The following is a discussion that has been taking place on the art and
architectural historians' listserv (CAAH) about the work of Gordon Matta-
Clark, including the work "Splitting" (1974) that was in New Jersey (thanks to
CAAH for the permission to send this on to you).

There is currently an exhibit of his work (see last entry below) that might be
interesting for those in the NYC area.

Mary Krugman
_________________
Subj:         matta-clark question
Date:   4/24/98 7:43:19 AM EST

[Excerpts from postings on the Consortium of Art and Architectural Historians
(CAAH) listserv, <[log in to unmask]>.]

a student recently asked me if matta-clark's works such as _splitting_
(1974) are still extant.

i told her i didn't know, and wondered if anyone on the list does. where are
(or were) some of these houses? if they are still standing, is it possible
to visit them? or have they all been destroyed?

<snip>

Works such as Splitting are now extant only as photo-montages, the
actual cut buildings have been demolished.

I think Splitting was in New Jersey, but I don't have the references
with me right now so I can't be sure.  Matta-Clark cut not only
houses, but also a range of other buildings, all of which have
(I think) been demolished.  For example he made a work in the
buildings which were demolished to make way for the Pompidou Centre.
The photomontages can, however, be understood as works
themselves, not simply records.

<snip>

Splitting was a house that was owned by Horace and Holly Solomon in New
Jersey and was scheduled for demolition when Matta-Clark sliced it.  If
anything by Matta-Clark is still standing, which I suspect is not the case,
the people who would know are Holly Solomon Gallery in New York.  Call
them.  If anything is still standing tell us, I'd like to go see it too.

<snip>

The announcement card for one of the exhibitions that opened at PS1 (Long
Island City, NYC) on 4/26 said "Gordon Matta-Clark -- Re-creation of
Historic Projects" organized by Jane Crawford, Alanna Heiss, Jene Highstein
& Richard Nonas.  I haven't seen the show yet -- contact them at
[log in to unmask] or 718 784-2084.

By the way, I don't know how widely it is known that one source of this work
was the analytic earth art being done by Robt. Smithson and others.  As an
architectural student at Cornell, M-Clark assisted several sculptors to make
outdoor site works for the first museum exhibition of "Earth Art" there Feb
1969.  He worked on Smithson's salt mine piece, Dennis Oppenheim's ice cut,
and for Jan Dibbets' forest piece, it was M-C who purchased the house paint
and painted the tree trunks white per Dibbets' instructions. The following
spring, his own investigations of materiality and place, also with a highly
entropic element of deterioration, began in urban settings.

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