Printing, bookmaking, and public exposure (results of projects 3, 4, and 5)
Some of the photos I took for this project seemed hasty at the time -- I would see something I thought might be cool, and sort of hold down the capture button to snap four or five similar images. Now, after how carefully we proofed prints, selected pairs, designed books, and set up a show, that level of hastiness in the actual creation of the substance of the prints, and the books, and the show, makes the substance seem almost irrelevant. However! I do not believe this is true; I do not believe that the images that comprise the meat of our work can be easily passed up. This format -- books, prints framed and hung on a wall, snacks on a table outside -- gives viewers a change, even encourages them, to consider an image in a different light than they would viewing the image on a computer screen. Presentation is everything; conversely, presentation is nothing; presentation is imagined; presentation does not even have a change to emerge as a construct without the art. This is not only true of our gallery, of course.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Chicago Institute of Art, even the Wriston Gallery -- they choose what to feature, what to display in such a light that a viewer would nod their head and agree that this thing, this is it, this is the art, and then maybe somewhere along the line an Art History major will come and write about it for a paper and everybody reading the paper, which is just the same as the exhibit in its presentation of A-R-T, will nod along. This is art!
Presentation, which (in this case) is a wholly constructed idea based on what we perceive to make something worthwhile, lends itself particularly well to art; art, in itself, is not worth particularly much, but the space in which it is presented to you, the media that presents it to you, shows you how worthwhile a work is. But! Was it worthwhile from the start? Is presentation the only thing that influences our perception, or is there something more inherent that we can appreciate?
Noah, I totally agree with you that what makes our artwork truly stand out is determined through the basis by which we present it. If you have really great work to show to people, you cannot expect those people to come to you to appreciate it, rather you have to find a meaningful approach of presenting it in an appealing and also accessible manner.
ReplyDeleteHey, Noah. I think what you said about presentation is the most interesting thing about this post. You seem to be really interested in that idea. The statement that you wrote for the show (which you should post, by the way) talked a lot about the perspective and relativity of art as well as your anti-establishment opinions about art shows. I think it's good to be thinking about the reality of the situation while you're in it so you don't get too mindless about what you're doing. R̰͊̎̈́̉͌̾o̥̼̘͓͔̳̟̺̝͛c͙͉̊̑̍̃k̬̝͔ͤ͐̌̔ ̼̠͚͕͕̼̘̼́ͨ͗͂ͅo͖̟̩͍̰͙̼͒̍ṇͩ̈́,̯͓̥̩̤̹̖̃̎̇ͯͥ͂̑ͅ ̦̞̭͙̦̜̦͍͙̔̍̄̒̚d͓͈͚̭͉̩̮͂ͬͥ͂̍̓ͯù̫̙͎͕̄̄d̞̓̏̎ͣ̉́̔e̯̝̭͖̖̝͕͇ͫͦ͗ͣ/̜̙̰̙̗̹ͬͯ̇̀̊/͕̜̲͓̲̥͍̽ͥͦ͆ͯ́̀/͇̯̜̜̯̪͓̖ͣ̈́͑ͧ̉̿,̦͓̙̩̱͚̟̐̒ͧ͋ͤ̂̓̓̚.̥͈͌ͬ͒ͮ,̭̥͉̗͈̯̝̲̿̆̓>̤̫̻̼̃ͤ>̪̼̹͔̈ͥͥ͑͋̑>̮̖̰̖ͮ̓́ͬ>̰̩̹̗̙̲͔̦͑̋̽̉̈̃>̜̋͆ͅ>̗̪̼̭͎͒̉>̣͉̗͓͔̩ͤ͊͐͊ͬ̒̈́>̪͙͉͎̱͗ͪͦ
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