2010
In her 2010 book "Situation Aesthetics: The Work of Michael Asher," Kirsi Peltomäki examines the development of site-specific and situational art through the career of Michael Asher. While the primary focus is Asher, Max Neuhaus is featured as a significant peer and counter-point in the context of "institutional critique" and "situational" practice during the late 1960s.
The book is published by The MIT Press
While Michael Asher is known for his "subtractive" approach (removing walls or revealing the hidden architecture of a gallery), Max Neuhaus represents its sonic counterpart. In "Aesthetics of the Situation," Peltomäki uses Neuhaus to demonstrate how the "situation" involves not only physical walls, but also perceptual environments.
Just as Asher made the "invisible" physical structure of the gallery visible, Neuhaus made "invisible" soundscapes audible. His work Times Square (1977) is the quintessential example of a situational work: it exists not as an object, but as a permanent shift in the identity of the place.
Both artists distanced themselves from the "object" to focus on the movement of the subject through space. Peltomäki argues that these works "activated" the audience, making them aware of how their presence completes the artwork.
While Asher criticized the museum's economy and architecture, Neuhaus criticized the "concert hall" by bringing sound to the street, breaking the traditional boundaries of places where art is "recommended" to manifest itself.