Elizabeth Whelan

Visual Art Accelerated Year 10

As we talk, Horn is making me a picture of a moon, using the dregs of my espresso. It is

exquisite. "How do you do that?" I ask, amazed. She doesn't look up, just gets out her lipstick
to finish it off. "I am an artist," she replies, very simple and matter of fact. Not grand at all.
Jeanette Winterson with Rebecca Horn (2005)

Rebecca Horn Case Study

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 Table of Contents

Conceptual Practice 5
- The equilibrium between body and space 5
- Kinetic objects and mechanical movement 7
Material Practice 9
Artworks through the frames 11
- Unicorn (1970-1972) 13
- In the Triangle (1973-1974) 15
- LEstel Ferit (1992) 16
Conceptual Framework 18
- Audience 18
- Artist 20
- Artworks 20
- World 22
References 23

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Cornucopia, Sance for Two Breasts (1970)
No recorded materials
No dimensions
Photography Achim Thode
Rebecca Horn

Finger Gloves (1972) Finger Gloves (1972)

originally titled Fingerhandschuhe Image via Martha Garzon
Fabric, Wood, Metal Rebecca Horn
No dimensions
On display at Tate Modern,
Level 3: Performer and Participant
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

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 Conceptual Practice

She combines great sensitivity, unparalleled eroticism, and the refusal

to be placed within a particular womens art movement. Instead, shes
independent, while at the same time making art with a female sensibility,
thats what I find fascinating (Peter Raue/Art Collector, 2010)

Rebecca Horns artmaking leaves her bed stricken for a year in 1964;
lung poisoning from indecent fiberglass exposure. In this time, despite
her virtual paralysis she designs and sews for a series that would be later
referred to as Body Extensions

An artistic logic in maintained throughout Rebecca Horns work. Due

to her nomadic lifestyle that constantly changes her cultural influences,
she experiments in contexts and materials, that although divergent, are
stringently connected to artworks previous.

Two of her defining concepts are explored below:

The Equilibrium Between Body and Space

Rebecca Horns was first influenced by the opposition yet balance

between body and space while recovering from her illness. Her
experiences of isolation and solitude following her medical recovery
influenced a curiosity to extend her body beyond its own.

you crave to grow out of your own body and merge with the other
persons body, to seek refuge in it (Body Landscapes, p.190, 2005)

She explores her personal space, and the environment through Body
Sculptures that extend on her body and challenge traditional
femininity, simultaneity, communication and distance. Cornucopia,
Sance for Two Breasts (1970), the woman is made self-nourishing
through her connection between her mouth, and her breasts.

The breasts are separated from the rest of the body and in direct
contact through mutual isolation with the mouth. A constant
communication between both takes place. This instrument creates a
sense of communication with oneself (WACK!: Art and the Feminist
Revolution, p.247, 2007)

Finger Gloves (1972) creates an elongated sensory experience that

allows for observational interaction with the viewer. The sound of the
hand dragged along walls, and the act of Rebecca using them as real
hands creates the illusion of genuine touch. The experience is also
transcendental for Rebecca, described as:

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Overflowing Blood Machine (1970) Overflowing Blood Machine (1970)
Originally titled berstromer Image via theartstack
Glass, Metal, Plastic, Water Pump Rebecca Horn
1650 x 700 x 430mm
Not on Display
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

Concert for Anarchy (1990) High Moon (2006)

Piano, hydraulic rams and compressor No recorded materials
Unconfirmed: 1500 x 1060 x 1555mm No Dimensions
Not on Display Not on display
Photography Tate, London 2017 No photography credit
Rebecca Horn Rebecca Horn

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The finger gloves are made from such a light material, that I can
move my fingers without effort. I feel, touch, grasp with them, yet keep
a certain distance from the objects that I touch. The lever action of the
lengthened fingers intensifies the sense of touch in the hand. I feel
myself touching, see myself grasping, and control the distance between
myself and the objects. (The Glance of Infinity, p.58, 1997)

This exploration of human limitations, and the way Rebecca utilizes

her body beyond convection gives her outer-body power.

