!Room!in!the!Elephant!

!

Essays%on%Art%%!!!!!!!

!!!

!by!Rose!McLaren!

!!

!Contents!

!!

Swine!after!Pearls!(Paul!McCarthy)!

!Agent!Provocateur!of!Moral!Fig!Leaf?!

(Santiago!Sierra)!!

Portrait!or!Landscape?!(Lucian!Freud)!

!The!Rough!with!the!Smooth!

(Thomas!Ruff)!!

The!Death!of!Analogue!(David!Hall)!

!The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre!

(Various!Artists)!!!!!!!!!!!

Swine!after!Pearls!!Paul! McCarthy,! The% King,% The% Island,% The% Train,% The%House,% The% Ship% at! Hauser! and! Wirth,! London,! 16!November!2011N!14!January!2012!!The! showpiece! of! Paul! McCarthy’s! current! London!exhibition!is!an!installation!of!George!Bush!sodomising!a! pig.! In! Train,% Mechanical! the! world’s! most! vilified!leader! performs! the! ultimate! sexual! taboo.! To! the!intellectually! curious!or! the!shockNbattered!public,! this!is! not! subversive.! It’s! clichéN! a! banal! and! nighNmeaningless!melodrama! of! sexual! violation.! Kissing! or!fondling! could! be! more! disturbing.! Or! taking! down! a!cultural! hero,! rather! than! preaching! to! the! artNsavvy,!midNleft! converted.! Cliché! can! be! powerful! and!successfully! resurrecting! one! is! among! the! more!impressive!feats!an!artist!can!pull!off.!But! it’s!not!what!this! show! is! about.! Instead,! McCarthy’s! ham! players!seem!to!mock!anysuch!!endeavour.!!!The!neighbouring!piece,!Pig%Island,%acts!like!a!backstage!workshop!to!Train,%Mechanical.!I!look!at!what!the!press!release! informs! me! is,! ‘a! morally! deviant! world!populated!by!pirates,!cowboys,!the!likenesses!of!George!Bush! and! Angelina! Jolie,! an! assortment! of! Disney!characters!and!the!artist!himself,!all!carousing!in!a!state!of! wild! and! reckless! abandon’.! Despite! the! hackneyed!prose,!this!sounds!potentially!unfettered!and!fun.!What!lies! before!me! looks! contrived! and! boring.!McCarthy’s!deviance!used!to!be!more!imaginative!than!‘moral’,!but!here!anal!bestiality!pops!up!every!fifth!manikin,!like!the!recurring!favourite!joke!of!a!parish!bore.!!!And! so! much! for! ‘wild! and! reckless! abandon’;! the!sculptures!are!‘meticulously’!piled!and!placed!to!imitate!the! chaos! of! a! studio.! This! is! dully! familiar,! both!

compositionally! and! conceptually,! as! the! ageNold!attempt! at! ‘blurring! the! boundaries! between! the!work!and! the! workplace’.! All! this,! my! critical! companion!continues,!‘enabling!the!viewer!to!catch!a!glimpse!of!the!artist’s! process,! the! organic! development! of! his!sculptures!and!the!rawness!of!a!neverNending!workNinNprogress’.! The! shamNmodesty! of! the! artist,! the!sycophancy!of!the!writer!and!the!fauxNfelicity!inscribed!in! this! commentary! compound! together! the! more!maddening!myths!plaguing!contemporary!art!discourse:!that! the!artist!has!honestly!bared!his! self! and!process;!that!the!viewer!should!be!grateful!for!such!ankleNflashes!of! naked! creativity;! and! that! all! of! this! is! gloriously!spontaneous!and!accidental,!rather!than!the!product!of!artistic! calculation,! gallery! politics,! media! agenda! and!masses!of!moneyNmoving.!!!!Moreover,! what! is! being! described! is! not! only!nauseating,! it’s!not!even!happening.!Beyond!the!smoke!screen!of!abstract!nouns!what!is!there?!As!for!subjects,!what! might! the! inhabitants! of! Pig% Island! do,! think! or!feel?!If!they!are!automatons,!what!of!the!machinery!that!moves!them?!If!they!are!linguistic!creatures,!what!might!they! signify?! Nothing,! nothing,! nothing.! It! is! all! in! the!verbal! support! act.! And! there’s! no! ‘rawness’! in! the!process! because! we! are! never! shown! beyond! the!trappings!of!creativity!into!the!artist’s!mind!or!even!into!the!material!scatology!of!his!sculpting.! It’s!all!set.!Even!the! films! of!model! casting! (the!T.G.! series! screened! at!Savile!Row)!are!staged!and!silent.!In!the!end,!the!blownNup,! hollowedNout! heads! and! deformed,! gelatinous!bodies! here! are! remnants! of! McCarthy’s! historic!commitment! to! the! abject,! the! grotesque! and! the!carnivalesque,!newly!sapped!of!their!former!vitality!and!meaning.!!There! is,!of! course,! the!possibility! that! this! is!precisely!McCarthy’s!point.!The!world!is!mad,!devoid!of!rhyme!or!

reason;! therefore! to! live! (and! make! art)! in! it! is! to!partake! in! mechanical! and! mindless! activity.! It’s!cynicismN! about! the! world,! art,! and! the! relationship!between!the!two,!which!is!boring,!easy!and!ungenerous.!It’s! also! fundamentally! uncreative! (and! isn’t! he! an!artist?).!!I! don’t! think! this! is! or!was!McCarthy’s! point,! though.! I!think! his! work! has! simply! got! tangled! up! in! its!wrapping.!The! tyranny!of! the!press!release.! Its!powers!are!twofold.!If!you!watch!people!arriving!at!exhibitions,!they! reach! for! the! explanatory! pamphlet! as! a! guest!locates! a! drink! at! a! partyN! quickly,! automatically! and!necessarily.! Often! encountered! prior! to! the! work,! it!impacts! heavily! on! how! most! contemporary! art! is!viewed.! In!turn,! this!often!affects!the!making!of! the!art!itself! such! that! it! becomes! an! illustration! for! a! set! of!printed! ideas.! Whether! or! not! the! press! release! yet!exists,!its!ubiquity!or!eventual!publication!can!shape!the!artist’s! mental! approach.! The! grim! consequence! of!which!is!that!art!becomes!only!about!something,!rather!than! also! being! something.! Put! differently,! it! is! the!difference!between!executing!an!idea!and!creating.!!!Of!course,!this!argument!is!oldNfashioned.!The!power!of!packaging!has! long!perpetuated!vacuous!work!eliciting!the! common! complaint! of! ‘the! emperor’s! new! clothes’.!However,! Paul!McCarthy!used! to!be! free!of! the! critical!quagmire.!His!earlier! films!and!performances!were! full!of! their!own!nonsensical! life.!With!anarchic!narratives,!disturbing! characters! and! a! whole! language! of! deeply!weird! gestures,! textures! and! forms,! he! provoked!thought! and! feeling,! bypassing! explanation.! It! was!original,! in! the! literal! sense!of! the!word;! it! gave! life! to!something!new.!!There! is! a! spark! of! this! old! flame! in! his!Drawings% for%Mad% House% 1% and% 2% upstairs! at! the! Piccadilly! gallery.!

