Charles Ginnever - 1960s

1960s

In the early 1960s, Ginnever's sculpture, much like that of his acquaintance and contemporary John Chamberlain, included "buckled and crunched automobile skins – hoods and fenders – combined with warped, distorted skeletal members of demolished buildings" and in Ginnever's case, sometimes incorporating painted fabric. But, whereas Chamberlain relied on the color of the found metal objects for their color composition, Ginnever painted his pieces to achieve their color compositions (a technique that Chamberlain would utilize in his later pieces). Also, whereas Chamberlain's pieces relied on their forms being crunched and are somewhat static, Ginnever's incorporated open volumes delineated by the sculptures' elements which included crunched steel. The combination of open and closed forms in Ginnever's sculptures then becomes animated by the viewer's participation when walking around the piece.

The idea of the viewer as an active participant was brought to its apex in the "Happening", an art form whose name was coined by artist Allan Kaprow. In 1962, Ginnever produced and directed a "multimedia many-act event, best described as a 'happening'", that was held first in Woodstock and then Bridgehampton, New York in the same summer. Among the many artists and performers Ginnever invited to participate in his artist carnival were Allan Kaprow, Walter de Maria, Peter Forakis, Tom Doyle, Eva Hesse, and the Bread and Puppet Theater. One of the many events of Ginnever's artist carnival included a "Sculpture Dance" entitled Ergo Suits, in which Ginnever, Tom Doyle and Eva Hesse took part, and each of the artists made their own wearable sculptures. This event marked Hesse's first sculpture and Ginnever's first foray into the art of Happenings.

The sixties saw the emergence of both Minimal and Conceptual art, and although Ginnever's own work does not fall under the rubric of these movements, he was an active participant in them. In 1968, while head of the art department at Windham College in Vermont, Ginnever invited artists Carl Andre, Robert Barry and Lawrence Weiner to create site-specific outdoor works that were exhibited on the campus of the college. The exhibition included a symposium hosted by Ginnever, in which the artists were given the opportunity to speak about their work. This event, transcribed and disseminated throughout the art world by the freelance curator Seth Siegelaub, had lasting effects on the movement and marked important milestones in the careers of the artists who participated.