Writing about the art world and extracting some coherent thoughts of artists is difficult. But Burn is able to do so with ease. How so? It could be the fact that he has been writing about art for a long time or perhaps as it was stated that he was "very chummy" with many of the so-called Young British Artists whose lives and work are the focus of about half of this book. Artsist such as Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread and Tracey Emin would send him notes on postcards, it could have been for publicity. Sadly, Burns is not here to answers these queries himself, however there are many references throughout.What is so appealing about this book is that he manages to capture succintcly interviews with David Hockney from 1971, Gilbert and George from 1973 but to name a few. He is a true interviewer by not interpreting what he thinks the artist is saying. He acknowledges the importance of the dealers and the collectors, so that we have a complete picture of the 'Art World'. Burn also picks up on the hostility of some people towards conceptual art. One good answer he gets is from the scultptor Richard Wentworth: "I think people are threatened when commonplace things are used in art because they are very bad at acknowledging the spiritual value they invest in commonplace things . . . [and] are very bad at accommodating the fact that meaning is migrating in everything all the time."
The point the book makes is whether you an artist, art teacher, student or Joe Blog art has penetrated the public consciousness, and this book is an essential read.
No comments:
Post a Comment