Lorne mailed me saying 'I'm surprised your not angry about this morally depraved art destruction'
-paraphrased
In reply I say:
I get it.
I am usually the hardest on art-injustice. I only meant the photographs were Rock and Roll ( a burning Burton is definately Rock and Roll). As far as the morality of burning someones art, you're right, I would be a tough cookie. If someone burnt a painting of mine, I may very well wrecklessly assult them or something as equally terrible, but Burton isn't a painting. The sculpture of Dan and Justin's is Paper Mache, an inherently ephemeral medium (paintings are made to be permanent {archival}, paper mache has a shelf life). Also I understood that (at least) Dan was aware of and condoned the idea of a Burton burning, and the only tragedy was he didn't get to witness it. I think Justin probably wasn't going to make room for it in his house, and Dan wasn't about to clear out a place in the "vault". Really, it may be the most ideal way to say goodbye to that massive pile of paper and combustibles. Especially when considering the quality of those photos. Another point to consider in this college-fraternity-type-prank (or performance art), was the honour given to Burton before his firey demise. At least the aledged culprits had the decency to take him on a thorough tour and document it. Maybe doing this in secrecy is part of the "fun". I hope Dan and Justin don't over react to this, and I hope you can see it is rather harmless. When you think of what has happened to alot of James "temporary " art ( Chickens, Tiki men etc)you can see why he would have thought this was a good idea. It is a way to immortalize the sculpture, without having to incase it in a temperature and humidity controled glass chamber. Alot of the time, memory does more for preservation than an actual object can. We tend to creatively embelish and make things better than merely just pointing to it saying "that's Burton". Instead of being a dusty space-taker, somewhere in the Label, this will be an excellent story, and something to fondly remember. It's still art!
A Love for Art was a collaborative blog for visual artists, musicians, writers, and social scientists. This blog has evolved into a new blog called BETA, go check it out!
9 comments:
Truly, men of action.
Rock and Roll!
Fire is a wonderful end
to things that began with so much
creativity
why not just light them up
and watch them smoke away
burt burnt bridge
fire
Right in the eyes if possible!
May this effigy of burton rest in peace, and may other chicken wire/papier mache abonimations follow, forever and ever, amen.
Lorne mailed me saying 'I'm surprised your not angry about this morally depraved art destruction'
-paraphrased
In reply I say:
I get it.
I am usually the hardest on art-injustice. I only meant the photographs were Rock and Roll ( a burning Burton is definately Rock and Roll). As far as the morality of burning someones art, you're right, I would be a tough cookie. If someone burnt a painting of mine, I may very well wrecklessly assult them or something as equally terrible, but Burton isn't a painting. The sculpture of Dan and Justin's is Paper Mache, an inherently ephemeral medium (paintings are made to be permanent {archival}, paper mache has a shelf life). Also I understood that (at least) Dan was aware of and condoned the idea of a Burton burning, and the only tragedy was he didn't get to witness it. I think Justin probably wasn't going to make room for it in his house, and Dan wasn't about to clear out a place in the "vault". Really, it may be the most ideal way to say goodbye to that massive pile of paper and combustibles. Especially when considering the quality of those photos. Another point to consider in this college-fraternity-type-prank (or performance art), was the honour given to Burton before his firey demise. At least the aledged culprits had the decency to take him on a thorough tour and document it. Maybe doing this in secrecy is part of the "fun". I hope Dan and Justin don't over react to this, and I hope you can see it is rather harmless. When you think of what has happened to alot of James "temporary " art ( Chickens, Tiki men etc)you can see why he would have thought this was a good idea. It is a way to immortalize the sculpture, without having to incase it in a temperature and humidity controled glass chamber. Alot of the time, memory does more for preservation than an actual object can. We tend to creatively embelish and make things better than merely just pointing to it saying "that's Burton". Instead of being a dusty space-taker, somewhere in the Label, this will be an excellent story, and something to fondly remember. It's still art!
Did anybody bother to keep his heart?
His heart is gone.
It isn't gone, it has merely changed forms.
Post a Comment