We took a road trip to Western Massachusetts recently.  Highlights included a trip to Herman Melville’s house, where he wrote Moby Dick.

Mass Moca and the new Sol LeWitt Installation, on view now through 2033. (It feels weird to type 2033!)

and a trip up Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Mass during peak foliage.  Herman Melville could see this peak from his study, and took inspiration from it for Moby Dick because the snow covered profile reminded him of a Sperm Whale’s back.

All pictures from our trip are here.

“The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators.”

“The artist’s aim is not to instruct the viewer, but to give information, whether the viewer understands the information is incidental to the artist.”

“Artists teach critics what to think. Critics repeat what the artists teach them.”

“Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.”
Sol Lewitt

Barbara Krakow Gallery

Museum Wiesbaden

Twee weken (ofzo) geleden was ik helemaal gebiologeerd door een gehaakte trouwjurk. Verhit googlen heeft mij vervolgens niet opgeleverd waar ik de desbetreffende jurk kan vinden, maar ik kwam wel een leuk wit gehaakt random jurkje tegen in een online vintage kleding winkeltje. En het beste was dat het desbetreffende jurkje maar $20 was, en dat er die week geen verzendkosten werden berekend (ahhh, online shoppen in Amerika is zo HEERLIJK, dat zal ik nog missen als ik weer terug verhuis naar Nederland). Een paar dagen later zat het jurkje in de bus, en, nou ja, na al dat geleuter over die gehaakte trouwjurk wou ik jullie een foto niet onthouden.

Dit ben ik in mijn gehaakte jurkje (kort! ja, ik weet het, maar met een maillot kan het net) samen met geliefde voor een muurschildering van Sol Lewitt in Mass MOCA. We zien er een beetje nerdig uit, maar ja, dat is een redelijk getrouwe weergave van de werkelijkheid, dus ik post de foto toch maar wel. Geliefde heeft trouwens ook een blog-geinspireerde outfit aan (sjaal!).

Dit Sol Lewitt retrospectief  is trouwens geweldig, als iemand van jullie ooit per ongeluk in de Berkshires in Massachusetts verzeild raakt, zeker even langs Mass MOCA gaan. Deze enorme 3 verdiepingen tellende tentoonstelling is nog de komende 25 jaar te zien, en is echt oogpoppend fantastisch.

Het interessante van de muurschilderingen van Lewitt is dat ze in principe een set instructies zijn, hij verzint ze dus wel zelf, maar makt ze niet zelf. Als je de eigenaar van die set instructies bent dan kan je zelf die muurschildering waar dan ook aanbrengen (of experts inhuren, er is een redelijk groep mensen die zich hebben gespecialiseerd in het aanbrengen van Lewitts). De schildering mag echter maar op 1 plek tegelijkertijd bestaan. Als je verhuist en je wil je Lewitt meenemen, of je verkoopt het kunstwerk aan iemand anders, dan moet je dus wel je oude Lewitt overschilderen. De ideeen achter de schilderingen klinken overmatig gestructureerd en bijna dwangmatig als je de beschrijvingen hoort (extreem veel herhalingen met hele kleine variaties, vaak opgebouwd uit maar een paar componenten), maar de uitwerking is speels en fascinerend.

Ik moet trouwens nodig naar de kapper, als ik die foto’s zo zie. Zal snel eens een afspraak maken. Ik heb nog steeds geen goede kapper gevonden hier, maar ik ben pas weer in December in Nederland, dus ik zal er toch echt aan moeten geloven…

Brooke Alexander Gallery

“The most interesting characteristic of the cube is that it is relatively uninteresting.”

Sol LeWitt

Totally opposite to my automatic drawing, here is a work by one of my favourite drawers! Sol Lewitt, you couldn’t get more calculated.

Wall Drawing #65  (1971) - Lines not short, not straight, crossing and touching, drawn at random using four colours, uniformly dispersed with maximum density, covering the entire surface of the wall. (Full size of work 27 x 16 ft) 

Wow!

