I have often criticized artists who hide behind “my work speaks for itself” or “it’s up to the viewer to interpret my work”. Nice try, but that’s bullshit.
Of course, anyone can interpret anything when exposed to an artwork! But the artist should at least make an attempt to explain the meaning behind a piece. No matter how self-explanatory (or obscure) it might be. It’s not “restricting the viewer”, it’s guiding; suggesting is not imposing.
INTERVIEW with JORGE CORTELL, curator
By Airida Rekštytė – November 4, 2016
According to your profound theoretical education (sic) it will not be difficult to present us in short your intentions for organizing this event.
When did the idea of making this exhibition occur and what inspired it?
I have spent years as activist defending free software and online privacy, and opposing censorship.
During a dinner with the director of an event that focuses on those themes (the Internet Freedom Festival, also known as Circumvention Festival), I told him how it would be a nice challenge to try to convey the main messages of the Festivals themes into an art exhibition.
The last couple of weeks in October I went to Valencia to attend the Digital Health Venture Forum, where I received the Best Presentation Award.
After spending a few days with my family and my Spanish team, and participating in an art installation by the SuperFlex collective on the 25th, I returned to London.
October 27 I went to the beautiful Oxford Science Park to have a couple of business meetings.
Saturday, September 17, was my last day in San Francisco, and the only one I had with some spare time.
After breakfast, I went to but some gifts from Japan Town and then headed to Union Square, for the Korean Day (Chuseok) culture festival.
Then I went to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to check out Tom Sachs _Space Program: Europa_. As I feared, after the failure of _Sony Outsider,_ Tom Sachs obsession with demonstrating his hand-made “bricolage style” continues.
On Saturday I went with my sister and brother-in-law on a day trip to my alma mater.
Although graduation ceremonies and hoards of tourists made it hard to move around and access temporarily closed buildings, it was a sunny day, and we enjoyed the walk, including a tour of Somerville and Magdalen Colleges, the Ashmolean Museum, a rehearsal for a concert at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, and the Bodleian Weston Library, where we saw the “Treasures: 24 pairs” exhibition and had a nice lunch.
On Thursday , on my way from an event to a meeting, I made two stops. The first one in Forbidden Planet.
Forbidden Planet is a comic store that I enjoyed tremendously while living in New York. While not exactly Tokyo’s Mandarake, Forbidden Planet had enough variety to make it interesting. What I did not know is that they had such a large store in London! It is a fun place full of comic (and non-comic) books, manga, merchandise, figures, posters…
Last week I was interviewed (as art curator) by the Meural team.
Each installment of their Deep Cuts series features a writer, artist, or curator discussing an underrated artist, artwork, movement, or museum.
In Episode 7: “Seriously playful” we discussed the work of one of my favorite artists: Claudio Zirotti.
Check it out!
https://sketchbook.meural.com/post/146606100974/deep-cuts-episode-7-seriously-playful
“ADLS50″ by Claudio Zirotti
