Comments on: süßer duft

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:12:51 +0000

lulz

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:07:57 +0000

I would probably be running in the other direction. That’s scary!!

By: lapetiteamericaine

lapetiteamericaine — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:01:30 +0000

What was the point? You know, Lauren, I’m generally hesitant to try to explain any piece of art in absolute terms, as if there’s “one right” way to interpret it… I’d rather leave things a little open ended and let people draw their own conclusions, because for any given piece, everyone’s going to bring their own impressions to it. That said, I think there were many interesting concepts at play in this piece/set of pieces.
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Most obviously, I think the “point” as you say, was to upset the norms and expectations of the museum-going experience. I, for example, have an almost ritualistic approach to most exhibits I see: I walk through three times, once going quickly, to get an overall sense of the scale of the show and make note of any works I want to save time/energy for, then once moving slowly, examining each work on its own, reading all the material available. Then I usually sit down for a while and collect my thoughts, make a few notes, and pick out my favorite pieces. Then I’ll walk through one last time to see if there’s anything I missed, and revisit some pieces in the light of others. At this show, none of that was possible — there was nothing to read, no where to sit, no specific “works” to examine and consider. Instead of being a static, observational experience, it was dynamic, demanding participation in order to make any sense at all. It was also a lot more visceral than intellectual, which is always something I approve of in art.
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The demand that you move through the exhibit alone was also an interesting, disruptive technique, that wound up collapsing the usual sense of public vs private spaces — normally, in museums, you can either discuss what you’re seeing with whoever your with, or at least eavesdrop on other conversations, watch people’s expressions and body language to get tips about how you should be reacting. In this exhibit, you’re completely dependent on your own impressions, which for me turned out to be a bit unnerving. When you see something alone, how can you ever be sure of what you’ve really seen?
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Beyond that, I know the artist had some points to make about “passive torture” — about how simply being alone in a room, deprived of normal sensory experience can be in itself maddening. I wouldn’t have made the connection myself, but the booklet they hand out mentions that a couple of the spaces were modeled after rooms at Guantanamo Bay. To me, the artist’s use of space to create that feeling of tension and claustrophobia had a lot more impact than if he had simply told us to peer into a cell and posted a note saying, “this is what guantanamo bay is like.”
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There are a few other “points” I could make, if you’re interested, but I think I’m running the risk of over-explicating.

By: maitresse

maitresse — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:48:38 +0000

crazy. crazy crazy crazy.
and more importantly: what is the point?

By: lapetiteamericaine

lapetiteamericaine — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:17:30 +0000

Oh, *man* I hope I wasn’t being filmed. The world doesn’t need any further record of my experience in there than this blog post.

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:10:59 +0000

This DOES sound terrifying. I half suspect you’re being filmed throughout, and that this will be part 2…

By: lapetiteamericaine

lapetiteamericaine — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:51:14 +0000

Hmm… I have to admit, that piece looks a little heavy-handed, what with the chinese food and American Flags and all. This was a much more austere experience — and all the more affecting because of it.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:44:27 +0000

Reminds me of seeing this in New York. An old friend who I ran into on the train said it was like a haunted house, so I was expecting (and kinda hoping) it would be more like the installation you described, but it wasn't quite as spooky. Also had to sign a release.

By: lapetiteamericaine

lapetiteamericaine — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:27:26 +0000

Oh, but now that you’ve read it, it won’t seem as spooky! Still, it was pretty terrific, you should do it.

By: rhino75

rhino75 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:14:38 +0000

I think this sounds TOTALLY FAB!! Gonna get me some of that. Thanks for a great write-up.