State of the Art

State of the Art

A composite interview based on public encounters between actual curators and artists.

Curator: Wears a black suit and a white shirt buttoned at the neck with no tie. Crosses legs European style.

Artist: Wears a grungy flannel shirt over a black t-shirt. Slouches in chair. Looks around distractedly.

Curator and Artist walk on stage to the applause of the crowd and take their seats. The lights dim and the first slide, a monochromatic green painting, appears on an overhead screen.

Curator
Tell me what I'm seeing here.

Ignoring the visual: 1

Artist
Well, uh, this is a piece, I don't remember when I did it...I guess at the time I was sort of interested in the concept of red.

Playing dumb: 1

Curator
But the painting appears to be green.

Artist
What this painting is about is the inapproachability, the futility of attaining red. I wanted to paint red but I had to paint green. You see, the only way of really getting to red is through green.

Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1
Reducing art to explanation: 1

Curator
I see, the painting is about the impossibility of attaining the Other. It enacts the violent semiotic rupture inherent to representation.

Reducing art to explanation: 1
Spewing buzzwords: 1
Shifting the terms to assert
one's agenda: 1

Artist
Yeah.

Bootlicking: 1

(The next slide is also a monochrome canvas, painted a fluorescent orange.)

Curator
So is this an attempt to get to blue?

Artist
No, still red. It's a bad slide—the color's off.

Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1

Curator
Why red? What significance does it hold for you?

Artist
Uh, I just...I just felt like red.

Ignoring the visual: 1
Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1
Stalling: 1

Curator
Ah. Well, to me to your preoccupation with red
suggests a sort of potent bodily experience, perhaps
a visceral rejection of social norms bordering on
the abject, or an animal sexuality, or a deep-seated
physical or psychic wound, perhaps relating to
an incident in your childhood....

Spewing buzzwords: 1
Shifting the terms to assert
one's agenda: 1
Laying it on: 1
Sensationalizing: 1
Ignoring the visual: 1
Focusing on the artist instead of
the work: 1

(Artist looks puzzled, yet pleased.)

Curator
So, all in all, your work is essentially about violence.

Ignoring the visual: 1
Reducing art to explanation: 1
Sensationalizing: 1

Artist
Yeah.

Ignoring the visual: 1
Bootlicking: 1

Curator
But at the same time I sense a sort of serenity.

Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1

Artist
Yeah.

Ignoring the visual: 1
Bootlicking: 1

Curator
But at the same time it has this real brutality to it.

Artist
Yeah...uh huh.

Bootlicking: 1
Stalling: 1

Curator
So there's a kind of ambiguity here?

Artist
I guess so.

Bootlicking: 1

Curator
But you seem completely certain about what you're doing.

Focusing on the artist instead of
the work: 1

Artist
Definitely.

Bootlicking: 1

Curator
So then what exactly is your intent?

Focusing on the artist instead of
the work: 1

Artist
Well, I don't want to impose my own interpretation on
other people. I don't have an intent; I just paint. The ultimate interpretation is up to the viewer. At a certain point, once the work is out there, it doesn't matter what my intent was because it's out of my control.

Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1

Curator
But when I was writing the wall text for your show, you seemed very particular about what you wanted me to say and what you didn't want me to say.

Artist
That’s because I don't want the viewer to be limited to a specific interpretation.

Dismissing context: 1

Curator
I see. So could you discuss how your work was informed by Artist X, who did monochromatic panels in the same palette as yours twenty five years ago?

Dismissing context: 1

Artist
His work has no relation to mine whatsoever.

Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1
Ignoring the visual: 1
Operating in a vacuum: 1

Curator
Well, I don't understand...I mean, your work didn't exactly occur ex nihilo. Are you saying you were ignorant of the work of this other artist?

Artist
What I’m saying is my work is an implicit critique of that language.

Spewing buzzwords: 1
Laying it on: 1

Curator
So what is the point of your work?

Reducing art to explanation: 1

Artist
My work is about man's inhumanity to man.

Reducing art to explanation: 1

Curator
It seems as of late there has been a trend towards work
that I would categorize as "humane inhumanity."
This work attempts to map what Deleuze and Guattari
refer to as a schizophrenic impulse, in which—

Ignoring the visual: 1
Pigeonholing: 1
Namedropping: 1
Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1
Shifting the terms to assert
one's agenda: 1

Artist
I don't see why I have to be placed in a school of work.

Dismissing context: 1

Curator
Well, your work bears a strong visual resemblance to
that of most of the artists who fit into that genre.

Pigeonholing: 1

Artist
But surely you put more thought into a show than just grouping works together by look or theme?

Curator
Of course. A curator surfs the cultural currents and taps
into the radical formations brewing under the surface. Just because I'm a curator doesn't mean I'm less creative than you are as an artist. It might surprise you to learn that the process of putting together a show is not dissimilar to how an artist would put together a painting.

