BECAUSE IS A SUPPORTING CONJUNCTION
and the title of Sophie Calle's new show at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco
By Piper H. Olivas
Why don't you open it up? |
23 Jan 2020 – 13 Mar 2020
“Because” is a supporting conjunction that introduces clauses of cause and reason. Perhaps Calle gave her show that title to leave the viewer wondering about cause and effect. Because of what, Sophie? Because you can? Because you should or shouldn’t? Sophie Calle is a character, as many would say. Full of original and fantastic ideas, and definitely not lacking a unique personality: Calle has hired detectives to follow her, stalked strangers all the way to different countries, and worked undercover as a maid in order to snoop. So, it’s clear, she’s no stranger to bizarre situations or issues of cause and effect...
I knew all this when I entered the Fraenkel Gallery to see her latest show. I expected the unexpected; was ready for the strange and eccentric. I was surprised to see kitschy colored felt curtains embroidered with gold writing hiding photographs: you only see them when you lift the felt up. This is the first choice among several: you have to lift the felt up. Maybe you ignore the text and go straight to the image, or maybe you read the text and then view the image, maybe you lift the felt up halfway, or not at all. It’s entirely up to you. Because of all the options Calle leaves to the viewer, it’s hard to create a linear story, or even muster up a connection between each piece; which is not necessarily bad, but also slightly unexpected for Calle’s work.
Always unexpected, always welcome |
Calle is creating work simply because she can. This mentality is an honest basis for the creation of art. Why does it have to be more than that? Who decided that all art had to have a definitive meaning? It’s clear the Calle has an extremely personal relationship with her work and wants us to, too. She merges her own personal experiences and feelings with her photographs and allows us to experience intimate moments in her life. By allowing us to touch the art, she is inviting us to experience something of her.
In Calle’s world touching, interacting, and investigating art is crucial to understanding or enjoying the work. As we enter a new era of online viewing, online gallery rooms, and living virtually, it’s hard to say if this work can even exist. If Calle’s show happened to have been pushed just one month forward, it would have been impossible for me to walk-in, sit with each piece, feel the felt on my fingers, and peek under the cloth at my own discretion. Coronavirus has taken art away from its sole purpose, a confrontation with a viewer, and reduced it to a flat cell phone screen. It’s nearly impossible to appreciate art as a tiny jpeg or even understand the qualities it may possess.
Is this how it felt looking at art? |
As coronavirus reaches its peak, we see artists struggling to make ends meet, exhibiting, selling their work, or even creating it in the first place. It may seem like an extreme example, but at the rate we are going forward with technology, it no longer seems like such an abstract concept that traditional art may cease to have such a cultural impact. The sense of community and support during this crisis is amazing, but that can’t make up for the loss of real-world encounters between artists and audiences. After all, there is nothing like being in a gallery space with work. So how can artists adapt to this?
Is this art or a confrontation? |
The unfortunate answer is, some can’t. Only time can tell us what the consequences of coronavirus may bring into the art community. For now, all we can do is wait, and find comfort in the community, or fondly remember when we all could go to a gallery such as Fraenkel Gallery, pull back some felt, and feel the presence of an artist such as Sophie Calle.
©Piper H. Olivas and the CCA Art Review
No comments:
Post a Comment