Interpretation and overinterpretation: world, history, texts

One Place after Another: Notes on Site Specificity Author(s): Miwon Kwon Source: October, Vol. 80 (Spring, 1997), pp. 85-110 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/778809 Accessed: 19/01/2010 12:57
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One Place After Another: Notes on Site Specificity*

MIWON KWON

Site specificity used to imply something grounded, bound to the laws of physics. Often playing with gravity,site-specific works used to be obstinate about "presence," even if they were materially ephemeral, and adamant about immobility, even in the face of disappearance or destruction. Whether inside the white cube or out in the Nevada desert, whether architectural or landscape-oriented, site-specific art initially took the "site"as an actual location, a