“[T]he bands are 8.7 cm wide, alternating between white and colored, and are placed over internal and external surfaces: walls, fences, display windows, etc. . . . I record that this is my work for the last four years, without any evolution or way out.”
— Daniel Buren, 1970

Daniel Buren (b. 1938). Photo-souvenir: Wall of Paintings, 1995–2005. Twenty paintings, acrylic paint on white-and-colored-striped fabric, 1966–77. Works in situ, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Collection Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

The 1960s were a time of great political and social activism worldwide. Many artists were questioning the nature of art and its relationship to the marketplace and traditional institutions. Some were experimenting with new forms and concepts that broke with long established rules and expectations.

In September 1965, Buren was visiting a Paris market to buy canvas when he noticed a striped awning fabric with vertical bands, each 8.7 cm (approximately 3.5 inches) wide, which were alternately white and colored. Buren began using this fabric to create his own art, but he gradually realized that paintings in this reduced state had no intrinsic value. He had stripped painting down to its core, or “degree zero.” The striped fabric now derived its value from the place where it was exhibited. This observation led the artist to use the stripes as a “visual tool” whose function is to reveal, through its placement, the characteristics of the site in which it is displayed (Guy Lelong, Daniel Buren, trans. David Radzinowicz [Paris: Flammarion, 2002], p. 37). By replacing his canvases with standard awning fabrics, Buren also questioned the idea of a personal artistic style.

For his first solo exhibition in 1968, Buren glued white-and-green-striped material to the outside door of the Apollinaire Gallery in Milan, Italy (Anne Rorimer, “From Painting to Architecture,” Parkett 66 [2002], p. 62). The same year Buren pasted 200 striped posters on Paris billboards and other spaces reserved for advertising. His action at once protested the proliferation of advertising and testified to the boundlessness of art when released from the confines of the gallery and museum. For Buren, the work of art should not be limited to traditional forms. Art can happen in the streets: as a part of everyday life. Buren has used his “visual tool” in and on a variety of interior and exterior sites all over the world.

Buren’s installation Wall of Paintings in the Guggenheim’s High Gallery is a collection of twenty of his striped canvases dating from 1966 to 1977. Hung “salon-style,” from floor to ceiling, with differing spaces between them, the canvases are presented in an unconventional way. Buren’s placement of the works challenges expectations and emphasizes the museum environment itself.

• Wall of Paintings was designed to interact with the museum’s architectural setting. How does Buren’s work interact with the site? Describe the relationships that you observe. How does Buren’s work challenge your expectations about how paintings are usually displayed in a museum setting?
• Since stripes can be both utilitarian and decorative, Buren’s “visual tool” seems perfect for maximum versatility. Make a list of all the places you can think of where stripes are used. Review your list and notice how the meaning of the stripes changes depending on where they are located. Have you found instances where the stripes are related to fashion, commerce, safety, law enforcement, and patriotism? How can the same motif have all these different meanings?
• Because many of Buren’s works are temporary, he documents them with photographs. Buren calls these “photo-souvenirs” to make the point that looking at the photograph of the work is not the same as experiencing it. Have you ever tried to capture your experience of a place in photographs? Do you feel you were successful? Explain.

• Design your own “visual tool.” Then place it in three different environments. Consider carefully where and how you place your “visual tool.” Should the site be:
  
  • A public or private space?
  • Large or small?
  • Used by lots of people or just a few?
  • Inside or outside?
  • Urban or rural?
  • Historical or contemporary?
  
  After you have analyzed your sites, consider whether you want your “visual tool” to stand out from or become part of the space where it is set? Where can it be placed to create a new meaning or relationship? If you have access to a camera, photograph your “visual tool” in the places you have chosen, and discuss how the meaning changes in each new site. Which combination of “visual tool” and site was most successful? Why?
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• Daniel Buren has used his signature stripes in numerous ways. They have been hung from poles like flags, printed on pages in a book, hoisted as sails on boats, adhered to walls like wallpaper, hung from lines like laundry, and plastered on billboards like advertising. His ability to see so many possibilities for expression in a single “visual tool” is impressive. Some scientists believe that the ability to imagine many uses for a single thing can be an indication of a person’s creativity. Try this out for yourself.
  
  • Name all the uses for a brick
  • How many things can you think of that are usually white?
  
  Share your list with your classmates.
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• Many people own striped clothing. A school in New Jersey celebrated stripes and design by having Stripe Day, a day on which everyone wears stripes (School Arts Magazine [Worcester, Mass.: Davis Publications, Inc., February 1997], p. 13). You can designate a Stripe Day for your school.
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• Create a “photo-souvenir” of a place you know well. Compare the photographs with your experience of the place. Describe any surprises or differences you noticed between the experience of being in the place and your photographs.
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