Schneemann comments: "Practice" vs "Produce"
In 1967, Art in America asked a number of well-known arists to answer a questionnaire exploring the sensibility of the 1960s. Cathy Lebowitz reports in the current issue that this project has been repeated, but this time artists were asked to characterize the turn of the 21st century. Art in America article
Carolee Schneemann was among the artists querried. Her response contrasting "practice" from "process" provides compelling evidence that she remains inspired by the pursuit of the raw, unprocessed, essential components of lived experience. They comprise her guiding principles to this day.
"Current ideological language uses “practice” to define art concepts at the expense of process.
Practice implies perfectibility, strategy, products: dentists have a practice, violinists practice, yoga is a practice, elephants practice for the circus.
Process invites risk, uncertainty, vision, unpredictability, concentration and blind devotion."
Schneemann’s response also includes a short sentence that relays another quality of her distinguished work – it is grounded in scholarship, theory, and erudition. Five of its nine words are defined as a guide to help you decipher its meaning:
Schneemann: “But I unpack hegemonic liminal indexicality by proleptic reifications . . . “
Hegemonic: ascendancy or domination of one power or state over others.
Liminal – the threshold beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced.
Indexical – relating to an index or a reference that depends on the context of utterance
Proleptic – the anticipation of possible objections in order to answer them in advance or assigning an event to a period earlier than the actual one
Reification: to make an abstract concept real or concrete.
Have fun. It is well worth the effort.