I Like America and America Likes Me

Yesterday I spent most of my day at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, where I followed around a group of young art lovers to see some of the art collection. They were a group of 5 year old Parisian youngins on a museum education program. I could not understand most of what they were saying but I did hear something like: "Le Coyote est d'essayer de le manger" - which I've come to translate as "the coyote is trying to eat him." I spent about a half an hour here in this video room sitting behind them as they tried to make sense of Joseph Beuys' conceptual performance "I like America and America Likes Me." They looooved it. Every minute of it. Who would of thought that when you put conceptual art in front of kids they would treat it like cartoons. Perhaps their responses were critiques; more than I could get out of my college students. You may be familiar with this performance, but in case you're not let me give you a little back ground. Before Joseph Beuys became a conceptual artist, he was a rear gunner in the German airforce. In the 1940's his plane was shot down near the Ukraine and what happened after became key in the development of his later artistic persona. He claimed that he was rescued from the plane crash by nomadic tribesmen, who had wrapped his injured body in animal fat and felt, which helped him recover. Although the German military claims to have rescued Beuys from the crash site and that there were no nomadic peoples around anywhere, this particular story or account of events according to Beuys became a powerful myth in his artistic career. (This kind of relates to that Gertrude Stein quote from a few days ago, no?)

In the performance, Beuys arrives in the U.S. for the first time ever for a performance at Rene Block Gallery in NYC, taken by ambulance from the airport, wrapped in felt, and dropped off at the gallery where a caged room with a coyote is waiting for him inside. He spent three days in this cage interacting with the coyote. Beuys would wrap himself in felt and the coyote would try to take it off of him by ripping it into shreds. Sometimes the coyote would pee on a stack of newspapers, sometimes Beuys was hanging out in a pile of hay on the corner staring at the coyote, other times the coyote would stare at him. At the end Beuys attempts to hug the coyote that has spent the last 3 days in this cage with him, and off he goes in an ambulance, wrapped in felt, back to the airport.

I watched a lot of people come in and out of the room with the usual face: 'what's this crazy guy doing and calling it art' kind of face. I think I myself had that face at times. But not these kids. They were patient and were holding out to see what transpired. They accepted it: There's a man and a coyote in the same room together... as simple as that- they didn't care how he got there or what his intentions were. This performance was in the early 70's, so Beuys was probably taking a position on the vietnam war or criticizing America's role. Supposedly in the performance he never "steps on american soil", which may support further that interpretation. The coyote has always been known as an aggressor or a symbol of aggressive behavior and may have symbolized "America" or "Americans".  Another interpretation was that the coyote could be a symbol of "Native Americans" or what we have done to this native land and its cultures. Coyotes are also very enduring animals and can live for long periods of time without much food and water, so perhaps there was a metaphor from his past. To me the piece was quite peaceful, his failed attempt to hug the coyote at the end of the performance was very endearing. And the title, well... it's pretty elementary and very relevant to the context in which I was watching. I've encountered this piece in art history classes and books before, but I never had a chance to see the whole thing. If you havn't either, I recommend watching it with kids around, its a lot more fun. Plus in the end I like their interpretation better: the coyote WAS trying to eat him.

Another cool show I went to yesterday was at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in the Montparnasse district of Paris. The artist is Beatriz Milhazes from Brazil: here is a picture from the outside of the foundation and it shows the large 30 foot vinyl drawings that they wouldn't let me take a picture of from inside. The show also consisted of these beautiful paintings.

These are hot - and theyre quite large. Some of the detailing is amazing. A little of that pull/push effect. Makes me want to paint larger. I'll come back to this center later on in the month because there's a "graffiti" exhibition going up and would like to share that too.

About my work: I also came upon a treasure today at this store in Montmartre called Tombes Du Camion, which I think translates to fallen from the truck.

Miniature sitting RED men. I think they're supposed to be polo players or jockeys, but they'll become more mister wister-like in no time.  I think they'll make it into this piece somehow.

Here they are sitting on my windowsill awaiting my next move. If my french neighbors across the courtyard didn't think I was weird before, well they do now...

Especially the old lady that watches me from the 3rd story window. Apparently Picasso's studio from his "Paris days" is next door, and we all know that guy was weird- so hopefully they're used to it. BTW - Someone in Paris stole a Picasso sketchbook from a Paris museum the other day worth some 64 million. I like when art makes the news. Did I mention Paris?