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Towards a Better Existence,
2007 - 09, approximately 3,000 artist statements, 668 laser printed pages and sound.
2007 - 09, approximately 3,000 artist statements, 668 laser printed pages and sound.
A statement depending on its content gives the work a frame or base. Titles operate in a similar manner
providing directional clues. In a discussion with artist Liam Gillick, conceptual and language based artist
Lawrence Weiner made an astute and universal observation, “but we can’t judge anybody’s intent. We have to
take it for granted that each person making art has a benevolent approach towards it. That each revolution is
leading towards somebody’s aspiration towards a better existence. You’ve got to take that as a priori.”
For this project I needed an organizing parameter and noticed that artists who use a first person point of view
with the words I and my take responsibility for their ideas and artwork. Each sentence, extracted from the
original text causes the sentence to become part of a collective experience and more pronounced as it
operates outside a connected flow of ideas. In order to retain the anonymity of the artists their names and
titles of work are replaced with □ . The accompanying sound work was organized by using a grid with columns
and the location of I and my on each page, 69 different voices were assigned a column saying I and my.
providing directional clues. In a discussion with artist Liam Gillick, conceptual and language based artist
Lawrence Weiner made an astute and universal observation, “but we can’t judge anybody’s intent. We have to
take it for granted that each person making art has a benevolent approach towards it. That each revolution is
leading towards somebody’s aspiration towards a better existence. You’ve got to take that as a priori.”
For this project I needed an organizing parameter and noticed that artists who use a first person point of view
with the words I and my take responsibility for their ideas and artwork. Each sentence, extracted from the
original text causes the sentence to become part of a collective experience and more pronounced as it
operates outside a connected flow of ideas. In order to retain the anonymity of the artists their names and
titles of work are replaced with □ . The accompanying sound work was organized by using a grid with columns
and the location of I and my on each page, 69 different voices were assigned a column saying I and my.
The artist statement is one way for people who require or want their visual referent to communicate more.
The statement is a testament to the fact that art is conceptual and artists continue to explore their work beyond
its physical attributes. Inadvertently the artist statement is an attempt to take ownership and responsibility for
what they are trying to communicate.
Language is equally exploratory and perceptually challenging as any visual art. As semantics has shown,
words are highly abstract symbols, surrogates for objects and ideas. The interpretation of language,
depending on the information provided, is still susceptible to the same subjectivity as its visual counterpart.
Rooted in perception the principle behind art that serves any form of intellectual value is to provide new ways
to investigate and view the world. In the end, the visual paired with language helps clarify a person’s ideas
and identity, even if clarification reveals confusion, misdirection or a lack of knowledge. As minimal and
conceptual artist Robert Irwin stated, “no artist worth they’re weight in salt sets out to make a work of art that is
abstract.”
The intent of a statement clarifies and provides observers with a jumping off point, a guide to contextualize the
work in order to enter a specific discourse. Statements are an intent or expansion of the works appearance
and title. Art historians, theorists and critics convert images into text as a tool to communicate and investigate
the work and explore meaning. Carter Radcliff writes, “From ‘literarization’ follows the idea that art not only can
be but ought to be didactic. It must teach and, in a more active mode, investigate. The most aggressive form
of art-as-investigation is ‘institutional critique’, which examines the intramural politics of the art world.”
Arts’ ‘literarization’ removes a level of subjective interpretation and aligns itself with the structures of academic
curriculum. With a comparison between a work of art and its literal equivalent (the statement) comparisons
are the catalyst for academic evaluation. Early stages in artistic development are based on an understanding
of form, color, perspective, etc; evaluated through progress in visual literacy to deciphering objects as they
appear in the world. Emphasis in higher education shifts from these formal qualities to conceptual qualities
that are measurable by comparing ideas with intent. The statement becomes a tool of clarification for both the
maker and the observer.
What I find interesting is that even though an idea may originate as a vision it relies on language to rationalize
how it will be translated and presented. The statement is usually closer to the original concept and intent.
The physical artwork is something completely different, operating on different levels with different subjective
complexities. If the intent is positively progressive a collective aspiration towards a better existence is
revealed in each sentence.
The statement is a testament to the fact that art is conceptual and artists continue to explore their work beyond
its physical attributes. Inadvertently the artist statement is an attempt to take ownership and responsibility for
what they are trying to communicate.
Language is equally exploratory and perceptually challenging as any visual art. As semantics has shown,
words are highly abstract symbols, surrogates for objects and ideas. The interpretation of language,
depending on the information provided, is still susceptible to the same subjectivity as its visual counterpart.
Rooted in perception the principle behind art that serves any form of intellectual value is to provide new ways
to investigate and view the world. In the end, the visual paired with language helps clarify a person’s ideas
and identity, even if clarification reveals confusion, misdirection or a lack of knowledge. As minimal and
conceptual artist Robert Irwin stated, “no artist worth they’re weight in salt sets out to make a work of art that is
abstract.”
The intent of a statement clarifies and provides observers with a jumping off point, a guide to contextualize the
work in order to enter a specific discourse. Statements are an intent or expansion of the works appearance
and title. Art historians, theorists and critics convert images into text as a tool to communicate and investigate
the work and explore meaning. Carter Radcliff writes, “From ‘literarization’ follows the idea that art not only can
be but ought to be didactic. It must teach and, in a more active mode, investigate. The most aggressive form
of art-as-investigation is ‘institutional critique’, which examines the intramural politics of the art world.”
Arts’ ‘literarization’ removes a level of subjective interpretation and aligns itself with the structures of academic
curriculum. With a comparison between a work of art and its literal equivalent (the statement) comparisons
are the catalyst for academic evaluation. Early stages in artistic development are based on an understanding
of form, color, perspective, etc; evaluated through progress in visual literacy to deciphering objects as they
appear in the world. Emphasis in higher education shifts from these formal qualities to conceptual qualities
that are measurable by comparing ideas with intent. The statement becomes a tool of clarification for both the
maker and the observer.
What I find interesting is that even though an idea may originate as a vision it relies on language to rationalize
how it will be translated and presented. The statement is usually closer to the original concept and intent.
The physical artwork is something completely different, operating on different levels with different subjective
complexities. If the intent is positively progressive a collective aspiration towards a better existence is
revealed in each sentence.
Alternative display in two binders with speakers.
Charles Livingston Studio
| Selected Work |
