Trevor Paglen

Crickets
- walk in the fields
- just TAKE people to the fields


What artwork/proposals did you present?
Crickets

What topics did you discuss? What was the nature of this discussion?
Minimalism, Zen, Participation/Experience, immersive

What were the critical reactions/ suggestions to your ideas/artwork?
The idea of science experiment came up. He also zeroed in on the hanging jars being a problem, and asked if I was referencing a science experiment or not, and that the piece needs to go more in one direction- science experiment or not.

What was a suggested plan of action?
Trevor suggested that perhaps my work should be more along the lines of just taking people out into the fields.

What insights / new questions / ideas did you take from the meeting?
That I tend to add superfluous layers to my work, instead of trying to push the piece to the core issues i'm dealing with.

How did this meeting affect how you will proceed with your project / proposal?
It was interesting, and ultimately just another element of feedback to consider. Trevor's read of the piece was definitely more succinct than some of the other feedback i've been getting, (although that may just be because our time was so tight).

Did the artist suggest looking at any specific artists?
Trevor suggested reading "Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees", by Lawrence Weschler, in which he documents Robert Irwin's process.

What was the most difficult question the artist asked you?
What I specifically wanted from the piece. I'm constantly looking for ways to diminish my hand in my work, but my heavy-handedness just shifts from one area to the next. Instead of pulling back from my work, allowing it to speak for itself, my control just shifts. In this particular case, my desire to relinquish control has just obscured the fact that there's not much at all that I've relinquished. Perhaps the only thing I've let go of was my own understanding of the piece.

It was then difficult to answer his question, but it was necessary. My answer was that I wanted for viewers to have an "experience" and an "encounter". In his mind, the most direct, immersive path was to transport my viewers into the field.