The Copyist
Theoretical Analysis
Megan McAlpine
Megan McAlpine
Theoretical Analysis
December 7, 2012
Paul Sietsema’s The Copyist Theoretical Analysis
Throughout my research on Paul Sietsema’s The Copyist, a great deal of information
has been gathered which contributes to the artist’s work process and the artist himself.
Sietsema focuses on the creation and preparation of his pieces rather than the meaning
behind the artwork. His process is evident in The Copyist. Sietsema was born and
currently lives in Los Angeles, California. His educational career consists of a Bachelor of
Arts degree at the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from
the University of California, Los Angeles. Sietsema has contributed a vast amount of
artwork to various exhibitions ranging from museums such as the Museum of Modern Art
and the Whitney Museum of American Art..1 Paul Sietsema would not be regarded as a
traditional artist who produces the typical paintings or drawings. Much of his work
includes very diverse media. Sietsema believes that all people are capable of making the
same thing. If an individual created a painting, someone else can go and create a painting
just like the original one. Thus, he believes that using skill and the idea of artistic value
does not exist in the art world.2 The viewer is capable of observing this thought process in
all of his artwork. The amount of detail and work that it takes to make art is extremely
important to him. Sietsema tends to use film to capture his creation of artwork. He will
create a piece and proceed to film very close to the object to see all of the details. This
1.
2.
"Paul Sietsema - Drawing Room." Regen Projects. Accessed November 11, 2012.
http://www.regenprojects.com/artists/paul-sietsema/bio/
Kevin West. "Shape Shifter." Wmagazine, April 2008. Accessed October 7, 2012.
http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2008/04/paul_sietsema
process allows for the viewer to look at the material and the image as a representation of
an object.3 Much of his artwork is a representation of the physical artwork and we are able
to see this in his Figure 3 piece, which was created in 2008 (reference Figure 1).
In Figure 3, Sietsema created his own anthropological renderings from the South
Pacific out of papier-mâché and then filmed it.4 Sietsema’s trip to the South Pacific spurred
artistic thought for the artist. The final art piece in Figure 3 was the film itself, not his
rendering. When closely filming his rendering, Sietsema made sure to record every crack
in the piece for the viewer to observe in the film. It is important that the viewer sees how
the rendering was created and that the details in the film are actually the main component
of the entire artwork. Sietsema uses this imagery to portray to the viewer that the work is
about art and the representation of art.5 The viewer may not realize what the film is
actually about upon first viewing it and having no other prior knowledge. As a result, they
are forced to reflect on what is being portrayed and represented. Sietsema has obtained
this process for much of his artwork.
Upon viewing Paul Sietsema’s The Copyist, the viewer observes a very unique work
of art. It was created in 2005 and is 16 7/8 inches in height and 22 ¼ inches in width.
Sietsema created the piece using gouache, watercolor, and glue all on paper. In this
particular piece and series, the colors obtain the viewer’s attention. They are very natural
colors, which include different values of indigos, browns, greens, and a few others. The
colors are very calming, but at the same time seem distracting due to the fact that Sietsema
3.
4.
5.
"Paul Sietsema - Drawing Room." Artlyst, Last modified, July 7, 2012. http://www.artlyst.com/events/paul-sietsema-drawingroom.
Andrew Berardini, "Dig Forever and Never it Bottom." Mousse Publishing. Accessed September 24, 2012.
http://moussemagazine.it/articolo.mm?id=30
Ken Johnson. "Spirals of Self-Reflection, Made by Methods Mysterious." The New York Times, sec. Art and Design, January 07,
2010
has displayed them in an array of layers and patterns. The different shadows give the piece
an interesting perspective due to depth of the unusual layers. Deciding where each
rectangular piece of paper would be positioned allows for the viewer to absorb the amount
of detail that composes the artwork. Also, the lines created by the different pieces of paper
are positioned at a diagonal rather than a traditional horizontal or vertical line. Each
rectangular piece is different and adds to the composition in its own way. Some of the
colored rectangular pieces are solid, while others do fade. The background includes most
of the greens and cream colors, which gives the viewer a sense of light. When looking
closely at The Copyist, the viewer may miss the vague silhouette of an individual’s head, but
when stepping farther away from the piece, you are able to see the faint figure. This figure
consists of many of the dark colors, including many blues, in the piece. The faded figure in
the artwork has both long hair on his face and head and consumes the majority of the
composition. The figure is not a profile view nor front view, but placed at a three quarter
view. The human’s eyes in the artwork appear to be closed or looking downward. The
emotion expressed by the watermark-like figure is very discrete. You cannot fully decipher
the facial features and they are usually a key into the emotions of an individual. The Copyist
is just one example from Sietsema’s series “Oceana,” which also contains his Figure 3
artwork. This series focuses on anthropological objects and findings from the South
Pacific. Even though The Copyist is not an actual object, but of the artist himself, it uses the
shades and colors of the South Pacific in which Sietsema was inspired. Although Figure 3 is
most likely the most well-known piece in his “Oceana” series, he also enjoys creating other
artwork than sculpture and film because he enjoys expanding his work ethics and
obtaining different ideas off of other mediums.4
The Copyist is a reflection of much of Sietsema’s work, and his fascination with
illusion. The artwork is a representation of Sietsema himself because the figure in the
piece is of the artist himself. 6 In The Copyist, the viewer can see in detail the process that it
took to create the piece just by the individual layering of the rectangular pieces of paper.
