Dan Graham

Dan Graham (born 31 March, 1942) is recognised as one of the key players within the conceptual art movement that emerged in New York in the early 1960s. Graham was introduced into the art world through his avid interest in writing and his involvement with John Daniels Gallery -  a gallery in which he co-founded in the mid-sixties and exhibited works by Daniel Flavin, Donald Judd and Robert Smithson.

Through conversations with artists surrounding him and his own personal interest in intellectual currents of the moment (e.g. serial music, the french ‘New Novel’ and new scientific theories), Graham began to connect the philosophical implications of such ideas with the art that ‘proto-minimal’ and pop artists were producing at the time (1).  He wrote articles on fellow artists as well as essays exploring and analysing cultural phenomena that excited him. As his art practice developed, Graham also began writing extensive interpretations and explanations of his own work. 

Graham has expressed enjoyment in hybrid forms, describing his most recent and internationally recognised work of glass/mirror installations and pavilions as “halfway between art and architecture” (2).  This interest in multiformity is evident throughout all of Grahams work, with his wide scope of medium including film, video, performance, photography, architectural models/sculpture and installation.  Writing as a medium has been equally as important to Graham and along with other conceptual artists, he explored new alliances between word and image/object which led to a freedom of art from the aesthetic and the emergence of a much wider spectrum of what art could be.  Graham continually questioned the art system and produced much of his work outside of the gallery context, instead opting for magazines, suburbia, urban buildings and public gardens as preferred settings.  Although his practice is varied, Graham consistently explores the relationship between the viewer and his art work.

Dan Graham, Public Space/Two Audiences , 1976
two rooms, each with separate entrance, divided by a sound-insulating glass panel, one mirrored wall, muslin, fluorescent lights, and wood 9-3/8 x 24 x 10-1/2 feet Collection Herbert, Ghent, Belgium Installed in “Ambiente Arte,” XXXVII Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

I have chosen Dan Graham for my presentation, because I can see a number of links between his theories and that which are emerging from my own art practice. Through a variety of medium including video, performance and installation, I often create immersive environments that explore the physical and social reality of everyday life and encourage the viewer to actively question their experiences rather than merely see the world around them. Like Graham I have an interest in exploring topics such as individual and group consciousness, time, public and private space and everyday urban life.  I can also relate to Graham’s enthusiasm for architecture and urban/suburban settings and people’s relationship with these environments, which partly stems from my career as a town planner. 

Caitlin Franzmann

(1) Dan Graham, ‘My Works for Magazine Pages: A History of Conceptual Art’, Perth 1985:8
(2) Dan Graham in interview ‘Framing Sculpture’ with Sculpture Centre, 2009