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Room!in!the!Elephant!
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Essays%on%Art%%
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by!Rose!McLaren!
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Contents!
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Swine!after!Pearls!
(Paul!McCarthy)!
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Agent!Provocateur!of!Moral!Fig!Leaf?!
(Santiago!Sierra)!
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Portrait!or!Landscape?!
(Lucian!Freud)!
!
The!Rough!with!the!Smooth!
(Thomas!Ruff)!
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The!Death!of!Analogue!
(David!Hall)!
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The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre!
(Various!Artists)!
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Swine!after!Pearls!
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Paul! McCarthy,! The% King,% The% Island,% The% Train,% The%
House,% The% Ship% at! Hauser! and! Wirth,! London,! 16!
November!2011N!14!January!2012!
!
The! showpiece! of! Paul! McCarthy’s! current! London!
exhibition!is!an!installation!of!George!Bush!sodomising!
a! pig.! In! Train,% Mechanical! the! world’s! most! vilified!
leader! performs! the! ultimate! sexual! taboo.! To! the!
intellectually! curious! or! the! shockNbattered! public,! this!
is! not! subversive.! It’s! clichéN! a! banal! and! nighN
meaningless! melodrama! of! sexual! violation.! Kissing! or!
fondling! could! be! more! disturbing.! Or! taking! down! a!
cultural! hero,! rather! than! preaching! to! the! artNsavvy,!
midNleft! converted.! Cliché! can! be! powerful! and!
successfully! resurrecting! one! is! among! the! more!
impressive!feats!an!artist!can!pull!off.!But!it’s!not!what!
this! show! is! about.! Instead,! McCarthy’s! ham! players!
seem!to!mock!anysuch!!endeavour.!!
!
The!neighbouring!piece,!Pig%Island,%acts!like!a!backstage!
workshop!to!Train,%Mechanical.!I!look!at!what!the!press!
release! informs! me! is,! ‘a! morally! deviant! world!
populated!by!pirates,!cowboys,!the!likenesses!of!George!
Bush! and! Angelina! Jolie,! an! assortment! of! Disney!
characters!and!the!artist!himself,!all!carousing!in!a!state!
of! wild! and! reckless! abandon’.! Despite! the! hackneyed!
prose,!this!sounds!potentially!unfettered!and!fun.!What!
lies! before! me! looks! contrived! and! boring.! McCarthy’s!
deviance!used!to!be!more!imaginative!than!‘moral’,!but!
here!anal!bestiality!pops!up!every!fifth!manikin,!like!the!
recurring!favourite!joke!of!a!parish!bore.!!
!
And! so! much! for! ‘wild! and! reckless! abandon’;! the!
sculptures!are!‘meticulously’!piled!and!placed!to!imitate!
the! chaos! of! a! studio.! This! is! dully! familiar,! both!
compositionally! and! conceptually,! as! the! ageNold!
attempt! at! ‘blurring! the! boundaries! between! the! work!
and! the! workplace’.! All! this,! my! critical! companion!
continues,!‘enabling!the!viewer!to!catch!a!glimpse!of!the!
artist’s! process,! the! organic! development! of! his!
sculptures!and!the!rawness!of!a!neverNending!workNinN
progress’.! The! shamNmodesty! of! the! artist,! the!
sycophancy!of!the!writer!and!the!fauxNfelicity!inscribed!
in! this! commentary! compound! together! the! more!
maddening!myths!plaguing!contemporary!art!discourse:!
that! the! artist! has! honestly! bared! his! self! and! process;!
that!the!viewer!should!be!grateful!for!such!ankleNflashes!
of! naked! creativity;! and! that! all! of! this! is! gloriously!
spontaneous!and!accidental,!rather!than!the!product!of!
artistic! calculation,! gallery! politics,! media! agenda! and!
masses!of!moneyNmoving.!!!
!
Moreover,! what! is! being! described! is! not! only!
nauseating,!it’s!not!even!happening.!Beyond!the!smoke!
screen!of!abstract!nouns!what!is!there?!As!for!subjects,!
what! might! the! inhabitants! of! Pig% Island! do,! think! or!
feel?!If!they!are!automatons,!what!of!the!machinery!that!
moves!them?!If!they!are!linguistic!creatures,!what!might!
they! signify?! Nothing,! nothing,! nothing.! It! is! all! in! the!
verbal! support! act.! And! there’s! no! ‘rawness’! in! the!
process! because! we! are! never! shown! beyond! the!
trappings!of!creativity!into!the!artist’s!mind!or!even!into!
the!material!scatology!of!his!sculpting.!It’s!all!set.!Even!
the! films! of! model! casting! (the! T.G.! series! screened! at!
Savile!Row)!are!staged!and!silent.!In!the!end,!the!blownN
up,! hollowedNout! heads! and! deformed,! gelatinous!
bodies! here! are! remnants! of! McCarthy’s! historic!
commitment! to! the! abject,! the! grotesque! and! the!
carnivalesque,!newly!sapped!of!their!former!vitality!and!
meaning.!
!
There! is,! of! course,! the! possibility! that! this! is! precisely!
McCarthy’s!point.!The!world!is!mad,!devoid!of!rhyme!or!
reason;! therefore! to! live! (and! make! art)! in! it! is! to!
partake! in! mechanical! and! mindless! activity.! It’s!
cynicismN! about! the! world,! art,! and! the! relationship!
between!the!two,!which!is!boring,!easy!and!ungenerous.!
It’s! also! fundamentally! uncreative! (and! isn’t! he! an!
artist?).!
!
I! don’t! think! this! is! or! was! McCarthy’s! point,! though.! I!
think! his! work! has! simply! got! tangled! up! in! its!
wrapping.! The! tyranny! of! the! press! release.! Its! powers!
are!twofold.!If!you!watch!people!arriving!at!exhibitions,!
they! reach! for! the! explanatory! pamphlet! as! a! guest!
locates! a! drink! at! a! partyN! quickly,! automatically! and!
necessarily.! Often! encountered! prior! to! the! work,! it!
impacts! heavily! on! how! most! contemporary! art! is!
viewed.!In!turn,!this!often!affects!the!making!of!the!art!
itself! such! that! it! becomes! an! illustration! for! a! set! of!
printed! ideas.! Whether! or! not! the! press! release! yet!
exists,!its!ubiquity!or!eventual!publication!can!shape!the!
artist’s! mental! approach.! The! grim! consequence! of!
which!is!that!art!becomes!only!about!something,!rather!
than! also! being! something.! Put! differently,! it! is! the!
difference!between!executing!an!idea!and!creating.!!
!
Of!course,!this!argument!is!oldNfashioned.!The!power!of!
packaging! has! long! perpetuated! vacuous! work! eliciting!
the! common! complaint! of! ‘the! emperor’s! new! clothes’.!
However,! Paul! McCarthy! used! to! be! free! of! the! critical!
quagmire.! His! earlier! films! and! performances! were! full!
of! their! own! nonsensical! life.! With! anarchic! narratives,!
disturbing! characters! and! a! whole! language! of! deeply!
weird! gestures,! textures! and! forms,! he! provoked!
thought! and! feeling,! bypassing! explanation.! It! was!
original,! in! the! literal! sense! of! the! word;! it! gave! life! to!
something!new.!
!
There! is! a! spark! of! this! old! flame! in! his! Drawings% for%
Mad% House% 1% and% 2% upstairs! at! the! Piccadilly! gallery.!