When my friend Barb invited me to meet her in Beacon, NY to go to a modern art museum I sort of sneered and said that I’d love to see her and the museum was a good excuse. What I didn’t know was that sleepy Beacon, NY has turned itself into a hip mecca for art and artists. Metro North provides hourly train service from Grand Central to Beacon, it’s 1 hour and 25 minutes, following the scenic Hudson River north. A short and well-marked walk up the hill takes you to DIA:Beacon. The building housing the Riggio Gallery is an old Nabisco box factory, with hardwood floors, indirect lighting provided by original skylights and some windows. It would be a great place for a concert, dance or a roller rink. It is huge – 240,000 square feet of naturally lit exhibition space! And on the day we went, it was also pretty chilly, so dress accordingly and do NOT check your coat and wear your walking shoes.

Dia Art Foundation is internationally recognized as one of the world’s most influential contemporary art institutions. It was established in 1974.  ”Dia” a Greek word meaning “through,” emphasizes the the foundation’s role of support for visionary artistic projects that might not otherwise be realized because of their scale or ambition.

“Dia’s founders, Heiner Friedrich and Philippa de Menil, wished to extend the boundaries of the traditional museum to respond to the needs of the generation of artists whose work matured and became prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. Ever since, Dia’s mission has been to commission, support, and present site-specific long-term installations and single-artists exhibitions to the public.”

There is a larger than a gymnasium room of Warhol’s-entitled Shadows, of course, it is 128 colorful variations of a shadow. Many of the installations are for me very intellectual, if that is a kind of art.

Sol LeWitt has done his work directly on the wall- with colored pencils. Astonishing and mind-boggling time and effort went into the studies and I’m not sure what makes them art, except that they are onte wall of a museum. I suspect the journey of making the piece, its impermanence and the reaction of the viewer must be part of it.

The most experiential ad satisfying installation is Richard Serra’s part of the permanent collection- can’t imagine how they even got these structure in there to being with…“What interests me is the opportunity for all of us to become something different from what we are, by constructing spaces that contribute something to the experience of who we are.” – Richard Serra.

My favorite:

Zoe Leonard: You see I am here after all, 2008

It is a wall of  thousands postcards from the early 1900’s through the 1950’s, all depicting Niagara falls from several angles. Some are hand-tinted, others are photographs. They are grouped by view and it is fascinating to read some of the notes penned on the photo side of the cards, there are also postmarks and visible defects and wonderful differences between them.

So there you have it. Who knew? $10, $7 students and seniors.

Winter Hours:
November 13, 2009—April 12, 2010
Friday—Monday 11am-4pm
[closed Tuesday—Thursday]

The full spectrum of Philip Glass was on display Friday at the MCA. A remount of his collaboration with Lucinda Childs and Sol LeWitt framed his work as the uttermost in formal invention and rigorous intricacy, while his solo performance at the piano stripped that same mystique from his reputation leaving himself, the artist and individual, admirably available and unceremoniously human.

Philip Glass. Photo by Stewart Cohen.

At the bench, Glass’ familiar selections developed new existences influenced by the moment. Upon beginning a suite of eight of his Etudes, he introduced them as “studies of methods of playing.” The way this statement unfolded itself as his performance continued was profound. His readings shared meticulousness, ambition, abandon, humanity and humility. His compositions’ trademark trills were sometimes crystalline, sometimes fused by heat and age into miasmatic soundscapes. The second étude in evinced gravity acting on the muscles and bones of his arms as he’d raise them up, form tools, and release to visit their weight upon the keys; the second to last was by contrast pure and objective, an example of the technique his work sings with or without.

Metamorphosis 2 and the opening/closing of Glassworks, pieces that’ve become inescapable — especially in the concert dance realm — bookended the evening (I didn’t see him, but hope to God someone invited Alejandro Cerrudo). The breadth of both feeling and concept during his performance of each amazed and brought me back to what familiarity through recordings has dulled.

