THE REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION
1 (2001): 43-45
© 2001 National Communication Association  

The Art Museum, Rhetoric, and Subjectivity

Carole Blair

Thomas Patin.  Discipline and Varnish: Rhetoric, Subjectivity, and Counter-Memory in the Museum.  New York: Peter Lang, 1999.  x+157 pages.  Notes, bibliography, and index.  $40.95. 

Thomas Patin's book is the seventh monograph in Peter Lang's "Hermeneutics of Art" series, dedicated to "original research in the history and theoretical foundations of the visual arts."  Patin claims that two interrelated events occurred in the mid-1960s: (1) a "rupture in the discourse of aesthetic autonomy . . . in formalist art criticism and theory in the United States . . . which makes the notion of the 'independence' or 'self-sufficiency' of the work of art problematic," and (2) a "rupture in the discourse on the autonomous individual human being" (10).  He suggests, in fact, that the former is, in part, constitutive of the latter.  In order to make his case, Patin brings together studies of architecture, interior design, museological technique, art historical discourse, and theory.  His touchstone case is the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), in New York City, although he also relies on the Wexner Center for the Arts on the Ohio State University Campus (Peter Eisenman, 1989) as a case of "counter-memory."

Patin's first two chapters address the early history of MOMA.  Chapter 1, "The Little Tactics of Habitat," focuses on the Manhattan brownstone and its domestic interiors that, he argues, confirm notions of individual subjectivity and autonomy.  Among the strong shaping influences on the Museum was Abby Rockefeller's donation of her collection of modern art to form a portion of MOMA's permanent collection, which she originally displayed in a private gallery space in the Rockefeller brownstone.  Patin argues in chapter 2, "The Truth in Framing," that the arrangement of rooms and the display apparatuses of art in MOMA repeated and rearticulated the dimensions of individual autonomy that were so evidently reinforced by the brownstone's design.  That miming of domestic architecture, combined with new and emerging forms of artistic display and formalist understandings of art criticism, sustained a rhetoric of individualism and what Patin calls an "overwhelming" sense of individual autonomy. 

Chapter 3, "A Rupturing and a Redoubling," is the cornerstone of the book.  In it, Patin describes how the supposed autonomy of the modern art work exposed its own reliance on techniques of display, hence undermining in its own essence its definitive character.  For much of modern art to be taken seriously as art, it had to surrender to the "theatre" of the space in which it was seen--the museum and its apparatuses of artistic representation.  That, together with others of its features, created the scene in which artistic autonomy was surrendered.  At the same time, argues Patin, the individual autonomy of the subject is shattered, in the form of both the artist and the viewer.  The artist's "autonomy" came to be seen as not autonomy at all, for the artist's supposed freedom was dependent upon the degree to which the work came to be commodified.  And indeed, the supposed autonomy and aesthetic concerns of the viewer were shown to be dependent upon the material conditions of leisure, typically available only to elite audiences.  

In chapter 4, "The Practice and Language of Counter-memory," Patin explores numerous works that respond to the ruptures he identifies in chapter 3, most convincingly with his case of the Wexner Center.  As annoying as that space has proven to be for both curators and visitors, Patin makes the case that Eisenman's most famous work responds appropriately and well to the crisis of autonomy in the artwork and the individual subject. 

In chapter 5, "Conclusion," Patin traces (lightly) the history of museums and draws together the implications of his study for that history.  Perhaps most pertinent to those interested in communication, he argues that "Museums do not merely display objects, but present them in a certain order and context. . . .  Further, museums, like the arts of memory, articulate the qualities and the relationships of things, thus forming a discourse on the world and on the sensual experience of the world" (131). 

There are some vexing limitations of this book.  It all too often reads like the rewritten dissertation it is.  And the text should have had benefit of a good copy editor at some point; words and letters are missing so frequently that it becomes a perpetual chore for the reader to fill in the blanks.  Too, I believe it would be difficult to locate anyone in rhetorical criticism, cultural studies, or performance studies who would find much conceptual "news" in this book, although the particular cases Patin addresses might be of interest. 

Nonetheless, there is still much positive to be said of Patin's book.  It is a pleasurable read for anyone familiar with MOMA and the Wexner Center.  Even though MOMA has changed considerably since its inception, its formative history is interesting.  And even more arresting, perhaps, is the fact that many museums of art still engage in the discourse of MOMA's early years.  Although Patin's assessment of the Wexner seems more palatable from the point of view of a "theory head" than a museum goer, his analysis may at least offer some grounds for appreciating that unusual space.  And, his analysis does make a case that the museum is a combinatory discourse of architecture, conceptions of art history, and modes of display, and that the museum constitutes a "theatre" of performing the aesthetic of individuation.  Interestingly too, Patin's book performs the very history he discusses.  The first couple of chapters, which address modern assumptions of invisibility of the discourses of museum space, are framed in transparent, easily read prose.  The third and fourth, which focus on the ruptures in aesthetics and ontology and their consequences, become theoretically more dense and less easy to dismiss as formative of the substance of the work.  That is precisely what Patin argues occurs with the museological discourses in the mid century.  Finally, for those of us who turn frequently to art history or theory as supplementary discourses to our own work, there is a gratifying tendency obvious in Patin's work.  Almost every art archive, art museum exhibit, and professional art historical discourse is still ordered by the foundational and hermeneutic center of "The Artist."  Perhaps Patin's work will add to the growing dissent in the ranks of the arts and museological communities, if not yet the archival ones, to shift that focus. 

Carole Blair is Professor of American Studies and Director of the University of California Davis Washington Center.