While!these!sketches!might!be!construed!as!plans,!they!
are! also! autonomous–! the! marks! are! the! making! and!
unmaking! of! an! idea,! rather! than! a! secondary!
description! of! one.! And! although! they! are! about!
machinery,! or! how! aspects! of! human! behaviour! might!
be!mechanical,!they!have!the!feeling!and!sensibility!of!a!
person! about! them.! The! supposed! directness! of! the!
pencil! can! be! blunted! when! romanticized! or! fetishized!
(‘ahh,! the! impulse! doodle’),! but! here! it! remains!
haphazard! and! animate,! like! the! scrawled! ‘dizzy!
erection’! in! Drawing% 1.! ! The! installation! Mad% House% Jr,!
on!the!other!hand,!is!less!lively!and!more!a!neat!conceit.!
It’s!a!spinning!box!that!emits!projections!of!its!interior!
to! create! ‘an! environment! of! physical! and! mental!
disorientation’.!
.! It! doesn’t! really! do! thisN! the! room! is!
pretty! solid! and! the! piece! far! from! immersive.!
Nevertheless,! it! is! convincing! as! a! metaphor! for!
madness,! and! particularly! the! insanity! born! of! artistic!
(selfN)preoccupation.!!
!
Downstairs! at! Piccadilly,! The% King,! is! a! similarly!
successful!metaphor.!Filling!the!entire!ground!floor,!the!
installation! enacts! the! ritualism! of! art.! McCarthy’s! selfN
replica! sits! enthroned! as! ruler;! the! viewers! are! offered!
pews! from! which! to! worship;! and! fallen,! inverted!
paintings!line!the!walls,!attending!the!space!as!apostles!
of! contemporary! Art.! It’s! formally! and! conceptually!
sound,! but! the! devil’s! in! the! detail.! McCarthy’s! powers!
of! making! are! extraordinary! and! here! the! viewer! can!
share!in!the!morbid!thrill!of!simulacra.!In!one!sense,!this!
is!the!real!thing:!the!drama!of!him,!the!space,!the!art!and!
us.! However,! it! swiftly! dies! the! death! of! metaNart;! the!
act!of!looking!at!art!becomes!about!the!fact!of!looking!at!
art.! Experience! becomes! information.! Suddenly,! it! all!
makes!too!much!sense!and!it’s!ready!to!be!written!(off).!
It! appears! Paul! McCarthy! has! become! a! sucker! or! a!
cynic,!or!both.!I!miss!the!madman!and!the!artist.!
Santiago! Sierra:! Agent! Provocateur! or! Moral! Fig!
Leaf?!
!
Santiago! Sierra,! Dedicated% to% the% Workers% and%
Unemployed,%at!the!Lisson!Gallery!London,!February!1!–!
March!3!2012!
!
When!I!first!saw!Santiago!Sierra’s!muchNsensationalized!
work,! I! was! struck! by! the! indifference! of! it.! Hyped! and!
hailed! as! politically! controversial,! I! was! surprised! to!
find!him!ostensibly!stanceNless.!By!paying!for!labour!at!
low! or! exploitative! cost,! he! is! apparently! ‘merely!
representing! the! commercial! conditions! of! our!
existence’.!Of!course,!the!objective!distance!at!which!he!
poses! is! precisely! his! position! of! power.! But! though! he!
is!in!fact!and!in!effect!far!from!neutral!does!he!occupy!a!
suspiciously!safe!house!of!provocation?!
!
!
Santiago! Sierra! is! that! rare! thingN! a! political! artist,!
rather! than! a! politician! using! art! or! an! artist! using!
politics.! Not! that! he! disdains! using! (it! is! probably! the!
verb! most! pertinent! to! his! practice),! but! the!
relationship! between! his! art! and! politics! is! more!
essential! than! functional.! Unlike,! say,! Leon! Golub! or!
Regina! José! Galindo,! his! art! is! not! secondary! to! his!
beliefs! as! the! means! of! executing! an! idea! of! greater!
import.! Nor! are! his! politics! an! accessory! to! his! art! as!
with! Jeff! Koons,! Damien! Hurst! or! other! media! masters!
of! the! controversial! gesture! as! massNmocking! spin.!
Rather!than!negotiating!his!own!agenda,!Santiago!Sierra!
selfNeffaces!and!so!passes!the!buck!to!the!viewer.!In!this!
way,! rather! than! foisting! an! opinion! upon! us! or!
exploiting! predictable! reactions,! his! films! ask! us! what!
we! think! of! the! situations! they! confront! us! with.! The!
real!rub!is!in!the!kind%of!thinking!that!he!cues.!
!
His! latest! exhibition! at! the! Lisson! Gallery,! Dedicated% to%
the% Workers% and% Unemployed,! is! a! retrospective! of! his!
films.! The! first! room! screens! footage! of! people! he! has!
paid! to! carry! out! menial! tasks! such! as! blocking! a!
museum! entrance,! lying! in! a! ditch! or! holding! a! heavy!
object.! ! The! work! he! commissions! and! records! is!
typically! dull,! timeNconsuming! and! arduous.! In! this!
respect! it! faithfully! represents! the! bulk! of! the! world’s!
labour,! only,! put! to! perverse! use.! Now! it! would! be!
humourless,!not!to!say!inaccurate,!to!identify!Sierra!as!a!
latterNday! realist! bemoaning! the! lot! of! the! everyman!
and! so! soliciting! the! sympathies! of! the! galleryNgoer.!
Nonetheless,! such! error! characterizes! the! abiding!
critical! consensus! of! his! work! as! portraiture! of! the!
oppressed.!!This!sadly!misses!the!subtlety!of!his!politics!
and! conveniently! evades! the! nearer! drift! of! his!
arguments.! The! blank! servitude! of! his! ‘workers! and!
unemployed’! marks! a! clear! absence! of! attitude! that!
creates! an! awkward! intellectual! silence! to,! it! is! hoped,!
stimulate! responsive! and! (selfN)! reflective! thought.!
More!analytical!than!philanthropic.!
!
Take! 8% People% Paid% To% Remain% Inside% Cardboard% Boxes.!
All!art!could!be!just!this.!At!its!baldest,!a!play,!painting!
or!exhibition!might!be!nothing!but!humanity!boxed!and!
bought.! As! godfather! of! the! reductio! ad! absurdum,!
Sierra! has! pared! down! to! their! most! minimal! the!
economies! of! exchange! that! underwrite! industry,!
commerce! and! art.! The% Wall% Of% A% Gallery% Pulled% Out,%
Inclined%60%Degrees%From%The%Ground%And%Sustained%By%5%
People! again! reformulates! the! relationship! between!
artist!and!viewer!as!fiscal!physics;!to!patronize!galleries!
is! to! watch! and! endorse! other! people! upholding! the!
structures!of!culture.!!
!
My!favourites!are!his!reels!of!people!facing!the!corners!
of! rooms! (at! which! the! screens! are! also! cleverly!
positioned! within! the! gallery).! These! perfect! pieces! of!
shame! are! powerful! in! their! simplicity.! In! the! bleakest!
of! them,! Punished,! we! look! at! the! back! of! a! standing!
figure! and! the! figure! looks! at! the! wall.! Immediately,! it!
offers!a!still!image!of!castigation.!Then,!with!wry!genius,!
it! becomes! a! hall! of! mirrors;! the! figure! is! just! moving,!
just!alive,!just!like!us.!We!realize!we!are!replicating!the!
position!and!perspective!of!the!subject;!we!are!what!we!
are!watching.!In!their!directness!and!formal!economy!I!
find!these!works!both!the!strongest!and!most!stylish!in!
