Cited by 2Art, Politics, and ModernismContemporary art, education, critiqueVisual Culture and Art Theory

The DOI matches its DataCite record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 106 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Gustav Metzger: Iconoclasm and Interdisciplinarity

Open access
Fisher, EA·2017·Taylor & Francis

Abstract

Gustav Metzger (1926–2017) has been described as ‘the conscience of the art world’ for the consistently political content of his art and his commitment to political activism on the subject of nuclear weapons, capitalism and environmentalism. Metzger’s artistic output from the late 1950s onwards reflects a theory of art as both aesthetic form and social action and identifies him as a key precursor of activist art. This article considers the inherent interdisciplinarity of Metzger’s practice as it evolved during this early period between the late 1950s and early 1970s in relation to his agenda of social engagement.

Overview

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TL;DR

This article traces Gustav Metzger’s auto-destructive and auto-creative art from 1959 to the mid-1970s, arguing that his manifestos, lecture/demonstrations, and interdisciplinary projects made him a key precursor of activist and socially engaged art. It shows how Metzger sought to align art with science, engineering, architecture, and left-wing politics against capitalism, war, and the autonomous art object.

Key findings

  • Metzger published his first *Auto-Destructive Art* manifesto on 4 November 1959 and had produced five manifestos by 1964. Auto-destructive art was defined as public art for industrial societies, with a limited lifespan, collaboration with scientists and engineers, and an anti-capitalist, anti-war message.
  • His lecture/demonstrations became a primary vehicle for testing and disseminating his ideas, from the Temple Gallery in June 1960 to the Architectural Association in 1965 and the “Chemical Revolution in Art” in Cambridge in November 1965. The article claims these pre-dated Robert Morris’s *21.3* (1964), Joseph Beuys’s *Information Action* (1972), and Dan Graham’s *Performer/Audience/Mirror* (1975).
  • Metzger organised or co-organised interdisciplinary forums, including the Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS) in September 1966 with John Sharkey, whose first press release in April 1966 aimed to bring together artists, writers, psychologists, sociologists, and other scientists. In April 1969 he became founding editor of *PAGE*, the bulletin of the Computer Arts Society.
  • Key works and proposals include the South Bank auto-destructive demonstration on 3 July 1961, using acid action painting on nylon (height 7', length 12'6", depth 6', corroding within 15 seconds); *Five Screens with Computer* (1965–9), with five walls about 30 feet high, 40 feet long, and 2 feet deep, each containing 10,000 elements randomly ejected over ten years; and the 1968 Swansea filtration-lab kinetic sculptures.

Methods

  • Historical and critical art-historical study rather than an empirical or quantitative paper. It draws on Metzger’s manifestos (1959–64), lecture typescripts such as the 1965 Architectural Association lecture, DIAS press material, *PAGE* issues, interviews (e.g., Phillpot and Metzger 1997; Stiles 1987), and secondary sources.
  • The analysis is chronological and thematic, reconstructing Metzger’s development from 1959 to 1974 through auto-destructive/auto-creative art, lecture/demonstrations, interdisciplinary collaborations, and institutional interventions.
  • It situates Metzger interpretively within avant-garde, Constructivist, Bauhaus, New Tendencies, and activist art contexts.

Limitations

  • The paper states no limitations.
  • Evident from the text: there is no explicit methodology or limitations section, and the account relies heavily on Metzger’s own manifestos and interviews plus secondary accounts such as Stiles (1987), so claims about influence and intent are interpretive rather than independently tested.
  • Evident from the text: the scope is largely Metzger-focused and chronological, with limited systematic comparison to other artists or movements beyond brief references.

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Integrity signals

Registry

DataCite · 10.17863/cam.9889

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

104 No basis given · 100 Sources not found · 68 Own interpretation · 51 Own result · 24 Not checked yet · 1 No full text of the sources

Show all 76 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 245
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 60
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 3
272 of 272
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The closer integration of artists with science and industry was a fundamental tenet of Constructivism.

    “The closer integration of artists with science and industry had been a fundamental tenet of Constructivism”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The closer integration of artists with science and industry underpinned the radical educational philosophy of the Bauhaus.

