I am attempting to perform the archetype of “Librarian” as the artist I want to be.
This project is one iteration of an on going project I am creating concerning the encyclopedia and its relative worth and uselessness. It is a text-based painting show, with a librarian included, for free.
PROJECT URL: http://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~jpollac2/encyclopedia/encyclopedia.html
Peer Reviews
1
Julia Pollack’s project “The Universal Standard Encyclopedia” suggests that the production of both art and knowledge can be reduced to an operational system involving creator(s), object/container, and viewer/reader. As a meditation on the inherently inaccessible “knowledge” embedded within a painting, it is interesting and an obvious fit for the show. However, for a piece so heavily invested in “systems”, Pollack’s own chain of command is murky and unrewarding. It is unclear what she would like viewers to take away from the piece (figuratively and literally.) The works viewable on her website present a surface treatment of the art/encyclopedia relationship, and are frankly boring as paintings. Pollack claims that “paintings do not plead, they command privilege with their lack of explanation”; I find that her direct use of encyclopedia pages and text has the curious effect of both over-explaining and failing to “present information” in a way that really explores the language of painting.
2
While the first reviewer presents a very well composed critique of this piece, leaning towards a rejection of its inclusion, I find that their critical comments actually point out the strengths of the project. The relationship between information (especially authoritative sources, such as encyclopedias) and ambiguity is rarely explored. By creating space for questioning the history of “authoritative” source materials and simultaneously the meaning of “art”, Pollack’s piece challenges information seekers to take a critical view of the underlying premises of these ideas. The interactive elements of the piece (i.e. the library tour) echo an environment familiar to researchers. Ambiguity underlies each aspect of the piece. Pollack highlights the tension between usefulness and authority through the re-purposing of objects and spaces.