While!these!sketches!might!be!construed!as!plans,!they!are! also! autonomous–! the! marks! are! the! making! and!unmaking! of! an! idea,! rather! than! a! secondary!description! of! one.! And! although! they! are! about!machinery,! or! how! aspects! of! human! behaviour!might!be!mechanical,!they!have!the!feeling!and!sensibility!of!a!person! about! them.! The! supposed! directness! of! the!pencil! can!be!blunted!when! romanticized!or! fetishized!(‘ahh,! the! impulse! doodle’),! but! here! it! remains!haphazard! and! animate,! like! the! scrawled! ‘dizzy!erection’! in!Drawing% 1.! ! The! installation!Mad%House% Jr,!on!the!other!hand,!is!less!lively!and!more!a!neat!conceit.!It’s!a!spinning!box!that!emits!projections!of! its! interior!to! create! ‘an! environment! of! physical! and! mental!disorientation’. !. ! It! doesn’t! really! do! thisN! the! room! is!pretty! solid! and! the! piece! far! from! immersive.!Nevertheless,! it! is! convincing! as! a! metaphor! for!madness,! and! particularly! the! insanity! born! of! artistic!(selfN)preoccupation.!!!Downstairs! at! Piccadilly,! The% King,! is! a! similarly!successful!metaphor.!Filling!the!entire!ground!floor,!the!installation!enacts! the!ritualism!of!art.!McCarthy’s!selfNreplica!sits!enthroned!as!ruler;! the!viewers!are!offered!pews! from! which! to! worship;! and! fallen,! inverted!paintings!line!the!walls,!attending!the!space!as!apostles!of! contemporary! Art.! It’s! formally! and! conceptually!sound,! but! the!devil’s! in! the!detail.!McCarthy’s! powers!of! making! are! extraordinary! and! here! the! viewer! can!share!in!the!morbid!thrill!of!simulacra.!In!one!sense,!this!is!the!real!thing:!the!drama!of!him,!the!space,!the!art!and!us.! However,! it! swiftly! dies! the! death! of!metaNart;! the!act!of!looking!at!art!becomes!about!the!fact!of!looking!at!art.! Experience! becomes! information.! Suddenly,! it! all!makes!too!much!sense!and!it’s!ready!to!be!written!(off).!It! appears! Paul! McCarthy! has! become! a! sucker! or! a!cynic,!or!both.!I!miss!the!madman!and!the!artist.!

Santiago! Sierra:! Agent! Provocateur! or! Moral! Fig!Leaf?!!Santiago! Sierra,! Dedicated% to% the% Workers% and%Unemployed,%at!the!Lisson!Gallery!London,!February!1!–!March!3!2012!!When!I!first!saw!Santiago!Sierra’s!muchNsensationalized!work,! I!was!struck!by!the! indifference!of! it.!Hyped!and!hailed! as! politically! controversial,! I! was! surprised! to!find!him!ostensibly!stanceNless.!By!paying!for! labour!at!low! or! exploitative! cost,! he! is! apparently! ‘merely!representing! the! commercial! conditions! of! our!existence’.!Of!course,!the!objective!distance!at!which!he!poses! is!precisely!his!position!of!power.!But! though!he!is!in!fact!and!in!effect!far!from!neutral!does!he!occupy!a!suspiciously!safe!house!of!provocation?!! !Santiago! Sierra! is! that! rare! thingN! a! political! artist,!rather! than! a! politician! using! art! or! an! artist! using!politics.! Not! that! he! disdains! using! (it! is! probably! the!verb! most! pertinent! to! his! practice),! but! the!relationship! between! his! art! and! politics! is! more!essential! than! functional.! Unlike,! say,! Leon! Golub! or!Regina! José! Galindo,! his! art! is! not! secondary! to! his!beliefs! as! the! means! of! executing! an! idea! of! greater!import.! Nor! are! his! politics! an! accessory! to! his! art! as!with! Jeff!Koons,!Damien!Hurst!or!other!media!masters!of! the! controversial! gesture! as! massNmocking! spin.!Rather!than!negotiating!his!own!agenda,!Santiago!Sierra!selfNeffaces!and!so!passes!the!buck!to!the!viewer.!In!this!way,! rather! than! foisting! an! opinion! upon! us! or!exploiting! predictable! reactions,! his! films! ask! us! what!we! think! of! the! situations! they! confront! us! with.! The!real!rub!is!in!the!kind%of!thinking!that!he!cues.!!His! latest!exhibition!at! the!Lisson!Gallery,!Dedicated% to%the%Workers% and% Unemployed,! is! a! retrospective! of! his!

films.! The! first! room! screens! footage! of! people! he! has!paid! to! carry! out! menial! tasks! such! as! blocking! a!museum! entrance,! lying! in! a! ditch! or! holding! a! heavy!object.! ! The! work! he! commissions! and! records! is!typically! dull,! timeNconsuming! and! arduous.! In! this!respect! it! faithfully! represents! the! bulk! of! the!world’s!labour,! only,! put! to! perverse! use.! Now! it! would! be!humourless,!not!to!say!inaccurate,!to!identify!Sierra!as!a!latterNday! realist! bemoaning! the! lot! of! the! everyman!and! so! soliciting! the! sympathies! of! the! galleryNgoer.!Nonetheless,! such! error! characterizes! the! abiding!critical! consensus! of! his! work! as! portraiture! of! the!oppressed.!!This!sadly!misses!the!subtlety!of!his!politics!and! conveniently! evades! the! nearer! drift! of! his!arguments.! The! blank! servitude! of! his! ‘workers! and!unemployed’! marks! a! clear! absence! of! attitude! that!creates! an! awkward! intellectual! silence! to,! it! is! hoped,!stimulate! responsive! and! (selfN)! reflective! thought.!More!analytical!than!philanthropic.!!Take!8% People% Paid% To% Remain% Inside% Cardboard% Boxes.!All!art!could!be! just!this.!At! its!baldest,!a!play,!painting!or!exhibition!might!be!nothing!but!humanity!boxed!and!bought.! As! godfather! of! the! reductio! ad! absurdum,!Sierra! has! pared! down! to! their! most! minimal! the!economies! of! exchange! that! underwrite! industry,!commerce! and! art.! The% Wall% Of% A% Gallery% Pulled% Out,%Inclined%60%Degrees%From%The%Ground%And%Sustained%By%5%People! again! reformulates! the! relationship! between!artist!and!viewer!as!fiscal!physics;!to!patronize!galleries!is! to! watch! and! endorse! other! people! upholding! the!structures!of!culture.!!!My!favourites!are!his!reels!of!people!facing!the!corners!of! rooms! (at! which! the! screens! are! also! cleverly!positioned!within! the! gallery).! These! perfect! pieces! of!shame!are!powerful! in! their! simplicity.! In! the!bleakest!of! them,! Punished,! we! look! at! the! back! of! a! standing!