    “it had underpinned the radical educational philosophy of the Bauhaus”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The closer integration of artists with science and industry inspired the pioneering use of plastics in the kinetic art of artists Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Naum Gabo among others.

    “and inspired the pioneering use of plastics in the kinetic art of artists Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Naum Gabo among others.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The form of the manifesto itself had been an important platform for mobilising avant-garde movements from Dada to the Futurists.

    “At the same time, the form of the manifesto itself had been an important platform for mobilising avantgarde movements from Dada to the Futurists.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metzger collected the bags of textile offcuts and presented them as objets trouvés at a number of events in the early 1960s.

    “Metzger collected these bags and presented them as objets trouvés at a number of events in the early 1960s.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metzger developed a technique involving a chemical reaction between hydrochloric acid and nylon.

    “Another key technique developed during this time involved a chemical reaction between hydrochloric acid and the synthetic fabric, nylon.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metzger moved from making recognisable paintings with oil paint on various supports such as cardboard and steel in a studio to executing the same actions with different materials in a public setting.

    “Metzger had moved from making recognisable 'paintings' with oil paint on various supports such as cardboard and steel in a studio to executing the same actions with different materials in a public setting.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    American Abstract Expressionism's influence had effectively embedded the notion of the autonomy of the art object within critical discourse and served to disengage art from any extraneous social context.

    “Its influence had effectively embedded the notion of the autonomy of the art object within critical discourse and served to disengage art from any extraneous social context.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Between 1959-72, Metzger produced a number of auto-creative and auto-destructive art works.

    “Between 1959-72, he produced a number of auto-creative and auto-destructive art works.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Architecture students assisted Metzger with the South Bank demonstration.

    “It is perhaps unsurprising that architecture students assisted Metzger with the South Bank demonstration”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The New Tendencies movement was broadly aligned with the post-war New Left.

    “which was broadly aligned with the post-war New Left.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metzger had an anti-capitalist stance.

    “Metzger's anti-capitalist stance”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Activist art emerged as a coherent and identifiable set of practices in the 1960s, informed by the expanded fields of conceptual and performance art practice.

    “Activist art was to emerge as a coherent and identifiable set of practices in the 1960s, informed by the expanded fields of conceptual and performance art practice.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metzger was a founder member of the Committee of 100 along with Bertrand Russell, Michael Randle, Ralph Schoenman and others.

    “Metzger was a founder member of the Committee of 100 along with Bertrand Russell, Michael Randle, Ralph Schoenman and others.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Committee of 100 used mass non-violent resistance and civil disobedience as a form of direct action.

    “The group used mass non- violent resistance and civil disobedience as a form of direct action.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    At the ICA, Reichardt curated numerous interdisciplinary exhibitions including the seminal Between Poetry and Painting (1965) and Cybernetic Serendipity (1968).

    “At the ICA, Reichardt curated numerous interdisciplinary exhibitions including the seminal Between Poetry and Painting (1965) and Cybernetic Serendipity (1968).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The first public demonstration of auto-destructive art took place at Temple Gallery, London on 22 June 1961.

    “The first public demonstration of auto-destructive art took place at Temple Gallery, London on 22 June 1961.”
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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

