A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney

Source: http://www.martingayford.com/

I just finished this book, and now I am in love. With everything. David Hockney of course, but also the "author" Martin Gayford. I put author in quotes there because he is half the conversation. The book is Hockney chatting with Gayford, in a series of conversations that seem to span years. Gayford is a great narrator- he knows a lot about Hockney and he knows art and he knows how to open the whole subject up, in an easy way.

One of the simple lessons to walk away from reading this book with, is simply that an interest in everything is a great thing to cultivate. I was reminded of that because today I read Steve Job's eulogy by his sister- she talked about how he was interested in boat building, Rothko paintings, architecture, etc, even as he worked diligently at being a computer genius. Hockney is the same kind of person- he's 74, and he's still picking up new tricks, like his iPad paintings. He's really into opera, and does set design, and that informs his work on perspective and landscapes, he's interested in films and driving and so he makes films and drives around looking at things, and that leads him to bigger paintings,  his interests in photography push him to figure out how the old masters used camera obscura- everything he turns his brain towards ultimately connects back to the art he makes.

And in A Bigger Message, Gayford really shows you the vastness of the world between David Hockney's ears, with such incredible economy. The book is not long or intimidating, but it's just jam-packed with ideas and a sense of the whole life of the man, as he looks back on it now. It's amazing to see how much this man's life is like a fuge- all the things that may have seemed like random avenues when he was younger, all fit together nicely, and create an overwhelming sense of who David Hockney is now.

I've been looking at a lot of Hockney as I try and figure out the perspective on my third panel of my triptych. I've mostly finished panel one, and I'm saving panel two for the end, so I'm on panel 3 right now. It's been a long couple of months of travel, far too far away from the studio for my comfort, but in the meantime it has been a fertile time for thinking, about how to accomplish the perspectivial challenges presented by the third panel. All of the panels are too long and tall to make a comfortable shape to work with, so they're really pushing me to an interesting place. Panel 3 is especially evil as a long tall shape is exactly the wrong way to do a landscape. But if you look at Hockney, he's really a genuis with making perspective work even when it's all wrong, something he learned partially from Chinese scrolls. I hope to see "A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China" soon.

Ai Weiwei's Blog, The Book

I stopped by the library the other day and they had this book just sitting out in the main arts section. It's only been out since April. I snapped it right up:


Image: MIT Press. Click here to purchase from MIT.

I'm only a slight way into the 2006 section right now, but the book is fascinating. For one thing it's dense. I get a very strong sense from the translation how challenging the act of making Chinese writing into English sentences must be. There's this flavor that you are only really hearing about one third of what you need to hear to truly comprehend, but that one third alone is really interesting. Ai's got this brain that's constantly firing and churning, full of ideas and critiques. Ai Weiwei's father was a famous poet, and that shines through as well- that lyric quality of poetry, the use of allusion and metaphor. His blog posts are almost long poems, or at least in English that's how they read.

Also Ai  has this immense ego/humility thing going for him which is charming and exasperating in equal measure. I don't know if that's because of the way the translation works, but the tone I get is this man who is so rock sure of what he's saying, so willing to lay down his gospel, so very much himself, that he's not overly concerned with the feeling or impression of other people. It's a funny thing because I think he's also willing to contradict himself as he goes along, and to make himself the butt of his jokes as well, which is what makes his confident superiority so charming. He's absolute, for only so long as he is absolute about that thing, and he can take a good joke.

So far much of what he's occupied with is architecture, but the political tone is already starting to seep in, and I think that is suppposed to pick up as it goes forward.  Chillingly, I came across one post from 2006 about how he's moved so many times in his life, how he's lived in everything from a pit in the ground that later was turned into a pigsty up to luxurious apartments and the house he built himself, that the only place he has yet to live is in prison.  (Foreshadowing!)  I don't have the book with me right now, but I'll come back to that quote when I do and transmit it more fully here.

Just the fact that he was allowed to blog for even 3 years is interesting, because China's internet civil war is such a serious thing. From the little I've read about it, China even has paid commenters who go around to articles posting pro China comments to help stifle critique. If you read  the Economist's review of the book, you'll see some commenters who might be those paid pro China folks.

Here's a sample:

"Talking about human rights, China has been trying really hard to increase the human rights and dignity of her citizen by increasing prosperity and lifting people out of poverty.