figure! and! the! figure! looks! at! the!wall.! Immediately,! it!offers!a!still!image!of!castigation.!Then,!with!wry!genius,!it! becomes! a! hall! of!mirrors;! the! figure! is! just!moving,!just!alive,!just!like!us.!We!realize!we!are!replicating!the!position!and!perspective!of!the!subject;!we!are!what!we!are!watching.!In!their!directness!and!formal!economy!I!find!these!works!both!the!strongest!and!most!stylish!in!Sierra’s!oeuvre.!!Then! there! are! the! film! loops! in! the! adjacent! miniNcinema.! These! are! difficult! to! watch! in! their! entirety!because,!frankly,!they!are!visually!boring.!It!is!the!ideas!behind!them!that!are!excitingN!the!moral!chaos!that!his!films! do! not! so! much! provoke! as! reveal.! There! is! a!certain!ethical! intrigue!to!10%People%Paid%to%Masturbate!or! 160cm% Line% Tattooed% on% 4% people! (for! which! Sierra!gave! four! prostitutes! the! price! of! a! heroin! hit).! The!power!relations!he!performs!and!thereby!highlights!are!disturbing,! but! the! films! themselves! are! deadpan,!unemotive! and! consequently! tedious! to! a! public!accustomed!to!being!sold!a!story.! I!sat! in! the!projector!room! for! a! day! and! saw! nobody! stay! longer! than! ten!minutes.! After! wondering! why! I! had! been! watching!footage! of! builders! trying! to! shift! a! concrete! block! for!nearly!an!hour,!a!penny!slowly!dropped.!!!Starkness!and!boredom!are!Sierra’s!media!of!revelation!and! his!message! is! that! art! is! like! any! other! business.!There! is! no! overt! criticism! or! damning! symbolism;!Sierra!pays!for!people!to!do!things!and!we!pay!for!that!(with! time! or! money).! The! blankness! of! his! language!conveys!the!wearing!effect!of!the!labourNwage!exchange!that! shapes! most! lives! and! simultaneously! it! suggests!that!artistic!dialogues!might!be! just!as!banal.!However,!blankness! is! also! a! pitch! whereby! his! subjects’! patent!lack!of!stance!solicits!one!from!us.!His!actors’!faces!give!nothing.! They! don’t! mind;! they’re! getting! paid;! this! is!the! way! the! capitalist! cookie! crumbles.! Their!

indifference!either!inspires!the!like!or!provokes!anxious!selfNscrutiny;!how!do!we! feel!about!all! this?!Personally!implicated?! Or! smugly! flush! with! the! Leftist! cause! on!the!right!side!of!the!firing!line?!Where!do!we!stand!and!where!does!Sierra?!!I! think! his! merit! hangs! in! the! balance! of! his! work’s!effect.!The!line!between!propaganda!and!pander!is!fine.!His! work! is! clearly! not! didactic,! but! it! is! less! clear!whether! it! is! an! anatomy! of! politics! that! lays! bare!sources! of! moral! discomfort! or! whether! he! meekly!follows! the! fashion! of! fauxNinquisition.! Today! the!question! itself! seems! the! common! currency! of! art,!which! begs! the! final! one:! are! questions! alone! enough?!That! it! is! ‘challenging’! is! often! an! artwork’s! highest!accolade,! but! less! often! is! it! true! and! seldom!does! the!mental! challenge!outlast! the!duration!of! spectatorship.!It! mostly! ends! at! the! question! mark,! with! the! artist’s!duty! seen! to! in! asking! and! the! viewer! satisfied! by!considering! a! question.! ! But! mutual! gratification! is! a!rather! morbid! endgame.! Instead! of! happily! sitting! on!the! fence! together,!we!might! discuss! the! social! role! of!artists! and! dispute! the! value! of! the! interrogative!language!they!deploy.!!Among!Sierra’s!potential!roles,!I!find!him!most!winning!where! he! plays! the! joker! pokerNfaced.! Unfortunately,!under! the!pressure!of!performance!his!base!oneNliners!tend!to!get! intellectually!sent!up.!His!films!increasingly!become! academic! exercises! in! which! we! apprehend!how! the! artNviewer! contract! mirrors! that! of! the!producerNconsumer.!If!we!see!this!process!as!external!to!ourselves,!then!Sierra!plays!the!Professor!and!we!attend!artNasNschool.!On!the!other!hand,!we!might!see!our!place!in!the!schema,!in!which!case!of!collective!guilt!the!films!become! confessional! boxes! for! closet! capitalists.! Here!Sierra! plays! the! Priest,! a! role! he! openly! accepts,!admitting,! “selfNcriticism! makes! you! feel! morally!

superior,! and! I! give! high! society! and! high! culture! the!mechanisms!to!unload!their!morality!and!their!guilt.”!!!Although,! I!would!argue!Sierra’s! job! is! less! spiritual!or!shamanistic!than!his!claim!implies.!This!‘unloading’!is!a!historic!function!of!art,!dating!back!to!catharsis!in!Greek!tragedy.! However! the! ancient! theatrical! process!invoked!terror!and!pity!to!connect!the!audience!to!what!happened!on!stage.!In!Sierra’s!equivalent,!the!bourgeois!viewer!has! little! relation! to! the! filmed! labourers!and!a!grasp!of!economic!interdependence!displaces!emotional!empathy.! No! Christian! or! Classical! purging! here,! then.!The!moral! unease! Sierra! claims! to! host! is! momentary!because! the! problem! becomes! an! intellectual! puzzle!rather!than!a!social!concern,!something!to!be!solved!or!understood,!‘got’!rather!than!engaged!with!or!exorcised.!I!also!suspect!a!deceptively!righteous!masquerade!saves!face!here!N!where!flying!the!flag!for!intellectual!freedom!keeps!us!all!from!coming!down!anywhere!on!the!issues!at!hand.!!In!sum,!I!think!that!the!questions!in!Sierra’s!work!hide!or!confuse!the!malaise!he!intends!to!provoke!and!that!as!such! they! are! his! sellNout! to! the! gallery.! This! kind! of!curatorial! white! noise! dominates! his! recent! work,!although! it!does!not!altogether!quash! the!power!of!his!films.!At!best,!they!are!dumb!showsN!mute!caricatures!of!quotidian!politics.!These!are!nasty!in!the!primal!manner!of!Punch! and! Judy:! the!morality!play!bent! into! a!more!twisted!secular! truth.! In! this!way,!Sierra!has!more!of!a!social!role!than!a!polemic!one.!!He!is!closer!to!Merchant!and!Fool!than!he!is!to!Challenger!or!Conformist,!playing!market!positions!of!winner!and!loser,!with!a!humorous!honesty!about!the!nature!of!the!game.!His!success!lies!in!the! same! exploitation! that! he! displays! in! all! its!nonsense,!but!tempered!with!the!wise!clown’s!counsel:!don’t!kid!yourself.!!

