Event Structure - Approach to a basic contradiction
SPTB 002
John Latham
64 pages
Illustrated
5.5 ins. x 8.5 ins.
Paper
Perfect bound
1981
John Latham was born in Africa in 1921. He studied at the Chelsea College of Art from 1946 to 1950. In 1954 he discovered what he terms a "Process idiom" as a result of his experiments with spray painting as a "Preverbal" representation. He is an Honorary Founder Member of the Institute for the Study of Mental Images (ISMI) as a result of his collaboration with scientists Gregory and Kohsen.
Proposing a new attitude towards the artist and his activities (that of the Incidental Person*), he has presented an eloquent and timely 'definition' or 'catagorisation' of artistic activity which supercedes the stagnant concepts traditionally held in reference to 'art' and 'artists'.
Within his role as Incidental Person, Latham has, as an individual and as a founder member of the Artist Placement Group of London, exhibited in and been recognised by major museums on both sides of the Atlantic - namely the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Gallery, the Kunsthalle, Documenta 6, the Hayward Gallery etc.
Within the context of this publication, Herbert Frohlich of the Max Planck Institute has commented that Latham's "work and ideas could influence the thinking of those scientists who in various branches are trying to formulate new scientific concepts. This holds in particular for (his) concept of 'Least Event' and...various demonstrations of the idea of 'Time'..."
* Incidental Person is an individual who, when confronted by two opposing ideological fixes, "takes a third ideological position which is off the place of their obvious collision areas. The function is more to watch the doings and listen to the noise... In doing this, (s)he represents people who would not accept their premises, time-bases, ambitions, formulations as valid, and who will occupy the scene later."
Extract from Event Structure
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