Random Order: Robert Rauschenberg and the Neo-Avant-Garde (October Books)

An examination of the artistic development of Robert Rauschenberg focusing on his relationship with John Cage and his role in the making of the American neo-avant-garde.Robert Rauschenberg is one of the most important visual artists of the second half of the twentieth century. In Random Order Branden Joseph examines Rauschenbergs work in the context of the American neo-avant-garde. One of the foundations of his study is Rauschenbergs professional relationship with experimental composer John Cage. From the moment of their encounter at Black Mountain College in 1952 Joseph argues Rauschenberg and Cage initiated a new avant-garde project one that approached the idea of difference not in terms of negation but as a positive force. Claiming that Rauschenbergs work cannot be understood solely from the standpoint of the Frankfurt School—whose theories have dominated discussions of avant-garde and neo-avant-garde aesthetics—Joseph turns to the theoretical positions of Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. Rauschenbergs neo-avant-garde was not a simple repetition of earlier avant-garde movements Joseph shows but a series of practices that opposed the rise of postwar spectacle commodification and mass conformity.Beginning with the White Paintings Joseph examines Rauschenbergs artistic development from 1951 to 1971. He looks at the black paintings Red Paintings Elemental Paintings and Elemental Sculptures Combines and Combine paintings transfer drawings and silkscreens performances and explorations in art and technology. Josephs study not only offers new interpretations of Rauschenbergs work but also deepens our understanding of the entire neo-avant-garde project.