AS FAR AS THE MIND CAN SEE

Yesterday I saw the Lawrence Weiner retrospective, AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE, at the Whitney. Afterwards, my mind was racing with images, questions, and ideas.

According to Weiner, it is equally valid whether he or someone else fabricates his work or no one builds it at all. Most of his work is not built and exists only as text. A work's media are often listed as "text and the materials referred to." Whether you see the actual materials or the text, the important thing as a viewer is completing the material relationship in one's mind.

This got me thinking that perhaps the work is not even dependent upon being written out in language. Weiner's work could also be passed on orally. Imagine this: If I were to tell a friend the title of one of Weiner's pieces that he had not yet seen, he would have received all of the necessary information to complete the piece in his mind...basically he would have "seen" the piece the moment I told him about it.

However, Weiner often manipulates the text, using special fonts, colors, word positioning, and punctuation marks. But there is no reason the work couldn't communicate the artist's intent if it was spoken or existed typed out as a simple sentence in a generic font. I'm not totally sure if he aestheticizes the text because as an artist he cannot just let it be, or if he chooses to format it the way he does in order to further support the content embedded in the language. I'm leaning towards the latter.

The other thing that I can't figure out: Some of the pieces were listed as being part of someone's private collection. What exactly do these people own? If the work only exists once completed in the viewer's mind, then the object or text is just the stimulus for the mental image. By seeing (or hearing about) the work, you already "own" it.

He was walking around the gallery while I was there. I should have just asked him.

Missed it

The Martin Puryear exhibition at the MoMA ended a week ago. I didn't realize it was over and was planning on going this weekend. Now I'm kicking myself.

Although it's no substitute for the real thing, MoMA does put together a really nice little online catalog.

image: Ad Astra, 2007 by Martin Puryear

因為我太忙了，所以我沒有空

One of the things I still need to figure out is how to manage my time. I go to my job 4 days a week and don't get home until nearly 8 PM. My plan is to spend at least 2 of my 3 free days in the studio, leaving 1 day off every week. I like the idea of spending all 3 days in the studio, but that might be too ambitious.

Soon I will also need to fit homework into my schedule. In mid February, I will be starting my next semester of studying Mandarin. Fortunately my class will meet after my office hours, so it will not interfere with one of my studio days.

Since my time is limited, I think I will focus my studio efforts on simply making drawings (after I finish getting the space organized, which I will hopefully finish this weekend). Until I have some new work, I will not worry about sending out applications.

Translation of title: "Because I am too busy, I have no free time." (Stupid, I know, but my Mandarin is limited.)

YoHo Community

I'm feeling pretty good about my new studio. It's about a 20 minute bike ride from my apartment. The space is almost ready for me to start working. All I've really got left to do is build a work table.

The building is in Yonkers, but it is being hyped up by the real estate company as YoHo Artist Lofts. The name "YoHo" is a bit corny, but there does seem to be a genuine community within the building.

On Monday, there was a meeting...I was able to meet a few of the other artists and some of the building management. Topics covered included upcoming building renovations and prelimary talk about the annual open studios held in the spring. Of course, I haven't started making any new work yet, but I've got some ideas and I should be getting started in a week or so.

Progress so far

So far I have managed to move all of my stuff into my studio, paint the walls white (you can't tell in the previous picture, but the walls were 2 different shades of beige), and install a new lock on the door. My stuff is still all in boxes, except for the stuff that I've already used, which is haphazardly thrown all around the room. I don't have any shelves yet. The floor is a total mess and everything is dusty.

I'm not going in today. I plan to pick up some office supplies, organize my computer (which remains at home for now), and figure out whether to buy or build shelves. Tomorrow I'll go and clean up the mess.

First!

Today is the first day of 2008. It's also the first day of my lease on my new art studio and the beginning of this blog.

I've been without a studio for a year and a half, and I find it difficult to work without one, so getting back into the studio will be a bit like starting from scratch. Also, this will be my first "professional" studio (no longer making stuff in the corner of my apartment).

To go along with my new studio practice, I plan on updating the blog every week or so. The goal is to document my artistic progress and give me a chance to clarify my thoughts on my work or other related (and occasionally not-so-related) topics.

First job is to get the studio organized...