Art Lies, Volume 1, March 1994 Page: 22
23 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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22
The Name of the Game cont. from pg. 19
A quarter century before the first Superbowl,
Walter Benjamin observed, "It is inherent in the
technique of the film as well as that of sports that
everybody who witnesses its accomplishments is
somewhat of an expert ... the newsreel offers
everyone the opportunity to rise from passer-by
to movie extra."1 The superior perspective
belongs to the spectator. When you watch a
football game on television, you are there, you
see the play unfold for you, you live every
moment from every perspective: reverse-angle
super slo-mo-you make the call.
Indifference & Truth
The true spectacle begins the very second the
play ends. The end of the action marks the
beginning of the play of images. Repeating each
scene, again and again, the spectator assumes a
command of each moment, of each gesture, each
decision, that no hapless player or artist,
ensconced in the finitude of the real, could ever
match. The play's the thing, perhaps, but not
until it is whistled dead. Only then, during the
replay, can the viewer begin to dissect the truth
of the event, of the work,- what should have
happened, what we should have seen, what couldhave been. "Its pastness is its truth." The event,
the artifact, the game-footage only becomes
truth when we enter it, reconstruct it, replay it,
shape it into our own victory or defeat, our own
masterpiece or banal excess. Should not our
judgment proceed through inspiration, as much
as creativity or talent do? This is our freedom -
our freedom to pronounce, to decry, and to err.
"One must not be in the least prepossessed in
favor of the real existence of the thing, but must
preserve complete indifference in this respect, in
order to play the part of judge in matters of
taste."2 We come to play the part of judges. Let
us begin again, then, with a vow: we promise to
be indifferent to what art really is, whatever it is,
and to be indifferent to nothing else. And thus let
us henceforth present this indifference, for all to
consume and dissect and judge, under the false
title of art.*
1 Walter Bejamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction." In: Illuminations, tr.
Harry Zohn (New York: Schocken, 1969), 231.
2 J. Derrida, The Truth in Painting, p.45Camapalooza Cont. from pg. 13
The art-scene recognition heavy-weight of the
show, Nic Nicosia, offers the same sublime
narrative images seen earlier this past year at
Texas Gallery. Having also shown at the
1992 Documenta IX, Nicosia (who lives and
works in Dallas) is simply treading water in
this show.
As you are exiting the show through the
"chute," you can see The Stuff of Life (1993)
by Eric Avery. This piece looks like a fun-
time jazzy spacescape. If you have been
attentive throughout this "gray world" of
death and dying, and if you know the
appearance of a blood smear under a
microscope, and if you know what the HIV
virus looks like in 3-D, then Avery's wallpaper
linocut print-installation wraps up T/BTW in
a most obvious fashion. In fact, this repetitive
print, collaged onto a pyramid tent, says it all,
with brazen printmaker bravado. This is
STATEMENT ART at its highest, with 38
HIV spheres suspended over your head,
acting up. And yes, it's preachy.
An exhibition to become lost in (or between),
T/BTW says more about human frailties than
it may even want to admit.*Jane Hinton, 1992, Pittsburgh Bridges, silver gelatin print
AMY BLAKEMORE AND JANE HINTON
MARCH 9 - APRIL 14, 1994
Amy Blakerrore 1992,Girl in hedge, silver gelatin print
IN M A N GALLER Y 1114 BARKDULL HOUSTON, TEXAS 77006
(713) 529-9676 in the Museum District
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Carroll, Don. Art Lies, Volume 1, March 1994, periodical, March 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228034/m1/22/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .