Critical Writing Index

For Immediate Release

by Les Levine

Art and Artists, May 1969, v. 4, no. 2, pp. 46-51

Levine discusses work from his upcoming one-man show at the Rowan Gallery, and ruminates on the current state of artistic practice. He writes about environmental art, which is timeless, imageless, and colourless - it is devoid of information, instead relating only to experience. Environmental art is meant to reduce "signal noise," caused by information and data in the environment, and provide a mirror to the viewer's consciousness. He foregrounds process and active experience, making reference to his disposable, "non-object" works, and denigrates art that is caught up in material or technology. He writes that television has altered the way that we understand focus, creating a sense of depth and scale that considers everything at once. Levine concludes that technology has eliminated the need for art, that it represents "art in its most advanced form," and that the possibilites afforded by a technology are already determined by that technology, rendering the intervention of an artist useless and silly.

ITEM 1969.002 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

White SightLes Levine

All Star CastLes Levine

Numbers Racket (Disposables)Les Levine

Offset LithosLes Levine

Process of EliminationLes Levine

RetrofocusLes Levine

Windows (Disposables)Les Levine

Body Colour (the place that lets you choose the colour you want to be)Les Levine