Sierra’s!oeuvre.!
!
Then! there! are! the! film! loops! in! the! adjacent! miniN
cinema.! These! are! difficult! to! watch! in! their! entirety!
because,!frankly,!they!are!visually!boring.!It!is!the!ideas!
behind!them!that!are!excitingN!the!moral!chaos!that!his!
films! do! not! so! much! provoke! as! reveal.! There! is! a!
certain!ethical!intrigue!to!10%People%Paid%to%Masturbate!
or! 160cm% Line% Tattooed% on% 4% people! (for! which! Sierra!
gave! four! prostitutes! the! price! of! a! heroin! hit).! The!
power!relations!he!performs!and!thereby!highlights!are!
disturbing,! but! the! films! themselves! are! deadpan,!
unemotive! and! consequently! tedious! to! a! public!
accustomed! to! being! sold! a! story.! I! sat! in! the! projector!
room! for! a! day! and! saw! nobody! stay! longer! than! ten!
minutes.! After! wondering! why! I! had! been! watching!
footage! of! builders! trying! to! shift! a! concrete! block! for!
nearly!an!hour,!a!penny!slowly!dropped.!!
!
Starkness!and!boredom!are!Sierra’s!media!of!revelation!
and! his! message! is! that! art! is! like! any! other! business.!
There! is! no! overt! criticism! or! damning! symbolism;!
Sierra!pays!for!people!to!do!things!and!we!pay!for!that!
(with! time! or! money).! The! blankness! of! his! language!
conveys!the!wearing!effect!of!the!labourNwage!exchange!
that! shapes! most! lives! and! simultaneously! it! suggests!
that!artistic!dialogues!might!be!just!as!banal.!However,!
blankness! is! also! a! pitch! whereby! his! subjects’! patent!
lack!of!stance!solicits!one!from!us.!His!actors’!faces!give!
nothing.! They! don’t! mind;! they’re! getting! paid;! this! is!
the! way! the! capitalist! cookie! crumbles.! Their!
indifference!either!inspires!the!like!or!provokes!anxious!
selfNscrutiny;! how! do! we! feel! about! all! this?! Personally!
implicated?! Or! smugly! flush! with! the! Leftist! cause! on!
the!right!side!of!the!firing!line?!Where!do!we!stand!and!
where!does!Sierra?!
!
I! think! his! merit! hangs! in! the! balance! of! his! work’s!
effect.!The!line!between!propaganda!and!pander!is!fine.!
His! work! is! clearly! not! didactic,! but! it! is! less! clear!
whether! it! is! an! anatomy! of! politics! that! lays! bare!
sources! of! moral! discomfort! or! whether! he! meekly!
follows! the! fashion! of! fauxNinquisition.! Today! the!
question! itself! seems! the! common! currency! of! art,!
which! begs! the! final! one:! are! questions! alone! enough?!
That! it! is! ‘challenging’! is! often! an! artwork’s! highest!
accolade,! but! less! often! is! it! true! and! seldom! does! the!
mental! challenge! outlast! the! duration! of! spectatorship.!
It! mostly! ends! at! the! question! mark,! with! the! artist’s!
duty! seen! to! in! asking! and! the! viewer! satisfied! by!
considering! a! question.! ! But! mutual! gratification! is! a!
rather! morbid! endgame.! Instead! of! happily! sitting! on!
the! fence! together,! we! might! discuss! the! social! role! of!
artists! and! dispute! the! value! of! the! interrogative!
language!they!deploy.!
!
Among!Sierra’s!potential!roles,!I!find!him!most!winning!
where! he! plays! the! joker! pokerNfaced.! Unfortunately,!
under! the! pressure! of! performance! his! base! oneNliners!
tend!to!get!intellectually!sent!up.!His!films!increasingly!
become! academic! exercises! in! which! we! apprehend!
how! the! artNviewer! contract! mirrors! that! of! the!
producerNconsumer.!If!we!see!this!process!as!external!to!
ourselves,!then!Sierra!plays!the!Professor!and!we!attend!
artNasNschool.!On!the!other!hand,!we!might!see!our!place!
in!the!schema,!in!which!case!of!collective!guilt!the!films!
become! confessional! boxes! for! closet! capitalists.! Here!
Sierra! plays! the! Priest,! a! role! he! openly! accepts,!
admitting,! “selfNcriticism! makes! you! feel! morally!
superior,! and! I! give! high! society! and! high! culture! the!
mechanisms!to!unload!their!morality!and!their!guilt.”!!
!
Although,! I! would! argue! Sierra’s! job! is! less! spiritual! or!
shamanistic!than!his!claim!implies.!This!‘unloading’!is!a!
historic!function!of!art,!dating!back!to!catharsis!in!Greek!
tragedy.! However! the! ancient! theatrical! process!
invoked!terror!and!pity!to!connect!the!audience!to!what!
happened!on!stage.!In!Sierra’s!equivalent,!the!bourgeois!
viewer! has! little! relation! to! the! filmed! labourers! and! a!
grasp!of!economic!interdependence!displaces!emotional!
empathy.! No! Christian! or! Classical! purging! here,! then.!
The! moral! unease! Sierra! claims! to! host! is! momentary!
because! the! problem! becomes! an! intellectual! puzzle!
rather!than!a!social!concern,!something!to!be!solved!or!
understood,!‘got’!rather!than!engaged!with!or!exorcised.!
I!also!suspect!a!deceptively!righteous!masquerade!saves!
face!here!N!where!flying!the!flag!for!intellectual!freedom!
keeps!us!all!from!coming!down!anywhere!on!the!issues!
at!hand.!
!
In!sum,!I!think!that!the!questions!in!Sierra’s!work!hide!
or!confuse!the!malaise!he!intends!to!provoke!and!that!as!
such! they! are! his! sellNout! to! the! gallery.! This! kind! of!
curatorial! white! noise! dominates! his! recent! work,!
although! it! does! not! altogether! quash! the! power! of! his!
films.!At!best,!they!are!dumb!showsN!mute!caricatures!of!
quotidian!politics.!These!are!nasty!in!the!primal!manner!
of! Punch! and! Judy:! the! morality! play! bent! into! a! more!
twisted! secular! truth.! In! this! way,! Sierra! has! more! of! a!
social!role!than!a!polemic!one.!!He!is!closer!to!Merchant!
and!Fool!than!he!is!to!Challenger!or!Conformist,!playing!
market!positions!of!winner!and!loser,!with!a!humorous!
honesty!about!the!nature!of!the!game.!His!success!lies!in!
the! same! exploitation! that! he! displays! in! all! its!
nonsense,!but!tempered!with!the!wise!clown’s!counsel:!
don’t!kid!yourself.!
!
Portrait!or!Landscape?!
!
Lucian!Freud,!Portraits!at!The!National!Portrait!Gallery,!
February!9N!May!27!2012!
!