Portrait!or!Landscape?!!Lucian!Freud,!Portraits!at!The!National!Portrait!Gallery,!February!9N!May!27!2012!!The!sensation!surrounding!the!Lucian!Freud!exhibition!at! the! National! Portrait! Gallery! has! brought! back! into!focus! the! place! of! people! in! paintings.! In! particular,! it!has!reNraised!the!question!of!what!makes!a!portrait.!The!show!responds!with!a!host!of!its!own!questions:!can!you!have!a!portrait!of!a!nobody!or!does!a!portrait!identify!an!individual?!Can!a!figure!be!a!portrait!of!something!else!or! vice! versa! (Van! Gogh’s! chair)?! Does! the! title!determine! the! portrait?! At! what! distance! from! the!subject!does!a!painting!cease!to!be!a!portrait?!And!what!is!a!painting!of!a!person!if!it!is!not!a!portrait?!!!I! am! not! a! Freud! fan,! yet! I! enjoyed! this! exhibition;! I!imagine!anybody!interested!in!figurative!painting!could,!for! here! Freud! restlessly! disturbs! the! terms! of!portraiture.!A!particularly!provocative!instance!is!Large%Interior%Paddington%1968,! the!title!of!which!ignores!the!girl!lying!on!the!floor!centre!canvas.!The!painting!might!not! be! about! its! infant!protagonist;! or! it!might!be! that!the! space! describes! her! better! than! her! body! does;! or!that! she! is! there! to! connote! the! space.! Either!way,!we!don’t!quite!know!what!we’re!looking!at.!It’s!on!the!edge!of!Freud’s!early!surreal!period,!a!lateral!flash!before!he!became! locked! in! his! faceNtoNface! with! flesh.! Although!thereafter! sadly! absent! from! his! painterly! style,! the!strangeness! of! his! fledgling! efforts! lives! on! in! the!wayward!challenges!that!underwrite!his!mature!work.!!Such! as,! if! the! title!matters,! do! pictures! of! anonymous!subjects! count! as! portraits?! This! might! disqualify! all!Freud’s! ‘girl’,! ‘woman’,! ‘man’! and! ‘figure’! numbers,!which! constitute! the! bulk! of! his! oeuvre.! The! rarer!paintings!of!people!with!names!tend!to!be!more!humane!

for! their! specificity! –! these! are! individuals! rather! than!abstract! animals.! Michael% Andrews% and% June,! for!example,! are! very! real! characters,! while! many! of! the!untitled!nudes!aren’t.!There!are!of!course!exceptions!to!the!rule,!some!of!the!named!are!nonentities;!some!of!the!naked! unknowns! distinctive.! Still,! Freud’s! ranging!attitudes! to!his! sitters!effectively! raises!all! sides!of! the!argument! over! identity! in! portraiture,! the! question! of!what! makes! a! painted! person! a! portrait.! I! heard! an!original! suggestion! from! an! elderly! gentleman! behind!me! at! the! show! who! thought! it’s! not! a! portrait! if! the!figure! is! lying! down.! Sitters! or! standers! only;! how!proper.!!Nevertheless,! there! is! something! idle! about! all! this!speculation!with!regard!to!Freud,!interesting!though!the!wider!applications!are.!He!might!challenge!his!genre!of!choice,! but! Freud! is! too! close! to! the! figures! in! his!paintings! for! them! to! be! anything! but! portraits.!Whether! it’s! bodily,! metaphysical! or! intellectual!proximity,!nearness!is!of!the!essence.!!But!what!are!figurative!paintings!that!are!not!portraits?!Landscapes?! There! are! obviously! many! other! genres:!the! pastoral,! the! sublime,! conversation! pieces,! social!scenes,! tableaus,! impressions,! fantasies! etc.! Landscape!does!not!exclude!people,!though,!and!as!a!backdrop!is!a!more!useful!comparison!than!it!immediately!appears.!It!covers! most! of! the! alternatives! to! portraiture.! In! the!broadest! sense,! landscape! relates! the! individual! figure!to! the!world!around! it.!Which! recalibrates! the!portrait!as!a!manNtoNman!affair.!!!Looking! at! portraits! and! landscapes! in! terms! of! the!relationships! they! perform,! genres! become!matters! of!dialogue.!In!this!sense!they!become!more!meaningful!to!contemporary! figurative! painting! (and! its!preoccupation! with! discourse).! And! so,! despite! its!

conservative!appeal,! this!exhibition!might!have!a!more!radical! or! profound! influence! than! that! intended! on!those!willing!to!enter!the!genre!debate!it!reNignites.!!Genres! can!be!dismissed! as! stuffy! salon!nomenclature.!However,! the! portrait! or! landscape! question! is!pertinent! because! it! remains! one! of! the! sharpest!dividers! in! figurative! painting.! Importantly,! it! defines!the!place!and!role!of!people!in!a!painting.!In!this!way!it!distinguishes!painters!from!each!other!according!to!the!effects! of! their! work.! To! ignore! it! is! to! ignore! what!paintings!do.!

!!Most!painters!fall!into!one!camp!or!the!other!and!a!few!make! much! out! of! being! inNbetweeners.! Recent!portraitists! include:! Julian! Schnabel,! Luc! Tuymans,!George! Condo,! Elizabeth! Peyton! and! Marlene! Dumas;!the! (figurative)! landscapists:! Daniel! Richter,! Malcolm!Morley,! Peter! Doig,! Wilhelm! Sasnal,! Neo! Rauch! and!Cecily! Brown.! Two! notable! middleNmen! are! David!Hockney!and!Gerhard!Richter.!! !These! are! but! a! handful! of! painters! plucked! from! an!infinite! list! to! demonstrate! the! differences! between!portraits!and!landscapes.!In!a!portrait,!you!encounter!a!person,! whether! directly! or! obliquely.! The! seeming!miracle!is!that!paint!can!convey!the!quiddity!of!a!person!and! there! is!a!Eucharistic!wonder! in!having!something!so!perishable,!elusive!or!spiritual!reincarnated!and!kept!in! a! physical! form.! A! portrait! is! also! a! kind! of!conversation.! Any! painterNmodel! relationship! is!intimate,! however! cold! the! artist! or! sitter! might! be,!because!a!portrait!requires!shared!time!and!space.!And!in! looking!at! a!portrait,! the!viewer! can!also!partake!of!this!communion.!!The! figurative! landscape! offers! a! different! experience.!In! its! earliest! definition! a! ‘landscape’! is! simply! a!

depiction! of! scenery! that! is! not! a! portrait,! so!where! a!landscape! includes! figures,! they! must! be! part! of!something! else.! The! figures! in! a! landscape! are! further!away! from! the! artist! and! viewer.! This! has! its!advantages.!For!one!thing,! it!offers!a!more!circumspect!view! of! people! and! provides! space! to! think! in.!Furthermore,! the! figurative! landscape! is! naturally!philosophical!because!it!negotiates!the!place!of!a!person!in! the!world.! It! is!also! inherently!dramatic!because!we!are! watching! another! dialogue! (between! people! or!between! a! person! and! their! environment),! as! well! as!taking!part! in!one.!This! is!an!effect!of!distance;!we!can!see! the! relations! between! things! that! aren’t! visible! at!closer!quarters.!!In!many!ways,!the!figurative!landscape!is!more!relevant,!as! indicated! by! the! current! drift! of! painters! in! its!direction.! It! makes! more! sense! in! an! increasingly!globalised,! interconnected! world! to! consider! the!individual! in!relation!to!their!surroundings!rather!than!in! isolation! or! partnership.! Landscape! also! formally!relates! to! film,! probably! the! medium! with! the! most!contemporary! clout;! landscape! informs! its! widescreen!format!and!the!way!the!eye!moves!across!a!rectangle!to!create!stories!and!movement.!In!this!way!the!landscape!is!also!more!temporal,!it!has!a!before!and!an!after.!!!The! portrait! is! simply! a! presence.!History! can! be! read!into!the!portrait!but!it!exists!as!its!own!event.!And!yet,!these! capsules! remain! popular,! as! testified! by! the!overwhelming! success!of! recent!portrait! exhibitions.! It!is! perhaps! for! reasons! of! narcissism! that! as! long! as!people! exist,! the! portrait! will! never! go! out! of! fashion.!Nonetheless,! I! think! the!appeal!of! the!portrait!also! lies!in! its! fashionlessness;! its! independence! from! external!influences.! The! portrait! is! out! of! time,! irredeemable.!Portraits! cannot! be! saved! by! intellectual! or! narrative!context,! unless! they! are! viewed! as! historic! references.!

