THE GAP
Speaking about the space of the gallery,
it will be a gap. It won't be this opinion or that opinion.
Right.
Because you don't yet have an opinion.
You're there trying to sort it out. And so you're going to go
around the loop and you'll gradually make some sense or some
pattern for yourself while In there. It will be the transformation
of...
You should call it "The Gap".
The gap. But then I might be competing
with the store.
[Laughter] The gallery is the perfect
space because we're always aware of that empty space there at
some point. Aren't we?
Yeah.
It's a cleared space and we bring things
in. but the emptiness is still present. What that emptiness becomes
is always part of the show.
Because you always know that it's temporary.
Yeah, absolutely.
So when you step into the gap whatever
you bring. Whatever you thought art was will collapse.
Right
So there's a total collapse. As a result
of that collapse you are in a mental gap.
Yeah.
What's the title of it called? The
whole show.
The Gap.
Where did you get that from?
Well, there are a few gaps ah,
Time gaps.
Time gaps, gaps between professional
and amateur, gaps between high tech and hand painting, gaps between
commercial signage and fine art,
Yeah.
And a gap in the gallery space itself
where there's no obvious explanation of why I'm doing all this.
So the visitors will step into that gap. And they
then have to .....
Come up with what they see.
That's right. You're exactly right.
Fill it with what they see.
THE KEY
I used "key" in the singular
so that it could be taken more than one way.
I guess it applies to my idea-generating
self as well. I had a plan for the activities to be put in place
for the show but I was missing the "key" object to
be used for initiating the activities. I've had those paintings
since March but couldn't see that they were my take-off point--my
"key" for the show.
Ohhh, yes.
Partly because I already had in mind
a different sort of proposal for the six paintings and partly
because I became a little self conscious about showing them.
Oh, yes.
But one morning I woke up and thought,"This
is the 'key'."
Yeah, yeah.
All day long I was a little uncomfortable
but the thought wouldn't go away so I went with it.
That's right.
So, you see, I thought I didn't have
my key but I did.
But you did.
[Laughter]
THEORY
But think too, about all the emphasis
and interest in currently electronic forms of art and, ah, we
tend in the art world to think of art works that involve sophisticated
technology being sophisticated projects. Whereas this painting
project they would think of it as exactly the opposite. But,
ahm, so it might be very interesting to...
Well, yeah, Well I guess it ties into
this whole business of multiplicities and possibilities. Where
does this leave art? You know and this is such a central question
to what I do. The reason that I was interested in those mechanically
produced works was because they seemed to ah--to indicate right
in the way they were made--they seemed to embody a whole lot
of unexpressed possibilities. Because they were made objects
there was only one possibility there. But when you look at how
they were made and how the decisions were made they seemed to
manifest more other equally possible solutions to the same problem--equally
viable. So this series of paintings is about that same sort of
thing. For me as an artist. so that every person who make a painting
has made another painting, another art work, and you can get
into the whole business of comparing this one with that one.
You mean just through the discourse
that develops from it? They've made another painting because
they've shown all the possibilities there'll be for another one.
Noo. I just meant that if you could
line up all the people in the world and have them make a painting
you would have that many potential art works.
Oh.
Unless you get into the business of
saying , "This one is an art work but this one isn't."
Uhm hm.
Why is it an art work because this
person has done it? Why is this an art work? Why is this
one an art work?
Yeah.
Why?
Or is it?
She would say it isn't. I know people
who would say that none of these are art works.
Yeah,
And it has to do with intent. It has
to do with the knowledge of the ah...discipline of a art.
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