I went to see the Eva Hesse show at the Drawing Center on Friday. It is a fascinating show which offers a unique (but not so rare) look "behind the scenes" of the artwork (as it were). The show includes a number of sketchbooks and sketches of sculptural works. It even includes some sample sculptural works (experiments that she was doing with different materials and forms). Finally, there were many drawings that were part of larger series or layouts for other drawings.
I mentioned to my friend that how we, as contemporary artists are constantly aware of the potential of really anything we create maybe going on view some day. (Yes there is a lot of maybe and potentially in that statement). Anytime a contemporary artist is sketching, drawing, testing, etc, there is a tinge of someone looking over your shoulder. I wonder how this affects the output? I don't consciously think about it, but having seen so many retrospectives of artists in the not so distant past - Eva Hesse, Diane Arbus - and their sketchbooks, journals, tests on display, are resonating subconsciously. There's no longer a safe place out of site of peering eyes where freedom reigns.
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Especially now, when so many comments and musings are stored on the Internet...
Several years ago, The Harvard Lampoon had a funny parody of a freshman's diary. It was full of self-conscious musings about what her future biographers would think about what she was writing. I'll bet they didn't make it up.
Speaking of shows, i just got last week's newsletter from ArtInfo which includes their take on the top 10 Museums Shows in the U.S. Interesting that they included the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke…Not sure I agree with their top 10. Thoughts? http://www.artinfo.com/News/Article.aspx?a=18981&c=22
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