As! an! artistic! experience,! they! hit! or!miss;! they! either!evoke!personality!or! they!don’t.! (And! then! there! is! the!matter! of! whether! you! care! for! the! personality! or! the!way! it! is!evoked.)!However,!when! they!work,!portraits!are! all! the! more! winning! for! not! being! justified.! In! a!culture!were!so!much!is!described,!explained!or!argued,!portraits! simply! are.! They! tend! to! offer! more! to! the!everyman! than! to! the! critic,! a! rare! thing! in! good!contemporary! art.! I! don’t! think! Lucian! Freud! was! the!greatest! portraitist! ever! but! he! certainly! promoted,! in!all!its!variety,!a!valuable!and!vulnerable!genre.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The!Rough!with!the!Smooth!!Thomas! Ruff,% M.A.R.S.! and! Nudes% at! the! Gagosian!Galleries,!London,!March!8!–!April!21!2012!!The!London!Gagosians!are!currently!showing!two!very!different! sides! to! Thomas! Ruff! with! M.A.R.S.! on!Britannia! Street! and! the! Nudes! at! Davies! Street.! The!superficial! similarities! and! overt! differences! between!the! two! shows! immediately! prompt! slick! contrasts.!However!Thomas!Ruff! gets!most! interesting!where!his!artistic! identity! comes! unstuck.! These! exhibitions! are!coolly! competent! in! isolation!or! comparison,! but!more!compellingly!problematic!in!concert.!!!M.A.R.S.! is!pleasing! N!elegant,! clever,!a!bit!different;! the!porn!stars!on!Davies!Street!present!more!of!a!challenge.!M.A.R.S.! is! a! collection! of! photographs! sourced! from!NASA’s!website!and!subsequently! injected!with!colour,!blown!up!and!texturized!by!Ruff.!Though!the!results!are!aesthetically! diverse! and! dramatically! intriguing! the!show! remains! aloofly! apolitical! since! the! subject!remains! neutral! on! both! sides.! The! planet! itself! is!indifferent! to! its! audience;! and! for! us,! it! is! no!more! a!battle!groundN!there!are!no!people!on!Mars!and!the!Cold!War! is! over.! The! exhibition’s! curatorial! project! then!maintains! this! distance,! safely! riffing! off! the!mysteries!of!photographic!and!outer!space,!avoiding!more!heated!territory.!!Insofar! as! politics! is! the! science! of! power,! porn! is!political! to! the! bone.! It! deals! in! relationships! between!bodiesN! hierarchy,! control! and! physical! dialogue.! The!attitude!of! the!viewer! to! the! subject,! and!viceNversa,! is!germane! to! the! politics! of! pornography.! And! Ruff’s!approach! to! the! Nudes! series! further! politicizes! the!subject.! For! these! are! digitally! manipulated!pornographic! images! posing! as! fine! art.! The! four!

currently! on! show! are! softer! than! many! of! his! other!Nudes,! but! still! commercially! sexual,! awkwardly!straddling!a!grey!area!between!high!and!low!culture.!!!Aesthetically,! the! shows! have! much! in! common.! For!instance,!M.A.R.S.!and!Nudes!both!boast!Ruff’s!signature!flatness.! In! the!M.A.R.S! series! the! surface! of! the! image!becomes! painterly! and! poetic,! a! façade! of! expressive!textures!rather!than!a!portal!to!recessive!depths.!In!the!neighbouring! room,! the! jpegs! display! another! kind! of!flatness.!They!are!photographs!broken!down! into! their!raw! components! to! surprisingly! decorative! effect,! the!visible!pixels!behaving!like!mosaic!tesserae!or!tapestry!stitching.!Blurring!the!erotica!down!in!Picadilly!exerts!a!similar! influence! on! the! Nudes;! they! become! sheer!rather!than!explicit,!pictures!rather!than!photographs.!!The! exhibitions! also! share! a! sculptural! dynamic! that! I!find!to!be!one!of!the!most!unexpected!elements!in!Ruff’s!work.! In! both! series,! he! plays! with! size! and! scale! to!spatially!animate!your!relationship!with! the! images.! In!M.A.R.S.! the! ambiguity! of! the! figurative! forms! in! the!photographs!makes!the!scale!excitingly!elastic:!from!the!lumps,! whorls! and! planes! presented! you! don’t! know!whether!you!are! looking!at! gargantua!or!minutiae!and!accordingly!whether!you!are!magnified!or!shrunk!by!it.!The!scale!of! the!Nudes! is!more!morally! than!physically!confusing.!For!though!the!ladies!are!scaled!up,!they!are!objectified,! however!mistily.! And!while! the! size! of! the!their! bodies! in! the! pictures! gives! them! an! Amazonian!power,! it! also! makes! their! vulnerability! all! the! more!apparent,!their!exploitation!all!the!grosser.!!The! subjects! of! the! respective! exhibitions! are! so!distinctly!cliché!as!to!invite!contrary!parallels.!The!cold,!alien,! sciNfi! series! is! in! fact!warmer! and!more! familiar!than!the!nudes;!the!overNexposed!and!available!females!then! strangely! opaque! and! shut! off.! This! crossN

