of the com- plex realities of social organization and change, political authority and antagonism, cultural domi- nation and resistance. Th e possibilities of critical thought embedded in the arts are most fruitfully expressed when addressed to readers across the various fi elds of social and humanistic inquiry. Th e idea of philosophy in the series title ought to be understood, therefore, to embrace forms of discus- sion that begin where mere academic expertise exhausts itself, where the rules of social, political, and cultural practice are both affi rmed and challenged, and where new thinking takes place. Th e series does not privilege any particular art, nor does it ask for the arts to be mutually isolated. Th e series encourages writing from the many fi elds of thoughtful and critical inquiry. L ydia Goehr and Daniel Herwitz, eds., Th e Don Giovanni Moment: Essays on the Legacy of an Opera Robert Hullot-Kentor, Th ings Beyond Resemblance: Collected Essays on Th eodor W. Adorno Gianni Vattimo, A rt ’ s Claim to Truth , edited by Santiago Zabala, translated by Luca D’Isanto John T. Hamilton, Music, Madness, and the Unworking of Language Stefan Jonsson, A Brief History of the Masses: Th ree Revolutions Richard Eldridge, Life, Literature, and Modernity Janet Wolff , Th e Aesthetics of Uncertainty Lydia Goehr, Elective Affi nities: Musical Essays on the History of Aesthetic Th eory Christoph Menke, T ragic Play: Irony and Th eater from Sophocles to Beckett , translated by James Phillips György Lukács, Soul and Form, translated by Anna Bostock and edited by John T. Sanders and Katie Terezakis with an introduction by Judith Butler Joseph Margolis, Th e Cultural Space of the Arts and the Infelicities of Reductionism H erbert Molderings, A rt as Experiment: Duchamp and the Aesthetics of Chance, Creativity, and Convention Whitney Davis, Queer Beauty: Sexuality and Aesthetics from Winckelmann to Freud and Beyond Dialectical Passions Gail Day Negation in Postwar Art Th eory Columbia University Press New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York. Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 2011 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Day, Gail. Dialectical passions : negation in postwar art theory / Gail Day. p. cm. — (Columbia themes in philosophy, social criticism, and the arts) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-14938-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-52062-1 (electronic) 1. Art, Modern—20th century—Philosophy. 2. Art, Modern—21st century— Philosophy. 3. Negation (Logic) I. Title. II. Series. N6490.D34 2011 701'.18—dc22 2010004988 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Th is book was printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. Contents vii List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 1 25 T. J. Clark and the Pain of the Unattainable Beyond 2 70 Looking the Negative in the Face: Manfredo Tafuri and the Venice School of Architecture 3 132 Absolute Dialectical Unrest, Or, the Dizziness of a Perpetually Self-Engendered Disorder 4 182 Th e Immobilizations of Social Abstraction 230 Afterword: Abstract and Transitive Possibilities 247 Notes 301 Index Illustrations 0.1 Chris Marker, fi lm still from S ans soleil [ Sunless ]. 2 1.1 Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), L avender Mist: Number 1, 1950, oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on canvas, 221 × 299.7 cm. 35 1.2 Jackson Pollock, Th e Wooden Horse: Number 10A, 1948, oil, enamel, and wood on brown cotton canvas mounted on board, 90 × 178 cm. 60 2.1 Offi ce for Metropolitan Architecture, view of the Espace Pirane- sien , completed 1994, Euralille, Lille, France. 72 2.2 Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778), C arceri VII , 1760, etching. 76 2.3 Raoul Hausmann (1886–1971), New Home , 1920, collage, 29.5 × 21.9 cm. 88 2.4 Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964), Schroeder House, built in 1923–1924, Utrecht, Netherlands. 8 9 2.5 Eliezer (El) Markowich Lissitzky (1890–1941), Illustration to Th e Story of Two Squares, written by the artist, published in Berlin, 1922. 90 viii ILLUSTRATIONS 2.6 Karl Ehn (1884–1957), Karl-Marx-Hof, built in 1927–1930, Heili- genstädter Strasse, Vienna, Austria. 97 3.1 Belvedere Torso, Greco-Roman, marble, 159 cm high. 156 3.2 Giotto di Bondone (c. 1266–1337), C harity, c. 1305, fresco, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy. 161 3.3 Giotto di Bondone (c. 1266–1337), E nvy , c. 1305, fresco, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy. Photo: Th e Bridgeman Art Library. 164 3.4 Martha Rosler, detail from Th e Bowery in two inadequate descrip- tive systems , 1974/1975. 1 80 4.1 Daniel Buren, L es couleurs: sculptures, 1977, photographic record of detail of work in situ, MNAM, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. 188 5.1 Radek Community, M anifestation , 2001, video still of action in Barrikadnaya, Moscow. 231 Acknowledgments M y most important debt is to Steve Edwards for his unfl agging pa- tience, commitment, and engagement. I doubt Dialectical Passions would have been completed without his personal support and his astute read- ings of its countless drafts. I have also been especially fortunate to have received the inspiration, guidance, and friendship of Fred Orton and wish to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am. Caroline Ar- scott, John X. Berger, Andrew Hemingway, Alex Potts, Susan Sieg- fried, and Julia Welbourne have been sustaining presences through the gestation of this book, providing critical insights into my ideas and of- fering crucial encouragement to persist when stasis prevailed. To the readers of the manuscript, in part or in whole, and at various stages of its development, I owe particular thanks: Caroline (again), Martin Gaughan, Ken Hay, Stewart Martin, Adrian Rifkin, John Roberts, and Fred Schwartz. Th eir advice and incisive comments have helped clarify and develop my arguments. Along the way I have also benefi ted from discussion and debate with Joanne Crawford, Tim Hall, Cathe- rine Lupton, David Mabb, April Masten, Stanley Mitchell, Jo Morra, Ben Noys, Peter Osborne, Giles Peaker, Chris Riding, Nick Ridout, Frances Stracey, Nick Till, and Ben Watson. Invitations to present work-in-progress from Tim Clark, David Cunningham, John Good- bun, Tom Hickey, Neil Leech, Colin Mooers, and Julian Stallabrass, and also from Alex and Andrew, have enabled earlier versions of my research to be tested in sympathetic, yet challenging environments.