He focuses on the creation and preparation of the piece rather than the piece as a whole.
For example, he had to decide exactly where each piece of paper would be placed and what
rectangular pieces would be colored the anthropological colors.
Walter Benjamin is an art theorist who believes that an original, unique work of art
loses its “aura” to reproducibility, but opens up progressive possibilities. He believes that
once a picture is taken of a certain piece or an artwork is created that represents something
else, the piece loses its aura. An aura is a hypothetical emanation that surrounds a person,
area, animal, etc. In Paul Sietsema’s The Copyist Benjamin’s theory is relevant. The piece is
a reproduction of the artist himself. Therefore, the reproducibility of Sietsema reduces the
originality of the piece and the artwork’s aura. . Benjamin also argues that reproduction is
a positive aspect in the art world since it allows for the art to obtain more viewers and
credit. A perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in its presence in time and space.
Additionally, while altering a piece, the authority of the object is jeopardized and there is
more room for error in a reproduction. Sietsema’s work was not intended to be a
6.
“Explore the Collection.” Carnegie Museum of Art. 2007.
reproduction due to the different layers of the piece and the mass amounts of details.
However, the viewer can see the reproduction of the artist and a geographic location.
Although Benjamin did praise reproduction due to the vast audience that it attracted,
Sietsema reached audiences by creating a series of works that all were inspired by his
experiences in the South Pacific. The combination of mixed media in his series gave
Sietsema the advantage of reaching a wider range of viewers.
Jean Baudrillard is a social theorist who is mostly known for his writing on
mediation and technological communications. His theoretical argument consists of
determining whether the subject of an art piece is in fact real or hyper-real. He discusses
how basically anything in the world today is not exactly real due to the fact that we relate
experiences or ideas to other events or experiences that we have already encountered.
This theory applies to the art world in the manner that themes or styles in art can be
related to other artworks or even experiences that one may encounter throughout their
life. In The Copyist, the viewer is able to distinguish a human figure in the composition. The
reason as to why the viewer perceives a human figure is resulted in the reality that
individuals have seen other humans and already know their characteristics. In the piece, a
nose, eye, and hair on the head and face are all recognizable. Although the image is not
exactly identifiable and very faint, the viewer is able to identify the characteristic clues that
relate to a human face. It has been described that Sietsema’s finished work consists of
something that is there, yet not there.2 It is the not knowing what is actually there but we
know that there is something recognizable. Furthermore, the fact that his inspiration and
7.
Terry Smith, Contemporary Art: World Currents Prentice Hall: Laurence King
Publishing, 2011, 296.
the colors were conceived from the South Pacific allows for the viewer to realize that the
colors are not original or exactly real because they were taken from somewhere else.
According to Baudrillard, Sietsema’s piece is considered hyper-realistic. It is relatable to
other times in our lives or other things that we may have seen or heard of throughout our
lifetime. Baudrillard also states the theory that sign = signifier/signified. This means that
the sign of the artwork equals what the viewer perceives and the concept that goes with
whatever is seen. Therefore, according to Baudrillard, the sign is the artwork itself of the
rectangular pieces on the artwork over the concept of an individual (Sietsema)’s figure in
the piece. However, Sietsema is more likely to relate how the object or artwork was
created rather than the meaning behind the piece.
Throughout Rosalind Krauss’ theory, she is trying to identify what ‘70’s art actually
is considered. It was a time period filled with confusion. It was the end of modernism, but
no one knew what to call this new style, since it was so broad in styles and media. Krauss
discusses the idea of the shifter, which means that words are able to keep changing places
across the space of conversation. For example, when a teacher is talking to a class and says
“you” and points to a female student, the word “you” is used to describe the female student.
However, when the teacher points to a male student and says “you” that word then belongs
to him and describes him. Krauss also discusses and analyzes the use of signs and focuses
on three different kinds. She explains the use of the indexical, symbolic, and iconic signs.