referencing! of! content,! analytically! flip! in! the!mode! of!much!criticism,!is!in!itself!meretricious.!However,!what!it! says! about! how! contemporary! viewers! relate! to!imagery! is! relevant.! The! persuasions! of! advertising,!Hollywood’s! emotional! excesses,! the! manipulations! of!fine! art! and! the! virtual! influence! of! the! internet!collectively!contribute!to!a!callus!of!cynicism!in!cultural!attitudes! to! art.! Consequently,! for! many! it! might! be!easier! to! relate! to! subject!matter! at! a! remove! than! to!engage! directly! with! sentiment! or! argument.! This! is!where!Ruff’s!roundaboutness!enters!our!orbit.!!For!his!talent!as!a!crafter!of!pictures!is!appealing!as!an!oblique! point! of! access! into! the! politics! of! imagery!(rather! than! as! a! purely! visual! facility).! The! seeming!superficiality!of!his!work!is!often!our!way!into!it.!But!he!is!better!understood!by!reading!across!his!pictures!than!by!looking!at!individual!pieces.!Though!spectacular,!the!M.A.R.S.! series! are! limited! to! appearances! by!themselves.! They! become! more! complex! when!considered! alongside! the! Nudes.! These! invest! their!surfaces! with! values! that! they! lack! alone:! narrative!suggestiveness,! seductiveness! and! escapism.! On! the!other!hand,!without!M.A.R.S,! the!Nudes! scan!as!dumbly!provocative:!unashamedly!sexy,!corrupt!and!careless!in!the! style! of! Gaspar! Noé.! Viewed! in! conjunction! with!M.A.R.S.,!though,!they!become!less!sensational!and!more!deeply! provoking! when! seen! as! an! attempt! to! create!beautiful!pictures.!!!The!two!exhibitions!do!very!different!things.!M.A.R.S.! is!a! detached! and! complimentary! portrait! of! a! planet.!Although!this! is!comprised!of!responses!to!the!place,! it!remains!essentially!pictorial.!By!contrast,!the!Nudes,!for!all! their! aesthetic! sangfroid,! are! confrontational.! Ruff!tinkers! with! the! Mars! material! to! convey! weather!conditions! and! atmospheresN! so! far! so! dry.! Whereas!digitally!smudging!the!Nudes!has!a!more!emotive!effect,!

distorting!the!models’!faces!into!disturbing!expressions:!!fuzzy! eyes! become! narrowed,! milky! skin! becomes!mysterious! or! morbid,! a! clouded! pout! becomes!sorrowful.!!!Similarly,! the! formal!variety!of!M.A.R.S.%only!makes! the!exhibition!more!pleasantly!stimulating,!offering!a!range!of! perspectives! and! scenes! to! contemplate.! While! the!calculated! variety! of! positions! that! the! Nudes! assume!feeds!into!the!sexual!controversy!of!the!show.!They!are!lying,!standing,!squatting,!down!on!all!fours;!how!do!you!like!yours?!!!The! last! picture! here! best! exemplifies! the! subtle!machinery!of! the! set.! The!press! release!maintains! that!‘in! nudes! ar09% the! fetishistic! power! of! the! female!subject! is! all! but! reduced! to! lush! formal! qualities—a!cascade! of! thick! blonde! hair,! the! curve! of! pink! thighs,!the! glossy! black! of! a! stiletto! heel’.! Ruff’s! intervention!has! converted! worldly! reality! into! artistic! abstraction,!apparently.! I! don’t! see! this.! I! see! two!women! in! nurse!outfits! bent! into! a! 69er.! I! do! simultaneously! see! an!attempt! to! shape! patterns! out! of! random! smut! but!perhaps! this! is! only! visible! in! the! light! of! his! wider!practice.! For! although! the! pictures! demand! to! be! first!taken!at! face!value,! they!break!down!when!seen! in! the!context! of! his! entire! output.! Only! then! do! the! colours!and!composition!here!look!lovely!and!only!then!can!the!hazy!veneering!take!the!crude!shine!off!the!shot.!This!is!not!obfuscation,!redemption!or!‘reduction’!of!porn;!it!is!a! particular! use! of! a! particular! picture! to! a! particular!effect.! The! form! and! the! content! jar,! pricking!assumptions! and! stimulating! thought.! Through!precise!decisions,!he!has!made!a! filthy!still! into!a!nice!picture;!how!do!you!respond!to!that?!Hopefully,!with!more!than!moral! or! critical! knee! jerks! (‘should! porn! be! in! a!gallery?’).!!

Ruff’s! achievement! is! to! make! art! that! can! be!intellectually! discursive% and! privately! affecting,! while!risking! being! just! decorative.! Bare! intellectual! theory!can! be! inhumane! (fascism?);! opinion! tout! seul! can! be!whimsical;! and! decorative! art! is! easily! critically!dismissed;! so! these! various! types! of! response! are!important! to! each! other.! Viewers! are! generally!suspicious! of! art! that! expressly! elicits! personal!reactions!but!Ruff! just! about!manages! to! get! around! it!by! making! pictures! that! don’t! approach! headNon.!Instead!they!acquire!meaning!through!association,!with!his! other! photographs! and! the! aspects! of! culture! that!inspire! them.!His!other! trick! is! the!casual!mediation!of!his!work.! It!sneaks! in!through!the!backdoor!at! the!risk!of!being!shrugged!off.!Just!pretty!pictures.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David!Hall!and!the!Death!of!Analogue!!David!Hall,!End%Piece!at!Ambika!P3,!London,!March!16N!April!22!2012!!Ambika!P3!is!one!of!the!finest!gallery!spaces!in!London.!It! is! a! 14,000! square! foot! sub! street! level! bunker.! NoNfrills! access! through! the! underbelly! of! Westminster!University! leads!through!an! inconspicuous!door!onto!a!balcony!within!a!dark!room.!The!seemingly!ramshackle!setNup! makes! for! dramatic! opening! views.! From! its!scruffy! exterior,! you! enter! the! gallery! at! an! elevated!level!from!which!you!can!appreciate!the!enormity!of!the!space! you! overlook.! The! lofty! perspective! also! allows!you! to! see! the! full! spread! of!work! beneath! you! rather!than!only!what!is!before!you.!!Coming! here! last! week,! I! was! confronted! by! 1001! TV!screens!filling!the!floor.!David!Hall’s!End%Piece!is!visually!overwhelming.! It! holds! its! own! at! the! level! of! mere!spectacle! but! turns! out! to! be! conceptually! rich! and!culturally!topical,!too.!!The! TVs! are! arranged! in! a! rough! rectangle,! lying! in! a!netted! grid,! faceNup.! Cables! span! the! sets,! drawn! up!from!countless!corners!of!the!piece!into!one!thick!snake!looped! through! a! hook! at! the! ceiling’s! centre.! It! is! allNencompassing! in! the! manner! of! works! like! Louise!Bourgeois’! Spider,! the! way! in! which! it! spatially!dominates!and!involves!the!viewer!borrowing!from!the!spectator! politics! of! such! sculpture.! The! content,!though,! is! aesthetically! closer! to! H.R.Giger’s! Aliens! or!footage! from!Kubrick’s!2001:%Space%Odyssey! (which! the!exhibition!title!perhaps!notes).!From!their!square!pods!the! technoNspecies! blink! up! at! their! maternal! power!source.! And,! in! typically! apocalyptic! sciNfi! fashion,! the!mother! ship! is! tragically! doomed.! The! 1001! sets! are!tuned! to! five! analogue! channels.!While! these! currently!

