Lawrence Weiner: Video
Marian Goodman Gallery, NYC 2009
At The Level Of The Sea, Marian Goodman Gallery NYC, Jan 15 - Feb. 21 2009
Marian Goodman Gallery, NYC 2009
At The Level Of The Sea, Marian Goodman Gallery NYC, Jan 15 - Feb. 21 2009
Matthew Day Jackson: Studio Visit Part 1
Brookyln, NY 2008
Matthew didn't want me to have this video up because he thinks that it makes him sound less serious the way he is talking. It's precisely because of the candid nature of this video, conversation, whatever, that this is up. There are thousands of extremely mediocre artists who make a decent living as professional talkers: meaning the objects they make, display, and sell in galleries etc, are in reality props for them to orate and rhetoricize about. There is currently an abundance of professional talkers, whose "work" or objects are extremely dull and they tour the universities, art fairs, museums, or whatever talking for a living. These types of artists have set routines like comedians and politicians when they do interviews or lectures and such. My view is that MDJ's work is competently fabricated, that he is in fact good at working with materials with his own hands, and that the work contains and conveys a lot of interesting ideas. My experience is that people who have conversations about art and sound like they are in a debate class, talking in code, or like they are reading a script are usually not all that great at making things themselves. That doesn't mean I have a problem with artists getting other craftsman/artisans to fabricate or execute their "work". Nor do I have a problem with people that speak eloquently and are able to articulate complicated ideas vocally. Having said that, some of the best conversations I've had with artists don't sound like a text in an art theory book (these texts are great, I love 'em, but a written text is NOT an unscripted conversation) or like interviews you read in magazines that have been edited. Considering that this video was done while Matthew was installing two concurrent exhibitions at separate venues, driving, fielding phone calls, and doing all sorts of multitasking - I'd say the quality of what he's saying is pretty decent.
Brookyln, NY 2008
Matthew didn't want me to have this video up because he thinks that it makes him sound less serious the way he is talking. It's precisely because of the candid nature of this video, conversation, whatever, that this is up. There are thousands of extremely mediocre artists who make a decent living as professional talkers: meaning the objects they make, display, and sell in galleries etc, are in reality props for them to orate and rhetoricize about. There is currently an abundance of professional talkers, whose "work" or objects are extremely dull and they tour the universities, art fairs, museums, or whatever talking for a living. These types of artists have set routines like comedians and politicians when they do interviews or lectures and such. My view is that MDJ's work is competently fabricated, that he is in fact good at working with materials with his own hands, and that the work contains and conveys a lot of interesting ideas. My experience is that people who have conversations about art and sound like they are in a debate class, talking in code, or like they are reading a script are usually not all that great at making things themselves. That doesn't mean I have a problem with artists getting other craftsman/artisans to fabricate or execute their "work". Nor do I have a problem with people that speak eloquently and are able to articulate complicated ideas vocally. Having said that, some of the best conversations I've had with artists don't sound like a text in an art theory book (these texts are great, I love 'em, but a written text is NOT an unscripted conversation) or like interviews you read in magazines that have been edited. Considering that this video was done while Matthew was installing two concurrent exhibitions at separate venues, driving, fielding phone calls, and doing all sorts of multitasking - I'd say the quality of what he's saying is pretty decent.
Matthew Day Jackson: Studio Visit Part 2
Brookyln, NY 2008
Drawings from Tlön, Nicole Klagsbrun NYC (now closed), Sept. 13 - Oct. 18, 2008
Terranaut, Peter Blum Gallery NYC, Sept. 12 - Nov. 8, 2008
Brookyln, NY 2008
Drawings from Tlön, Nicole Klagsbrun NYC (now closed), Sept. 13 - Oct. 18, 2008
Terranaut, Peter Blum Gallery NYC, Sept. 12 - Nov. 8, 2008
Romulus & Remus: Video
In 2007, the artist Zipora Fried challenged me in my role as an art critic to talk about, or try and "review" a work that hadn't yet been finished and that I hadn't seen and wouldn't see until it was exhibited at her show. I found this to be a very interesting proposal and accepted the challenge. Given only the title of the piece in advance - Romulus and Remus - and having some knowledge of her work, Zipora then filmed me attempting
to discuss the work I hadn't seen. Although this is excruciating for me to watch personally (especially since I
was given zero preparation time), I stand by it as a totally worth while and genuine experiment which
produced many fruitful perspectives on how I approach writing about art, and how writing about art is
produced generally. Romulus & Remus, NYC 2007
In 2007, the artist Zipora Fried challenged me in my role as an art critic to talk about, or try and "review" a work that hadn't yet been finished and that I hadn't seen and wouldn't see until it was exhibited at her show. I found this to be a very interesting proposal and accepted the challenge. Given only the title of the piece in advance - Romulus and Remus - and having some knowledge of her work, Zipora then filmed me attempting
to discuss the work I hadn't seen. Although this is excruciating for me to watch personally (especially since I
was given zero preparation time), I stand by it as a totally worth while and genuine experiment which
produced many fruitful perspectives on how I approach writing about art, and how writing about art is
produced generally. Romulus & Remus, NYC 2007