Just for the Occasion - Christian Morgenstern

because on facebook people were (again) discussing what art is and may do.
My prose translation of Morgenstern's poem:

On a Stage

On a stage there stands a tree,
taken from the edge of the closest forest.

It's overlapped on the right hand side
by a rock made of canvas,

however on the left, wonderful,
a lawn made of goat hair greens.

In the stalls little Cohn
bursts asunder full of utter illusion.

Little Cohn was made the judge
of what is art and what is not.

That's Entertainment

Does there have to be a difference of the either-or kind between "art with a captal A" and entertainment?! I often wonder. If Art is not entertaining to some degree and entertainment vacuous, why not skip it and rather settle for the and-or kind of Art and entertainment. No, Art is not better if it's hard to grasp ;)!

SKIP THE ROPE das pop from caviar brussels on Vimeo.

Maybe it's only hard to catch sometimes, but probably it should be as tempting as to say, "Catch me, if you can!"

C'est La Différance

... This is exactly the point I was getting at when I watched this one:

I guess Agnes Martin made the better choice anyway and from the looks of it never was that easily impressed by anything. Which her life and art probably bears witness to.

Kunstbetrachtung - Interpreting Art

Giulio Paolini, 1981: Kannst Du einen Schlüssel zur Interpretation geben? Unbedingt alles vereinfachen zu wollen, ist immer schwierig und außerdem unnötig. Ein Bild zu malen, bedeutet nicht, es zu rechtfertigen, es verständlich zu machen oder ihm eine künstliche Bedeutung zu geben. Vielmehr geht es dabei um das Aufdecken von etwas unwiderstehlichem, und darum, diesem ein Gesicht zu verleihen, es zu entdecken.

Giulio Paolini, 1981: Can you provide a key for the interpretation? Unconditionally to want to simplify everything has always been difficult and unnecessary. To paint a picture doesn't mean to justify it, to make it comprehensible or to provide an artificial meaning. It rather deals with the uncovering of something irresistible, and to give a face to it, to discover it.

Ich bin da was auf der Spur...

das sicherlich einer genaueren Untersuchung mehr als wert ist. Ach, könnte ich es nur fassen (rahmen/ säumen?!). Der Augenblick verwandt mit dem Antlitz und genauso wenig greifbar und andauernd, doch genauso unendlich, denn, mit dank an Michael Pennington und Volkskind, wird es mir deutlicher, daß alle Originalität aus dem glücklichen Augenblick entspringt. Eine Erkenntnis, die ich an anderer Stelle folgendermaßen laut einem Zitat von Montesquieu paraphrasiert habe: "Der Schriftsteller schreibt etwas, und verbringt die übrige Zeit damit, sich dessen zu schämen" :-)!

Kunst und Philosophie

Der Künstler kann nur das vertreten, was auf seinem eigenen Mist gewachsen ist, aber in der Philosophie sucht er gerne Bestätigung:

Elusiveness II

 

A feature very important to any artist is freedom, something that has been acknowledged in Germany to that extent that if somebody chose to study fine arts at an academy of art, his subject would be entitled "Freie Kunst"/free, ie uncommited art, especially as opposed to purposeful art, eg any kind of design, fashion design etc...

An aspect of freedom mostly not much considered is to remain elusive in relation to your output, meaning that your person, your private person though it is the author of all your works, won't too easily be found within those, for to tie whatever down to your own biography would tie down your imagination - and the imagination of beholder - , this wonderful flow/ dream of all things possible and impossible. Probably if you've reached this point, where only the work matters, you couldn't care less about people trying to copy, imitate or even counterfeit you. Anyway if the counterfeit is good and it enables yourself to leave this part of your own passage to somebody else and you to move freely on to something even further beyond, why not do it?! Let there be counterfeits!!

BTW another good reason for remaining elusive is that there may come a time where one feels ashamed for one's daring. It is not always simple or easy.

Eventually I must admit that I am a hopeless romantic about these matters, ever since I've read Hermann Hesse's short story about a painter, who moves around, stays for some time at one place, produces some paintings and as soon as he gets acknowledged by his fellow inhabitants would vanish leaving just his paintings behind...

C'est la différance, Daniela, c' est la différance

Running down a narrow hidden staircase and being greeted by the words: "C'est la différance, Daniela, c'est la différance!" by the person running up. Well, I know, for unlike you I prefer JD to Vilém Flusser and of course you were infinitely aware of this :-)! - There are still some books you have to return to me, but never mind, as long as you read in them and also read my silly comments and look at my drawings from time to time...
Anyway oddly enough I was thinking about some of the thoughts that are referred to in this video this night and as a reminder got aware of it this morning. My assumption this night was that   art constitutes itself within a "rest" a "surplus" that the artist adds to his work and I will elaborate a little bit more in future posts. For the time being I forward this panel, a transcript and a translation.

 

Transcript: Die kunsthistorischen Termini des "Linearen" und des "Malerischen", des eben mehr Konzeptuellen und des eher Spontanen. (Arrows link "Linearen" with Konzeptuellen, "Malerischen" with Spontanen). Konzeptuellen -> vordenkbar -> Muß dies noch ausgeführt werden? oder: Brauchen wir zum Nachvollzug egentlich Originale?; Spontanen -> unvordenklich

 Translation: The art historical terms of the "linear"(better "design") and the "pictoral", of the more conceptual and the more spontaneous (arrows link "linear"/"design" with conceptual, "pictoral" with spontaneous).

conceptual-> predestined -> Is there any real need to perform it? or: Do we need an original to understand it?; 

spontanenous -> unpredictable

Elusiveness I

Manchmal ist mir so, als gäbe es keine Freiheit (in der Kunst - hinzugefügt 2011) im eigentlichen Sinne mehr, alles wird zu einem riesenhaften Krampf; Heiterkeit, Leichtigkeit und Offenheit sind Tugenden, die die Kunst leider im Leistungsdenken, Über - lebenskampf verliert.
Das Parergon lebt in form des White Cube, keiner will mehr den Sockel, aber alle machen sich Sorgen um den Rahmen , in dem ihre Kunst ausgestellt wird.
Nie waren sich Kunst und Leben fremder.Vielleicht, weil Versuche unternommen werden, sie immer mehr anzugleichen, indem 'Künstler' Lebensformen/ Dienstlesitungen verkünstlichen.
Bringt uns das der "Wahrheit" (dieser Begriff ist schwerlich bis unmöglich zu definieren) tatsächlich näher?
Indem wir die Grenzen immer unauffindbarer machen, sie ignorieren, die Phantasie des Künstlers, wie die des Publikums immer weniger beanspruchen, weil sie schon durch andere Bereiche (Werbung, Fernsehen) überlastet ist?

Ich, irgendwann in den 1990ern...