Brick by Brick

In 1966, Carl Andre installed eight ‘Equivalents’ in the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, each consisting of 120 bricks in varying, two-tiered, water-like configurations. ‘It’s just a pile of bricks’ lamented critics when Tate purchased Equivalent VIII in 1972. The outcry seemed to emanate from a perception that bricks are devoid of ‘meaning’, lacking importance, and generally banal. What is made of bricks matters, not the bricks themselves. Yet, bricks can tell a story. Over half a century later, Andre’s bricks simmer with potent resonances. In 1985, Andre’s wife, the artist Ana Mendieta, fell to her death from their New York apartment following a quarrel. Two years later, he was charged with her murder. Although acquitted in 1988 due to insufficient evidence, suspicion has remained in some circles until this day. Indeed, Andre’s works can still cause controversy, and protests frequently occur when galleries exhibit his creations. For example, the 2016 inclusion of Equivalent VIII in Tate’s Switch House led to protesters surrounding the work and covering it with a sheet which accused Andre of the crime he had been acquitted of. Yes, bricks can tell a story. Babel is famous for its buildings: the tower and a city. But like Andre’s work, Babel is also about bricks. Indeed, the first declaration of monoglossic humanity is: ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And Genesis 11 informs us, ‘And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar’ (v.3). The inclusion of bricks in this biblical episode resonates with more than a lost ‘once upon a time’. It concerns the enemies of Israel, the Babylonians, and their building practices. Babel and Babylon are the same word in Hebrew, and these invaders and oppressors of Israel famously built their monumental edifices (ziggurats) with fired bricks. Millions of them. This was markedly different from the Palestinian building material of stone. Here then, for the audience of Genesis, bricks signify conquest, animosity, and opposition. And in Genesis 11, a revenge fantasy is created where the thriving city of Babylon is left desolate, its edifices abandoned, and its people thwarted. A pile of bricks is all that is left to testify to the greatness that once was. Therefore, all these bricks tell a story. They signify controversy and opposition. They indicate hostilities which simmer beneath the surface. And they testify to human longings and loss. These piles of bricks are far from banal. References Brown, James. 2014. ‘The Burlington Magazine and the “Tate Bricks” Controversy’, May 2014’, The Burlington Magazine Index Blog. Available at https://burlingtonindex.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/carl_andre/ [accessed 11 August 2023] Croatto, J. Severino. 1998. ‘A Reading of the Story of the Tower of Babel from a Perspective of Non-Identity’, in Teaching the Bible: The Discourses and Politics of Biblical Pedagogy, ed. by Fernando F. Segovia and Mary Ann Tolbert (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis) McLaugh, Rosanna. 2016. ‘Artsy Editorial: How Ana Mendieta Became the Focus of a Feminist Movement, 6 December 2016’, www.artsy.net. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-how-ana-mendieta-became-the-focus-of-a-feminist-movement [accessed 11 August 2023] Michalska, Magda. 2020. ‘Where is Ana Mendieta? The Unresolved Mystery, 29 October 2020’, www.dailyartmagazine.com. Available at https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/where-is-ana-mendieta-the-unresolved-mystery/ [accessed 11 August 2023] Sarna, Nahum. 1989. The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society)