Laying it on: 1
Spewing buzzwords: 1
Judging without experience: 1

Artist
On the surface, you might think that our working methods may be similar, but my work springs from an expression of my soul that I cannot put into words. No, you cannot say that what I do is as formulaic as putting together a show. I do not paint by numbers. I paint from my soul, that is what is real to me. Your work is merely organizing the sanitized public presentation of the ineffable struggle that I have waged in private, in the solitude of my own studio.

Dismissing context: 1
Overrelying on intuition: 1
Operating in a vacuum: 1
Focusing on the artist instead of
the work: 1

Curator
But what's personal isn't always relevant.

Artist
I am interested in enduring values, in making work that stands the test of time.

Dismissing context: 1

Curator
One of the most creative things about curating a show is that you have to work together with different people, different perceptions. It's like weaving, splicing together these disparate aims into a unified, coherent presentation. The curator is above all a negotiator, moderating between the egos of different artists, the exigencies of space and money, and the demands of the public. I guess the only parallel for an artist would be collaborating with other artists. Have you ever been involved in collaborations with other artists?

Laying it on: 1

Artist
Yes, but it's very different. When you are collaborating with other artists, everyone understands each other on an intuitive level, the work feels effortless. You tend to get away from the whole egotism thing and into a really healthy group mindset. The whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.

Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1
Overrelying on intuition: 1
Glossing over differences: 1

Curator
Tell me, then, was it some kind of empathy with other artists that prompted you to paint this next work, which appeared at the Venice Biennale?

(The next slide depicts a painting of a young child lying in
a pool of blood superimposed on an upside-down image of
the U.N. building.)

Curator
This seems to be a radical departure from your monochrome abstractions...

Artist
Not at all. This painting is just the logical extension of my previous work. My focus has remained consistent—it's
the viewer's perspective that has changed.

Contradicting the obvious: 1
Ignoring the visual: 1
Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1
Glossing over differences: 1

Curator
Ah...I...yes, I see what you mean. Well. I guess we're just
about out of time. It seems, in retrospect, that your practice embodies the Postmodern concept of the bricoleur, who fancifully combines disparate elements from high and low culture in what Barthes called "secondary signification." It's an intriguing and intelligent body of work.

Stalling: 1
Bootlicking: 1
Laying it on: 1
Pigeonholing: 1
Spewing buzzwords: 1
Namedropping: 1
Glossing over differences: 1

(The audience begins to collect their belongings and walk out.)

Curator
Well, we have a few minutes for questions from the audience...are there any questions...no questions...well,
thank you again for sharing these thoughts on your work.

(NOTE: Any resemblance to actual curators or artists, alive or dead, is not a very good reflection on them.)