The!sensation!surrounding!the!Lucian!Freud!exhibition!
at! the! National! Portrait! Gallery! has! brought! back! into!
focus! the! place! of! people! in! paintings.! In! particular,! it!
has!reNraised!the!question!of!what!makes!a!portrait.!The!
show!responds!with!a!host!of!its!own!questions:!can!you!
have!a!portrait!of!a!nobody!or!does!a!portrait!identify!an!
individual?!Can!a!figure!be!a!portrait!of!something!else!
or! vice! versa! (Van! Gogh’s! chair)?! Does! the! title!
determine! the! portrait?! At! what! distance! from! the!
subject!does!a!painting!cease!to!be!a!portrait?!And!what!
is!a!painting!of!a!person!if!it!is!not!a!portrait?!!
!
I! am! not! a! Freud! fan,! yet! I! enjoyed! this! exhibition;! I!
imagine!anybody!interested!in!figurative!painting!could,!
for! here! Freud! restlessly! disturbs! the! terms! of!
portraiture.!A!particularly!provocative!instance!is!Large%
Interior%Paddington%1968,!the!title!of!which!ignores!the!
girl!lying!on!the!floor!centre!canvas.!The!painting!might!
not! be! about! its! infant! protagonist;! or! it! might! be! that!
the! space! describes! her! better! than! her! body! does;! or!
that! she! is! there! to! connote! the! space.! Either! way,! we!
don’t!quite!know!what!we’re!looking!at.!It’s!on!the!edge!
of!Freud’s!early!surreal!period,!a!lateral!flash!before!he!
became! locked! in! his! faceNtoNface! with! flesh.! Although!
thereafter! sadly! absent! from! his! painterly! style,! the!
strangeness! of! his! fledgling! efforts! lives! on! in! the!
wayward!challenges!that!underwrite!his!mature!work.!
!
Such! as,! if! the! title! matters,! do! pictures! of! anonymous!
subjects! count! as! portraits?! This! might! disqualify! all!
Freud’s! ‘girl’,! ‘woman’,! ‘man’! and! ‘figure’! numbers,!
which! constitute! the! bulk! of! his! oeuvre.! The! rarer!
paintings!of!people!with!names!tend!to!be!more!humane!
for! their! specificity! –! these! are! individuals! rather! than!
abstract! animals.! Michael% Andrews% and% June,! for!
example,! are! very! real! characters,! while! many! of! the!
untitled!nudes!aren’t.!There!are!of!course!exceptions!to!
the!rule,!some!of!the!named!are!nonentities;!some!of!the!
naked! unknowns! distinctive.! Still,! Freud’s! ranging!
attitudes! to! his! sitters! effectively! raises! all! sides! of! the!
argument! over! identity! in! portraiture,! the! question! of!
what! makes! a! painted! person! a! portrait.! I! heard! an!
original! suggestion! from! an! elderly! gentleman! behind!
me! at! the! show! who! thought! it’s! not! a! portrait! if! the!
figure! is! lying! down.! Sitters! or! standers! only;! how!
proper.!
!
Nevertheless,! there! is! something! idle! about! all! this!
speculation!with!regard!to!Freud,!interesting!though!the!
wider!applications!are.!He!might!challenge!his!genre!of!
choice,! but! Freud! is! too! close! to! the! figures! in! his!
paintings! for! them! to! be! anything! but! portraits.!
Whether! it’s! bodily,! metaphysical! or! intellectual!
proximity,!nearness!is!of!the!essence.!
!
But!what!are!figurative!paintings!that!are!not!portraits?!
Landscapes?! There! are! obviously! many! other! genres:!
the! pastoral,! the! sublime,! conversation! pieces,! social!
scenes,! tableaus,! impressions,! fantasies! etc.! Landscape!
does!not!exclude!people,!though,!and!as!a!backdrop!is!a!
more!useful!comparison!than!it!immediately!appears.!It!
covers! most! of! the! alternatives! to! portraiture.! In! the!
broadest! sense,! landscape! relates! the! individual! figure!
to! the! world! around! it.! Which! recalibrates! the! portrait!
as!a!manNtoNman!affair.!!
!
Looking! at! portraits! and! landscapes! in! terms! of! the!
relationships! they! perform,! genres! become! matters! of!
dialogue.!In!this!sense!they!become!more!meaningful!to!
contemporary!
figurative!
painting!
(and!
its!
preoccupation! with! discourse).! And! so,! despite! its!
conservative! appeal,! this! exhibition! might! have! a! more!
radical! or! profound! influence! than! that! intended! on!
those!willing!to!enter!the!genre!debate!it!reNignites.!
!
Genres! can! be! dismissed! as! stuffy! salon! nomenclature.!
However,! the! portrait! or! landscape! question! is!
pertinent! because! it! remains! one! of! the! sharpest!
dividers! in! figurative! painting.! Importantly,! it! defines!
the!place!and!role!of!people!in!a!painting.!In!this!way!it!
distinguishes!painters!from!each!other!according!to!the!
effects! of! their! work.! To! ignore! it! is! to! ignore! what!
paintings!do.!
!!
Most!painters!fall!into!one!camp!or!the!other!and!a!few!
make! much! out! of! being! inNbetweeners.! Recent!
portraitists! include:! Julian! Schnabel,! Luc! Tuymans,!
George! Condo,! Elizabeth! Peyton! and! Marlene! Dumas;!
the! (figurative)! landscapists:! Daniel! Richter,! Malcolm!
Morley,! Peter! Doig,! Wilhelm! Sasnal,! Neo! Rauch! and!
Cecily! Brown.! Two! notable! middleNmen! are! David!
Hockney!and!Gerhard!Richter.!
!
!
These! are! but! a! handful! of! painters! plucked! from! an!
infinite! list! to! demonstrate! the! differences! between!
portraits!and!landscapes.!In!a!portrait,!you!encounter!a!
person,! whether! directly! or! obliquely.! The! seeming!
miracle!is!that!paint!can!convey!the!quiddity!of!a!person!
and! there! is! a! Eucharistic! wonder! in! having! something!
so!perishable,!elusive!or!spiritual!reincarnated!and!kept!
in! a! physical! form.! A! portrait! is! also! a! kind! of!
conversation.! Any! painterNmodel! relationship! is!
intimate,! however! cold! the! artist! or! sitter! might! be,!
because!a!portrait!requires!shared!time!and!space.!And!
in! looking! at! a! portrait,! the! viewer! can! also! partake! of!
this!communion.!
!
The! figurative! landscape! offers! a! different! experience.!
In! its! earliest! definition! a! ‘landscape’! is! simply! a!
depiction! of! scenery! that! is! not! a! portrait,! so! where! a!
landscape! includes! figures,! they! must! be! part! of!
something! else.! The! figures! in! a! landscape! are! further!
away! from! the! artist! and! viewer.! This! has! its!
advantages.!For!one!thing,!it!offers!a!more!circumspect!
view! of! people! and! provides! space! to! think! in.!
Furthermore,! the! figurative! landscape! is! naturally!
philosophical!because!it!negotiates!the!place!of!a!person!
in! the! world.! It! is! also! inherently! dramatic! because! we!
are! watching! another! dialogue! (between! people! or!
between! a! person! and! their! environment),! as! well! as!
taking! part! in! one.! This! is! an! effect! of! distance;! we! can!
see! the! relations! between! things! that! aren’t! visible! at!
closer!quarters.!
!
In!many!ways,!the!figurative!landscape!is!more!relevant,!
as! indicated! by! the! current! drift! of! painters! in! its!
direction.! It! makes! more! sense! in! an! increasingly!
globalised,! interconnected! world! to! consider! the!
individual!in!relation!to!their!surroundings!rather!than!
in! isolation! or! partnership.! Landscape! also! formally!
relates! to! film,! probably! the! medium! with! the! most!
contemporary! clout;! landscape! informs! its! widescreen!
format!and!the!way!the!eye!moves!across!a!rectangle!to!
create!stories!and!movement.!In!this!way!the!landscape!
is!also!more!temporal,!it!has!a!before!and!an!after.!!
