Lumens 3: Displacement
Recent interventions into the history of Minimalism have sought to tease out its gendered implications. The monumental stackings of Carl Andre and the cage-like constructions of Robert Morris have been reinterpreted, not as immaculate statements of phenomenological purity, but as ciphers of masculinist power. A number of practitioners both in Australia and abroad, including Rachel Lachowicz and Mikala Dwyer, have sought to reveal the ways in which Minimalism's manipulation of material, shape and weight are imbricated in an economic logic that has been described as corporate. In seeking to break down what Anna C. Chave has suggested is Minimalism's rhetoric of power, these artists have feminized Minimalism, substituting cast lipstick, chocolate and garishly coloured fabrics for impersonal materials and finishes.
Although these recent practices are eclectic, they share a distrust for the claims of certainty and primacy that laced early writings on Morris and his peers. Dan Armstrong in his recent exhibition, is also questioning the limpid aspirations of the Minimalists. His installation Displacement like those of Lachowicz and Dwyer, postulates a contingent position that mocks claims for strong Gestalt sensations. He seeks instead an alignment of forms and energies that are faintly incongruous. However unlike much revisionist art, Armstrong is not interested in parodying the Minimal programme outright. Rather he is suggesting new possibilities by invoking the formative issues of an activated gallery space and the spectator as actor, while meshing these with the medium of photography.
The installation consists of four components each of which utilises a photographic transparency of skin positioned in front, or on top of, a neon tube. The tubes have been removed from their boxes and are secured in a number of configurations. One