Random
Order: Robert Rauschenberg
and the Neo-Avant Garde
by Branden W. Joseph
MIT Press, Cambridge,
MA, 2003
450 pp., 103 illus. Trade,
$34.95
ISBN: 0-262-10099-1.
Reviewed by Rob Harle
Australia
recluse@lis.net.au
This is an extremely well
researched scholarly investigation
and critical appraisal
of American artist, Robert
Rauschenberg. Whilst the
book does not cover the
complete works of Rauschenberg,
it concentrates on the
two decades from 1952
onwardsarguably
Rauschenbergs most
important period.
Quite often there are
decisive moments in an
artists life that
show the way forward,
Rauschenbergs meeting
with John Cage at Black
Mountain College in 1952
was one such moment. As
author Branden Joseph
says, "[this meeting]
initiated a new paradigm
of avant-garde production,
in which the idea of difference
was conceived not in terms
of negation but rather
as a positive force"
(22).
The difficulty in "pigeon-holing"
Rauschenberg within the
theoretical paradigm of
the neo-avant-garde is
from my perspective, testimony
to his power and uniqueness
as an artist. His work
did not fit neatly
into theories of deconstruction
nor the beginnings of
postmodernism. Nor did
it pander to the dictates
of capitalism. It "nevertheless
opposed the instrumental
signification and stultifying
pseudo-differentiation
of commodity production"
(23).
Josephs investigation
shows clearly that neither
Rauschenberg nor Cage
were interested in "shock
art." Both of these
artists produced some
extremely challenging
works, but this challenge
was not a result of a
negative stripping away
of conventional ideas
and beliefs to leave nothing,
but more in the Eastern
Zen way, of leaving no-thing.
As one astute scholar
once said, "Derridas
deconstruction leaves
us with nothing, Zens
deconstruction leaves
us with nirvana."
Why is this important?
Because Cage was very
much influenced by Zen
and, consequently, through
their association so was
Rauschenberg.
The book starts with a
rather controversial Introduction,
The Art of Assemblagethis
was the title of the exhibition
at the Museum of Modern
Art in New York in 1961.
This chapter gives a fascinating
insight into the world
of modern art with its
power politics; these
political agendas were
never far from Rauschenbergs
life. The symposium associated
with this exhibition,
of which Rauschenberg
was a guest speaker, was
no exception; he never
managed to finish his
introductory speech!
This is followed by five
chapters: White on
White, Pedestrian Colors,
Mole Archaeology, Split
Screens, and Moving
Images. These chapters
discuss in detail these
works, or periods, of
Rauschenbergs production
from both a practical
and theoretical position.
Joseph argues that Rauschenbergs
work cannot be understood
from a Frankfurt School
critique alone but must
be approached from both
a Derridian and Deleuzian
perspective. This analysis
is perhaps the greatest
contribution the book
makes to art history and
certainly is the most
controversial re-reading
of Rauschenberg thus far
attempted.
Random Order also
touches on one of those
perennial artists
dilemmas, that of artists
expectations of changing
society through their
art in their own time.
When society does not
change and their avant-garde
(not art!) art works become
items in the collections
of galleries, many artists
become disillusioned.
Rauschenberg was no exception,
and his art reflects this
disillusionment from the
seventies onwards (281).
The book has extensive
and comprehensive notes,
almost one hundred pages,
a gold mine for students
and art historians and
critics alike. Also an
excellent bibliography
and index as one would
expect from such a scholarly
work.
Random Order was
the title of the artists
manifesto published in
the art journal, Location,
in the early sixties,
"[it] attempted to
provide a written equivalent
to the material heterogeneity
in his Combines"
(1). Josephs Random
Order, well illustrated
with black and white images,
attempts successfully
to understand the complexity
and originality of this
amazing artist. As Alexander
Alberro says, "This
book is likely to become
the standard work on the
subject for some time."