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September 18, 2006
But is it art?
When I was at the Bruce Nauman exhibition in Amsterdam with Jim and Wayne and Gavin and Billy and Martin, Jim took this picture:
The inscription on the wall reads:
“If you see yourself as an artist and you function in a studio and you are not a painter, if you don’t start out with some canvas, you do all kinds of things – you sit in a chair or pace around. And then the question goes back to what is art? And art is what an artist does, just sitting around in his studio.”
Hummm… this could lead to all sorts of trouble, and indeed has if you look at a great deal of the stuff churned out today in the name of art. It’s that first clause that’s the problem: “If you see yourself as an artist..” which gives us: “I am an artist therefore everything I do is art.” Which gives us Tracey’s bed.
Art must needs be something beyond mere existence. Art should be the illumination of existence not just the presentation of it.
Posted by john at September 18, 2006 12:15 PM
Comments
that last sentence, "Art should be the illumination of existence not just the presentation of it" is interesting. what's your opinion on the _possibility_ of "illuminating existence" through a simple [ie unmodified] "presentation of it"?
[i'm new to your blog, by the way, so i hope this type of discussion is welcome] :o)
Posted by: phill at September 18, 2006 05:55 PM
oh, indeed: by Tracey placing her un-modified and largely un-washed, bed in the Tate gallery she has isolated and focused upon a part of her experience, which can be said to be illumination without modification. But then is not placing it in the Tate Gallery somehow modifying it?
As boundaries between process and experience get ever closer [the immediacy and intimacy of 'blogging for instance] it's hard to maintain a critical awareness of the product. And, as has been amply demonstrated by artists in many media, sometimes ignoring the critical awareness can have it relevance, though it runs the risk of falling into the mundane.
As I've said before here: I think art should be more of a lens than merely a mirrror. Though sometimes it is important to hold up a mirror so we can see ourselves as we are.
Posted by: john Coombes at September 19, 2006 10:05 AM