Baldessari questions conventional ideas about the subject matter and methods of creating art by making sardonic allusions to body art, process art, and performance. With a deadpan precision, he makes minute, precise movements with his hands, arms, and torso, accentuating the words "I am making art" with each gesture. The phrase is articulated with distinct emphasis and subtlety in each articulation, giving the impression that art is being created in real time. The irony of the exercise's continuous repetition is that it counteracts this indicator of body motions. Baldessari avoids referring to himself as a performer, saying, "I think performance is a little bit too hot an activity." Nevertheless, the central idea of this piece is his "anti-performance."
Wait... So who is Baldessari?
I am making art - John Baldessari 1971
A key player in the late 1960s and early 1970s conceptual art movement - John Baldessari prioritized ideas, language, and performative activities over painting's formal concerns. Some Conceptualists believe that any action can be considered art, and Baldessari examines the absurdities of this idea in a lighthearted and satirical manner.
Skilled in the vocabulary of Abstract Expressionism, Baldessari destroyed and disposed of his earlier paintings in an urn in 1970. The artist's later production, which established him as one of the key proponents of Conceptual Art, carried on the symbolic rejection of creating art defined by his gesture. As a result, Baldessari placed the prominent concept of art at the core of his research, and every one of his creations may be viewed as an inquiry meant to delve further into the tangible reality of art. In keeping with his sarcastic practice, Baldessari emphasizes the arbitrary relationship between signifier and interpretation in his works by using didactic-sounding tones.
During the late 1960s, Baldessari started utilizing photography, either with the purpose of directly capturing visual information or as a component to extract paintings that are solely factual - this is the case that show the everyday urban landscapes of southern California, which were created from photos and feature lettering done by specifically recruited commercial sign and billboard artists. In certain instances, the artist uses words as their sole visual component, conveying sardonic information through the texts.
John Baldessari gave a nod for conceptual art and the idea that any activity can be art in the 1971 video piece "I Am Making Art." Baldessari repeats the phrase "I am making art," emphasizing it in different way each time. He used stickers to cover faces, as shown in "Frames and Ribbon" (1988), masking emotional content and emphasizing little details and the negative space in-between frames. The pricing stickers break up the realistic black and white photo material by adding fresh depth to a flat field of color using a minimalist painting approach. Baldessari carried on his investigation of bodily parts with the television shows "Noses and Ears" (2006–07) and "Arms and Legs" (2007–08).
Baldessari repeatedly uses the title of I Am Making Art in a cadence that is as singsong as humanly (or inhumanly) possible. The artist, forty years old, yet carried himself with the ungainly gait of a twentysomething who has never been taught to tuck in his shirt. However, his long hair and scruffy beard were beginning to show traces of gray. Not that one could tell from the head-cutting footage from 1971. The majority in what one sees are his arms, which are used in the rigid, erratic movements of a weak speaker, a statue that fidgets, or a private sign language that conveys nothing. Here is a deliberate breakdown in communication.
Language does not reflect communication any more than art does.
Conceptual art has conflicting feelings regarding concepts and art. It is also extremely challenging to define. Does Baldessari affirm or refute meaning? Is he creating art?
Baldessari is posing queries, although it takes some time to identify them. The cheap gags are quickly noticed because nearly all his artwork is one-liners. Make that an endless stand-up routine for I Am Making Art. A year later, in a performance, he sings 35 sentences by Sol LeWitt. I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art is the most famous and hilarious piece he has ever written. Even he finds him boring.
Despite this, the debate over conceptualism will not end; African artist Steffani Jemison has returned to Baldessari's work. The epiphany was prompted by abundance of facts — the wall labels at the museum. The Metropolitan asserts its authority over artists ranging from Mickey Spillane and Francisco de Goya to Elias Canetti. Baldessari is cited for profound statements like "truth is beautiful no matter how ugly." Photos of boats that could not care less about Baldessari's gestures — or about his art? "The pain and anxiety of the act is counterbalanced by repeating it endlessly, perhaps obliterating the sadness."
It's common for artists to question art rather than self-identify as artists. We're not artists - Just Making Art!
Olga Davydova
02:55 PM
Moscow, Russia
Tuesday, Jan 16, 2024
Artpendix Press
תגובות