everybody's favorite patch

an audience can try to relate what they see to concept. it's pretty much an automatic reflex
for many. nothing wrong with it. but artists making some effort to inject concept, rather
than try to strip it away, is … just kinda silly. a feeble hustle, trying to get an audience to
buy (fork over attention or money) for something (an art object) that's really nothing (lacks
skill to varying degrees). aqt best it's just armchair philosophy.

i dig jenny holtzer's sentences, but see no need to call it "art". one of my top 5 favorite
things on the net is her web art (that i seriously doubt she touched) from like 1995. it's
essentially a blog. things can be cool, have little or no practical purpose, and still not be
"art". why do conceptualist even want to be artists? (think it's stilll at http://
adaweb.walkerart.org/project/holzer/cgi/pcb.cgi )

if an artist can make something that stands on it's own, exciting without a "concept", ideas
expressable in an essay, … for instance you don't need to understand anything about it
(including English or Italian) to appreciate "The Last Supper". Familiarity with the bible or
pre-renaissance perspective is not at all required. (Though granted, many dig that too)

Words and meaning are an easy short cut. It is like a drawing where the characters can't
really be identified and the artist for some reason feels they should. so he/she adds an
arrow and labels them. now the drawing because it lacks skill, makes up using concept.
concept comes in many forms but employs the intellect to make up for what the viscera just
doesn't react to.

the more an artist adds concept, the more the endeavor becomes just a flimsy back-seat
driver yammering. concepts are a patch for (what the artist feels) is poor execution. there's
no sense in aspiring to "art" and not be willing to put in effort.

many grant-type situations, venues and the conservative world of academia further confuse
the issue by asking for a "statement". who really cares what the artist has to say? if they
couldn't say it in their medium, they just haven't finished, or bit off a bigger job than they
can chew. giving documentation some context is simply writing good documentation. aside
from an artist's return address, more words are just distraction from the work.


___________________
PLASMA STUDII
501©(3) non-profit
stage * galleries * web
POI Box 1086
Cathedral Station
New York, NY 10025
http://plasmastudii.org