Chapter 7 – the art of Lucas Samaras

Lucas Samaras did paintings at first after he graduated from Rutgers University with a major in art, but turned to using different media such as found objects, like many of the artists in his era. He was attracted to the Happening & avant-garde, both of which he took part in. What made him different from other artists was that he explored the theme of selfhood rather than social relevance and connection.
In his installation Room #1, he recreates his own room with things from his personal life, and in the center of it all is a single bed. The author feels that Samara's piece represented the gathering of pieces that makes up a person's identity, which needs to be done before being able to intergrate art and life together. The absence of the human figure emphasises the presence of someone that was there before. Many key symbols in the room such as the bed, where many intimate things take place, and the chair, which in early buddhism represents someone or a ghost who is no longer there, or “a sculpture base from which the real sculpture, the human figure, has escaped”.
This fixation with chairs led him to create more “chair transformations” in 1965 – 1970.using materials ranging from razor blades to wool and flowers, these symbolized the different aspects of human characteristics. Transition from 2 – 3d. For example, the monochrome painting functioned as “diagram of oneness/emptiness/ the void” in the fifties. About 1960, it became predecessor of Minimalist sculpture. Using the monochrome idea, Samara created a monochrome surface on which a nail sticks out toward the audience – instead of inviting people to touch, it is like a defensive armor, an outsider attitude that keeps people at a certain distance. More examples of his works that portray such a quality include pin-covered books & boxes. The author points out that boxes were “like a book” with information about things rather than simply just things itself. Important to flux artists as a break with aesthetic tradition because of its portability, its invitation to be found, and that it bypasses pictorial treatment. However Samara's box works have more in common with Cornell than with the Flux artists. Not about statements against easel painting or representation or the museum. Focus on inside & outside of box, suggesting secrecy & privacy, offering only a peek of its contents. Despite the prickly surface, they still invite the viewer to perhaps open the box, but only if they dare to take the risk – it is a take at crossing boundaries to find out more about the other party.