Beyond the Dream Syndicate: Tony Conrad and the Arts after Cage

by Branden W. Joseph

Tony Conrad has significantly influenced cultural developments fromminimalism to underground film, "concept art," postmodern appropriation, and the most sophisticated rock and roll. Creator of the "structural"film, The Flicker, collaborator on Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures and Normal Love, follower of Henry Flynt's radical anti-art, member of the Theatre of Eternal Musicand the first incarnation of The Velvet Underground, and early associate of MikeKelley, Tony Oursler, and Cindy Sherman, Conrad has eluded canonic histories. YetBeyond the Dream Syndicate does not claim Conrad as a major but under-recognizedfigure. Neither monograph nor social history, the book takes Conrad's collaborativeinteractions as a guiding thread by which to investigate the contiguous networks anddiscursive interconnections in 1960s art. Such an approach simultaneouslyilluminates and estranges current understandings of the period, redrawing the mapacross medium and stylistic boundaries to reveal a constitutive hybridization at thebase of the decade's artistic development. This exploration of Conrad and his milieugoes beyond the presentation of a relatively overlooked oeuvre to chart multiple, contestatory regimes of power simultaneously in play during the pivotal moment ofthe 1960s. From the sovereign authority invoked by Young's music, to the"paranoiac" politics of Flynt, to the immanent control modeled by Conrad'sfilms, each avant-garde project examined reveals an investment within a particularstructure of power and resistance, providing a glimpse into the diversity of theartistic and political stakes that continue to define our time.Branden W. Joseph isProfessor of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Department of Art History andArchaeology at Columbia University and an editor of the journal Grey Room (MITPress). He is the author of Random Order: Robert Rauschenberg and theNeo-Avant-Garde (MIT Press, 2003.)

Genres: Music, Art, Nonfiction, Film, Art History, Biography

489 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2008

Reviews

[Dont · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the books that got me through the '09 holidays. Joseph follows Conrad through a series of different art/cultural associations in the NY avant garde of the '60s from Cage, La Monte Young, Henry Flynt, Jack Smith and ending with a chapter on Conrad's film "The Flicker". Along the way, we get a very different narrative of the transitional moment from Cagean and Fluxus avant garde of the '50s to the founding years of minimalism and conceptualism. I'm particularly grateful for the book because it devotes an entire chapter to Henry Flynt the author of the term 'concept art.' Flynt has been consistently marginalized (or ignored altogether) in the effort of constructing an official narrative of conceptualism. Joseph helps to make that narrative more complex by seriously covering Flynt's ideas and their impact on the artists around him, notably Conrad. As for Josheph's attempt to do a political reading of the era using Foucault's power analysis and the Deleuze/Guattari idea of "minor" histories, this aspect of the book suffers the usual flaw of locating the political within the intentions of the artists themselves. The weakness is particularly glaring when dealing with Cage's ethics and their claims to shift the scene of authorship from the composer to the listener. That claim demands a very different kind of art history and theory than one that consistently insists on the authority of the author. Consequently, for all the interest in "minor" history, the book itself is very conventional and does nothing to challenge the way art history is written. But what can we expect these days? Anyway, it's great to see Conrad get his dues, it's great to read a serious critique of La Monte Young, and it's great to have Flynt rescued from obscurity.

[Kiof · Rating 2 out of 5]

A meandering, post-structualist infused "minor" history. A convential narrative biography would have been much preferrable. The author's unneccesarily opaque approach might be more forgiveable if there were a slew of other books about Conrad's life. Considering this is the only one, the academic verbosity and lack of focus (we end up learning so much more about other artists than we do Conrad) is a mere annoyance. What happened to taking a straight line and following it?

[Chaz Dastardly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kingly read for any and all with broad interest into early 60's avant-garde. Great effort is spent exploring every nook, cranny, and collaborator in Conrad's career during the time period.

[Philip Cherny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and informative read, though I felt some of Joseph's arguments were a little unclear or needed more discussion, like how exactly Conrad's "Flicker" actually (rather than intentionally) differed from Manford L. Eaton’s concept of "bio-music" and challenged the imposed normative functions of society rather than made individuals more susceptible to them by simply putting into this trans-like "anechoic" reflexive/solipsistic state. I've always been interested in Tony Conrad however, and I enjoyed reading a more cohesive biography of his work. I always thought he was a somewhat of an overlooked artist. The best thing though is that this book has given me much to ponder about, and I think there's much more to discuss. I enjoyed reading about Henry Flynt, Robert Morris, Jack Smith, and other ancillary artist of Conrad's life. I did feel like though, he focused so much on these artists, he could have made the book better by not focusing directly on Tonrad. Either that, or make it more about Conrad, because I felt I learned more about the people he was involved with than Conrad himself.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite good read for people who are interested in the mid-sixties NYC Fluxus-Minimalism-Pop intersection. I think this book would have been a bit more enjoyable if not structured like a monograph. It made discerning the sequence of some events overly obtuse. Also while I enjoyed the ample amount of information about Conrad's friends and collaborators, the digression in to some issues tended to disinterest me personally. Specifically I don't care as much for the intensely detailed analysis of Cage's own milieu and don't think I'll ever understand the larger of Henry Flynt's ambitious but obscure philosophical ideas, as much as I enjoy his music. A little disappointed that not much new information of the musical workings of the Theatre of Eternal Music nor about Conrad's more recent works, though they fall outside of the book's stated scope.

Some great and rare photographs and documents contained herein including some ToEM photos I'd never seen before.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The context that this provides, and the alternating influence of the myraid of interests that inform Conrad's work is on display here. That it is near impossible to chart the mutual inspiration that these endeavors contribute to the development of his work at each stage, and the likely lineage of when his ideas take shape before projects are realized, are respectfully dealt with here. he goes no further than would be realistic.

I hope that Branden W. Joseph revisits this idea in about 30 years. It will be helpful to see these documents and ideas when they are deeper in the rearview.

my sense is that we're largely falling short of Conrad's ideas, and the hope that his work has for what can be done with ideas, but we'll see whether that's just my resigned concern speaking or not.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much needed monograph on one of the most influential yet unacknowledged American artists of the second half of the 20th century; Conrad was in at the ground floor of Fluxus and happenings, was a massive voice in the birth of musical Minimalism (he taught just intonation to La Monte Young), played in early incarnations of the band that became the Velvet Underground, and was a pioneer of Structural Film. Conrad's activities have spanned discipline and approach, and Joseph writes eloquently of how his career deliberately avoids being easily summarized and put into the grand narrative of art history.

[Chris Meloche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've long been fascinated with the work of Tony Conrad. I was finally lucky enough to play on a festival bill with him in 2010. Some time after that, I was watching an interview with him on youtube. He happened to mention this book and recommended it. While it is quite informative and interesting, please be aware that this book is written from a heavily academic analytical point of view. I don't have a big problem with that myself. But, YMMV.

[Brycedwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

read a chapter for class. into the "ecological" method, but it leads to a lot of block quotes to slog through!

[eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

amazing for now - despite stopping for a while