TALKIN 2 ALMA

This post is of a Facebook Chat conversation I had in February with my friend Alma Vescovi about artist statements - sort of as a literary form. It's after "the jump."



James:

do you think artist statements are so bad

because they are visual people trying to be verbal 11:31pmAlma:

some of us are both...

for example

jimi11:31pmJames:well

i'm looking for a general principle

I think about the form of the artist statement a lot

and it seems to me

the more boring it is

the more like an artist statement it is

and you have to say

11:32pmAlma

in general tey blow

11:32pmJames

that you're interrogating something

that you're just asking questions

there is always this vague, non committal, like, bullshit

and it's always entropy

or private / public

lol.....

god.

11:34pmAlma

but i think about it a lot too, sort of whether its 'allowed' or rather, desireable; whether if you're good you dont need a verbal statement to reiterate or elaborate on your themes, or whether if you really have ideas you use any medium to really close in on them

11:34pmJames

then the art manifestos I remember, the futurists and dada ones I'm realizing were written by writers, not painters

11:34pmAlma

but in general wen i read artists statements i come out thinking they're not very smart, even if i liked the work at first

it makes most seem pretty dumb and grasping at straws

11:35pmJames

yeah.

but

even grasping at straws can seem legit if you know how to write

11:35pmAlma

when theyre good theyre really satisfying though

exactly

11:35pmJames

But I know that they probably showed their statement to like 10 people

so it makes me feel like consensus decision is that artist statements should be boring

which seems really interesting.

11:36pmAlma

how about: artists are such bad writers in general that it takes ten people to amp it up to just boring instead of horrific

11:37pmJames

lol

I think that they probably start out interesting in the sense that they are at least different

and then get consenus built into boredom

or maybe both

I don't know man, it would be a really good essay topic

11:38pmAlma

i think so too

ive heard maybe a handful of good ones

and those artists, i respect even more

11:38pmJames

yeah.

I'm trying to find the one I wrote as a proposal for my show

so I can see if it was really bad or still okay

i wrote it like 6 months ago

11:39pmAlma

like i think art is a good medium for emotionally swaying people and i think writing is a good medium for mentally swaying people, not tat they're mutually exclusive, and when both are good its kind of mindblowing

like the closest an atheist gets to a religious experience

oh yeah also sex

11:40pmJames

yeah

I think

okay

respond to this idea

art seemed to be more direct in what it was saying

say

80's

70's

60's

since everyone can publish everything now, if you have something to say you don't make artwork, you write or film or whatever else

which is one explanation for why everyone is completely intent on not saying anything

and "asking questions"

and so art has become a place

for people to be completely unoffended

thus apolitical

mmm

that's really not logical and bad

but it's something i feel

11:42pmAlma

i think youre on to something but i think the weak point is "unoffended"

i think youre looking for anoter concept and i can kind of feel you but i dont know what it is

does tat feel

constructive or did you really mean unoffendid

cause its not like artists dont wanna be controversial

its just like tey dont want their controversy to stand for anything

or against it

11:43pmJames

no, i don't know what i mean, it's totally vague and badly worded

right

i guess I feel like you decide to make art if you don't want to be responsible

for anything you make, say, or do

and people go to look at art because they can't be told they are wrong with what they think it stands for

so it's a circular relationship devoid of meaning but fulling symbiotic

11:45pmAlma

fulling?

11:46pmJames

fully

11:46pmAlma

ok i wasnt sure

why is it circular

11:48pmAlma is offline.

11:48pmJames

people put out statements without fixed meaning, people consume statements because of their lack of fixed meaning, what is in demand increases in supply

11:48pmAlma is online.

11:49pmAlma

or

alternatively

people feel a shared sense of meaninglessness and it effects both what we produce and what we consume

11:50pmJames

but people don't feel a sense of meaningless with writing, or film, etc

i think it's particularly central to fine art

11:50pmAlma

hm

11:50pmJames

which is supposedly where the most meaning resides

except no one wants to stand behind it

11:50pmAlma

ok so then is there a meaninglessness particularly associated with the image

11:50pmJames

no

the image rules film, advertising, comics

11:51pmAlma

you know wat

im with you on this

and this

my friend

is why i dont like andy warhol

its like

crappy food

11:51pmJames

lol

11:51pmAlma

crappy food

is crappy for you

and it makes you feel bad

and it only taste good for a minute and sometimes not even then

11:51pmJames

andy warhol is one of the last people who meant anything though..

11:52pmAlma

its bad in every macro and micro way, and people still eat it anyway. and theres no reason for it to be like tis becasue there's plenty of wonderful food to be had. its just a vicious cycle and we just need to stop

ok i wont quibble about where it started

i agree with this

and i think you should write about it

and really call people out

11:53pmJames

lol

call people out.

11:53pmAlma

artists are just making fucking preservative filled twinkies and people are eating it

11:53pmJames

mm

yeah

I think it's natural

11:53pmAlma

and its just a vicious cycle of bad consumption and bad production for no other reason than for some short-sighted moment, someone thought it was convienant or brilliant or necessary

11:54pmJames

when the market is dictated by people in power with money

which necessitates that they are more likely to like things how they are

so they would demand non threatening expression

or better

expression that could seem either threatening or not, because it doesnt really matter since the viewer makes the meaning

11:56pmAlma

maybe rich people just feel generally more hopeless

or meaningless

11:56pmJames

I don't think so.

but I do think they are unlikely to desire an object that unequivocatingly says fuck rich people

11:57pmAlma

right

ok

11:59pmAlma

im really excited to go to amsterdam with you

Today

12:00amJames

yeah it should be fun

i'm excited to leave paris