I’ve seen a lot of choreography to Glass this year, probably close to a dozen works, and Lucinda Childs’ DANCE (1979) is the only one that tries to meet literally what he explores sonically. The palette is extraordinarily limited: Dance I is a hypnotic wash of balancés, sautés, faillis, jétés and channés; Dance II a solo that wears the upstage-downstage center line into a grand canyon; and Dance III an ecstatic ensemble movement capitalizing on the open awakening built into every fouetté sauté. Caitlin Scranton, in the solo originated by Childs, brought her elongated frame into full service of proximally-initiated port de bras and sharp changes of spot. Whereas Childs on screen — projected from original footage — had her eyes to the floor and shot little of her formal research outward, Scranton looked out at a horizon thousands of miles away; not holding a creative stake in the process freed her up to simply perform the pure, mesmerizing movement.

Lucinda Childs' DANCE. Photo by Sally Cohn.

What I noticed also was how the horizontal phrases’ oscillations and undercurves foiled the tension of the often-visible gridded floor, plain white costumes, and frequent symmetry and unison. Each dancer’s head traced a path of shallow scallops as it crossed the stage; these curves were never literally drawn, but provided balance to DANCE’s surface severity. LeWitt’s film editing also becomes more playful as the piece progresses: a steady introduction of new visual concepts (split screens, a second or third horizontal plane, wandering close-ups) peels the viewing experience back and encourages a multitude of ways of looking on the live dancers. Still images, never a match to the picture at the height of a jump or precise moment of shape, also cut the relentlessness. They were pictures one might take trying to capture the “perfect” moment, ones that would be thrown out as failures. That we were never shown these “successes” subtly opened the concept of how DANCE watches itself, hitting as well as missing. Kudos to the conceptually-synchronized cast and executors of Beverly Emmons’ lighting design. What a wonderful experiment.

Dancers in Lucinda Childs’ Dance, photo by Sally Cohn

Last Tuesday evening, Lucinda Childs Dance returned to The Joyce Theater for a rare performance of Dance, a signature 1979 work that includes a score by Philip Glass and a filmed version of the piece by Sol LeWitt.  It was the main attraction on the program, and the sweeping performance proved why.  Two other more recent works were also performed – the 1993 ensemble work Concerto and the 2001 solo Largo, danced by Childs (who is 69) – but neither made a particularly lasting impact.  With the focus on the hour-long Dance, the performance was a beautiful, flowing, and haunting dialogue between past and present.

Two at a time, the dancers, all in white slacks and leotards, skimmed horizontally across the stage in a series of skips, turns, and low jumps.  The movement itself, which remained on one level throughout the work, was not nearly as striking as the dancers’ rhythmic quality and the driving force of Glass’s score that propelled them forward.  Layered on top of the dancers was LeWitt’s black and white film, making the work feel three-dimensional and historically richer.   The ghostly figures were projected onto the scrim at various sizes, so that in one moment they seemed to be dancing alongside the live dancers, and in another they loomed large over the entire stage, stretching from the floor to the ceiling.  They also framed the space in several ways: at one point the film was projected above the dancers, allowing the audience to simultaneously watch both live and filmed dancers.

The blending of archival footage with live dance brought up questions about authenticity.  For the audience, were the “originals” – the filmed dancers – more real than the live performers?  Or did the audience more closely relate to the live dancers because they were there, in the present, performing something more tangibly felt than the filmed footage?  Depending on how the performance was viewed, one was echoing the other and comparisons between the two were inevitable.  The live dancers were more technically trained, showing more stretch in their limbs, while the filmed dancers seemed to have a better understanding of the music’s propulsive energy.

The filmed image of Childs, and Caitlin Scranton on stage, photo by Sally Cohn

A giant-sized image of Childs appeared in the work’s second section, showing her severe beauty and ethereal movement quality as she danced on a grid while Caitlin Scranton performed on the Joyce’s stage.  In her performance of Largo, Childs showed the same poise and presence that she had thirty years ago, but she looked sadly brittle and stiff.

