Anessentialandlongout-of-printdocumentofformativeworksbyinstitutionalcritiqueprogenitorMichaelAsherOriginallypublishedin1983,Writings1973-1983onWorks1969-1979,byLosAngelesartistMichaelAsher(1943-2012)presentsselectdocumentationof33worksthroughwritings,photographs,architecturalfloorplans,exhibitionannouncementsandotherephemera.Formostofhiscareer,Asherdidnotcreatetraditionalartobjects;instead,healteredtheexistinginstitutionalapparatusthroughwhichartispresented,creatingworkthatintervenedinthearchitectural,socialoreconomicsystemsthatundergirdhowartisproducedandexperienced.Forexample,in1974,heremovedthepartitionwalldividingtheofficeandgalleryspaceoftheClaireS.CopleyGalleryinLosAngeles,revealingtheday-to-dayactivitiesofthegallerytothepublic.Inanotherworkfrom1979,Asherhadabronzereplicaofalate18th-centurysculptureofGeorgeWashingtonmovedfromtheexterioroftheArtInstituteofChicagotoamuseumgallerythathoused18th-centuryart,reintroducingthestatuetoitsoriginalperiodcontextandshiftingitsfunctionfrompublicmonumenttoindoorsculpture.Duetoitssite-andtime-specificnature,Asher’sworkgenerallyceasedtoexistafteranexhibition,whichmakesthishighlysought-afterbookaninvaluableresource.Astheartiststatesintheintroduction:“Thisbookasafinishedproductwillhaveamaterialpermanencethatcontradictstheactualimpermanenceoftheart-work,yetparadoxicallyfunctionsasatestimonytothatimpermanenceofmyproduction.“InitiatedbyKasperK繹nig,Writings1973-1983onWorks1969-1979wasoriginallycopublishedbythePressoftheNovaScotiaCollegeofArtandDesignandtheMuseumofContemporaryArt,LosAngeles,andwaslargelyshapedbyAsher’sclosecollaborationwithBenjaminH.D.Buchloh,whosucceededK繹nigaseditorofthepress.
