Anodyne
Saturday, November 05, 2005
 
And to Stop You Interfering, I Shall Have to Dematerialize You Again -- world's best exhibition title, and the subject of a long review by yours truly, part of the new issue of Aaron Peck and Adam Harrison's Doppelganger magazine. Also recommended: Harrison's interview with photographer Evan Lee, which, among other revelations, generates this remarkable exchange:

"ADAM HARRISON: Photography, of course, can never escape representation, but it can, especially now, search for new ways to experiment with the possibilities of the picture, and Stella's claims remain relevant. Such experimentation must be done in the spirit of the great art of the past, while, like all of those artists, be constantly looking towards the future, not quoting so much as building onto an existing, and ever growing foundation.

EVAN LEE: True, but I find that today’s artists will often strategically quote the past or try to predict the future, forsaking the importance and difficulty involved in dealing directly with the present. That which is not yet validated involves a level of genuine risk, which I think helps to make for a good work of art. Unfortunately, when these noble efforts fail, it can sometimes result in what you are calling kitsch or garishness. This kind of work has value; it is at the very least always sincere because its present-mindedness. I think that occupying this category couldn’t be worse than those who merely ‘strategize’, ‘quote’ or ‘predict’. Kitsch or garishness could never result from this kind of work as the same self-consciousness I mentioned earlier would never allow it to surface. As such, it is insincere."




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