The third part of Dance was similar to the first, but it included more complex interactions between the live and filmed dancers that accumulated as the section progressed.  In the midst of the joyous, sweeping movement, one of the live dancers gazed upward at the filmed dancers performing overhead.  Perhaps she was acknowledging her predecessors, offering her performance to them as much as she was offering it to the audience.  Or maybe it was just coincidental that the filmed footage was hovering above her when she lifted her eyes.  In spite of the archival component of the piece, preserved and here to stay, performances of Dance will always be ephemeral.  The filmed dancers will remain ghosts, but as the cast of live dancers changes, so too with the live and filmed dancers’ interactions.  The documented past will continue to encounter an evolving present.

The empahasis on the form, with context, background and meaning taking secondary importance.

Was important in putting abstract art where it is; Clement Greenberg, art critic, was said to have said that form was the purest art of all, it gave huge oppurtunities to the American painters but unfortunately made sculpture a bit of a second class citizen.

Plato was seen to have started formalism, he saw work as a combination of forms (elements) which make an imitation to real life.

Clive Bell -aesthetician of formalism and a member of the Bloomsbury Group

Formalism is the idea that everything that is needed is in the piece of artwork, prior knowledge of context is irrelevant to the artwork. I see formalism as a crucial part to minmalism. Many of Sol Lewitt’s works are what I consider to be formalism, but Donald Judd, Eva Hesse and Dan Flavin. However it is seen that formalism was around much earlier, maybe emerging after the confusion of Impressionism. Paul Cezanne can be seen to be a formalist, painting with vivid brushstrokes which were interesting to view. Him and the other post-impressionists sort of developed into formalism. The Bloomsbury Group in England organised an exhibit of the works of post impressionists and Manet and essentially introduced Britain to what was happening across the channel. I see this as quite a crucial point in the development of British Art.

Donald Judd

Eva Hesse

Dan Flavin

Sol Lewitt

Also I really liked this one, kinda reminds me of Matt’s piece where he discussed the art of road painting

"Minimalism is born from a lack of passion for the things we do"

So I’m happy with that, makes me feel a little better about art in general.

A giant tiled wall of jewel-toned loops and curves — one of the last commissions by the Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt — was unveiled in the 59th Street-Columbus Circle subway station by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week. And while its title — “Whirls and Twirls (MTA)” — may sound more like an amusement park ride than an artwork, the eye-popping palette and monumental scale are bolder than most of the art in the subways, a surprising visual jolt for the estimated 69,000 commuters who use the station every day.   – NY TIMES
On a wall facing a double-wide stairway and landing at 60th Street that leads from the mezzanine to the A, B, C, D and 1 trains, “Whirls and Twirls” is made up of 250 porcelain tiles and covers a space 53 feet wide and 11 feet high.

While im not knocking the art of artist Sol Lewitt, I have a few issues with this piece. First and foremost, the city allocated 108 million dollars to give the city subways a face lift, couldnt they find a better way to spend some of that money?  The other thing is when people think of art and the mta the first thing that comes to peoples mind is graffiti so why isnt it ever acknoledged by the city. Again great piece of art just my opinion.

Efectivamente: Sol en el metro. Concretamente Sol LeWitt en el Metro de Nueva York (como si a Nueva York le hicieran falta muchos más argumentos para que nos muramos por una excusa que nos lleve para allí)

“Whirls and twirls” se llama la obra y, por si te animas a ir a buscarla, que sepas que vas a tener que pelearte con los 69.000 usuarios que cada día pasan por este punto de la estación de la 9th Street-Columbus Circle. Con ellos y con nuestra cochina envidia, claro…

Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Sculpture by Richard Serra. Photo by Anna Finke.

Today’s Windy City Times is packed with all kinds of fall arts preview magic. Head down to the corner and pick up a copy, click here to read it online, or park it and tap the read link.

—Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Sept. 25-27: Although he’s made some of the most important creations of the past few decades, Swedish choreographer Mats Ek’s dances have been all but absent from Chicago stages. That will change in a big way when Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ek’s wife Ana Laguna bring “Solo for Two” (1996) and “Place” (2007) to life for three performances at the Harris. That in itself would make the program a highlight of the year, but Mr. Baryshnikov has generously decided to also dance two solos while he’s in town—be advised that remaining tickets are going quickly. $55-75 at 312-334-7777 or www.harristheaterchicago.org

—Natya Dance Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, Sept. 26: Hema and Krithika Rajagopalan’s full-length Shakti Chakra—The Energy Cycle exemplifies the style of this Indian-American dance company and the Bharata Natyam technique at which it excels. $30 at 847-673-6300 or www.northshorecenter.org

—Nora Chipaumire with Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited, Museum of Contemporary Art, Oct. 1, 3-4: The MCA opens its wonderfully dance-heavy ‘09/10 season with the world premiere of lions will roar, swans will fly, angels will wrestle heaven, rains will break: gukurahundi. These exiled Zimbabwean artists—Chipaumire is a dancer and choreographer living in New York, while Chimurenga musician Mapfumo works out of Eugene, Oregon—seek to communicate and bring eloquence to the suffering plaguing their beloved homeland. $10-25 at 312-397-4010 or www.mcachicago.org

—Merce Cunningham Dance Company, The Dance Center of Columbia College, Oct. 1-3: Along with the loss of Pina Bausch in June, Merce Cunningham’s death in July saddened the performance world and sparked debate about how, in their absence, their art might live on. For the time being, MCDC retains its international touring commitments and thus will perform two programs at the intimate Dance Center theater as scheduled. Longtime fans of his genius and innovation will be there, and those who have never seen it live simply cannot miss it. $38 at 312-369-8330 or www.colum.edu/dancecenter Note: The word on Twitter is that this engagement is completely sold out.

—Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Oct. 1-4: Glenn Edgerton’s first season as artistic director opens with a world premiere by Jorma Elo, whose “From All Sides” the company débuted in 2007 and “Double Evil” San Francisco Ballet brought last fall. I’m a big fan of Elo’s movement: Liquid, precise and individualized, it looks like the world we live in. A hot new relationship between HSDC and the Art Institute is also worth keeping an eye on—once a month beginning Sept. 24, Hubbard Street’s dancers and staff will appear at the museum for a variety of events. Fall series tickets are $25-90 at 312-334-7777 or www.harristheaterchicago.org; visit hubbardstreetdance.com for more information.

—Links Hall 30th Anniversary Celebration: This storied space at 3435 N. Sheffield has barely had a day off since 1979—home to everything from workshops and rehearsals to dance, theater, music and cabaret, it offers its floor to a local and global network of artists from dawn to well past dusk. Great shows are on the venue’s calendar all season long, but Oct. 2-3 the grind will be put on hold for 30 consecutive hours of performance and partying. For a detailed schedule, call 773-281-0824 or visit linkshall.org

—Miami City Ballet, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Oct. 2-4: George Balanchine’s American reimagining of ballet has spawned a regiment of companies and each gives his legacy a different spin. Since 1985, Miami City Ballet have put the most daring and athletic aspects of his choreography up front. Artistic Director Edward Villella, the boxer who became a Balanchine star in the ’60s, has chosen “Symphony in Three Movements” and the earlier of two Valse Fantaisies to represent his mentor; extending the show in both historical directions are Swan Lake’s smoldering Black Swan Pas de Deux and Twyla Tharp’s “In the Upper Room.” $30-89 at 800-982-2787 or ticketmaster.com/auditorium

—Luna Negra Dance Theater, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Oct. 9-10: Live music from pianist and Ravinia CEO Welz Kauffman, singers Michelle Areyzaga and Paul Corona, and Grammy winners Turtle Island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera are just a few enticements to attend Luna Negra’s 10th Anniversary gala on Oct. 9; the other reason is this company’s stable of dancers and endless reserve of energy, which you can also see on a regular program the following night. Tickets are $25-55; visit www.harristheaterchicago.org or call 312-337-6882 for more information.

