Time Capsules by Artist Stephen Kaltenbach

Bury With the Artist
Credit: anotheryearinla.com

In the burgeoning counterculture of the 1960s, a movement away from classical forms that placed emphasis on ideas was alive and well among artists of many disciplines across the art world. Bruce Haack was drastically but quietly changing the world of popular music with high-concept pieces and the Moog synthesizer; Andy Warhol made what would come to be seen as a seminal art film in Chelsea Girls (which film critics roundly rebuked); and Stephen Kaltenbach was at the center of New York’s fledgling Conceptualist movement, creating outsider art with an eye toward its own obscurity and temporality.

The term “conceptual art” was first coined in 1967, right around the time Kaltenbach emerged on the New York art scene in Soho. One of his earliest and most lasting conceptual works is his ongoing project titled “Time Capsules,” begun in 1967 and continued in perpetuity. In a style typical of the sardonic humor and disdain for seriousness among much early conceptual art, “Time Capsules” has endured as a living statement of Kaltenbach’s views on his own career as an outsider and his “long view” approach to success.

Open After My Death
Credit: anotheryearinla.com

Open After My Death

“Time Capsules” consists of simply-shaped objects constructed from a range of materials that carry a variety of inscriptions, often including names and messages about when they should be opened, by whom, and why. They are simple forms conveying complex ideas, often in ways that leave the observer with more questions than answers. Only the artist knows what’s inside these containers (if anything), and the underlying joke present in all these messages is the fact that opening the pieces means destroying them and their value, as most of them would need to be cut open by mechanical means after the artist has received notoriety and fame.

This theme is central to “Time Capsules” as a statement of the artist’s view that his own success should necessarily be slow in coming, and has made his art relevant in the digital age when so many artists enjoy wide exposure on social media and a (relatively) quick path to success.

Nothing of Great Value
Credit: anotheryearinla.com

Since leaving New York in 1970, Kaltenbach has spent his life in California – a move some say was intended by the artist to intentionally relegate his art to back-bench status. In an interview with Chicago Reader, Kaltenbach seems to corroborate this charge: “I always had the goal of becoming known as an artist, then disappearing [from the limelight], but definitely with the idea all along of reemerging.”

Only Owner May Open
Credit: anotheryearinla.com

And that reemergence seems to be happening. As recently as 2016, Kaltenbach’s work has been shown in high-end galleries like the ones he alluded to oh-so-long-ago when he began the project. One piece, for example, reads “Open before my retrospective at the Tate in London” (a reference to the iconic Tate Modern Gallery). And while the Tate has yet to show his work, don’t count Kaltenbach out. Over 50 years have passed since he began “Time Capsules” –  years which have served to keep his message alive and relevant – and many more will pass before his ideas lose their allure for those interested in the relationships between artists and the larger world.

Stephen Kaltenbach currently has an art installation at The Boiler in NYC, entitled, “What Death Does,” through March 31st, 2019. Click here to learn more.