!
The! portrait! is! simply! a! presence.! History! can! be! read!
into!the!portrait!but!it!exists!as!its!own!event.!And!yet,!
these! capsules! remain! popular,! as! testified! by! the!
overwhelming! success! of! recent! portrait! exhibitions.! It!
is! perhaps! for! reasons! of! narcissism! that! as! long! as!
people! exist,! the! portrait! will! never! go! out! of! fashion.!
Nonetheless,! I! think! the! appeal! of! the! portrait! also! lies!
in! its! fashionlessness;! its! independence! from! external!
influences.! The! portrait! is! out! of! time,! irredeemable.!
Portraits! cannot! be! saved! by! intellectual! or! narrative!
context,! unless! they! are! viewed! as! historic! references.!
As! an! artistic! experience,! they! hit! or! miss;! they! either!
evoke! personality! or! they! don’t.! (And! then! there! is! the!
matter! of! whether! you! care! for! the! personality! or! the!
way! it! is! evoked.)! However,! when! they! work,! portraits!
are! all! the! more! winning! for! not! being! justified.! In! a!
culture!were!so!much!is!described,!explained!or!argued,!
portraits! simply! are.! They! tend! to! offer! more! to! the!
everyman! than! to! the! critic,! a! rare! thing! in! good!
contemporary! art.! I! don’t! think! Lucian! Freud! was! the!
greatest! portraitist! ever! but! he! certainly! promoted,! in!
all!its!variety,!a!valuable!and!vulnerable!genre.!!
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The!Rough!with!the!Smooth!
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Thomas! Ruff,% M.A.R.S.! and! Nudes% at! the! Gagosian!
Galleries,!London,!March!8!–!April!21!2012!
!
The! London! Gagosians! are! currently! showing! two! very!
different! sides! to! Thomas! Ruff! with! M.A.R.S.! on!
Britannia! Street! and! the! Nudes! at! Davies! Street.! The!
superficial! similarities! and! overt! differences! between!
the! two! shows! immediately! prompt! slick! contrasts.!
However! Thomas! Ruff! gets! most! interesting! where! his!
artistic! identity! comes! unstuck.! These! exhibitions! are!
coolly! competent! in! isolation! or! comparison,! but! more!
compellingly!problematic!in!concert.!!
!
M.A.R.S.! is! pleasing! N! elegant,! clever,! a! bit! different;! the!
porn!stars!on!Davies!Street!present!more!of!a!challenge.!
M.A.R.S.! is! a! collection! of! photographs! sourced! from!
NASA’s! website! and! subsequently! injected! with! colour,!
blown!up!and!texturized!by!Ruff.!Though!the!results!are!
aesthetically! diverse! and! dramatically! intriguing! the!
show! remains! aloofly! apolitical! since! the! subject!
remains! neutral! on! both! sides.! The! planet! itself! is!
indifferent! to! its! audience;! and! for! us,! it! is! no! more! a!
battle!groundN!there!are!no!people!on!Mars!and!the!Cold!
War! is! over.! The! exhibition’s! curatorial! project! then!
maintains! this! distance,! safely! riffing! off! the! mysteries!
of!photographic!and!outer!space,!avoiding!more!heated!
territory.!
!
Insofar! as! politics! is! the! science! of! power,! porn! is!
political! to! the! bone.! It! deals! in! relationships! between!
bodiesN! hierarchy,! control! and! physical! dialogue.! The!
attitude! of! the! viewer! to! the! subject,! and! viceNversa,! is!
germane! to! the! politics! of! pornography.! And! Ruff’s!
approach! to! the! Nudes! series! further! politicizes! the!
subject.! For! these! are! digitally! manipulated!
pornographic! images! posing! as! fine! art.! The! four!
currently! on! show! are! softer! than! many! of! his! other!
Nudes,! but! still! commercially! sexual,! awkwardly!
straddling!a!grey!area!between!high!and!low!culture.!!
!
Aesthetically,! the! shows! have! much! in! common.! For!
instance,!M.A.R.S.!and!Nudes!both!boast!Ruff’s!signature!
flatness.! In! the! M.A.R.S! series! the! surface! of! the! image!
becomes! painterly! and! poetic,! a! façade! of! expressive!
textures!rather!than!a!portal!to!recessive!depths.!In!the!
neighbouring! room,! the! jpegs! display! another! kind! of!
flatness.! They! are! photographs! broken! down! into! their!
raw! components! to! surprisingly! decorative! effect,! the!
visible!pixels!behaving!like!mosaic!tesserae!or!tapestry!
stitching.!Blurring!the!erotica!down!in!Picadilly!exerts!a!
similar! influence! on! the! Nudes;! they! become! sheer!
rather!than!explicit,!pictures!rather!than!photographs.!
!
The! exhibitions! also! share! a! sculptural! dynamic! that! I!
find!to!be!one!of!the!most!unexpected!elements!in!Ruff’s!
work.! In! both! series,! he! plays! with! size! and! scale! to!
spatially! animate! your! relationship! with! the! images.! In!
M.A.R.S.! the! ambiguity! of! the! figurative! forms! in! the!
photographs!makes!the!scale!excitingly!elastic:!from!the!
lumps,! whorls! and! planes! presented! you! don’t! know!
whether! you! are! looking! at! gargantua! or! minutiae! and!
accordingly!whether!you!are!magnified!or!shrunk!by!it.!
The! scale! of! the! Nudes! is! more! morally! than! physically!
confusing.!For!though!the!ladies!are!scaled!up,!they!are!
objectified,! however! mistily.! And! while! the! size! of! the!
their! bodies! in! the! pictures! gives! them! an! Amazonian!
power,! it! also! makes! their! vulnerability! all! the! more!
apparent,!their!exploitation!all!the!grosser.!
!
The! subjects! of! the! respective! exhibitions! are! so!
distinctly!cliché!as!to!invite!contrary!parallels.!The!cold,!
alien,! sciNfi! series! is! in! fact! warmer! and! more! familiar!
than!the!nudes;!the!overNexposed!and!available!females!
then! strangely! opaque! and! shut! off.! This! crossN
referencing! of! content,! analytically! flip! in! the! mode! of!
much!criticism,!is!in!itself!meretricious.!However,!what!
it! says! about! how! contemporary! viewers! relate! to!
imagery! is! relevant.! The! persuasions! of! advertising,!
Hollywood’s! emotional! excesses,! the! manipulations! of!
fine! art! and! the! virtual! influence! of! the! internet!
collectively!contribute!to!a!callus!of!cynicism!in!cultural!
attitudes! to! art.! Consequently,! for! many! it! might! be!
easier! to! relate! to! subject! matter! at! a! remove! than! to!
engage! directly! with! sentiment! or! argument.! This! is!
where!Ruff’s!roundaboutness!enters!our!orbit.!
!
For!his!talent!as!a!crafter!of!pictures!is!appealing!as!an!
oblique! point! of! access! into! the! politics! of! imagery!
(rather! than! as! a! purely! visual! facility).! The! seeming!
superficiality!of!his!work!is!often!our!way!into!it.!But!he!
is!better!understood!by!reading!across!his!pictures!than!
by!looking!at!individual!pieces.!Though!spectacular,!the!
