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I have observed Maxine’s practice from afar and was instantly drawn to her aluminium blind series that takes after a minimalist approach and dare I say, also gives the nod to constructivism. I respect the artist’s sensibility in a work process corresponding with the concept and the material to inform its aesthetic. Perhaps the context in which I have seen this artwork also carries the constructivist ideals—in a new form of a war on an overlooked side of the art world, which is also troublesome for me.
With this work I was arrested—the only hanging piece against the framework of her exhibition Before the work, there’s ‘I’. The exhibition tugged at my roots and I was left questioning my embodied knowledge up to that point. Artist Susan Hiller explains that our embodied knowledge is neither simply theoretical nor equivalent to visual experience. It might conflict with both. She adds that art can be a way to access this knowledge, which differs for all of us. Being an artist is not to be catapulted stratospherically detached from reality, but deeply rooted in presence and existence. At least that is important to me both as an artist and primarily as an individual. The following reflections I reiterate to myself so I do not become complacent but try to stay true to my work.
My arrest was exactly what I had to reconsider.
Amidst the text that many couldn’t even reach its immediacy let alone go beyond it, I felt hope blossom (contrary to a particular viewer who labeled the exhibition as hopeless). Interestingly, the artist disclosed that most people outside the art background found accessing the exhibition’s spirit easier than those whose jobs are deeply rooted in the arts. This impression took more substance when I was at the conclusive panel discussion. I felt awkward when some panel members missed the exhibition’s point and went into elaborate and tangential statements about their impressions and personal experiences of—how they make it in the art world—how the system is working for them—or how they are not part of the system, simply because they are not exhibiting—or how they were dying for a glass of wine instead of engaging.
Through this work, in this collection, I find an opportunity to reconsider Roland Barthes’ 1967 essay theory of the ‘Death of the Author”, and how Before the Work There’s I, corresponds with that context. Speaking with the artist, I clarified that the consideration of using text as an art form is not alien to her and that she is drawn to genuine communication as much as she is repulsed by insubstantial prestige and faked depth that comes wiht certain art practices. It is arguable that some circles within the art world are in breach of the latter when they strive for to keep their agenda relevant and their feet on the pedestal. Am I part of the problem or the solution?
I am part of the art world.
I have a responsibility.
Where do I stand?
With this work I was arrested—the only hanging piece against the framework of her exhibition Before the work, there’s ‘I’. The exhibition tugged at my roots and I was left questioning my embodied knowledge up to that point. Artist Susan Hiller explains that our embodied knowledge is neither simply theoretical nor equivalent to visual experience. It might conflict with both. She adds that art can be a way to access this knowledge, which differs for all of us. Being an artist is not to be catapulted stratospherically detached from reality, but deeply rooted in presence and existence. At least that is important to me both as an artist and primarily as an individual. The following reflections I reiterate to myself so I do not become complacent but try to stay true to my work.
My arrest was exactly what I had to reconsider.
Amidst the text that many couldn’t even reach its immediacy let alone go beyond it, I felt hope blossom (contrary to a particular viewer who labeled the exhibition as hopeless). Interestingly, the artist disclosed that most people outside the art background found accessing the exhibition’s spirit easier than those whose jobs are deeply rooted in the arts. This impression took more substance when I was at the conclusive panel discussion. I felt awkward when some panel members missed the exhibition’s point and went into elaborate and tangential statements about their impressions and personal experiences of—how they make it in the art world—how the system is working for them—or how they are not part of the system, simply because they are not exhibiting—or how they were dying for a glass of wine instead of engaging.
Through this work, in this collection, I find an opportunity to reconsider Roland Barthes’ 1967 essay theory of the ‘Death of the Author”, and how Before the Work There’s I, corresponds with that context. Speaking with the artist, I clarified that the consideration of using text as an art form is not alien to her and that she is drawn to genuine communication as much as she is repulsed by insubstantial prestige and faked depth that comes wiht certain art practices. It is arguable that some circles within the art world are in breach of the latter when they strive for to keep their agenda relevant and their feet on the pedestal. Am I part of the problem or the solution?
I am part of the art world.
I have a responsibility.
Where do I stand?
Further reading | Maxine Attard | Roland Barthes - The Death of the Author