In regards to site-specific artwork: what is a 'functional site' (as described by James Meyer)?

Answer 1

James Meyer refers to functional sites as locations and the spaces between locations where an artwork exists for a period and is then removed or taken down, i.e. an installation, a performance, a or non-permanent sculptural object. These functional sites are in flux and operate in relation to a locale that isn't necessarily demanding a degree of permanence like those he refers to as literal sites. One of the purposes of a functional site is to be impermanent. It will exist for a period of time and that purpose often holds meaning and value for the artist. The functional site may operate as a critique of the monumentality of literal site artworks and their prescribed historic value. These concepts build upon previous writings that looked at artists interested in site specificity. One being Rosalind Kraus' seminal essay, Sculpture in the Expanded Field, which was published in 1979.