(#arthistory hashtag held in front of a man walking down a street in New York describing the work of Taryn Simon, 2013, Charlotte Frost)
http://digitalcritic.org/2013/07/what-is-art-history-made-of/
“I wanted to draw attention to the physicality of art historical statements whether they are made in print or online. I wanted to look at art historical writing as an object.”
I was very flattered to be asked by Dr. Charlotte Frost to become involved in the 3D printing side of her “Art History Hashtag” project. My “shareable readymades” project was in part a reaction to the treatment of artisans by post-conceptual artists such as Jeff Koons, so reversing the artist/artisan relationship from that project and becoming the person modelling the artwork appealed to me. Charlotte’s writing about the physicality of art history media touched on something I have thought since I was at art school. And I love typography and hashtags, with varying degrees of irony.
Charlotte has now written about her inspiration for the project, providing a context not just for her immediate work but for any classical or digital humanities that wish to cross over with Maker Culture and/or to engage productively in a critique of the ways that their own medium specificity and physicality are implicated in their production. It’s an informative and valuable insight into the production of art and art history. I highly recommend it.