—Hedwig Dances: Also celebrating a birthday—its 25th—is Hedwig Dances, whose members are working in multiple media over the next few months with a two-day, free festival of dance cinema Oct. 13-14, an engagement at Links Hall Oct. 23-25, and the premiere of Artistic Director Jan Bartoszek’s film “Arch of Repose” at the Music Box Nov. 11. Pick up the details at hedwigdances.com

—Joffrey Ballet, Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University, Oct. 14-25: An evening-length Othello by Lar Lubovitch opens the Joffrey’s season with music by Eliot Goldenthal, an Oscar-winning composer who scored this summer’s Public Enemies. The ballet is receiving its Chicago premiere from the company—it originated at American Ballet Theatre in 1997—giving our balletomanes a chance to weigh in on Lubovitch’s polarizing depiction of Shakespeare’s Moor of Venice. $25-145 at 312-739-0120 and www.joffrey.com

—Lucinda Childs: DANCE, Museum of Contemporary Art, Oct. 15-17: The amazing complexity of this stage piece, which synchronizes a film by conceptual artist Sol LeWitt with live dancers visible through the scrim it’s projected upon, has been painstakingly rebuilt. It visits the MCA over a weekend also including its annual gala and a solo piano performance by Philip Glass, who created the score for DANCE’s 1979 premiere. $40; details at www.mcachicago.org

—Lucky Plush Productions, The Dance Center of Columbia College, Oct. 22-31: Choreographer Julia Rhoads is marking her multidisciplinary company’s first decade with a new work, Punk Yankees, which mines Lucky Plush’s rich repertory and research into the issues of authorship and authenticity erupting not just around dance, but all forms of art. Tickets are $24; call 312-369-8330 or visit www.colum.edu/dancecenter. Visit www.stealthisdance.com for more on the process behind the piece.

—Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Oct. 23-24: Philadelphia-based company Rennie Harris Puremovement is a beloved and critically-acclaimed group that consistently exercises the full potential of hip-hop dance theater. GJDC is originating a new work by Harris for its fall series, MOVE!, that will be presented alongside a broad variety of premieres and favorites. $15-60 at 312-334-7777 or www.harristheaterchicago.org

—Anna Halprin/Anne Collod & guests, MCA, Nov. 5, 7-8: Anna Halprin’s busy and beautiful Parades & Changes shocked and energized the New York dance world on which it dropped in 1965; Anne Collod is a French choreographer who for some time has been cherry-picking modern masterpieces to keep alive through meticulous reconstructions. Their cooperative revival parades & changes, replays is a project marrying past and present in the eternal spirit of creativity—don’t miss it. $25 at 312-397-4010 or www.mcachicago.org

—River North Chicago Dance Company, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Nov. 7: Yet another anniversary, River North’s 20th, kicks off with Artistic Director Frank Chaves’ repackaging of company calling card “Reality of a Dreamer” with Sherry Zunker, his former creative partner turned entertainment industry mastermind. Monique Haley’s unapologetically carefree (and lovely) “Uhuru” also returns, along with other works. $30-65 at www.harristheaterchicago.org or call 312-337-6882

—Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University, Nov. 14-15: Hubbard Street fans should take note of this New York troupe’s first Chicago appearance under Benoit-Swan Pouffer’s stewardship. Its generous and brave artists will bring work by Crystal Pite, Didy Veldman and Jo Stromgren—powerhouse dancemakers all—to the Auditorium’s vast stage.