M.A.R.S.! series! are! limited! to! appearances! by!
themselves.! They! become! more! complex! when!
considered! alongside! the! Nudes.! These! invest! their!
surfaces! with! values! that! they! lack! alone:! narrative!
suggestiveness,! seductiveness! and! escapism.! On! the!
other! hand,! without! M.A.R.S,! the! Nudes! scan! as! dumbly!
provocative:!unashamedly!sexy,!corrupt!and!careless!in!
the! style! of! Gaspar! Noé.! Viewed! in! conjunction! with!
M.A.R.S.,!though,!they!become!less!sensational!and!more!
deeply! provoking! when! seen! as! an! attempt! to! create!
beautiful!pictures.!!
!
The!two!exhibitions!do!very!different!things.!M.A.R.S.!is!
a! detached! and! complimentary! portrait! of! a! planet.!
Although!this!is!comprised!of!responses!to!the!place,!it!
remains!essentially!pictorial.!By!contrast,!the!Nudes,!for!
all! their! aesthetic! sangfroid,! are! confrontational.! Ruff!
tinkers! with! the! Mars! material! to! convey! weather!
conditions! and! atmospheresN! so! far! so! dry.! Whereas!
digitally!smudging!the!Nudes!has!a!more!emotive!effect,!
distorting!the!models’!faces!into!disturbing!expressions:!!
fuzzy! eyes! become! narrowed,! milky! skin! becomes!
mysterious! or! morbid,! a! clouded! pout! becomes!
sorrowful.!!
!
Similarly,! the! formal! variety! of! M.A.R.S.% only! makes! the!
exhibition!more!pleasantly!stimulating,!offering!a!range!
of! perspectives! and! scenes! to! contemplate.! While! the!
calculated! variety! of! positions! that! the! Nudes! assume!
feeds!into!the!sexual!controversy!of!the!show.!They!are!
lying,!standing,!squatting,!down!on!all!fours;!how!do!you!
like!yours?!!
!
The! last! picture! here! best! exemplifies! the! subtle!
machinery! of! the! set.! The! press! release! maintains! that!
‘in! nudes! ar09% the! fetishistic! power! of! the! female!
subject! is! all! but! reduced! to! lush! formal! qualities—a!
cascade! of! thick! blonde! hair,! the! curve! of! pink! thighs,!
the! glossy! black! of! a! stiletto! heel’.! Ruff’s! intervention!
has! converted! worldly! reality! into! artistic! abstraction,!
apparently.! I! don’t! see! this.! I! see! two! women! in! nurse!
outfits! bent! into! a! 69er.! I! do! simultaneously! see! an!
attempt! to! shape! patterns! out! of! random! smut! but!
perhaps! this! is! only! visible! in! the! light! of! his! wider!
practice.! For! although! the! pictures! demand! to! be! first!
taken! at! face! value,! they! break! down! when! seen! in! the!
context! of! his! entire! output.! Only! then! do! the! colours!
and!composition!here!look!lovely!and!only!then!can!the!
hazy!veneering!take!the!crude!shine!off!the!shot.!This!is!
not!obfuscation,!redemption!or!‘reduction’!of!porn;!it!is!
a! particular! use! of! a! particular! picture! to! a! particular!
effect.! The! form! and! the! content! jar,! pricking!
assumptions! and! stimulating! thought.! Through! precise!
decisions,! he! has! made! a! filthy! still! into! a! nice! picture;!
how!do!you!respond!to!that?!Hopefully,!with!more!than!
moral! or! critical! knee! jerks! (‘should! porn! be! in! a!
gallery?’).!
!
Ruff’s! achievement! is! to! make! art! that! can! be!
intellectually! discursive% and! privately! affecting,! while!
risking! being! just! decorative.! Bare! intellectual! theory!
can! be! inhumane! (fascism?);! opinion! tout! seul! can! be!
whimsical;! and! decorative! art! is! easily! critically!
dismissed;! so! these! various! types! of! response! are!
important! to! each! other.! Viewers! are! generally!
suspicious! of! art! that! expressly! elicits! personal!
reactions! but! Ruff! just! about! manages! to! get! around! it!
by! making! pictures! that! don’t! approach! headNon.!
Instead!they!acquire!meaning!through!association,!with!
his! other! photographs! and! the! aspects! of! culture! that!
inspire! them.! His! other! trick! is! the! casual! mediation! of!
his!work.!It!sneaks!in!through!the!backdoor!at!the!risk!
of!being!shrugged!off.!Just!pretty!pictures.!
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David!Hall!and!the!Death!of!Analogue!
!
David!Hall,!End%Piece!at!Ambika!P3,!London,!March!16N!
April!22!2012!
!
Ambika!P3!is!one!of!the!finest!gallery!spaces!in!London.!
It! is! a! 14,000! square! foot! sub! street! level! bunker.! NoN
frills! access! through! the! underbelly! of! Westminster!
University! leads! through! an! inconspicuous! door! onto! a!
balcony!within!a!dark!room.!The!seemingly!ramshackle!
setNup! makes! for! dramatic! opening! views.! From! its!
scruffy! exterior,! you! enter! the! gallery! at! an! elevated!
level!from!which!you!can!appreciate!the!enormity!of!the!
space! you! overlook.! The! lofty! perspective! also! allows!
you! to! see! the! full! spread! of! work! beneath! you! rather!
than!only!what!is!before!you.!
!
Coming! here! last! week,! I! was! confronted! by! 1001! TV!
screens!filling!the!floor.!David!Hall’s!End%Piece!is!visually!
overwhelming.! It! holds! its! own! at! the! level! of! mere!
spectacle! but! turns! out! to! be! conceptually! rich! and!
culturally!topical,!too.!
!
The! TVs! are! arranged! in! a! rough! rectangle,! lying! in! a!
netted! grid,! faceNup.! Cables! span! the! sets,! drawn! up!
from!countless!corners!of!the!piece!into!one!thick!snake!
looped! through! a! hook! at! the! ceiling’s! centre.! It! is! allN
encompassing! in! the! manner! of! works! like! Louise!
Bourgeois’! Spider,! the! way! in! which! it! spatially!
dominates!and!involves!the!viewer!borrowing!from!the!
spectator! politics! of! such! sculpture.! The! content,!
though,! is! aesthetically! closer! to! H.R.Giger’s! Aliens! or!
footage! from! Kubrick’s! 2001:% Space% Odyssey! (which! the!
exhibition!title!perhaps!notes).!From!their!square!pods!
the! technoNspecies! blink! up! at! their! maternal! power!
source.! And,! in! typically! apocalyptic! sciNfi! fashion,! the!
mother! ship! is! tragically! doomed.! The! 1001! sets! are!
tuned! to! five! analogue! channels.! While! these! currently!
assault! the! senses! in! selfNmultiplications,! they! near!
extinction.! On! 18th! April,! Crystal! Palace! will! issue! its!
final!electronic!signals!and!the!sets!will!hiss!the!death!of!
their!analogue!god.!
%
End% Piece! picks! and! chooses! from! installation! art,!
conceptual!art,!performance!art,!minimalism,!sculpture,!
film,! sound! and! Hall’s! alma! mater,! video! art.! MultiN
media!works!often!suffer!the!fate!of!a!jackNofNallNtrades,!
lacking! singular! excellence.! Media! diversity! appeals! to!
fastNmoving,! easily! bored! galleryNgoers! but! the!
sensationalism!of!variety!often!gives!way!to!inattention.!