assault! the! senses! in! selfNmultiplications,! they! near!extinction.! On! 18th! April,! Crystal! Palace! will! issue! its!final!electronic!signals!and!the!sets!will!hiss!the!death!of!their!analogue!god.!%End% Piece! picks! and! chooses! from! installation! art,!conceptual!art,!performance!art,!minimalism,!sculpture,!film,! sound! and! Hall’s! alma! mater,! video! art.! MultiNmedia!works!often!suffer!the!fate!of!a!jackNofNallNtrades,!lacking! singular! excellence.!Media! diversity! appeals! to!fastNmoving,! easily! bored! galleryNgoers! but! the!sensationalism!of!variety!often!gives!way!to!inattention.!A!pleurisy!of!languages!can!make!it!difficult!for!a!viewer!to! sustain! a! dialogue! with! an! artwork.! Not! so! here.!There! is! nothing! gratuitous! about! End% Piece! and! its!different! elements! are! carefully! coordinated.! However!various! its!components!and!references,! it! is!a!coherent!and!engaging!whole.!!Its!size!reflects!the!magnitude!of!the!event!it!anticipates!and!commemorates:!the!end!of!an!analogue!era!and!the!dawn!of!the!digital!age.!It! is!derived!from!Hall’s!1970’s!version,! 101! TV! Sets,! the! difference! marking! the!perceived! expansion! and! development! of!telecommunications! over! the! last! 40! years.! The! new!numbers! are! necessary.! 101! TV! sets! would! be!underwhelming! now;! 1001! make! a! more! desperately!compelling! pitch,! the! scale! of! the! project! competing!with!the!excesses!of!cinema!and!the!Internet.!But!passé!though! these! sets! are,! they! still! stake! a! claim! on! the!minds! of! the! masses.! Here! in! their! hundreds,! they!present! us!with! a!Babel! of! endless! entertainment.! The!changing!succession!of! screens!suggests! the!nightmare!of! infinite! choice! while! the! repetition! of! programmes!then! proves! the! variety! to! be! underwritten! by!homogeneity.! It! poses! the! paradox! of! a! bland!cacophony,! a! phenomenon! overfamiliar! to! the! weary!consumer.!!

!On!the!other!hand,!the!piece!doubles!as!a!swan!song!for!analogue.! Not! only! are! the! TVs! endearingly! lumpen!beside! today’s! nanoNgadgets,! they! have! been! arranged!to!look!beautiful!and!weirdly!potent.!Seen!laterally,!the!cables! converge! above! us! to! resemble! a! pyramid! or!some! other! monolithic! symbol! of! passing! power.!Alternatively,!the!bird’s!eye!view!presents!a!vast!tableau!of! blackly! outlined! coloured! glass! not! unlike! the! rose!window!of!a!gothic!cathedral,!with!segments!switching!in! sync! kaleidoscopically! as! the! channels! change.! So!there! is! a! perverse! romance! to! the! physicality! of! the!work.!!Conceptually! End% Piece! explores! our! interaction! with!media,! reflecting! both! on! fine! art! and! mainstream!culture.!An!early!minimalist,!Hall!pares!the!piece!down!to! its! barest! intellectual! parts! and! leaves! it! mercifully!unexplained!by!the!press!release.!It!presents!TV!as!good!and! bad,! ugly! and! beautiful,! nonsensical! and! ominous,!active!and!passive,!alive!and!dead!N!with!all!the!strength!and!intrigue!of!confident!ambiguity.!!Although!David!Hall’s!career!covers!a!range!of!practices!he!is!predominantly!a!timeNbased!artist!(he!founded!the!first!such!art!degree!at!Maidstone!College).!As! in!much!poetry,! the! time! in! timeNbased! art! is! often! its! own!duration.!However,!here! the! installation’s! temporal! life!intersects! with! the! present! at! a! moment! of! great!cultural!import.!It’s!thrilling!to!see!a!show!that!partakes!of!history!as!it!is!happening;!nobody!knows!how!it!will!finish.! In!End% Piece! David!Hall! has! created! an! eventful!work! about! communication! that! takes! in! the! past,!present! and! future! of! television! both! as! a! bastion! of!mainstream! culture! and! as! a! fine! art! oddity.! It’s! that!rare!combination,!inspired!and!relevant.!!!

The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre!!In!my! first!year!at! the!Slade! the!art! talks! took!place! in!The!Darwin!Lecture!Theatre.!I! loved!the!nameN!lending!an! animal! drama! to! an! already! bloodthirsty! ritual.!Impress!us!and!we’ll!lap!you!up;!disappoint!us!and!we’ll!rip!you!apart;!and!cruellest!of!all,!lies!the!latent!threat!of!mass!boredom.!The! location!has!since!changed!but! the!brute! theatricality! of! the! lecture! remains! vital! for!reasons!worth!elucidating.!!!Through! four! years! of! art! education,! I! have! spent! as!many!hours!attending!these!lectures!as!I!have!privately!puzzling!over!artistic!taxonomies!(any!questions!of!kind!bar!the!dinosaur!in!the!auditorium,!‘what!is!art?’).!These!lines! of! thought! have! inevitably! converged! on! the!questions,! what! is! an! art! lecture! and! what! are! its!values?!Stating!the!matter!so!baldly!risks!banality,!but!I!can’t!be!too!clear:!I!am!interested!in!the!specific!value!of!discourse!and!social!community! to!artNmaking.!The!art!lecture!is!the!perfect!case!study.!!!The!Slade!contemporary!art! lecture!series! is!a!roulette!of! celebrities,! nobodies,! inspirations! and! depressants,!not!necessarily!respectively.!Noteworthy!figures!include!Bruce! McLean,! Paula! Rego,! Julian! Schnabel! and!Wolfgang!Tillmans,!all!of!whom!lived!up!to!expectations!and! then! some.! A! veteran! tutor! of! the! Slade,! Bruce’s!retirement! lecture! was! his! parting! shot! replete! with!bombastic!exit!music.!Paula!Rego!stonewalled!criticism!and! spun! ‘fistNfucking’! fairy! tales.! Schnabel! was!assuringly!arrogant,!mythologizing!himself!as!a!hero!of!painterly!ideals.!When!I!asked!him!what!he!thought!the!best!thing!about!painting!was,!he!answered!‘freedom’.!A!lovely! lie! if! ever! I! heard! one.! Wolfgang! Tillmans! was!Adorable;! how! I! wished! I! was! a! gay!man! then.! And! a!personal! favourite! was! Clunie! Reid! screening!

‘Somebody! to! Love! (Squirt! as! Method)’! to! a! sea! of!blushing!faces.!(A!film!about!female!ejaculation.)!!The!most!popular!lecturers!tend!to!play!one!of!two!very!different!parts.!They!are!either!great!speakers!or!great!figures.!Occasionally! they!are!both.!The!great! speakers!are! admired! for! their! honesty! and! intelligenceN! the!insights!they!afford!into!the!industry.!The!great!figures!are! rated! as! artists! or! personalities;! for! who! they! are!rather! than! what! they! say.! Two! recent! lecturers!exemplified!the!different!types!particularly!well.!!!The! last!was!Gary!Hume,!preceded!by!Iwona!Blazwick;!he! is! a! painter,! she! the! director! of! the! Whitechapel!Gallery.! She! discussed! the! changing! role! of! art!institutions.! Introducing! the! museumNasNconservativeNmonolith! as! the! tradition! we! now! kick! against,! she!proceeded!to!revel!in!all!the!other!things!a!gallery!could!be.! The! lecture!was! laced!with! charming! details! about!The!Whitechapel!Gallery.!For!instance,!it!was!previously!a!library!and!the!first!public!building!to!have!electricity,!literally! ‘a! lantern!of! learning’! for! the!East!End.!P.s.! Its!roof! features! a! gilt! weathervane! of! Erasmus! riding!backwards!reading!In%Praise%of%Folly.!A!PR!stunt!but!an!engagingly! enterprising! one,! her! lecture! did! much! to!debunk!the!myth!that!big!galleries!are!evil!by!explaining!the! hard! facts! of! commercial! survival! and! concluding,!‘galleries!offer!an!economy!that!can!support!artists.!We!can!give!you!a!job!and!an!audience’.!!!I!suspect!most!of!us!left!with!a!heightened!awareness!of!the! histories! and! present! practicalities! of! exhibiting.!The! relative! success! of! her! talk! demonstrates! that! an!obvious! but! crucial! function! of! the! art! lecture! is!learning.!About!art,!but!also!the!art!world.!Today,!artists!have! to! run! their! own! business! or! make! their! own!brand;! they!can!seldom!afford! to!rest!on! their!creative!laurels! (unless! that! is! all! they! want! to! rest! on).! Art!

