Tate Papers: Autumn 2006

Tate Research

ISSN 1753-9854 Autumn 2006 ISSUE 6

STEPHEN DANIELS	Lines of Sight: Alfred Watkins, Photography and Topography in Early Twentieth-Century Britain
	Alfred Watkins (1855-1935) originated the idea of ley-lines and surveyed alignments which articulated the prehistoric landscape of Britain, in his native Herefordshire in the 1920s. Despite the scepticism of academic archaeologists, his vision of ley-lines helped shape popular views of British landscape in the interwar years, and, during a revival of Watkins’s work from 1969, practices and perceptions of British land art.
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STEVEN HARRIS	'Pataphysical Graham': A Consideration of the Pataphysical Dimension of the Artistic Practice of Rodney Graham
	‘Pataphysical Graham’ investigates the possible use of pataphysical motifs in the work of the contemporary Canadian artist Rodney Graham, through his recourse to the figures of the clinamen and the spiral, two key motifs in ’pataphysics. The discussion is keyed to issues of melancholy and utopia, as these recur in Graham’s work.
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DAVID FRASER JENKINS	Edward Hopper and British Artists
	This article examines the changes in Edward Hopper’s painting style during his stays in Paris between 1906 to 1910, and compares his work to that of certain British contemporaries, notably Walter Sickert, Gwen John and J.D. Fergusson. The comparison highlights Hopper’s response to the legacy of Impressionism and his highly individual approach to the sensuality of life in the modern city.
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PIP LAURENSON	Authenticity, Change and Loss in the Conservation of Time-Based Media Installations
	This paper focuses on three concepts central to the theory of conservation: authenticity, change and loss. These terms are explored in relation to how they are viewed in traditional conservation practice and how they might usefully be interpreted in relation to time-based media works of art. Discussions about authenticity found in the philosophy of music suggest ways in which conservators might approach concepts of change and loss in relation to time-based media installations.
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BRONWYN ORMSBY ET AL	The Effects of Surface Cleaning on Acrylic Emulsion Paintings
	Drawing on a current research project at Tate on the conservation of modern paintings, this article, based on research carried out in 2003, presents the results of a preliminary scientific investigation into the physical, chemical and optical properties of artists’ acrylic emulsion paints and changes resulting from surface cleaning treatments and accelerated ageing
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CHRISTOPHER SHORT	Between text and Image in Kandinsky's Oeuvre: A Consideration of the Album Sounds
	Focusing on the album of poetry and woodcuts called Sounds (Klänge), published c.1912, this paper examines how Kandinsky understood and exploited the relationship between text and image. It shows how he conceived of the album as an example of synthetic art and explores the broader principles underlying his idea of artistic synthesis.
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BRANDON TAYLOR	Kandinsky and Contemporary Painting
	The author assesses the reach of Kandinsky’s early painting, first reflecting upon the sense of scale and time in Kandinsky’s art, then his clash with the Constructivists and his emergence in New York in the 1940s as a ‘painterly’ European artist of significance. The paper finally dwells upon the nature of complexity in today’s painting, and its connections with Kandinsky across a century of change.
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