Saturday, December 29, 2007

'Holey' Art: The Being and Nothingness!

This year two major pieces of art at galleries in London and New York City were basically holes in the floors of the buildings, yet were the subjects of glowing reviews. Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth," a large crack in the floor of a hall at London's Tate Modern By the way 15 people have suffered minor injuries after tripping. The piece is said to symbolize racial and class divisions in society. [The Times (London), 10-10-07]

Not to be out done by a mere crack, artist Urs Fisher has created a gaping hole. I suppose that is one-ups-man-ship in the school of vacant art.

Urs Fischer's "You" at New York's Gavin Brown Enterprise is actually just a crater, 38 feet by 30 feet by 8 feet deep, that, according to one reviewer, meshes "themes of transparency, transformation, disruption and destruction." [New York magazine, 11-26-07]

I’m happy to report that there has been some progress in the common sense department when compared to last year’s artistically challenged (but marketing genius) winner of the absolutely-nothing-at-all school of art.

For that artist Simon Pope was given a grant to put on an exhibition consisting of nothing but an empty gallery. Pope, 40, said the aim was to encourage people to walk around the empty rooms and discuss memories of other galleries. In a 'something-for-nothing' artistic coup by Pope, he was actually funded by the Arts Council of Wales and the Sciart Wellcome Trust, a charity promoting art and science. [BBC, 22-10-06]

Using this art work as a standard then each of us is certainly capable of pointing to our own blank walls and boasting of its artistic quality to our guests at the next cocktail party.

Still such absurdity could be an incentive for us to cut apart our floors and walls and run them off to the next art auction at Southeby's or Christie's. This would be a double bonus because even the hole itself is now considered a fine work of art. But how does one transport a hole? On the bright side it appears from the above examples that one could easily find a ringing endorsement from an art critic or two to help boost the price of the wall hanging at auction. I predict a run on saws for 2008 and thus, possibly great stock opportunities in an Ace Hardware investment.

Interesting Links for Further Reference:

Posted by Ed McCormick at 7:41 PM

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