My Name Is Vera
My name’s Vera. I’m a Muse. I’m speaking to you from Francis Bacon’s studio, which was relocated from 7 Reece Mews, South Kensington, London, to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Naturally, I am not wearing much in the way of sensible shoes, or much of anything else, for that matter. The topic of today’s discussion is the following quote by Donald Judd: “Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and the context were meant to be.”
I receive many artist dream-mails daily, and some of those contain spammish attachments. Yes, even here in the ether we have to put up with that crap. The particular attachment I wish to add to today’s discussion included the following subject line: “Dare to Dream: The first line of the pitch reads, “Who says quality has to be expensive?” This bit of dreck-selling drivel found its way to me, via the mind of Paul McLean, inextricably intertwined with the Judd quote above. Naturally, I Tinkerbelled about my ethereal chambers ecstatically for a bit, after this nugget of anomaly-ness appeared in my inbox (Don’t you simply adore that term?). Why? Because a Muse lives to be curious, and this cultural conjunction had curious-ed me!
So, as soon as my flit-flitting abated, I hastened to chase the thread backwards, which led me directly to John Mulvany and Cantanker. When Paul pitched John “Transmissions from Marfa,” the former held forth to the latter a premise that “IKEA does not exist without Donald Judd!” Oh. I neglected to mention that “Dare to Dream” blurb happened to be the hook for an IKEA spam campaign. More data: IKEA has opened a Round Rock Big Box outlet, which will serve Austin, which is served by Cantanker.
With a little help from yours truly, John recalled Paul’s pitch months later. He pitched Paul, “Hey ya bollocks; would you like to write an article for Cantanker about IKEA & Marfa?” Paul said okay, & now here we are! It all makes sense!
If you’re wondering why today’s discussion is being broadcast from Mr. Bacon’s relocated studio, let me explain. This morning John was dreaming about sausages and bacon for breakfast (Those Irish!), which he often does. If you’ve seen John Mulvany’s butcher paintings, you’ll know that dreams sometimes manifest in art in odd but tidy ways! The Dublin/Bacon connection should be clear, too. Right? But did you also connect Judd’s quote to the relocation of Bacon’s studio to Sir Hugh’s gallery?
A muse-y aside: I just want to interject some kudos here for my favorite patron of the arts, Sir Freake (Charles James, 1814-1884), also of South Kensington (21 Cromwell Road). He deserves all the credit, along with Sir Hugh, of course, for facilitating the relocation of Sir FB’s studio from England to Ireland from beyond the grave. Which brings us to the next salient point of our discussion, which I’ll present to you in the form of a conjoined cryptic and mysterious statement.
Permanence is the handmaiden of Art; and Impermanence is the husband of Commerce.
Please don’t get bogged down in the gender-ification mis-directional, man. Instead, let’s stay focused on me! Being a muse - I’m sure you knew this - I’m not in the least concerned with creating. I only wish to inspire! To inspire another, one must understand what the other is lacking. Everybody human, or rather, every human body, is impermanent. In order for Art to do its job, therefore, it must be attended by permanence, since Art’s main job is to inspire a life well lived. Impermanence, on the other hand, protects and provides for Commerce. Can you say, “Planned Obsolescence?” In the Art World, which is BOOMING, these two forces, permanence and impermanence are crashing together right now like ocean waves in a storm on a sea wall. Famous art writers Jerry Saltz and Charlie Finch both recently scribed cautionary admonitions against the artsies being fooled by crazy money thrown at art du jour by the new Kings of Commerce. When the Big Apple’s biggest Art Pens start squawking about Art losing to Money, it’s like W starting to mumble about global warming! Jerry summed his article with this gem: “The market is art minus otherness.” Do you see the connection to my cryptic & mysterious statement?! (Yaaay! Flit-flit) Charlie summed his with this: “Herd behavior by collectors at art fairs is stimulated by these new realities… But art suffers in this context, because it functions solely as an economic and social marker, always subject to immediate obsolescence, should economic realities change.” (See! See! He said “obsolescence”, too!! Flit-flit) … (pant pant). Yes. That’s right. Charlie and Jerry send me dream-mails, too, so, yes, smartypants, I replied, but please don’t tell them they got those talking points from me. We need those critics to think they’re clever all on their own!
Which brings us to a final talking point for our discussion: the ART FAIR. In another dream-mail Paul sent me not long ago, I discovered images of Photo LA and the LA Art Show intertwined with images of the West Virginia State Fair. So curious! Paul evidently psychically links the two cultural phenoms (the art fair & state fair) in his nutty artist’s mind, and I admit I understand the connection. Formally, what’s the diff? To a muse, big piggies in pens & cute bunnies in cages are beyond our purview. I’m all for ick & aw, but where’s the inspiration (unless, of course, you’re a farmer)?! No drama, darling (except at the auctions, but that’s another discussion)! Art fairs, though – who can argue that they’re not dramatic? The whole premise is rooted in suspension of disbelief! From floor level to the top of the stage set walls of the booths, it’s artsy wonderland! Glitz & Glamour abound! Intrigue, Big Money, sensual dealer & dealerettes, desperate & debauched artists, the PRESS, the CULTURATI! They’re staged just like a movie set. Beyond and above the lights, though, usually you’ll find a whole lot of ugly. But for those few days, in Miami, Basel, NYC, LA, etc., it fake wall to fake wall hustle & bustle! See the sales girl with the hungry eyes! See the masterpieces stacked liked Campbell Soup cans on a grocer’s shelf! The art handlers are flit-flitting here & there! The geniuses are the ones whose art adorns more than one booth! Piggies in cages/art on a stick & MONEYMONEYMONEY!!!!
(Sigh.) Now, I’m sad, dear artsies. Why, because Donald Judd was right. & In these heady days of pre-apocalyptic art boom, before the sand starts to drift & the ice begins to melt & all the waters turn grey, those blessed with bank are not setting aside their culture’s treasures in fortresses of loving hope. They’re investing in IKEA, which pretends to love Marfa, while denying everything it proclaims, and they’re investing in war, and they’re investing in money & fun. Then they’re taking the spoils &, laughing (exactly the opposite of the lovely style of my Muse titter), throwing their coins in the air, for the seagulls to eat & the urchins to scramble after.
O Art, never a Harlot! Always a Sign & a Signifier, beyond the linguist! Dream-mail to Paul: Nick Terry of Chinati is right. The value of Marfa is its permanence.
Links:
“A New Market Theory of Art” by Charlie Finch
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/finch1-26-07.asp
“Seeing Dollar Signs” by Jerry Saltz
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/saltz1-29-07.asp
The Hugh Lane Gallery
Vera inspired by Veronika, the Perfect Muse
