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| Joe Sola, Studio Visit, 2005 |
It has been a while since I paid money for an art magazine. Heck, it has been awhile since the media loaf I test drive with coffee at Barnes & Noble has had but one. Immediately after art school I clocked out of the contemporary art world; institutional critique (funny-art-about-art) was my last stop. David Shrigley, Chris Burden, Maurizio Cattelan, and a more recent inductee thanks to A.S.E., Bill Drummond, all work with themes that, for better or worse, balance themselves on the tapered end of theory. In one Cattelan piece, the gallery owner himself was willing to be taped the wall of his own space – which he totally asked for by commissioning a Cattelan. Humorous and unfortunately relevant to the state of the arts establishment, yet this kind of work quickly wears on an individual who once felt art possessed some kind of spirit. They announce their own death, and if this is the only new art I take notice in, I thought back in 2004, it’s time to find a new medium.
It was the December 2011 ARTnews cover feature, “What’s So Funny” that got me back in the fold. More specifically, the Joe Sola’s Studio Visit from 2005.
Over a period of two years, Joe Sola invited art critics to his house on the premise of a studio visit. Shortly after introductions, he would spontaneously leap out of the fucking window. He did this 20 odd times, and not with complete abandon; he had trained as a stuntman prior to the performances.
I laughed out loud as I read this; okay, I'll jump.
It was the December 2011 ARTnews cover feature, “What’s So Funny” that got me back in the fold. More specifically, the Joe Sola’s Studio Visit from 2005.
Over a period of two years, Joe Sola invited art critics to his house on the premise of a studio visit. Shortly after introductions, he would spontaneously leap out of the fucking window. He did this 20 odd times, and not with complete abandon; he had trained as a stuntman prior to the performances.
I laughed out loud as I read this; okay, I'll jump.