From that regard, Ai Weiwei is very selfish if he wants to stir any revolutions. Sure, he has his rights and aspirations. But, so do 1,300 million other people in China. One thousand and three hundred millions other Chinese. Any revolution that disrupts the momentum and progress of these people just for the sake of one's person aspiration is stupid - and should rightfully and quickly be controlled.
Ai Weiwei and other political activists need to learn to be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day. China is way bigger than Rome!"

Here's hoping Ai Weiwei gets his ticket to Berlin because I can't wait to see what he'll write when he's out of China and completely free to say what he wants.

Terrible Tuesday.

This week is not starting auspiciously. So I thought I'd focus on some good things in the world of paper cutting.

First up Bovey Lee, who maintains a great blog about the practice of papercutting has been putting up some helpful reviews and tips on materials she likes to use. Namely, some interesting word on the street about improvements to the X-Acto #11 and a review of using scalpels. I've looked into scalpels online, but I don't know enough about the options to feel ready to purchase. I'll be interested to see if she ends up switching from X-Acto to scalpel longterm.

Also there's a papercutting book out very recently that's worth a look. It's called Paper Cutting: Contemporary Artists, Timeless Craft, and it has a good contemporary survey of a number of papercutters out there.

You won't see Kara Walker in this one though, which is a shame since I think she's the most prominent fine artist papercutter, but is probably also why she wasn't necessarily featured. There was a nice interview with Kara Walker in last month's (May 2011) Art in America that I also think is worth a look. I like hearing about process and thoughts of artists. She's incredible. I find her pieces absolutely incendiary and beautiful.

Lastly, Swoon at MOCA's "Art in the Streets". I thought it was the best part of the show. First of all, she made the wise decision to pull herself away from all the CHAOS and NOISE of the rest of the exhibit, by being in a sort of tent. Secondly, papercuts galore!

Speaking of "Art in the Streets", boy. That whole thing...it's almost hard to talk about. My friend B doesn't have the same problems I do, so she just said succinctly, "a nightmare. A curatorial nightmare." She's right. It is. Its a mess. Many things about it feel wrong. Also LA people are are a mess, or at least the attendees at this show were, they were photographing everything on the iPhones, often bumping into, or walking in front of people who were trying to actually look at the show. There's something so annoying about people who are just photographing away at their food, or the show, or the concert, and not enjoying it. Relentless documentation. There were good pieces, but taken all together? It was kind of nutso. Also some of it was pretty schlocky- the homeless man house of horrors was particularly annoying and cliche.

I guess it achieved the particular quality of graffiti in that it didn't seem curated...? I dunno.



How To Steal Like an Artist-Austin Kleon

Stolen Slide from Austin Kleon's "How to Steal Like an Artist"

Go here now. It's okay, I'll wait. The above slide alone should make you hungry for more. 


My favorite quote in the comment section of that blog post:

"Oh geez. Thanks for reminding me why I hate “artists” in general. There are exceptions: people who do not have the intellectual poverty, lack of self knowledge, needy desire to be noticed, nor the histrionic, self-important need to document every inane moment of their day exhibited by the author of this piece and (presumably) those giving masturbatory back-pats to him for his “inspiring” words. Please, before you waste your youth away, put your family to shame, and bankrupt yourself monetarily and emotionally, admit to yourselves that you ARE fakes, move on/grow up, and actually contribute to society rather than sit around and try to figure out “who you are” and how you can attract attention of the public(if these are dilemmas of yours and you are an adult, you might want to do some research on Borderline Personality Disorder or Histrionic PD)."

Someone out there really doesn't like artists. How novel.  

So for my " histrionic, self-important need to document every inane moment of [my] day", here's the studio report this week: I spent portions of Friday and Saturday in the studio. Maybe only 10 hours...not too much, but a good solid chunk of time. On Sunday I felt the pull and squashed it, somewhat ruthlessly to eat brunch and enjoy the sun with my gentleman friend, but spent much of the day reading Art in America. I was looking for Art/Work, which my library only has on reserve, but ended up with The Artist's Guide instead. Review to follow.

On Friday I did some only partially statisfying sketches. I'm still trapped in a lot of questions about how I move from idea to execution for several parts of the pieces I'm working on for the disaster series and that's coming through on paper in the form of less satisfying work. On Saturday I just grabbed the x-acto and went for something abstract; mind numbing, straight-up cutwork without a purpose, just for the sake of working. It felt marvelous to walk away with shaking cramped muscles and eyes, the intense physical satisfaction of hard work. There are probably about 5-6 more hours in that piece and then, it just will be done, and mean nothing. Easy peasey.

