Read my latest review of PS:Gallery's Fall Exhibit 2010 (yeah, there's only 10 days left to see the show, so hop to it!)
In 1953 Robert Rauschenberg had an idea. He would ask Willem de Kooning, an established Abstract Expressionist, for one of his drawings. Then, he would erase it. de Kooning went along with it; he even said that he would have to choose a drawing that he would miss. What resulted was "Erased de Kooning Drawing." The implications of the act were numerous. Rauschenberg was trying to deal with the art that came before him. He was facing whatever it was that he'd have to live up to or depart from. And while many might find his idea pompous or disrespectful (or perhaps it was a little of both), it was also boldly showing de Kooning that there was no denying his impact on the art world. It was a tribute in its own peculiar way. I've always loved this story. I mean, it is a true story after all. But what I like about it is the desperation I see in it. To me, it seems like Rauschenberg made the most honest statement of all: where do I go from here? Every artist (person, really) asks himself that at one point or another and reacts to it on a daily basis. That's how movements shift throughout history. Pop Artists departed from what Abstract Expressionists had been living out for years. Contemporary artists are carving out their own places in the world today. And not just artists, but writers too. Vanity Fair recently posted a conversation with writer Jonathan Safran Foer. He published Tree of Codes, a book and work of art created by cutting out chunks of writing from Foer's favorite novel, The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz. Foer says: "It’s a book I’ve always loved. Some things you love passively, some you love actively. In this case, I felt the compulsion to do something with it. Then I started thinking about what books look like, what they will look like, how the form of the book is changing very quickly." Jonathan Safran Foer's book/artwork, Tree of Codes. Like Rauschenberg, Foer's removing what was there to make it his own (although according to several commenters, Foer's idea isn't groundbreaking. Here's something similar). Foer says, "This book is mine." It is, after all, a completely different story in the end. I just wonder what Schulz would think; would he be as understanding and encouraging as de Kooning was toward Rauschenberg? Would you? |
AuthorValeria Turturro is a journalist with a love for art and architecture, cooking, learning and connecting people through storytelling. Archives
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