Curator	Tell me what I'm seeing here.	Ignoring the visual: 1
Artist	Well, uh, this is a piece, I don't remember when I did it...I guess at the time I was sort of interested in the concept of red.	Playing dumb: 1
Curator	But the painting appears to be green.
Artist	What this painting is about is the inapproachability, the futility of attaining red. I wanted to paint red but I had to paint green. You see, the only way of really getting to red is through green.	Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1 Reducing art to explanation: 1
Curator	I see, the painting is about the impossibility of attaining the Other. It enacts the violent semiotic rupture inherent to representation.	Reducing art to explanation: 1 Spewing buzzwords: 1 Shifting the terms to assert one's agenda: 1
Artist	Yeah.	Bootlicking: 1
	(The next slide is also a monochrome canvas, painted a fluorescent orange.)
Curator	So is this an attempt to get to blue?
Artist	No, still red. It's a bad slide—the color's off.	Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1
Curator	Why red? What significance does it hold for you?
Artist	Uh, I just...I just felt like red.	Ignoring the visual: 1 Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1 Stalling: 1
Curator	Ah. Well, to me to your preoccupation with red suggests a sort of potent bodily experience, perhaps a visceral rejection of social norms bordering on the abject, or an animal sexuality, or a deep-seated physical or psychic wound, perhaps relating to an incident in your childhood....	Spewing buzzwords: 1 Shifting the terms to assert one's agenda: 1 Laying it on: 1 Sensationalizing: 1 Ignoring the visual: 1 Focusing on the artist instead of the work: 1
	(Artist looks puzzled, yet pleased.)
Curator	So, all in all, your work is essentially about violence.	Ignoring the visual: 1 Reducing art to explanation: 1 Sensationalizing: 1
Artist	Yeah.	Ignoring the visual: 1 Bootlicking: 1
Curator	But at the same time I sense a sort of serenity.	Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1
Artist	Yeah.	Ignoring the visual: 1 Bootlicking: 1
Curator	But at the same time it has this real brutality to it.
Artist	Yeah...uh huh.	Bootlicking: 1 Stalling: 1
Curator	So there's a kind of ambiguity here?
Artist	I guess so.	Bootlicking: 1
Curator	But you seem completely certain about what you're doing.	Focusing on the artist instead of the work: 1
Artist	Definitely.	Bootlicking: 1
Curator	So then what exactly is your intent?	Focusing on the artist instead of the work: 1
Artist	Well, I don't want to impose my own interpretation on other people. I don't have an intent; I just paint. The ultimate interpretation is up to the viewer. At a certain point, once the work is out there, it doesn't matter what my intent was because it's out of my control.	Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1
Curator	But when I was writing the wall text for your show, you seemed very particular about what you wanted me to say and what you didn't want me to say.
Artist	That’s because I don't want the viewer to be limited to a specific interpretation.	Dismissing context: 1
Curator	I see. So could you discuss how your work was informed by Artist X, who did monochromatic panels in the same palette as yours twenty five years ago?	Dismissing context: 1
Artist	His work has no relation to mine whatsoever.	Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1 Ignoring the visual: 1 Operating in a vacuum: 1
Curator	Well, I don't understand...I mean, your work didn't exactly occur ex nihilo. Are you saying you were ignorant of the work of this other artist?
Artist	What I’m saying is my work is an implicit critique of that language.	Spewing buzzwords: 1 Laying it on: 1
Curator	So what is the point of your work?	Reducing art to explanation: 1
Artist	My work is about man's inhumanity to man.	Reducing art to explanation: 1
Curator	It seems as of late there has been a trend towards work that I would categorize as "humane inhumanity." This work attempts to map what Deleuze and Guattari refer to as a schizophrenic impulse, in which—	Ignoring the visual: 1 Pigeonholing: 1 Namedropping: 1 Contradicting the obvious for effect: 1 Shifting the terms to assert one's agenda: 1
Artist	I don't see why I have to be placed in a school of work.	Dismissing context: 1
Curator	Well, your work bears a strong visual resemblance to that of most of the artists who fit into that genre.	Pigeonholing: 1
Artist	But surely you put more thought into a show than just grouping works together by look or theme?
Curator	Of course. A curator surfs the cultural currents and taps into the radical formations brewing under the surface. Just because I'm a curator doesn't mean I'm less creative than you are as an artist. It might surprise you to learn that the process of putting together a show is not dissimilar to how an artist would put together a painting.	Laying it on: 1 Spewing buzzwords: 1 Judging without experience: 1
Artist	On the surface, you might think that our working methods may be similar, but my work springs from an expression of my soul that I cannot put into words. No, you cannot say that what I do is as formulaic as putting together a show. I do not paint by numbers. I paint from my soul, that is what is real to me. Your work is merely organizing the sanitized public presentation of the ineffable struggle that I have waged in private, in the solitude of my own studio.	Dismissing context: 1 Overrelying on intuition: 1 Operating in a vacuum: 1 Focusing on the artist instead of the work: 1
Curator	But what's personal isn't always relevant.
Artist	I am interested in enduring values, in making work that stands the test of time.	Dismissing context: 1
Curator	One of the most creative things about curating a show is that you have to work together with different people, different perceptions. It's like weaving, splicing together these disparate aims into a unified, coherent presentation. The curator is above all a negotiator, moderating between the egos of different artists, the exigencies of space and money, and the demands of the public. I guess the only parallel for an artist would be collaborating with other artists. Have you ever been involved in collaborations with other artists?	Laying it on: 1
Artist	Yes, but it's very different. When you are collaborating with other artists, everyone understands each other on an intuitive level, the work feels effortless. You tend to get away from the whole egotism thing and into a really healthy group mindset. The whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.	Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1 Overrelying on intuition: 1 Glossing over differences: 1
Curator	Tell me, then, was it some kind of empathy with other artists that prompted you to paint this next work, which appeared at the Venice Biennale?
	(The next slide depicts a painting of a young child lying in a pool of blood superimposed on an upside-down image of the U.N. building.)
Curator	This seems to be a radical departure from your monochrome abstractions...
Artist	Not at all. This painting is just the logical extension of my previous work. My focus has remained consistent—it's the viewer's perspective that has changed.	Contradicting the obvious: 1 Ignoring the visual: 1 Avoiding responsibility for the work: 1 Glossing over differences: 1
Curator	Ah...I...yes, I see what you mean. Well. I guess we're just about out of time. It seems, in retrospect, that your practice embodies the Postmodern concept of the bricoleur, who fancifully combines disparate elements from high and low culture in what Barthes called "secondary signification." It's an intriguing and intelligent body of work.	Stalling: 1 Bootlicking: 1 Laying it on: 1 Pigeonholing: 1 Spewing buzzwords: 1 Namedropping: 1 Glossing over differences: 1
	(The audience begins to collect their belongings and walk out.)
Curator	Well, we have a few minutes for questions from the audience...are there any questions...no questions...well, thank you again for sharing these thoughts on your work.
	(NOTE: Any resemblance to actual curators or artists, alive or dead, is not a very good reflection on them.)