Lee Lozano's 'Dropout Piece' Examined in New Afterall Publication
Afterall has unveiled a new addition to its One Work series, centering on Lee Lozano's 'Dropout Piece', which began around 1970. Authored by Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, this book explores the piece as a significant experiment in both art and endurance, linking it to Lozano's 'Life-Art' works, including 'Dialogue Piece', 'General Strike Piece', 'Grass Piece', and 'Boycott Women'. Lehrer-Graiwer utilizes Lozano's personal notebooks to assert that 'Dropout Piece' continues to resonate in the art community today as a blend of oral history, ephemera, and fantasy, highlighting Lozano's influence on the interplay between language, performance, private thought, and urgent action. The term 'Dropout Piece' refers to Lozano's deliberate shift from being an art world insider to an outsider, resulting in profound lifelong and posthumous effects.
Key facts
- Lee Lozano's 'Dropout Piece' was begun c.1970.
- The work is the name Lozano gave to her self-imposed transformation from art world insider to outsider.
- It is a large-scale action with lifelong and posthumous consequences.
- Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer wrote the book for Afterall's One Work series.
- The book situates 'Dropout Piece' within Lozano's 'Life-Art' pieces like 'Dialogue Piece', 'General Strike Piece', 'Grass Piece', and 'Boycott Women'.
- Lehrer-Graiwer draws on Lozano's private notebooks.
- The publication argues that 'Dropout Piece' still haunts the art world as oral history, ephemera, and fantasy.
- The book reveals how Lozano's practice advanced the relationship between language and performance and between private thought and urgent action.
Entities
Artists
- Lee Lozano
- Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer
- Sung Hwan Kim
- Isa Genzken
- Alfredo Jaar
- Donald Rodney
Institutions
- Afterall
- MIT Press
- Google Books
Sources
- Afterall —