Abstract

This dissertation examines the works of Richard Serra and Robert Irwin as possible proponents of a tendency in recent art toward exposing perceptual experience as a means by which to construct our understanding of the world. ;Provisionally called phenomenal art, it is an art which through its materials, form, placement, and effect attempts to expose visual phenomena such as the tactile nature of an object, light and shadow or depth in space so that we may realize how these things determine the visual field and by extension, a sensory experience of our environment. ;This study is developed in four parts. The introduction frames the art of Serra and Irwin within the modern/postmodern context of existing modes of interpretation and acknowledges that within these various modes the overwhelming tendency is to examine the phenomenal component of their works through the philosophy of phenomenology. ;The second part is an historical analysis of the works and writings of the two artists, an analysis which outlines the theoretical models that each has employed when conceiving and reading their art as well as the relationship that these models share with the artists' intentions for their work. ;In the first two parts, a case is made for the use of existential phenomenology as a critical method. The third part develops this method as a series of readings or interpretations of select pieces by each artist. These readings are coupled with the findings of the second part to lay the foundation for a comparison of the two artists in terms of their intentions, philosophies, and the operation of their works. ;The conclusion contextualizes the information previously compiled within the larger framework of the contemporary art scene. As such, it proposes new readings of some of the critical theory that surround the works of Irwin and Serra, readings which substantiate the notion of phenomenal art, and in doing so, determine the role that these two artists play within it. ;Finally, the modes of analysis used and the conclusions reached with regard to Irwin and Serra set the stage for examining the works of other artists such as Robert Morris, James Turrell, and Robert Smithson, through the phenomenological apparatus, and in such a way that these artists might also be considered under the model of phenomenal art