The indexical sign is a sign that has a direct relationship to the meanings rather than a
conventional one and refers to the object that it signifies. In other words, it is the physical
evidence such as a photograph, footprints, or cast shadows. The symbolic sign is a
conventional one and the ionic sign looks like what it represents. When pertaining to Paul
Sietsema’s The Copyist, the viewer might first believe that the figure in the piece is symbolic
for Jesus Christ. It appears to have the same facial features and hair as Jesus would
possess. Also, the position of his face may also resemble Christ when he was on the cross
and looking downward. We can relate the facial features and angle to Warner Sallman’s
Head of Christ (Figure 2). Both figures in Sallman and Sietsema’s pieces are relatable and
very much similar besides the fact that one is facing right and one is facing to the left. Also,
in Sallman’s painting, the figure is looking upwards, unlike Sietsema’s figure, whose head is
bowed. When the viewer does obtain the information that the figure in The Copyist is of the
artist himself, they may be able to assume from the title that Sietsema is “copying” the
position and facial features of Jesus. The definition of “copyist” is said to be someone who
makes written copies of documents. When discussing iconic signs, Sietsema created an art
piece, Empire, which actually was a film of a model that he created from Clement
Greenberg’s living room. Sietsema was very interested in working with iconic figures such
as Greenberg. However, as many other artists followed his lead and involved iconic people
or concepts into artwork, he wanted to rebel and create something that was anti-iconic.
This anti-iconic attitude Sietsema obtained after Empire was a driving point for his creation
of Figure 3.2 Sietsema tried to look at ideas and artwork from the opposite direction and
not focus as much attention on the symbolism or meaning behind artworks and who they
were about, but rather how he could create a new way of viewing art.
After reviewing Roland Barthes’ theory, the discovery of going a step beyond the
first order sign and extending it to the second order sign was produced. Barthes uses the
same theory of sign = signifier/signified. However, he wants to go beyond this theory and
take the sign of this equation to become the signifier in a second sign = signified (1st order
sign)/ signified. As stated earlier when discussing Baudrillard, the first order signifier, or
percept, is considered the piece itself of a layered paper and intricate composition. The
first order signified is the concept that goes along with the piece, so it is the fact that there
is a faint figure in the piece. Therefore, the first order sign is the piece itself of the
rectangular pieces on the piece over the concept of an individual (Sietsema)’s figure in the
piece. The fact that the first order sign is the second order signified allows for the viewer
to go more in depth about the piece. The second order signifier and the second order
signified equals the second order sign. In conclusion, this means that we are looking at a
piece of Paul Sietsema’s contemporary artwork, which consists of a very interesting
composition and a human figure being portrayed. Barthes’ theory relates back to the
system of form, subject matter, social historical context, and meaning. His second order
sign allows for an in depth analysis. While determining the second order sign, the subjects
in the system of analyzing a piece of artwork are all being revealed. The viewer is
determining all the subject matter, form, social historical context, and meaning even though
they may not realize that they are doing this. Any artwork is capable of being analyzed this
way. However, Sietsema does not give great information on what his pieces mean or the
social historical context behind them. The second order sign is determined and
constructed more by the viewer and the information that they obtain from the pieces. The
viewer must look and analyze context clues such as the style used or what was going on
around the same time that the piece was created. According to Sietsema, he would analyze
the piece based on his composition and process of creation.
Once again, Paul Sietsema’s The Copyist, is relatable to another theory by Rosalind
Krauss. This theory argues that originality, particularly in artwork, is repetitive and thus
not original. For example, when artist use the grid, which is the figure’s foundation
through which all artists visually perceive their ideas, otherwise known as the surface or
picture planes, they are not original because each artist uses the grid. Avant-garde artists
are known as new and unusual or experimental in their ideas. It is also considered to
always be changing. However, artists who consider themselves avant-garde artists are in
fact not original or new in any way. Every artist uses the grid and all artworks have this in
common, and thus are not original. While viewing Sietsema’s The Copyist, much repetition
is evident and seen throughout the repeating rectangular shapes on the piece. Sietsema’s
piece appears original because there are so many different layers and shapes on the grid
and it has the shape of a human vaguely placed in the composition. Sietsema uses natural
colors and works greatly with experimenting with the grid and the limits that he can push
with the space given on the paper. Sietsema and others may believe that his piece is very
unique through the way that he perceives his ideas, but we can relate it to something we
have already seen and he is using the grid on the canvas, all which other artists have used
before. The influence of the past artworks always affects the present. The grid always
being used, the human figure, and other artists have created before all the fact that the
piece is a self-portrait. Therefore, according to Krauss, Sietsema’s ideas for The Copyist, are
not original. His piece plays off of his findings in the South Pacific, so Sietsema himself had
to have known that his piece was not one hundred percent unique due to the use of colors
and ideas gathered from the particular geographic location.
