As I lie in bed tonight thinking of meaningful experiences I had in NYC this past semester, my mind keeps wondering back to the many Chelsea Market adventures I had with Alexander and one of my best friends, Mitch. Each time we drove to Chelsea we passed a puzzling billboard with an image of an unmade bed. Have you ever noticed these billboards and wondered what they are about? Well, they are part of a MoMA exhibition by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, which to my understanding intends to explore the connections between the private life and contemporary art, as well as the ways in which art can be extended beyond museum walls... Any insights?
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, (In Conjunction with MoMA's Project # 34, organized by Anne Umland,) 1991.
* To See Anne Umland's Essay on this work visit this link: http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2000/Torres/torres/umland.html
Aside from the inherent message that perhaps life is not always as clean as a "made bed" I think he is trying to explore the way in which modern society and even to an extent modern art (i.e. postsecret.com) has taken the privacy out of the "private" life. With postsecret, people divulge their innermost desires and personal secrets anonymously for the world to read. I think especially an unmade bed sort of emphasizes the "dirty" secrets we all hold in our private lives and the idea that the museum walls and art institutions in general may masquerade these dirty secrets and taboo subjects under the guise of high art. Taking it out of the institution changes the message.
ReplyDeleteJust some thoughts as I am stuck awake at 5am! Hope that Venice is turning out to be amazing...skype please
-Sam
I love how such a seemingly simple image can evoke so many different stories. I hope we don't lose altogether the art of storytelling in our culture. Not storytelling as a money-maker, but just a natural part of life.
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