Kinetic Objects and Mechanical Movement

My machines are not washing machines or cars. They have a human

quality and they must change. They get nervous and must stop
sometimes. If a machine stops, it doesnt mean its broken. Its just
tired. The tragic or melancholic aspect of machines is very important
to me. I dont want them to run forever. Its part of their life that they
must stop and faint. Rebecca Horn, "The Bastille Interviews II, Paris
1993"

Maintaining a conceptual association moving between artistic phases,

Rebecca continues to explore natural and unnatural movement through
static objects. The movement between human form and object form
allows for Rebecca to create life within the object, and transform their
pre-perceived materiality into a new meaning. Through her exploration
of movement, and the diversion of space and weight of the past within a
pre-existing form, she encourages people to immerse themselves in her
work and discover things about themselves (Rebecca Horn n/d)

A reference to her body sculpture Overflowing Blood Machine (1970),

her piece High Moon (2006) is full of magnetic flow and examples her
further exploration of body vitality through static objects. Both pieces
involve flowing blood. Overflowing Blood Machine removes the flow
of blood within by exteriorizing it through a suit. The flow of the blood
in High Moon displays a human movement through pipes and a rifle.
The significance of the blood is extended with the knowledge that both
pieces use the same blood, and that furthers her connection between
human movement and kinetic objects inhibiting human movements.

having freed itself from the psychiatric clinic, [the piano] is now
composing its own music, developing a new tonality (Rebecca Horn:
The Glance of Infinity, p.250).

Mechanisms within a suspended piano in Concert for Anarchy (1990)

bring the instrument to life; a 3minute rotation of cascading keys
shuddering and the lid opening and closing. These movements, although
not natural, give the piano character, and a life beyond its created

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Pencil Mask (1972)
Originally titled Bleistiftmaske
Fabric, Pencils, Metal
No dimensions
Not on Display
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

Pencil Mask (1972)

Film still via VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn (2004)
Rebecca Horn

8
purpose. The piano is for man to create music, but what if the piano
develops its own composition?

They betray the longings beneath the surface of everyday things.

Often erotically charged, these works express anthropomorphic
anxiety and sensuality. (Taylor, Rachel 2003) on Rebecca Horns
Mechanised Sculptures.

Material Practice

In Horns sculptures, it is the unison of materials that holds the

significance. The use of wood, or fabric, or metal is merely a vehicle to
produce the final product. Whether its the combination of the body and
the costumed extension, or the inanimate object and its formulated
mechanisms; the material practice is the act of combining opposing
elements.

Rebecca Horns Body Extensions are displayed in numerous art

galleries, such as Tate Modern (London), Galeri Pelaires (Spain) and
Galleria Marie-Laure Fleisch (Rome). The sculptures hold historical
value in themselves and understandably within the boundaries of
practicality, are displayed singularly as the costume alone. But, as can
be seen between two alternate images of Pencil Mask (1972), a disrupted
element removes the connotations. The sculpture is of a mask with
pencils attached, but Horns most powerful material is the human body,
and she uses practical materials to manipulate and extend upon the
human form.

The use of the mask is a performance, but Horns use of human

involvement redefines this as body sculpture

A continuous connection can be found within the timeline of Horns

artistic development, and similar themes of material unison can be found
in her collection of kinetic sculptures. Mechanics, and inanimate, even
static objects, hold no artistic value. Despite that, Horns use of
mechanics and static objects as generalised materials, combine to create
sculptures fused with historical and social commentary.

Not a master of the fine arts, or the sculptor of malleable materials,

Rebecca Horn combines objects that vehicle to a greater meaning.