These shows merely scratch the surface of all that’s going on this autumn. Some you’ll hear more about in future issues include:

—Peter Carpenter’s My Fellow Americans, Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater, Oct. 8-9 and 15-16

—Winifred Haun & Dancers, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Oct. 9-10

—Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, Alverno College, Milwaukee, Oct. 24

—Same Planet Different World Dance Theatre, Links Hall, Nov. 19-21

Quest’estate era così…

…in questi giorni invece è così…

…e a breve tornerà come nuova

Last summer I sat in church and watched a video of a man standing in a subway station playing the violin as over 90,000 people passed and only a few stopped to notice. With that video still graven in my mind it was very easy for me to be drawn to an article printed on Monday, September 14th about a beautiful piece of artwork called Whirls and twirls by the late Sol LeWitt that was unveiled in the 59th Street-Columbus Circle subway station last week.

The artwork shown on the left, will be seen by over 69,000 commuters daily and is hoped to really break the monotony of most public art in subway station. Being an article about art, I find it refreshing that the photos of the work that were printed were beautiful and well composed. Because of this, I have included several photos of Sol Lewitt’s work in other places. After all, you can talk about art as much as you want, but what really matters is what it looks like.

And having been a legit Manhattanite for a while, I think it my responsibility to proclaim my opinion on this new subway art inititative…

and I approve

The best gallery in the world

Dear Eva,

You seem the same as always, and being you, hate every minute of it. Don’t! Learn to say “Fuck You” to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, gasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, rumbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose sticking, ass-gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding grinding grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO!

From your description, and from what I know of your previous work and your ability, the work you are doing sounds very good. ‘Drawing — clean-clear but crazy like machines, larger, bolder, real nonsense.’ That sounds wonderful — real nonsense. Do more. More nonsensical, more crazy, more machines, more breasts, penises, cunts, whatever — make them abound with nonsense. Try and tickle something inside you, your ‘weird humor.’ You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you — draw and paint your fear and anxiety.  And stop worrying about big, deep things such as ‘to decide on a purpose and way of life, a consistent approach to even some impossible end or even an imagined end.’ You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO! [The DO's are drawn and decorated and very large.] I have much confidence in you and even though you are tormenting yourself, the work you do is very good. Try to do some BAD work. The worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell.  You are not responsible for the world — you are only responsible for your work, so do it. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be.  But if life would be easier for you if you stopped working then stop. Don’t punish yourself. However, I think that it is so deeply engrained in you that it would be easier to DO.

It seems I do understand your attitude somewhat, anyway, because I go through a similar process every so often. I have an “Agonizing Reappraisal” of my work and change everything as much as possible = and hate everything I’ve done, and try to do something entirely different and better. Maybe that kind of process is necessary to me, pushing me on and on. The feeling that I can do better than that shit I just did. Maybe you need your agony to accomplish what you do. And maybe it goads you on to do better. But it is very painful I know. It would be better if you had the confidence just to do the stuff and not even think about it. Can’t you leave the “world” and “ART” alone and also quit fondling your ego. I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty your mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that’s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I’m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don’t have to justify your work – not even to yourself. Well, you know I admire your work greatly and can’t understand why you are so bothered by it. But you can see the next ones and I can’t. You also must believe in your ability. I think you do. So try the most outrageous things you can – shock yourself. You have at your power the ability to do anything.

I would like to see your work and will have to be content to wait until Aug or Sept. I have seen photos of some of Tom’s new things at Lucy’s. They are impressive – especially the ones with the more rigorous form: the simpler ones. I guess he’ll send some more later on. Let me know how the shows are going and that kind of stuff.

My work had changed since you left and it is much better. I will be having a show May 4 -9 at the Daniels Gallery 17 E 64yh St (where Emmerich was), I wish you could be there. Much love to you both.

Sol

[Letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse, April 14, 1965.]

art by telephone is a conceptual art exhibition curated by chicago’s museum of contemporary art in 1968 that sadly never exhibited. the recordings of phone conversations (instructions) with artists such as sol lewitt, john baldessari, joseph kosuth, jan dibbets, hans haacke and bruce nauman, however, survived in the form of a record and lives on as documentations of a pure concept. listen to the entire recording at network research.