Robert Rauschenberg, or, Another Man's Porn is Another Man's Treasure
We went to the Broad Contemporary on it's opening weekend. Nice space, but the collection felt like a K-Tel compilation of Modern Art Classic Hits.
Anyway, they have a few pieces of Robert Rauschenberg's work. I looked it over for a long time, fascinated. The work stayed with me long after, so much so that I had to write about it in a journal, which is unheard of for me, as proven by the fact that there I have only three journal entries total, one of which is a picture of a friend I turned into a LOLCats portrait.
First I wrote about his work, which I then tied into a personal story about a dead relative. I don't claim to be a critic, nor do I expect it to make a ton of sense, or shatter what you know about art, but I gave it a shot, and tried to make it personal. Out of respect for the artist's passing today, I'll risk the embarrassment. This is what I wrote on March 8th of this year.
Something in all that junk thrown away - heavy with meaning, but not speaking to a greater theme. Maybe that's wrong; it's memory, loss, personal resonance, history. Each piece has it's own story, every newspaper clipping, every bird, every photograph, plank of wood. Lost lives, lives lost, into dust. Names passed, names not big enough for the obit page in the New York Times, but others people; people in line behind you at the supermarket, the couple you heard arguing in the apartment upstairs, the old man waiting for a bus, stooped over, bundled for warmth. They all pass away, and they leave stuff behind. Stuff they've accumulated throughout their lives, papers, silverware, photos, luggage, clothes, books, ashtrays, shoes, magazines. Families are left to go through this stuff and do something with it, and most of it gets thrown away. And some gets turned into art.
We were cleaning out my uncle's apartment after he died. My uncle had the ashes of a friend who had died. We all looked at each other; what the hell do we do with this? We couldn't throw it out. my other uncle had a look on his face like it was serious bad luck to toss away someone's ashes. We all agreed with him. Then my mother found his pornography, the theme of which was African-American females. We exchanged a look, and then proceeded to excavate as clinically and quickly as possible. I could have made a ghetto Rauschenberg.
Hey, Remember the santeria alter? Ollie did sign of the cross before he began the dismantling. Ten years later I hired Felix, my santero, to do a special ceremony to give peace to your uncle. Who knew that a ceremony was needed. I like reading about who you are...I mean the things you love. the big one is near....have no fear.
Favorite Bands:
Dead Meadow, The Dirtbombs, White Denim, Tetsu Inoue, Air, Stereolab, Guided By Voices, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Pink Floyd, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Funkadelic, Beatles, Clash, XTC, Scott Walker
Favorite Films:
Rushmore, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Touch Of Evil, Straw Dogs, 8 1/2, L'Avventura, The Third Man, Mike and Nicky
Favorite Books:
Dictionary, Lester Bangs, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hunter Thompson, Lawrence Durrell, and J.D. Salinger, because no one gets the nervous breakdown like he does.
Favorite Video Games:
What? I'm a grown man, I don't, oh fine - Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Pro Evo Soccer
Favorite TV Shows:
Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Friday Night Lights
Favorite Hang Outs:
The Venice Grind, The Rumor Mill, The Spot
Favorite Artists:
Rodney Graham, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy DeCarava
Affiliations:
Guiness is Good For You!
Heroes:
Colonel Chuck Yeager, Evil Knievel, The Bionic Man, Captain Kirk, Bond, James Bond, The Ramones, Muhammad Ali, John Cassavetes, Tenzig Norgay (I refer to myself as the Tenzig Norgay of my family, meaning, I do all the heavy lifting), Reggie Jackson
5 Items I Can't Live Without:
Jeans, Plain black t-shirts, Laptop, Caffeine, Soccer
I Want to Party With:
I'm too tired! Okay, okay - George Clooney.
Dusty Groove America
The finest record store there is, and do not let my use of the outdated term "record store" dissuade you from visiting, jive turkey.
Muxtape
Simple. Brilliant. Too Much Fun. The mixtape lives!
Remember the santeria alter? Ollie did sign of the cross before he began the dismantling. Ten years later I hired Felix, my santero, to do a special ceremony to give peace to your uncle. Who knew that a ceremony was needed. I like reading about who you are...I mean the things you love. the big one is near....have no fear.