Pierre Bourdieu is a French social theorist who discussed how the criticism of a
work makes it last longer. The public understands art as being a whole, which includes the
criticism that goes along with the artwork. According to Bourdieu, this whole analysis is
allowing Sietsema’s The Copyist, to last longer. The discussion brought on by theorizing it,
allows for the people to appreciate a work more and gain a better understanding on what it
is exactly that the artist is trying to portray. The gathering of information and different
theories allows for individuals to see the information put into the piece at a higher
intelligence. Bourdieu also believes that building ideas off of the past then allows the
artwork to become original. Rather than art being about things the person would
understand, the art is always about other works of art. He argues that avant-garde art
becomes structured and valuable. There is a theory behind that of the avant-garde artwork
and a reason it was created. Building off of the past has allowed art to evolve throughout
the years. Relating to Bourdieu’s theory, Sietsema’s The Copyist can be compared to Ivan
Kramskoy’s “Christ in the Desert” (Figure 3). Both figures in the artworks are looking
downward with the same type of facial hair. The angles at which they are positioned are
also at a three quarter view. Although Sietsema’s figure is not of Christ, the viewer can
relate the body language of his figure and the facial features of his figure to that of
Kramskoy’s or other artists who have portrayed Christ or another subject matter
expressing this type of body language. According to Bourdieu, Sietsema’s work would be
building on the past, thus becoming original. Sietsema’s artwork reveals the materiality of
the objects or images in his pieces along with the theoretical concerns of those from the
past.1 The viewer is required to think about how we think about certain objects and how
the archaeology and history has shaped his process of creating artwork.
In conclusion, Paul Sietsema’s artwork connects to the creation and construction of
a piece rather than the meaning behind the piece, as seen in his artwork The Copyist. The
construction of the piece took away some aura from the South Pacific by using the colors of
the location and, of course, the aura of Sietsema himself for including an image of himself in
the piece. The Copyist demonstrates the hyperrealism of the artwork and the fact that we
have seen a rectangular pattern before and a figure before. By realizing that we have seen
the figures in his piece before, the viewer is able to then concentrate more on the
construction and composition of the piece. The Copyist is an example of contemporary art,
more specifically; it is an immersion in an infoscape or spectacle. Sietsema’s work falls in
this category due to the fact that he has less regard for power structures and struggles and
more for interactive possibilities of various media and connectivity. The majority of
contemporary art has shaped and evolved from the traditional crafts and studio art to
using different media and going beyond the studio. 7 In Terry Smith’s book, Contemporary
Art: World Currents, he discusses how this social type of contemporary art and artists are
more networked and use art as a way to change the mood and nature of time in the world
today. The contemporary artists seek for growth and cooperation. I believe that Paul
Sietsema’s The Copyist is an example of contemporary art rather than modern or postmodern art. Contemporary art uses a mixture of media, whereas modern art focuses a lot
more on keeping mediums separate. The Copyist uses gouache, paint, and paper.
Sietsema’s Figure 3 uses both paper-mache and film and is completed in two parts. The
fact that Sietsema is using different media in his work and incorporating the media into the
over artwork instead of just having the papier-mâché piece and then the film of the papiermâché shows that he is able to express his artwork in a way for people to realize how
certain works are created.
Figure 1.
Paul Sietsema. Still from film Figure 3, 2008. 16mm film (black and white and color, silent). 16 min. The
Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fund for the Twenty-First Century 2009 Paul Sietsema
Figure 2.
Head of Christ, Warner Sallman, 1941
Figure 3.
Christ in the Desert, Ivan Kramskoy, 1872
Bibliography
Berardini, Andrew. "Dig Forever and Never it Bottom." Mousse Publishing. Accessed
September 24, 2012. http://moussemagazine.it/articolo.mm?id=30.
“Explore the Collection.” Carnegie Museum of Art. 2007.
http://www.cmoa.org/searchcollections/details.aspx?item=20478
Johnson, Ken. "Spirals of Self-Reflection, Made by Methods Mysterious." The New York Times,
sec. Art and Design, January 07, 2010.
"Paul Sietsema - Drawing Room." Artlyst. Last modified, July 7, 2012.
http://www.artlyst.com/events/paul-sietsema-drawing-room.
"Paul Sietsema - Drawing Room." Regen Projects. Accessed November 11, 2012.
http://www.regenprojects.com/artists/paul-sietsema/bio/.
Smith, Terry. Contemporary Art: World Currents. Prentice Hall: Laurence King
Publishing, 2011.
West, Kevin. "Shape Shifter." Wmagazine, April 2008. Accessed October 7, 2012.
http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2008/04/paul_sietsema