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White Body Fan (1972)
Originally titled Weisser Krperfcher
Fabric, Metal
2803 x 2700 x 37 mm
Not on Display
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

(referenced on the front page)

image via marthagarzon
Rebecca Horn

10
 Artworks Through the Frames

The Subjective Frame

Personal and psychological experience. Through this frame, art may

be thought to be about and represent deeply felt and sensory experience,
human consciousness, intuition, imagination, originality, creative
expression, and the aesthetic response. Meaning is understood in
relation to the intersubjective experiences afforded to the maker and
viewer. NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013

The Postmodern Frame

Ideas which challenge mainstream values of histories and ideas.

Through this frame, art may be thought to be about and represent texts
that reconfigure and question previous texts and current narratives.
These are woven together through such things as irony, parody,
quotation. From this view, meaning is attained through critique that
exposes the patterns of authority and the assumptions of mainstream
values in the visual arts to reveal inconsistencies, uncertainties and
ironies. . NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013

The Structural Frame

Through this frame, art may be thought to be about and represent a

visual language as a symbolic system: a system of relationships
between signs and symbols that are read and understood by artists and
audiences who are able to decode texts. From this view, meaning is
understood in terms of the relationships of symbols that are used to
refer to the world. Through this system ideas are circulated and
exchanged. NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013

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Unicorn (1970-1972)
Original Title Einhorn
Wood, Fabric, Metal
No Dimensions
On Display at Tate Modern
Level 3: Performer and Participant
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

Unicron (1970-1972)
Image via marthagarzon
Rebecca Horn

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 Unicorn (1970-1972)
Subjective Frame

[I had a vision] of this woman, another student. She was very tall and
had a beautiful way of walking. I saw her in my minds eye, walking
with this tall, white stick on her head which accentuated her graceful
walk. I was very shy, but I started talking to her and proposed that I
measure her to build this body-construction that she would have to
wear naked and that would terminate in a large unicorn horn on her
head. To my surprise, she agreed ... I invited some people and we went
out to this forest at four AM. She walked all day through the fields ...
she was like an apparition. (Rebecca Horn, Solomon R.
Guggenheim, 1993)

The Unicorn (1970-1972) is Rebecca Horns first Body Extension, and

was designed by Horn to be particularly worn by a friend of hers. The
unicorn is mythological, and is very pure and innocent in nature.
Germano Selant describes this piece as:

intentional manifestation of white magic, in which woman tries to

win out over reality and society (Germano Selant, Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, 1993).

Rebecca Horn perhaps reaches out the furthest from isolation in this
piece, extending her body through space and the fantastical. The
pureness of the unicorn is exhibited through the nakedness of the model,
and the white headpiece, which can also draw back to Germano Selants
observations. Upon pure observation, this piece leaves questions of
fantasy combined with the human form; almost a sense of longing to
extend. Through further investigation, the sense of longing is shared
between artist and audience.

Postmodern Frame

Traditional sculpture is challenged through Unicorn as it is ephemeral.

As it is a headpiece, it is only complete when worn, which ultimately
eternalizes the sculpture within the image; rather than physically.

Additionally, her use of the human body as an artistic fixture is an

alternative concept for this particular snapshot of time. Post WWII the
art world explored more vividly the movement of performance art and
body art. Bruce Naumans Self-Portrait as a Fountain (1966) and
George and Gilberts Singing Sculpture (1970) define the age of these
non-traditional art forms. Inspired by this, Horns sculptures can be
seen as derived from these inspirations, but become a league of their
own as the body is also the sculpture.

