“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris


Monday, June 30, 2014

Haim Steinbach, "Fresh"

It sure is. At the Menil. I smiled outerly and innerly as I entered the space. Or rather the object. Haim works with what he's been calling objects since the late 70s and he finds a deep congruence between his work and OOO.

"The Object Is Present" was a panel we did, hosted by curator extraordinaire Toby Kamps, with Haim, me and Bill Arning of the Contemporary. On Saturday.

Wow. I'm glad they recorded it but I'm not sure it will be broadcast. That was the best ever.

I read a poem and found a way to explain OOO using a dollar bill I had in my pocket. I quoted Longchenpa and Haim told the 200+ audience how to enjoy his work, in a sentence that was also meditation instruction:

TAKE IT EASY

Toby thought ten minutes had passed when he looked at his watch--it'd been an hour.

Magic.

Afterwards we went to a party hosted by Judy Nyquist at which I saw more unbelievable art than I've ever seen outside of a museum.

I have to say thanks to Toby and his assistant Paul who got into Hyperobjects, which is how Toby thought to connect Haim and me.

Conclusion: everything I've said in the last 7 years could've been said about Haim Streinbach!

Now there is a new term for object: Temporary Steinbach Display.

And there is a seismic shift afoot. Critique art and art critique are over. By which I don't mean what art students do at ends of terms.

Haim takes a huge bite out of critique and puts a Halloween candy lantern and a pair of lips on it, next to a Duchamp.




1 comment:

Joseph N. said...

Yes, but even if that five dollar bill simultaneously is self-existent, does not exist, and does not not exist, while we're laughing, could we consider that it, and we, might be products of dependent co-origination?

Surely something to consider over thick sweet coffee at the Istanbul Grill, whose cups do not seem to be represented in fresh.