A!pleurisy!of!languages!can!make!it!difficult!for!a!viewer!
to! sustain! a! dialogue! with! an! artwork.! Not! so! here.!
There! is! nothing! gratuitous! about! End% Piece! and! its!
different! elements! are! carefully! coordinated.! However!
various! its! components! and! references,! it! is! a! coherent!
and!engaging!whole.!
!
Its!size!reflects!the!magnitude!of!the!event!it!anticipates!
and!commemorates:!the!end!of!an!analogue!era!and!the!
dawn!of!the!digital!age.!It!is!derived!from!Hall’s!1970’s!
version,! 101! TV! Sets,! the! difference! marking! the!
perceived!
expansion!
and!
development!
of!
telecommunications! over! the! last! 40! years.! The! new!
numbers! are! necessary.! 101! TV! sets! would! be!
underwhelming! now;! 1001! make! a! more! desperately!
compelling! pitch,! the! scale! of! the! project! competing!
with!the!excesses!of!cinema!and!the!Internet.!But!passé!
though! these! sets! are,! they! still! stake! a! claim! on! the!
minds! of! the! masses.! Here! in! their! hundreds,! they!
present! us! with! a! Babel! of! endless! entertainment.! The!
changing! succession! of! screens! suggests! the! nightmare!
of! infinite! choice! while! the! repetition! of! programmes!
then! proves! the! variety! to! be! underwritten! by!
homogeneity.! It! poses! the! paradox! of! a! bland!
cacophony,! a! phenomenon! overfamiliar! to! the! weary!
consumer.!!
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On!the!other!hand,!the!piece!doubles!as!a!swan!song!for!
analogue.! Not! only! are! the! TVs! endearingly! lumpen!
beside! today’s! nanoNgadgets,! they! have! been! arranged!
to!look!beautiful!and!weirdly!potent.!Seen!laterally,!the!
cables! converge! above! us! to! resemble! a! pyramid! or!
some! other! monolithic! symbol! of! passing! power.!
Alternatively,!the!bird’s!eye!view!presents!a!vast!tableau!
of! blackly! outlined! coloured! glass! not! unlike! the! rose!
window!of!a!gothic!cathedral,!with!segments!switching!
in! sync! kaleidoscopically! as! the! channels! change.! So!
there! is! a! perverse! romance! to! the! physicality! of! the!
work.!
!
Conceptually! End% Piece! explores! our! interaction! with!
media,! reflecting! both! on! fine! art! and! mainstream!
culture.!An!early!minimalist,!Hall!pares!the!piece!down!
to! its! barest! intellectual! parts! and! leaves! it! mercifully!
unexplained!by!the!press!release.!It!presents!TV!as!good!
and! bad,! ugly! and! beautiful,! nonsensical! and! ominous,!
active!and!passive,!alive!and!dead!N!with!all!the!strength!
and!intrigue!of!confident!ambiguity.!
!
Although!David!Hall’s!career!covers!a!range!of!practices!
he!is!predominantly!a!timeNbased!artist!(he!founded!the!
first!such!art!degree!at!Maidstone!College).!As!in!much!
poetry,! the! time! in! timeNbased! art! is! often! its! own!
duration.! However,! here! the! installation’s! temporal! life!
intersects! with! the! present! at! a! moment! of! great!
cultural!import.!It’s!thrilling!to!see!a!show!that!partakes!
of!history!as!it!is!happening;!nobody!knows!how!it!will!
finish.! In! End% Piece! David! Hall! has! created! an! eventful!
work! about! communication! that! takes! in! the! past,!
present! and! future! of! television! both! as! a! bastion! of!
mainstream! culture! and! as! a! fine! art! oddity.! It’s! that!
rare!combination,!inspired!and!relevant.!
!
!
The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre!
!
In! my! first! year! at! the! Slade! the! art! talks! took! place! in!
The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre.!I!loved!the!nameN!lending!
an! animal! drama! to! an! already! bloodthirsty! ritual.!
Impress!us!and!we’ll!lap!you!up;!disappoint!us!and!we’ll!
rip!you!apart;!and!cruellest!of!all,!lies!the!latent!threat!of!
mass! boredom.! The! location! has! since! changed! but! the!
brute! theatricality! of! the! lecture! remains! vital! for!
reasons!worth!elucidating.!!
!
Through! four! years! of! art! education,! I! have! spent! as!
many!hours!attending!these!lectures!as!I!have!privately!
puzzling!over!artistic!taxonomies!(any!questions!of!kind!
bar!the!dinosaur!in!the!auditorium,!‘what!is!art?’).!These!
lines! of! thought! have! inevitably! converged! on! the!
questions,! what! is! an! art! lecture! and! what! are! its!
values?!Stating!the!matter!so!baldly!risks!banality,!but!I!
can’t!be!too!clear:!I!am!interested!in!the!specific!value!of!
discourse! and! social! community! to! artNmaking.! The! art!
lecture!is!the!perfect!case!study.!!
!
The! Slade! contemporary! art! lecture! series! is! a! roulette!
of! celebrities,! nobodies,! inspirations! and! depressants,!
not!necessarily!respectively.!Noteworthy!figures!include!
Bruce! McLean,! Paula! Rego,! Julian! Schnabel! and!
Wolfgang!Tillmans,!all!of!whom!lived!up!to!expectations!
and! then! some.! A! veteran! tutor! of! the! Slade,! Bruce’s!
retirement! lecture! was! his! parting! shot! replete! with!
bombastic!exit!music.!Paula!Rego!stonewalled!criticism!
and! spun! ‘fistNfucking’! fairy! tales.! Schnabel! was!
assuringly!arrogant,!mythologizing!himself!as!a!hero!of!
painterly!ideals.!When!I!asked!him!what!he!thought!the!
best!thing!about!painting!was,!he!answered!‘freedom’.!A!
lovely! lie! if! ever! I! heard! one.! Wolfgang! Tillmans! was!
Adorable;! how! I! wished! I! was! a! gay! man! then.! And! a!
personal! favourite! was! Clunie! Reid! screening!
‘Somebody! to! Love! (Squirt! as! Method)’! to! a! sea! of!
blushing!faces.!(A!film!about!female!ejaculation.)!
!
The!most!popular!lecturers!tend!to!play!one!of!two!very!
different! parts.! They! are! either! great! speakers! or! great!
figures.! Occasionally! they! are! both.! The! great! speakers!
are! admired! for! their! honesty! and! intelligenceN! the!
insights!they!afford!into!the!industry.!The!great!figures!
are! rated! as! artists! or! personalities;! for! who! they! are!
rather! than! what! they! say.! Two! recent! lecturers!
exemplified!the!different!types!particularly!well.!!
!
The!last!was!Gary!Hume,!preceded!by!Iwona!Blazwick;!
he! is! a! painter,! she! the! director! of! the! Whitechapel!
Gallery.! She! discussed! the! changing! role! of! art!
institutions.! Introducing! the! museumNasNconservativeN
monolith! as! the! tradition! we! now! kick! against,! she!
proceeded!to!revel!in!all!the!other!things!a!gallery!could!
be.! The! lecture! was! laced! with! charming! details! about!
