I'm beginning to understand and identify artist lectures more and more as performances. (all of life actually) Paglen's lecture was given with a sincere casualness; an informalness that seemed to say "I'm showing you this information, but it's not important to me that you believe me." This act actually lent credibility to his work at first- I'm so confident in this material, I don't even need to "sell" it to you.
His presenting the "art" as "research" led to a sliding scale of discourse and vocabulary. At one time art, at another research, it felt like Schrödinger's cat, both art and research, while neither art or research.
I began to align his work more along the lines of the constructed fictional historical narratives of Zoe Beloff, and I began to consider his photographs and collections as really poorly photoshopped images or technically poor constructions. I lost trust in him and his work.
I know that his work is about the blurry line between information/disinformation, trusting/entertaining... somehow i found his images very interesting and compelling when presented as truth and evidence, but during his presentation, I began to feel as if it were a poorly constructed entertainment. I guess that's part of his message.
I came across Paglen's work a few years ago in "Wired", and they treated the material from a much more "X- Files" point of view... this Lone Ranger character, going into harm's way to uncover the "truth", and bring it to light, kind of like Taryn Simon's "Secret Sites" photos. Paglen's approach was much less heavy-handed, but the lack of conviction in his delivery made me think he didn't even care about his work all that much.
Showing posts with label Trevor Paglen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trevor Paglen. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
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.
- 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.
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