I was asked today about the meaning behind this work...as you can imagine I could never answer such a question without allowing the time for at least a conversation...the prepared statement that sits on the window sill offers a general introduction to all of these works engaging phenomenology as a method for understanding notions of identity and meaning made available within the objects and surfaces we encounter...of course I avoided the question by asking what she thought the work was about..she was aware of a sense of narrative...of a particular story being told..or perhaps it was closer to poetry...of things being connected but retaining there own identity...to her the space it-self suggested the sparseness of poetry... the title also implied this...for her it was as though she was being told something but there was no definitive ending...as if this could end in a number of ways...or in fact it has no ending...the central box piece seemed to be about opposites..masculine and feminine..of divisions between opposites...the box assemblage pieces were self-portraits...and the upside down drawings on the wall represented the idea of seeing our own reflection in nature or in opposites...she thought it seemed to be revealing a lot of emotions or a certain idea yet it revealed nothing...it remained a puzzle...she found it frustrating for this reason..I'm afraid I didn't offer too much assistance apart from the thought that she was right to suggest that it had no ending...it remains a two way conversation that only ends when someone walks away...sp
I was asked today about the meaning behind this work...as you can imagine I could never answer such a question without allowing the time for at least a conversation...the prepared statement that sits on the window sill offers a general introduction to all of these works engaging phenomenology as a method for understanding notions of identity and meaning made available within the objects and surfaces we encounter...of course I avoided the question by asking what she thought the work was about..she was aware of a sense of narrative...of a particular story being told..or perhaps it was closer to poetry...of things being connected but retaining there own identity...to her the space it-self suggested the sparseness of poetry... the title also implied this...for her it was as though she was being told something but there was no definitive ending...as if this could end in a number of ways...or in fact it has no ending...the central box piece seemed to be about opposites..masculine and feminine..of divisions between opposites...the box assemblage pieces were self-portraits...and the upside down drawings on the wall represented the idea of seeing our own reflection in nature or in opposites...she thought it seemed to be revealing a lot of emotions or a certain idea yet it revealed nothing...it remained a puzzle...she found it frustrating for this reason..I'm afraid I didn't offer too much assistance apart from the thought that she was right to suggest that it had no ending...it remains a two way conversation that only ends when someone walks away...sp
Good question, good answers:) For me the meaning is what it evokes in me at that moment, as I cannot possibly know what it means to the artist. And it may mean something different next time I see it and in that way - it has no ending? Whatever it is, academia aside, I love the work:)
ReplyDeletei think (if she was sincere) that she gave your work a thorough looking and thinking about. whether it "resonates" or not. she looked. isn't that a very good thing?
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