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Citations

Cites

Show all 2 references

Research works printed but not linked: 20

  1. Benthall, Jonathan, Gordon Hyde and Gustav Metzger. 1969. "Zagreb Manifesto" London, 4 May 1969 in Studio International vol.177 no.911, London June 1969.
  2. Fisher, Elizabeth. 2014. Gustav Metzger: Lift Off! Cambridge, University of Cambridge Kettle's Yard.
  3. Ford, Simon. 2003. "Technological Kindergarten." MUTE Vol. 1, no. 26
  4. Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel. 1961. "General Propositions of the Visual Arts Research Group." Trans. Davida Fineman. In Readings in Latin American Modern Art. Ed. Patrick Frank. New Have: Yale University Press, 2004: 161-163.
  5. Houédard, Dom Sylvester. 1966. "Aesthetics of the Death Wish? Change as Creative Destruction: the Ravensbourne Symposium on Creation Destruction & Chemical Change: Record and Comment." London, Destruction/Creation, BM/DIAS.
  6. Medosch, Armin, "Art as Visual Research: The Tendency in New Tendencies" in Journal for Research Cultures, issue 1. https://researchcultures.com/issues/1/art-as- visual-research.html Accessed 2.1.
  7. Metzger, Gustav. 1964. "On Random Activity in Material/Transforming Works of Art." Fifth manifesto. London, July 30, 1964. Published in Signals. Newsbulletin of the Centre for Advanced Creative Study, Vol.1, No.2, September 1964: 14.
  8. Metzger, Gustav. 1965. Auto-Destructive Art. Typescript of a lecture given at the Architectural Association, 24 February 1965. Third edition: London, Bedford Press 2015.
  9. Metzger, Gustav. April 1966a. First DIAS press release.
  10. Metzger, Gustav. 1969a. "Automata in History Part I" in Studio International vol. 177 no.909, March 1969: 107-109.
  11. Metzger, Gustav. 1970b. "Kinetics." Art and Artists vol.5 no. 6, London September 1970.
  12. Metzger, Gustav. 1971. "Five Screens with Computer. Computer Graphic Aspects of a Sculpture Project" in Computer Graphics '70. Plenum Press, London 1971.
  13. Metzger, Gustav. [1969] 1971. "Untitled paper on Theme Number Three." Computer and Visual Research Symposium, Zagreb 1969, in Bit International no. 7, edited by Boris Kelemen and Radoslav Putar. Zagreb, Galerije grada Zagreba: 26-33.
  14. Stiles, Kristine. 1987. "The Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS): The Radical Social Project of Event-Structured Live Art" Ph.D. History of Art, University of California, Berkeley.
  15. Wilson, Rt Hon Harold, MP. 1963. "Labour's Plans for Science" Speech given at the annual Labour Party Conference, Scarborough, 1 October 1963. London, Victoria House Printing Company. http://nottspolitics.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/06/Labours-Plan-for-science.pdf Accessed 25.9.2016
  16. Ibid. 8 The University of Cambridge Annual Rede Lecture, Senate House, 7 May 1959.
  17. Wilson's article draws particular attention to the central role of the 'manifesto-as- form' in Metzger's early work: "Metzger linked his production of manifestos with the form of the Lecture/Demonstration -the Lecture/Demonstration being a performative realisation of the manifesto to explain and declare the aims and beliefs underpinning auto-destructive art and show clearly its relevance and meaning to a contemporary audience, while at the same time remaining apart from the structures of the art market -there being no by-product, nothing to sell." 14 Conferences have been organised and MA theses written on the subject. See for example: http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/between-art-and-academia-lecture- performance/, http://thepublicschool.org/node/29191; http://www.theoffice.li/htm/lecture.htm, http://gabrielledevietri.com/files/gdvmfafinal.pdf, https://verysmallkitchen.com/2011/12/20/kitchen-essay-artists-talking-at-the- doubting-interface/ and Milder, Patricia, "Teaching as Art: the contemporary lecture performance" Performance Art Journal 97 (2011): 13-27.
  18. For more on TITAN, see "TITAN computer / Bridging the Cultures: Architecture, Models and Computers in 1960s Cambridge" by Prof. Dean Hawkes, also in this issue.
  19. Metzger's writings on the subject include "New Ideas in Plotter Design Construction and Output," an unpublished lecture at Computer Graphics '70, and "Five Screens with Computer. Computer Graphic Aspects of a Sculpture Project" in Computer Graphics '70. London, Plenum Press 1971.
  20. Metzger's statement is recorded in Watson Fuller, ed. 1971. The Social Impact of Modern Biology, proceedings of a conference organised by the British Society for Social Responsibility in the Sciences, 26-28 November 1970. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1971: 245.

Metadata

Authors
Fisher, E.
Venue
Taylor & Francis
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Published
2017-05-24
OpenAlex
W2619149615
Cited by
2
References
2
Citations by year
2022: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
5.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Art, Politics, and Modernism
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Contemporary art, education, critique
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Visual Culture and Art Theory
Keywords
Gustav Metzger, iconoclasm, interdisciplinarity, activist art, political art, nuclear weapons, capitalism, environmentalism, social engagement, art and politics

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Fisher, E. (2017). Gustav Metzger: Iconoclasm and Interdisciplinarity. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.9889