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In the Triangle (1973-1974)
Original Title Im Dreieck
Fabric, Wood
Dimensions: 1850 x 5140 x 55mm
On Display at Tate Modern
Level 3: Performer and Participant
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

In the Triangle (1973-1974)

Image Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

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 In the Triangle (1973-1974)
Subjective Frame

In the triangle is basically a huge red fabric and wood triangle with a
space in the middle for a persons body. This work really resonates
with me because although it looks very alienating
and imposing at first, once you know the meaning behind it, and you
know that its about reaching out to people its actually quite positive
and very uplifting (Joey, Tate Modern London, 2016)

The wearablility of this triangle, as Joey speculated, can trigger a

response that opposes the artworks hidden meaning. Much like other of
Rebecca Horns Body Extensions, this piece uses expressive colour and
shape to transform the three-dimensional human figure into a two-
dimensional form. The integrity of the sculpture is not damaged to
those unbeknownst to Horns life developments: those of illness,
personal tragedy and isolation. The sculpture to an observer is a study
of body limitation. The deeply personal space that this artwork comes
from, comparatively, initiates a more emotional response, and relation
to the universal feeling of loneliness.

The Structural Frame

The use of wood and fabric in In the Triangle examples what is Horns
ability to use practical materials to convey a greater meaning. Material
similarities, this piece differs in significance as it is a sculpture that
holds great meaning both with and without its human body
counterpart. The symbolism of the human cutout in the middle allows
for almost involvement in the piece, as you could imagine yourself
inside the triangle.

The triangle itself holds a high significance. The shape manipulates the
dimensional value of a human body, and aids that through the
diversion of energy to the ground. The triangle form, in her
construction, appears exclusionary, but it also quite inviting, which
compliments her past emotional traumas.

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Lestel Ferit (1992)
Otherwise titled The Injured Star
or Homenatge a la Barceloneta (Homage to Barcelona)
Iron, glass
Dimensions: 10.60 x 5.17 x 5.17m
Located at Passeig Martim, Barceloneta Beach
Photography Kevin Booth 2010
Rebecca Horn

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 LEstel Ferit (1992)

Subjective Frame

In 1964 I was 20 years old and living in Barcelona, in one of those

hotels where you rent rooms by the hour. I was working with
fibreglass, without a mask, because nobody said it was dangerous, and
I got very sick. Rebecca Horn (nd)

Like the circle of life, Rebecca Horn found herself back to her origins
as an artist as she was commissioned to create a sculpture along Poble
Nou. Horns sculpture, along with many others, were part of a
movement of urban development; targeting aesthetics for the 1992
Olympic Games in Barcelona. The 8 works were referred to
collectively as Configuracions Urbanes (Urban Configurations).

This piece has considerable historical connotations to beach area in

which it is located. This limits the emotional value of this sculpture to
those who understand or inhibit the cultural meaning. Although a niche
market, this sculpture is a homage to the maritime history of this
community, and recognises this through maritime symbolism and neon
tubes to emulate a light house.

As each passing night deepens the imagery of the lighthouse is that of

a reminder of culture, and a place of belonging a place which,
Rebecca Horn lost in Barcelona.

Postmodern Frame

Like all Horns site-specific artworks, every element in this sculpture

has historical relevance to Barcelona, and the direct community of its
location. Elements such as the salt-encrusted windows, neon fixtures to
illuminate the night and an internal maritime structure within all have
connotations to the communities fishing history.

On a broader scale, the design of the sculpture itself was also

historically considered. The design of four haphazard blocks piled
upon another is referential to military engineer Joris Prosper Van
Verboom (1665-1744). This appropriation mimics his designs for the
local street plan in 1753, directed by the Spanish Monarchy. His
building were rational, low-rise geometric structures, which is
represented in LEstel Ferit.

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 Conceptual Framework
the conceptual framework provides a model for understanding the
agencies in the art world the artist, artwork, world and audience. This
framework also provides for the understanding of the intentional and
functional relations between each corner. NSW Board of Studies Visual
Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013

Audience
(also seen in Conceptual Practice)

..the role and value of the audience as a body of critical consumers.