The!Whitechapel!Gallery.!For!instance,!it!was!previously!
a!library!and!the!first!public!building!to!have!electricity,!
literally! ‘a! lantern! of! learning’! for! the! East! End.! P.s.! Its!
roof! features! a! gilt! weathervane! of! Erasmus! riding!
backwards!reading!In%Praise%of%Folly.!A!PR!stunt!but!an!
engagingly! enterprising! one,! her! lecture! did! much! to!
debunk!the!myth!that!big!galleries!are!evil!by!explaining!
the! hard! facts! of! commercial! survival! and! concluding,!
‘galleries!offer!an!economy!that!can!support!artists.!We!
can!give!you!a!job!and!an!audience’.!!
!
I!suspect!most!of!us!left!with!a!heightened!awareness!of!
the! histories! and! present! practicalities! of! exhibiting.!
The! relative! success! of! her! talk! demonstrates! that! an!
obvious! but! crucial! function! of! the! art! lecture! is!
learning.!About!art,!but!also!the!art!world.!Today,!artists!
have! to! run! their! own! business! or! make! their! own!
brand;! they! can! seldom! afford! to! rest! on! their! creative!
laurels! (unless! that! is! all! they! want! to! rest! on).! Art!
schools!have!only!recently!begun!including!professional!
skills! in! the! curriculum,! but! the! problem! is! that! the!
tutors!are!artists!or,!of!course,!tutors.!They!are!making!
money! by! teaching,! which! often! means! they! haven’t!
tried!or!tested!the!other!means!through!which!students!
might! pay! their! way.! So! here,! the! outside! lecturer’s!
voice!of!experience!is!invaluable.!!
!
When! it! comes! to! speakers,! what! they! say! is! often! less!
important! than! how! they! say! it.! Impersonal! delivery,!
sadly! commonplace,! mocks! the! point! of! a! lecture.! The!
joy!of!a!good!one!is!that!you!hear!the!thoughts!of!a!live!
individual.! After! all,! a! lecture! is! a! performance! not! a!
recording! and! the! best! speakers! don’t! have! to! sacrifice!
charisma!for!accuracy!or!intelligence.!!
!
Which! leads! to! the! lecture’s! other! purpose,! that! is,! to!
foster! dialogue! in! shared! space.! Its! advantage! over!
other! forms! of! discourse! is,! naturally,! the! human!
element.! There! is! a! danger! of! monologue,! academic!
atrophy!or!hermeticism!where!words!are!written!alone;!
the! lecture! formula! is! perhaps! more! animate,!
comprising! speech! and! audience! response.! These!
interfaces! can! be! sensational:! Hew! Locke! and! Yinka!
Shonibare! effectively! middleNfingered! the! fastidious!
questions! of! keener! students;! the! lot! of! us! laid! into!
Sarah!Thornton!(that!glorious!day!);!Tillmans!rendered!
Peter! Davies! (Slade! tutor,! YBA! and! here! the!
interviewer)! comically! starstruck;! in! short! there! has!
been! much! flirting! and! fighting! in! the! pit.! The! visitors!
are!mostly!talented,!respected!or!simply!famous;!but!we!
have! nothing! to! lose! and! there! are! more! of! us.! The!
terms! are! oddly! unequal! which! can! make! the! dialogue!
more! interesting! than! the! bland! sycophancy,! esoteric!
diatribe!or!mutual!congratulations!that!fill!so!many!art!
publications,! entrenched! in! critical! and! journalistic!
hierarchies! as! they! are.! The! mixed! interaction! of! the!
lecture,! by! contrast,! is! relatively! free! of! professional!
agenda,!which!can!sharpen!discourse!and!diversify!it!in!
unexpected!ways.!And!of!course,!gathering!for!a!lecture!
also! promotes! a! sense! of! community! in! what! is!
otherwise!a!solitary!occupation.!
!
Over!to!Gary!Hume.!‘Mother!fucker!I’ll!smash!your!face!
in’!were!the!first!words!I!heard!as!I!hurried!in!late.!It’s!
how!he!feels!about!his!weaker!paintings,!I!was!relieved!
to!discover.!Artists!tend!to!be!less!formal!than!gallerists!
or!curators.!It’s!one!to!one,!a!conversation!between!the!
same! species.! They! often! present! their! career! as! a!
comedy! of! errors,! outlining! the! inevitable! failures! that!
accompany! any! artistic! successes.! It’s! cold! comfort,!
‘you’ve! chosen! a! lunatic’s! vocation’,! but! it’s! an!
empathetic!gesture!that!creates!a!sense!of!togetherness!
in! adversity.! Most! artistNlecturers! love! to! advise.! They!
classically! start! with! their! own! blank! canvas!
philosophy,! the! preNproduction! selfNhelp.! Hume!
counsels:! ‘it’s! important! when! you! make! things! to! be!
innocent!and!stupid.!Allow!yourself!to!be!embarrassed.!
It’s! a! good! tool! to! work! out! where! you! are’.! The!
therapeutic!afterNeffect!of!art!is!another!cliché,!but!Gary!
Hume’s!take!on!it!unusual!in!its!quiet!modesty!when!he!
says! that! ‘the! beauty! of! the! [made]! object! calms! me!
down’.! Then! there! is! the! artist’s! odd! relationship! with!
his!art;!Hume!holds!that!‘when!a!painting!is!complete,!it!
cares!not!a!jot!what!I!or!anyone!else!makes!of!it’.!!
!
Last! of! the! concerns! commonly! touched! upon! is! the!
conflict! between! art! and! criticism,! often! referenced! as!
an! apology! for! the! lecture! itself,! as! Hume! offers! it:! ‘I!
don’t! theorize! and! if! I! did! I! could! probably! give! a!
university!lecture!on!my!practice.!I!feel!something!and!I!
imagine! it! and! I! make! it’.! The! consensus! seems! to! be!
that! knowledge! and! creativity! make! awkward!
bedfellows,!as!he!finished:!‘if!you!know!it,!why!are!you!
bloody!making!it?’!
!
This!all!helps!but!it’s!strictly!subjective.!Which!can!be!a!
refreshing! alternative! to! critical! (attempts! at)!
objectivity.! However,! for! most! artists,! talking! is! not!
what!they!do!best.!Artists!are!actors!in!the!literal!sense!
of!the!word;!their!worth!lies!in!what!they!do.!This!does!
not!exclude!intelligence,!but!confers!a!specific!value!on!
presence.!Art!is!made!and!experienced!physically,!which!
is!part!of!what!makes!it!humane!and!exciting.!And!this!
physical!relationship!between!the!artist,!the!art!and!the!
audience! is! part! of! the! artist’s! appeal,! much! as! it! is! an!
actor’s.!To!have!an!artist!in!a!room!is!an!affirmation!of!
the!principle!of!physical!presence!that!underwrites!artN
making! and! artNviewing.! So! with! artist! speakers,! the!
lecture!is!often!merely!a!pretext!for!the!visit.!
!
I!do!not!so!much!want!to!argue!what!an!artist!is!or!isn’t.!
Nor!do!I!want!to!define!the!roles!of!the!art!scene’s!many!
players.! But! I! would! like! to! recognise! and! endorse! the!
value! of! the! art! lecture,! which! involves! identifying! the!
different!types!of!talk!and!what!their!respective!merits!
might!be.!Dialogue!and!presence!are!the!lifeblood!of!art!
culture.! In! lectures,! great! speakers! are! appreciated! for!
what!they!say!about!art!and!even!more!for!the!way!they!
say!it.!Great!artists!are!prized!for!simply!being!here.!
!
!
!
!