“Black box” and “white cube” - in the arts, we bandy these about to mean two very different kinds of spaces.
A black box refers to a theatre space – dark, contained, flexible, experimental, in-the-background, technically sparse, (a)live. It brings to mind the experimental off-Broadway studios of the 60s and 70s, bearded men in polo necks doing monologues, “worthy” and “wacky” performances, earnestness…
White cube refers to a gallery space – clean, bright, light, simple, neutral, literally and metaphorically a blank canvass. The phrase has been so adopted into the cultural firmament that it’s the name of one of the most famous contemporary art galleries in London (conceived and run by Jay Jopling, art dealer extra-ordinaire). (In)Famously, Martin Creed won the Turner Prize a few years ago for his lights flashing on and off in a white cube…
But hearing the phrases seemingly anew a couple of weeks ago, it struck me that both these places are: for experimentation and experience; for creating work and challenging perception; for providing physical and mental space to encounter ‘the other’; and for hosting and confining both the work and the viewer for the duration.
So similar, so different. Why have we placed these two spaces, indeed two artforms, at one of each end of a spectrum, made them seem so opposed, when in fact they have so much in common?
technorati tag: black box, white cube
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