The concept of the audience includes art critics and art historians as
well as teachers, students, entrepreneurs, patrons and other members of
the public. Audiences for works change over time and bring different
meanings to artworks, artists and interpretations of the world. (NSW
Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013)

Most people live in a little prison, you know, in their minds, this
incarceration happens gradually, as we get older, and that one of the
reliefs of art is the light it sends through the bars. (Rebecca Horn to
Jeanette Winterson, The Guardian, 2005)

In response to that statement, Winterson describes Horns imagination

as out of prison (2005). The relief of art found in Horns sculptures
is derived from its familiarity of known objects (the human form and
common objects), and the transformation of their perception beyond
their space. The audience is welcomed into the sensory experience that
Horn creates; feeling, seeing and touching the extensions and concepts
through her own senses.

Rebecca Horn has throughout her career both communicated social and
historical issues, as well as questioned femininity and physical
limitations through her artworks. This is further implied through critical
acclaims and analysis of her work throughout time:

The most successful of the mechanical works share this sense of

intimacy, of sexual tension, and often of danger, as though they are
surrogates for the artist's body, "performing" for us as Horn would once
have done. in reference of her Kinetic Sculptures, (Richard Dorment,
The Telegraph, 2005)

Horn was one of the most important pioneers of the day. Her prosthetics,
bandages and masks referred, in a soft, minimal-mystical language, to
gender roles and the social corset in which one moved. - in reference to
her body extension works, Gesine Borcherdt (2014), Art Review

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Busters Bedroom (1991)
Film still Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

Untitled (1968-1969)
Original Title Ohne Titel
Graphite on Paper
Dimensions: Frame 479 x 379 x 40mm
Not on Display
Photography Tate, London 2017
Rebecca Horn

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A professor now of 30 years at the Berlin University of the Arts
(Universitt der Knste Berlin), Horn now is in the position of the
audience, and the critic, upon her students.

Artist

the role of the artist the who, what, how, and why. The concept of the
artist encompasses practitioners such as artists, craftspeople, designers
and architects. The artist can be thought of as an individual or as a
group, school, movement, etc. (NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts
Syllabus Stage 6, 2013)

Rebecca Horn sees her role as an artist as an opportunity to create

dimensional art, and share the experience with an audience. She uses
space and experimentation in the limitations of movement to express
longing, and loneliness. These works of prosthesis explore sexuality,
femininity, love and alchemy.

Through site specific artworks throughout Europe and South America

she also represents narrative myths and stories of historical stature. In
this she creates a historical memory and through her symbolic
transformation transforms the history into narrative.

Artworks
(also seen in Material Practice)

artworks as real objects, as material, physical and virtual objects.

The concept of artworks includes art, craft and design as two- and three-
dimensional works (including architecture), and four-dimensional and
time-based works. Artworks also exist as representations of ideas that
reflect such things as personal responses, cultural views, symbolic
interpretations and critical reinterpretations of other ideas. (NSW
Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6, 2013)

Rebecca Horn is an artist across a broad range of mediums:

filmography, directing films such as Busters Bedroom (1991),
drawing and sketching, sculpture, and performance art. In 1963, she
studied art at Hochschule fr bildende Knste Hamburg (Hamburg
Academy of Fine Arts); leading up to which was taught to draw by her
Romanian governess. For 50 decades, Rebecca Horn defies artistic
boundaries, and for 50 decades has redefined sculpture with kinetic
and body sculptures.

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Rebecca Horn Self Portrait
Image Source Rebecca-Horn.de
Rebecca Horn

Rebecca Horn Self Portrait

Image Source germany-and-india
Rebecca Horn

21
 World

how interests in the world are represented in art (eg art as a

representation of experience, class, ideology, age, events of
significance. (NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts Syllabus Stage 6,
2013)

In 1967, Rebecca Horn spent a year in rehabilitation from artistically

sustained injuries, and her world as an artist is shaped from that
experience.

Her art is then a representation of experience, and her longing for

movement; longing for support, it represented through the extension of
space. As she further developed as an artist, she continued to make
rather bold statements about her own experiences, feelings, femininity
and ideas rather than any social commentary. The historical site
specific artworks that she made were stemmed from curiosity, and the
love for symbolisms of memory.

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