Letters to A Young Artist

Yesterday I think I ticked off my brother. He's graduating from college in a few weeks, and I sent him a commencement speech by Anne Lamott. I was thinking it seemed like really good advice. He was upset because he went to school to learn to be a writer, and this speech essentially says, "it's really hard to get published and make money at what you do." I felt very sorry to make him anxious. I forgot how it feels to be looking out at the future through the rapidly approaching lens of what to do with you life, and how will I make money, and is this degree worth what I'm going to be paying for it over the next 5 to 10 years?

Which brings me to my little green book of prayer. It's called "Letters to a Young Artist". It's full of letters from established artists written in response to a letter sent by a fictional young artist. The letter itself isn't included- you only figure out what it must have said by what the artists write back. It's an unsettling and comforting read at the exact same time- a good kick in the head.

I like this quote from Lawrence Weiner,

 "THE QUESTIONS OF MAKING A LIVING ARE THE SAME EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY HAVE. THE ADVANTAGE OF THE ARTIST IS THAT THE USE OF THEIR PRODUCT IS NOT DEPENDANT ON BEING IN ACCORD WITH THE POWERS THAT BE."



LAWRENCE WEINER
SCATTERED MATTER BROUGHT TO AN ASCERTAINABLE DENSITY WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD CUSPED, 2007



I've been sitting with that quote a lot lately. To me he's saying, "dude. Everyone worries about being paid. Everyone. But at least you aren't stuck, because you already live outside the rulebook." This is a great point. There's nothing inherently special in picking a field you do for love with bad pay. So do teachers and guidance counselors, nonprofit program coordinators and veterinary technicians. What is special, is that a guidance counselor can't guide without being inside a system that provides them with people to guide. Artists aren't bound by that. We get to provide our product outside the frames of society, we get to provide it even if no one wants it, no one knows they need it. We can put it on a wall in a alley, or in a house or on the ground itself. Freeing.

I hope my brother knows that if he's never published, if he struggles his whole life to make rent, his words still matter, still have meaning. Also I hope he gets a great job that he loves and forgives his sister for being oblivious.

Photo source: Marian Goodman Gallery

Artist Book Review: The American Painter Emma Dial

This book is a very good book for depressed young artists. It's about a studio assistant named Emma Dial working for a famous painter named Michael Freiburg (the author worked as a studio assistant for Jeff Koons) and her struggles to come into her own talent and make her own work. She makes good money working for the painter, but he's also a leach. He's reached a point where he no longer paints any of his paintings, simply composes them, gives her direction and books it out of town.

The tone of the book is somewhat self mocking, and wry. Our narrator is adrift in a sea of New York art. She's so directionless, that a lot of the reasons she does anything is in emulation of her idols. Emma's own painting studio, which she never visits was handed down to her from her mentor who left New York for LA, and as far as Emma is concerned, might as well be dead. Her job with the painter Michael Freiburg, she gets by him approaching her while she works on a mural. She has several artists friends her own age, and is supposed to be close to a filmmaker, Irene, who is a reflection of Emma herself- unable to complete work, move forward or care for anyone.

One thing that really struck me was the menance of the relationships between all the artists in the book. Until Emma meets Phillip Cleary, a rival of Michael's who lives a very different path in Miami, with people he actually likes, everyone else she comes into contact with are mixtures of friends and foes, mixing stinging insult with supposed friendliness. They're the mean girl clique of the art world, and they love and hate only each other. Emma's boss Michael is her queen bee, and the way she is trapped under him reminds me very much of a 6th grade girl who desperately wants to be popular.

As Emma's friendships with Phillip Cleary deepen, her bonds with Michael start to dissolve, and she starts to stand on her own two legs. This part of the book is very satisfying, and I think it may be especially satisfying for those artists who are still struggling to figure out how to do what they want to do. A lot of good meditation on the uneasy relationships that artists have with commerce and the craving for status, and the particular terror of facing a blank page.

Emma herself is a very interesting main character. She's not a very sympathetic person. You don't get your hands on her as a kindly person, or a hurting person, or even as a wounded person. She's not accessible to the reader, in a way that's pretty exciting. Its rare that a female main character is so walled off, so unenticing, so ruthlessly unavailable. I really liked the overall effect- she has this self loathing the bubbles up in the narration, but her joys, her happinesses, she keeps to herself, with the exception of a few small slivers at the end. She's not noble, just real.

If you are in the mood for a book pairing, I think this one would go very nicely with "Seven Days in the Art World" by Sarah Thorton. Especially if you skip to the chapter about Art Basel, before you read the middle to end of Emma Dial when she and Michael show his work at an art fair.