I’m showing at a gallery with the rest of the sculpture majors tonight. It’s exciting. especially because im showing a piece thati ’m really proud of and i feel strongly about. We had critique all day today. We were BLESSED and i mean SO lucky to get the dean of Sam Fox to come to our crit today, Buzz Spector. This man is a genius. honestly. I’m astounded by him. His knowledge is endless, he’s poised and critical, but honest and engaging. He entered my installation space quickly as the 2nd piece he wanted to critique. (after having examined the gallery already he landed on my piece as piece 2 he wanted to talk about, dont know if thats good or not…) He described my work in ways i had always thought of on some visceral sense, but could never articulate. The words, “ephemeral” and “ethereal” grazed his lips as they traveled through the air and into my ears, where i began digesting them and all my thoughts continued to land in the same place “YES!” i was thinking. he nailed it. every part of my piece, manifest in his 15 minute breakdown. unbelieveable. he praised me. he praised my work and its conceptual underpinnings but also its relation to nature and the body/cells/muscle memory/matter. he was incredible. when he critiqued it, that is when he told me the problems he had with the work, he said the piece in having different parts seemed disconnected and unresolved. he said that it would read better as a single entity, and i should consider connecting each part to create a more cohesive movement. He talked about how artists hold an immense responsibility in making artwork. Each viewer is a participant and leaves their mark on each piece, he says that we are responsible for allowing the viewer to impress their own lives and opinions onto each piece and that we can not let them down. He said that i should, and we all should begin to consider how important to know “how large the growth of our attentiveness must be” and that when we are finished with a piece, all we should see, is our intent, and nothing else.
He fixed the lighting and said “shall we move on?” everyone nodded and continued to the next room. once they left he approached me and touched my shoulder, he said “you understand why i am so hard on you. this is brilliant work. really excellent.” I nodded and we continued on.
The nude model in stefania’s piece is problematic in that he is extremely attractive. Buzz talked about how the model in life drawing is only like a person which is why we are able to separate ourselves from them. They are an object for us to draw and connect with, but they must have no signs of identity or the magic is lost. we are uncomfortable ONLY when we consider them as having an identity outside their current position in front of us. the model must maintain their focus for the artist to remain comfortable.
Other things buzz said:
“Language is always after the fact. Not a word is spoken that doesn’t chase after a given thought.”
this man is fantastic. when he speaks it feels like nothing in the world matters except for what he’s saying in that very moment. every word: profound, and yet he has such a modesty about his presentation and demeaner. it’s encouraging.
he called Gabe precoscious. probably one of the better compliments of the day.
he says “an artist’s affect is everything. it is the essential tool that says your name without you having to speak it.”
Tunde’s piece is great. she sits in a half woven basket hanging from the ceiling and weaves herself into it, enclosing herself inside it as we watch. Buzz tells us about an artist who was showing in a very famous modern art museum and all he asked for was a large piece of plate glass to be leaning against a wall. When he got to the space and saw the glass, he lied underneath it and didn’t get up. When it was time for the museum to close, the guards didn’t know if they should ask him to leave because everyone else had to leave, but they decided that he probably wasn’t going to destroy any artwork so they left him there. when they all got back the next day he was still laying in the same spot, except he had peed on himself. Having not left the spot for about 21 hours now, people began to gather and watch him as he lay there, hungry and not attending to himself at all. He layed there for almost 48 full hours. Finally, a guard (who happened to be a performance artist) walked over to him and asked if he needed any help. When the guard asked, the artist got up and the piece was over. He was going to wait until someone intervened before he got up, even if it meant he passed out or starved to death.
artists are crazy sometimes. i love buzz spector.
thats all for today. i have to nap before my show tonight.