Projet Complot

So, I've been invited (long story) to participate in an art show here in Mtl-- it will be at Art Mur this spring, and involves six artists who use text in their work, and six writers--

As the title suggests, it's a 'complot'; a plot or collaboration-- myself and one artist (Remi Cosnier) will collaborate on a project in which my writing about his art is translated and incorporated into the final product--

For the project website, here is a translation that's been done by Alexandre Payer, of part of an article I did for the Free Press last October about Andy Warhol. First time I've been translated, I think.

http://www.projetcomplot.net/ (This year's stuff isn't up yet, but will be soon...)

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From his almost cheerful screenprints of electric chairs and car crashes, to his purple Mao Tse-Tungs, Andy Warhol looked for art in the both grotesque and the banal of the modern world--from New York City advertising to disaster photographs to Chinese propaganda.
So in that sense, we could see Warhol as a trailblazer. These days, in everything from Eminem rapping about what it's like to be famous for rapping about being famous, to Paris Hilton's courting of the paparazzi, modern celebrity culture and how we think about it has been hugely influenced by Warhol.
And yet, as Cliff Eyland and others have pointed out, while he may be celebrated, Warhol matches few people's definition a "great" artist. Even some of his peers within the Pop Art movement equal or pass Warhol both in their technical skill and in their cultural insight, but something still sets him apart from his contemporaries.
On the one hand, his lifelong pursuit of fame paid off, and allowed him to tap into and comment on that peculiar aspect of celebrity--the idea that, once you're famous, and because you're famous, every mundane detail of your life takes on a fascinating significance. Like an episode of Seinfeld, most of his videos were quite deliberately about nothing at all. Here's an artist, they say, having a bite to eat. The question of whether that means anything, or whether it even needs to mean anything, was something Warhol seldom chose to talk about.
So whether or not the art itself merits the attention it's paid, Warhol undoubtedly mastered the business of art, and became the ultimate 20th century icon--the artist himself as a brand, or as a commercial product.

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Depuis ses sérigraphies presque gaies de chaises électriques et d’accidents de voitures, jusqu’à ses Mao Tse-Toung violets, Andy Warhol a toujours puisé son art dans le grotesque et le banal du monde moderne: Publicité new-yorkaise, photographies de cataclysmes, propagande chinoise.
En ce sens, nous pouvons considérer Warhol comme un pionnier. Aujourd’hui, entre Eminem qui rappe à propos de la célébrité qu’il a acquise en rappant à propos de la célébrité et Paris Hilton qui courtise les paparazzi, la culture moderne de la célébrité et notre manière de la concevoir se voient fortement influencées par la pensée Warholienne.
Et pourtant, comme l’a fait remarquer Cliff Eyland, s’il est souvent exalté, Warhol ne répond que rarement à l’idée que les gens se font d’un « grand » artiste. En effet, plusieurs de ses pairs adhérant au Pop Art l’égalent ou le surpassent autant en ce qui attrait à l’habilité technique qu’à la acuité de sa vision de la culture. Alors qu’est ce qui le fait autant se démarquer de ses contemporains?
D’une part, sa poursuite constante de la renommée a porté fruits, lui permettant autant de profiter que de commenter sur cet aspect particulier de la célébrité, soit l’idée voulant qu’une personne célèbre précisément parce que cette personne est célèbre voit tous les détails triviaux de son existence devenir objet de fascination populaire.
Comme un épisode de la série américaine Seinfeld, la plupart de ses vidéos n’ont volontairement aucun propos. Voilà un artiste, disent-ils, cassant la croûte. Qu’est-ce que cela signifie? Est-ce qu’aborder cette pièce sous l’angle de la signification est même pertinent? Warhol pour toute réponse reste muet.
Que l’art mérite l’attention qu’on lui consacre ou pas, Warhol a incontestablement maîtrisé son commerce pour devenir l’icône ultime du XXème siècle : L’artiste comme marque de fabrique, comme produit de consommation.

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