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M/E/A/N/I/N/G
An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory, and Criticism
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Edited by Susan Bee and Mira Schor
Duke University Press
Due/Published
December 2000, 392 pages,
paper
ISBN
0822325667
M/E/A/N/I/N/G brings together essays and commentary by over a hundred artists, critics, and poets, gathered from the art magazine of the same name. The editors--artists Susan Bee and Mira Schor--have selected the liveliest and most provocative pieces from the maverick magazine that countered commercial gallery interests and media hype during its ten-year tenure (1986-96) to explore visual pleasure with an activist's edge. With its emphasis on artists' perspectives of aesthetic and social issues, this anthology provides an opportunity to explore some of the most hotly contested art issues of the past few decades: the visibility of women artists, sexuality and the arts, censorship, art world racism, the legacies of modernism, artists as mothers, visual art in the digital age, and the rewards and toils of a lifelong career in art. The contributing artists and art writers includes Nancy Spero, Richard Tuttle, David Humphrey, Thomas McEvilley, Laura Cottingham, Johanna Drucker, David Reed, Carolee Schneemann, Whitney Chadwick, Robert Storr, Leon Golub, Charles Bernstein, and Alison Knowles. "M/E/A/N/I/N/G reflects a time when artists were, in a sense, the critical theorists of the moment. Mira Schor and Susan Bee inspired many of them to write about the subjects that were closest to their hearts, minds, and art."--Elizabeth Hess, art critic "The beauty of this book is the brilliant amassing by Susan Bee and Mira Schor of so many voices, ideas, and approaches. This anthology is full of gems, separately and in their juxtapositions. Fascinating, rich fare."--Moira Roth, coauthor of Difference/Indifference: Musings on Postmodernism, Marcel Duchamp, and John Cage |
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Review
Amidst the commercialized, over-inflated atmosphere (whether it be in egos or prices) of the 1980s art world, emerged the extraordinary journal M/E/A/N/I/N/G. Begun in 1986 (it ran for ten years) by Susan Bee and Mira Schor the journal was dedicated to giving space to writings by artists and critics that might not have found publication in the more mainstream art magazines, many of which were operating with heavy editorial constraints or at the whims of galleries and the art market. M/E/A/N/I/N/G, in stark contrast to other art journals, had a decidedly heterogeneous and non-doctrinaire feel to it due to the variety of voices and opinions within its pages. As diverse as the voices are, however, the journal retains a focus on a set of themes. The role of gender in the art world was in many ways the impetus for the creation of M/E/A/N/I/N/G, and contributors continued to explore how women artists and feminist art could make their ways through the predominantly masculine art world. Even within the issues of feminism the journal worked to be inclusive, providing room for both the theoretical and activist wings of the feminist movement. M/E/A/N/I/N/G also allowed for more speculative, meditative, and personal writing than publications such as Art Forum. We see this not only in the article included here about being a mother and an artist but also in the writings by artists about their studio practices. As Johanna Drucker writes in her foreword, the journal maintained an “emphatic insistence on the importance of studio practice as an integral part of conceptual and theoretical practices.” M/E/A/N/I/N/G also distinguished itself in its continuing interest in painting and the inclusion of writings by painters in the face of postmodern critics who viewed the medium as part of the past. Reading through the selections in this anthology one is struck by the differing textures and voices as well as by the inventiveness the journal allowed. The remarkable group of artists, writers, and critics in this anthology include among others: Barbara Pollack, Carolee Schneemann, Charles Bernstein, Johanna Drucker, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Storr, Leon Golub, Richard Tuttle, Nancy Spero, Jerry Saltz, Whitney Chadwick, and others. For Titles in Related Subjects:
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