Group Show: ‘I am a Scientist’
*Archive Article: Originally published in the magazine Blacklisted Copenhagen
Group exhibitions are kind of like the mix-tapes of the gallery industry.
They’re exploratory, conceptual, and usually provide something for everyone. Not every work you experience is guaranteed to be to your liking, but you can be assured that a tremendous amount of time and thought when into the selection and curation of the collection as a whole.
This was my experience of V1 Gallery’s latest group exhibition, ‘I am a Scientist,’ curated by the New York artist Sadie Laska. Out of the fourteen New York-based artists she chose to participate in the exhibition, some stood out as exceptional to my taste, and others failed to spark my interest. But such is the case with group exhibitions. It’s not for lack of adhering to a conceptual idea, from which I feel guest curator Sadie Laska has clearly defined in the sections of works display, but more out of a style preference. In other words, I don’t believe any of the works failed in their approach. I just found some more aesthetically pleasing than others—but such is art.
Laska’s conceptual framework for the exhibition refers to the song “I am a Scientist” from the indie-rock band Guided By Voices. In my opinion, this puts entirely too much burden on the personal interpretation of another group of artists’ work. Musicians are artists in their own right, and their songs are their medium. Therefore, I don’t see this as any different than, for example, curating a collection of work based on a person’s interpretation of the work of Basquiat, Kandinsky, Fairey, or whoever. I am not exactly sure when I stand on this, and in truth, it doesn’t detract from the outcome of the work, so my opinions on this are somewhat irrelevant.
Conceptually, the premise revolves around the examination and exploration of ‘Self’ – to quote the lyrics from the song by Guided by Voices, “I am a scientist. I seek to understand me.” I am not entirely sure what Laska’s framework and depth were behind approaching the artists and putting this collection of work together. The written description of the concept seems almost like a work of its own – as if trying to find its own lyrical and stylistic tonality rather than present itself as a pragmatic description of the concept.
With a concept as open as self-reflection or introspection, there was bound to be a lot of “blue-sky” interpretation from the artists creating the work – in other words, boundless and infinite. Yet that is one of the strengths that I found in the exhibition. The sheer scope of styles, methods, materials, and mediums used by the different artists almost gives the impression that there was zero curation, to begin with – and that’s the genius of it. It’s anti-curation.
Imagine trying to curate a collection of human beings based on what they each thought of themselves. An impossible task because the boundaries of our skin limit our consciousness. We cannot honestly share what we feel; we can only give an impression of it. We cannot truly experience what another feels; we can only try to decode what they have attempted to convey. Therefore, the criteria for curation would contain an infinite number of variables – and would look anti-curated for all intents and purposes.
Now I will admit that I am doing exactly what I just described and what Laska attempted with framing a concept around the work of Guided by Voices—trying to use my cognitive abilities – which are limited by my human being and my own experiences – to form a description of another person’s attempted description of themselves. And that is some heavy shit to ponder.
I suppose one could follow this train of thought to define anything written that aims to “describe” another person’s thoughts, concepts, ethics, morals, or ideals. This makes this article an utterly pointless collection of words.
In retrospect, having come to the end of my reflection on Laska’s exhibition, I would suggest that you consider the last 2 minutes spent reading this article a completely wasted effort and simply go down to V1 and experience the work yourself. Define your descriptions and interpretations of the profession because that is the best we can do in the end.
