In the course of some administrative duties, I recently came across these five words on a single sheet of paper...
After drawing a momentary blank as to the page's unspecified use or intention (a page for me to doodle on, make notes perhaps, or just discard?), the page is, of course, anything but blank... I will have to overlook the fact that this page occurs three times in just one document, and having been reproduced many times, equates to hundreds of intentionally blank pages...I wanted to view this non-blank page as a very small piece of unintentional 'found' conceptual art - as it brought into question the small matter of objectivity. It was a sheet of paper (but defined as a page) that served no purpose other than to demonstrate that it was a blank page inserted between other pages. By signifying its non-function it became oddly functional - causing a moment of conjecture, a period of contemplation, a brief pause for idle thoughts.
Jenny Holzer, television texts, 1990I recalled art where text or language is central to the work - Jenny Holzer, Bruce Nauman, Ed Ruscha, Barbara Kruger... then my thoughts shifted somewhat Duchamp-ianly, firstly to the famous Magritte painting, The Treachery of Images with the words 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' underneath the painting of a pipe, then Michael Craig-Martin's glass of water on a shelf as An Oak Tree, and then onto some of Gavin Turk's work (as briefly discussed here).All of these artists bring into question what art is, what art does, says or represents, what purpose art serves. In conceptual terms, it is the artist, not the artwork, that determines whether it is a work of genius or just one of duplicity (or both). Art is art when the artist says it is art, as art created in this context does not always 'speak' for itself...The un-blank blank page was not a work of art, but an art created by association; with just five words it unintentionally gave reference to other works of art...Harold Rosenberg (the American art critic who first coined the phrase 'action painting'), in a short essay in his book 'The Anxious Object' (which is a curious turn of phrase when deciphered two ways), wrote that within the modern discourse on art that 'the current vogue of art books arises from an appetite for knowledge which the book is better suited to satisfy than are the artworks themselves'.An appreciation of art may arise out of prior ignorance and subsequent enlightenment when viewing the artwork, but deeper knowledge or understanding often comes from the supporting commentary or textual analysis and not the actual artwork. This is also due in part, as Rosenberg then highlighted, that the experience of 'real art' is a rare event when compared to our exposure to reproductions of art in books - this secondary source of art is easier to access and therefore more widely appreciated as art. Rosenberg called such art books a substitute for the gallery experience - an imaginary museum.
Matthew Higgs, Minimal Art, 2008When art needs words to explain it, save time (and paper) and use them as the artwork. Higgs' work above is an appropriated page from an old art book, and it touches upon the same issues that Rosenberg raised. Rosenberg declares that '[art] has become nothing else than what is said about it [...] in which the artist and the historian-critic compete for the last word'. The work of art serves to illustrate or confirm the (original) concept, but the concept becomes even more tangible with the addition of words. Art also needs documentation in the form of books or catalogues to acknowledge the emphemeral nature of some works of art - books help preserve its status as art long after the event. Rosenberg also suggests that the longevity of the book elevates art by proxy; the reproduction is even more valued when the original is lost or hidden from public view, gathering dust in a dark vault.However, there still seems to be (in simplistic terms) opposing viewpoints when discussing what art is: 1) that art should speak for itself, it needs no words to justify it and it is open to the viewer's interpretation or, 2) that art requires or benefits from the 'voice' of the artist or the critical commentary of others. The use of words or language helps make the art more art, the artist's intention is a part of the work and that requires some words too...Even the unintentional is made into art if you take the time to fill in the blanks...
you are an artist
This is the front page of an old art instruction book that I found in a charity shop...I like an art instruction book that begins, irony aside, that you are an artist. If it didn't have the rustic barn setting, I'd quite like to call this image Warholian...
You are an artist
painting by numbers [part two]
Or... what goes around, comes around.As I was looking for something in my filing cabinet, I came across an old paint chart, produced by none other than the Tate corporation (in conjunction with B&Q in 2003), which features four series of interior paint colours inspired by the four Tates: Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Some interesting colours include Skylon (a mossy yellow-green), Fruit (a burgundy-brown), Crustacean and Shamrock. (read my previous posts on painting by numbers and colour values).
[Tate - paint colour chart]The canvas rolls and stretchers which I acquired a while back have an interesting and connected back story. The canvas rolls and stretchers were from a friend of a friend who had, strangely enough, previously supplied the Tate Modern with none other than a paint by numbers canvas art - but were called 'self-assembly painting kits' (perhaps paint by numbers is trademarked).The venture sadly folded, thus a great quantity of canvas, stretchers and acrylic paint were going free to needy artists. I was very glad of the canvas and stretchers, but with one problem, the acrylic colours were not good... including a lurid turquoise (which Pantone is championing as the colour for 2010), fuschia pink and an acidic skittles orange - so I promptly donated all the 10 litre paint tubs to the art department.
[Tate - DIY canvas]Some, but not all, of the rolls of primed canvas had been pre-printed with two linear designs, Bouquet (seen right), which has more than a passing resemblance to Andy Warhol's flowers, and Wave (left), owing something in style to the work of Bridget Riley - two artists, who, quite differently, took a very systematic approach to painting.
Andy Warhol, flowers 1970In flowers, Warhol continued to embrace the art of the mundane in the repeated image, with deliberate mis-registrations of silkscreened colour - the image is made more saccharine and artificial (in its subject) and yet it is visually tantalising in the infinite number of variables - no two paintings are the same from this art factory. Apparently, Warhol was sued for using this appropriated photograph in his work.
Bridget Riley, Intake 1964(deliberately muted here, for easier visual analysis)Riley approached her paintings with a mathematical accuracy, many planned on graph paper beforehand - watch this film clip on youtube of a young Bridget Riley talking about her work.I love and loathe Riley. I love the craft, the process, the precision, the perfection of colour (or tonal monochrome); I loathe the unsettling optics, pulsating rhythms that seductively draw you in only to mess with your mind - there can be no love with a Riley, it's a battle of minds - the painting always wins....So, to round off painting by numbers - I can still recall the slightly exotic, oily aroma of tiny paint vials (was it enamel or real oil paint) and the cheap plastic brushes (the original kits, if unused and unopened, are highly collectable by the way)...And a quick browse of any Tate gift shop quickly tells you that Tate as a brand is all consuming and all consumed - even I have a Tate t-shirt (the miniature one), a Tate sketchbook, a Tate pencil and a Tate sharpener. In fact, Tate now have an art on demand service - select an image from their digital archive and have it printed in a range of sizes on paper or canvas... now, a framed Monet (prounounced Mon-nay) is just perfect for the bedroom... but first you will need to re paint the walls...