Part 4 RESEARCH/ READING
‘SEVEN DAYS IN THE ART WORLD’ Sarah Thornton
Granta Publications 2012
An interesting book!
The synopsis for this book read:
“Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description and, for some, a kind of alternative religion. Sarah Thornton’s shrewd and entertaining fly-on-the-wall narrative takes us behind the scenes of the art world, from art school to auction house, showing us how it works and giving us a vivid sense of being there.”
Sarah Thornton, as an ethnographer, is interested in social history. Her book is a forensic, non-judgemental examination of the art world through personal participation and observation. Because of this approach she has been able to gain access to people, places and opinions and relay her findings in an impersonal style which makes the book very readable. She talks about the art world as being a “bunch of squabbling subcultures” and recognises the hostility which exists and yet she treats the subject with a degree of amusement. However, always there is a seriousness underlying her fact gathering pages, almost a ‘raising awareness’ of what happens to art when huge amounts of money take control
Before retirement, my husband was a Fine Art Auctioneer with Phillips in London and so I am not unfamiliar with the world which Thornton describes in this book. Perhaps the entertainment factor in Art, its huge increase in luxury value and investment potential and with all its possibilities for manipulating trends and influencing outcomes have radically changed the nature of the ‘art world’, and such is the nature of things. I found it interesting that throughput the book describing each of the fundamental essentials of the art market – the auction, the crit, the fair, the prize, the magazine, the studio visit and the biennale – she allows the ‘artist’ to appear and enter the dialogue . It seemed to me that in a shrewd, thoughtful way she was counter balancing the narrative. It was this element which I found the most thought provoking, this element of continual contrast which made the book so readable.
Ultimately, however, it is how the book impacts on my own work which is important. Every artist will have a different reason for creating art and for many perhaps the ‘art world’ and the ‘art market’ have relevance. The description of this world which came from the interviews gave food for thought but had no relevance for my journey; however it did serve to stimulate thinking about why I paint. The pertinent comments came mostly from the artists themselves and just a few I’ve listed below.
Artists’ comments
Chapter 1 the auction
Keith Tyson, a British artist – won the Turner prize in 2002
“…Tyson is …adamant that art is not reducible to a commodity. “Unlike gold and silver, art has this other value, and that’s what makes it fascinating. Everything else is trying to sell you something else. Art is trying to sell you yourself. That’s what is different about it. Art is what makes life worth living.”
Chapter 2 – the crit
Thomas Lawson – Scottish painter
“When asked the reckless question, What is an artist? he said… “It’s not necessarily someone who sells a bunch of objects through a fancy gallery. An artist thinks about culture through visual means. Sometimes it’s thinking about culture through any means possible, but it’s rooted in the visual…”
Dave Hickey, art critic
“I don’t care about an artist’s intentions. I care if the work looks like it might have some consequences.”
Mary Kelly, feminist conceptual artist
“Never go to the wall text. Never ask the artist. learn to read the work. ‘When you ask the artist to explain it in words, it is just a parallel discourse.’ Moreover, artist don’t often fully understand what they’ve made, so other people’s readings can help them ‘see at a conscious level’
Paul Schimmel, chief curator of the Museum of contemporary Art, Los Angeles: “Talent is a double edged sword. What you are given is not really yours. What you work at, what you struggle for, what you have to take command of – that often makes for very good art.”
Chapter 3 the fair
Barbara Gladsone – collector
On curating…”The trick is to find a space for everything, so each work has a chance to breathe…”
Afterword
Author Sarah Thornton
Final thought…. “The antithesis is not really between art and non-art. It’s more a distinction between brave, eye-opening work and vapid, attention-seeking work. Or really creative exploration versus dull illustration. It’s all art but it’s not all good….After looking at a lot of art, you ask yourself: is this intriguing? Deeply amusing? Do I want to spend time with it? Does it become more compelling the more I think about it?”
This book provided much to think about in connection with preparing for an exhibition and entering the ‘art world’. I’ve spent time thinking about what goes into my work! The process is complex and I think probably reflects the lifetime process of my career in teaching and headship. I enjoy the ‘journey’ of a work, the place of words as the ideas and feelings begin, the use of other media in order to really absorb and understand the thought behind the work and then the ‘listening’ process as the painting begins. When the first marks go onto the surface there is no plan, despite what I’ve described – there is just the next step in the process of creative expression and so much trust in the truth of what I’ve been processing. I think it’s all about truth and this is where the integrity of a piece happens. I wonder if this is not what Schimmel is commenting on: “What you are given is not really yours. What you work at, what you struggle for, what you have to take command of – that often makes for very good art.”
However, when the exhibition looms, I wonder if yet another set of criteria come into play…
“I don’t care about an artist’s intentions. I care if the work looks like it might have some consequences.” Dave Hickey, art critic
“Never go to the wall text. Never ask the artist. learn to read the work. ‘When you ask the artist to explain it in words, it is just a parallel discourse.’ Moreover, artist don’t often fully understand what they’ve made, so other people’s readings can help them ‘see at a conscious level’. Mary Kelly, feminist conceptual artist
Rightly or wrongly, this book has given me a lot to think about. I wonder if it isn’t rather like letting your children go. At some stage, like grown up children, the pictures have to stand alone and speak for themselves to an audience made up of a host of different attitudes, opinions, backgrounds and responses. Here is when Thornton’s final questions about the images find answers: is this intriguing? Deeply amusing? Do I want to spend time with it? Does it become more compelling the more I think about it?”