schools!have!only!recently!begun!including!professional!skills! in! the! curriculum,! but! the! problem! is! that! the!tutors!are!artists!or,!of!course,!tutors.!They!are!making!money! by! teaching,! which! often! means! they! haven’t!tried!or!tested!the!other!means!through!which!students!might! pay! their! way.! So! here,! the! outside! lecturer’s!voice!of!experience!is!invaluable.!!!When! it!comes! to!speakers,!what! they!say! is!often! less!important! than! how! they! say! it.! Impersonal! delivery,!sadly! commonplace,!mocks! the! point! of! a! lecture.! The!joy!of!a!good!one!is!that!you!hear!the!thoughts!of!a!live!individual.! After! all,! a! lecture! is! a! performance! not! a!recording!and!the!best!speakers!don’t!have!to!sacrifice!charisma!for!accuracy!or!intelligence.!!!Which! leads! to! the! lecture’s! other! purpose,! that! is,! to!foster! dialogue! in! shared! space.! Its! advantage! over!other! forms! of! discourse! is,! naturally,! the! human!element.! There! is! a! danger! of! monologue,! academic!atrophy!or!hermeticism!where!words!are!written!alone;!the! lecture! formula! is! perhaps! more! animate,!comprising! speech! and! audience! response.! These!interfaces! can! be! sensational:! Hew! Locke! and! Yinka!Shonibare! effectively! middleNfingered! the! fastidious!questions! of! keener! students;! the! lot! of! us! laid! into!Sarah!Thornton!(that!glorious!day!);!Tillmans!rendered!Peter! Davies! (Slade! tutor,! YBA! and! here! the!interviewer)! comically! starstruck;! in! short! there! has!been!much! flirting! and! fighting! in! the! pit.! The! visitors!are!mostly!talented,!respected!or!simply!famous;!but!we!have! nothing! to! lose! and! there! are! more! of! us.! The!terms! are!oddly!unequal!which! can!make! the!dialogue!more! interesting! than! the! bland! sycophancy,! esoteric!diatribe!or!mutual!congratulations!that! fill!so!many!art!publications,! entrenched! in! critical! and! journalistic!hierarchies! as! they! are.! The! mixed! interaction! of! the!lecture,! by! contrast,! is! relatively! free! of! professional!

agenda,!which!can!sharpen!discourse!and!diversify!it!in!unexpected!ways.!And!of!course,!gathering!for!a!lecture!also! promotes! a! sense! of! community! in! what! is!otherwise!a!solitary!occupation.!!Over!to!Gary!Hume.!‘Mother!fucker!I’ll!smash!your!face!in’!were!the!first!words!I!heard!as!I!hurried!in!late.!It’s!how!he!feels!about!his!weaker!paintings,!I!was!relieved!to!discover.!Artists!tend!to!be!less!formal!than!gallerists!or!curators.!It’s!one!to!one,!a!conversation!between!the!same! species.! They! often! present! their! career! as! a!comedy! of! errors,! outlining! the! inevitable! failures! that!accompany! any! artistic! successes.! It’s! cold! comfort,!‘you’ve! chosen! a! lunatic’s! vocation’,! but! it’s! an!empathetic!gesture!that!creates!a!sense!of!togetherness!in! adversity.!Most! artistNlecturers! love! to! advise.! They!classically! start! with! their! own! blank! canvas!philosophy,! the! preNproduction! selfNhelp.! Hume!counsels:! ‘it’s! important! when! you! make! things! to! be!innocent!and!stupid.!Allow!yourself!to!be!embarrassed.!It’s! a! good! tool! to! work! out! where! you! are’.! The!therapeutic!afterNeffect!of!art!is!another!cliché,!but!Gary!Hume’s!take!on!it!unusual!in!its!quiet!modesty!when!he!says! that! ‘the! beauty! of! the! [made]! object! calms! me!down’.! Then! there! is! the! artist’s! odd! relationship!with!his!art;!Hume!holds!that!‘when!a!painting!is!complete,!it!cares!not!a!jot!what!I!or!anyone!else!makes!of!it’.!!!Last! of! the! concerns! commonly! touched! upon! is! the!conflict! between! art! and! criticism,! often! referenced! as!an! apology! for! the! lecture! itself,! as! Hume! offers! it:! ‘I!don’t! theorize! and! if! I! did! I! could! probably! give! a!university!lecture!on!my!practice.!I!feel!something!and!I!imagine! it! and! I! make! it’.! The! consensus! seems! to! be!that! knowledge! and! creativity! make! awkward!bedfellows,!as!he!finished:! ‘if!you!know!it,!why!are!you!bloody!making!it?’!!

This!all!helps!but!it’s!strictly!subjective.!Which!can!be!a!refreshing! alternative! to! critical! (attempts! at)!objectivity.! However,! for! most! artists,! talking! is! not!what!they!do!best.!Artists!are!actors!in!the!literal!sense!of!the!word;!their!worth!lies!in!what!they!do.!This!does!not!exclude!intelligence,!but!confers!a!specific!value!on!presence.!Art!is!made!and!experienced!physically,!which!is!part!of!what!makes! it!humane!and!exciting.!And!this!physical!relationship!between!the!artist,!the!art!and!the!audience! is!part!of! the! artist’s! appeal,!much!as! it! is! an!actor’s.!To!have!an!artist! in!a!room!is!an!affirmation!of!the!principle!of!physical!presence!that!underwrites!artNmaking! and! artNviewing.! So! with! artist! speakers,! the!lecture!is!often!merely!a!pretext!for!the!visit.!!I!do!not!so!much!want!to!argue!what!an!artist!is!or!isn’t.!Nor!do!I!want!to!define!the!roles!of!the!art!scene’s!many!players.!But! I!would! like! to! recognise! and! endorse! the!value! of! the! art! lecture,!which! involves! identifying! the!different!types!of!talk!and!what!their!respective!merits!might!be.!Dialogue!and!presence!are!the!lifeblood!of!art!culture.! In! lectures,! great! speakers! are! appreciated! for!what!they!say!about!art!and!even!more!for!the!way!they!say!it.!Great!artists!are!prized!for!simply!being!here.!

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