Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin [Paperback]

Lawrence Weschler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 1982

Traces the life and career of the California artist, who currently works with pure light and the subtle modulation of empty space.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Robert Irwin, perhaps the most influential of the California artists, moved from his beginnings in abstract expressionism through successive shifts in style and sensibility, into a new aesthetic territory altogether, one where philosophical concepts of perception and the world interact. Weschler has charted the journey with exceptional clarity and cogency. He has also, in the process, provided what seems to me the best running history of postwar West Coast art that I have yet seen."--Calvin Tomkins

Product Details

• Paperback: 215 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (December 27, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520049209
• ISBN-13: 978-0520049208
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Contemporary Art

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book about creativity and the act of creation, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (Paperback)

Wechsler is a terrific biographer for Irwin. For while Irwin is himself a voluble and willing subject, Wechsler's insights into the act of creation and the journey of an artist augment Irwin's own insights in an important and illuminating way.

Having had no prior knowledge of Irwin and never having seen his work before, I still found this a fascinating book about creativity and the act of creation. I give this book as a gift frequently to those people who love and appreciate art and artists in all disciplines (painting, film, theater, photography, sculpture, pottery etc.).

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, April 8, 2001

By 

James Hughes (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (Paperback)

This book completely ruined me. It so opened my eyes and mind that now I spend untold hours paying attention to the most minute details of my paintings. This book coupled with Josef Albers magnum opus "The Interaction of Color" has completely gutted and replumbed my senses.

The most interesting aspects of this book are the insights into Irwin's process and evolution. You can see his linear trajectory and the almost empirical methodology he used to create his work. Irwin's interdisciplinary approach to art confirmed and extended everything that I've been thinking about for the last couple of years. He helps push the artist away from thinking about paint and towards just plain thinking.

The first two sections of the book are amazing, but I found the third section of the book to be a bit tedious. The problem I find with most art historians is that they try to distill or make broad generalizations about what the artist was *trying* to do. The first two sections stayed away from this and mostly stuck to documentation, interviews, etc. leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. The third section however begins to try and sum up Irwin's contributions which is a horrible mistake. In much the same way that you have to see Irwin's work to grasp an inkling of what is going on, you can't rely on someone else's interpretation of Irwin's life's work. They will inevitably fall far short.

You don't need to know anything of Irwin's work to appreciate this book. Irwin is truly one of the great thinkers of contemporary art. His ideas are what grab you.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing, February 20, 2002

By 

MJR - Berkeley "MJR" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (Paperback)

This was an amazing read. Not only did it open my eyes to the concept of abstract art, but it opened my eyes to a different way of thinking. I highly recommend this book.