The 20x200 Newsletter : Edition Announcement #271 - Lawrence Weiner

http://www.20x200.com/email/edition-announcement-lawrence-weiner.html

http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2010/05/20x200-newsletter-edition-announcement.html

Wednesday Edition: LAWRENCE WEINER

HEAD OVER HEELS by LAWRENCE WEINER
10"x8" ($50) 20"x16" ($500) 30"x24" ($2000) 40"x30" ($5000)

[PLEASE NOTE PURCHASE LIMITS BELOW.]

What I'm really hoping is that today's edition—HEAD OVER HEELS—shows up in bars. You know, places like Fanelli's or the Scratcher or 288, or the spot up the street from your office where you grab a drink after work. Or ideally, somewhere in the West Village close enough to where Lawrence Weiner lives that he might stroll by and see it through the window. It should be in bars. Lots of them. Why? Because that's what Lawrence wants and if I've ever met a man who deserves to get what he wants, he's the one.

Why Lawrence wants this is what makes him kind of magical and amazing. You see, he figures that if it shows up in bars, it's likely to be seen by people who will experience it for what it is (or, rather, what they make of it) instead of being seen as a thing that was made by HIM. (We'll have to allow for a higher likelihood of positive IDs here among the erudite drinkers of the City of New York, but still!) This is what Lawrence wants with all of his work—for people to see it—LOTS of people, and for those people to make it their own.

I often talk about how much I love my job, almost to the extent that it sometimes feels like gloating. But it's hard not to yammer on about it when I've got a gig that involves an afternoon spent in the home and studio of Lawrence Weiner, surrounded by his art, and the art of his friends (think Ruscha, Sol LeWitt) and the people he holds dear—his wife Alice and a staff that seems like family. It's a home possessed with a serenity and peaceful happiness as to feel almost cult-like, except for the hints of playfulness that peek out unexpectedly at every turn. Its bones are drawn from the familiar vocabulary of contemporary architecture—there are industrial materials and clean lines—but they're punctuated by floors and ceilings painted in rich, strong hues. The three hours that Sara, Philae and I spent there were incredible. LW is so articulate and profound, it was tempting to scribble down nearly everything he said. (And this coming from someone who is a terrible notetaker!) But the most memorable moments conveniently connect to what Weiner was thinking when he created HEAD OVER HEELS.

Here's the thing to know about Weiner. He's kind of a socialist, in a way that reminds me of my born-of-Eastern-European-immigrants grandfather. As he says in the video I just linked to, he believes that everyone should have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs and an education—and that the state should provide it. But here's the thing—he's not a Marxist. He'd like to be, but in his lifetime—in our lifetime—we've witnessed its corruption and failure. And being a bohemian, a 60s conceptualist pioneer, a reader and a thinker makes it hard to cast your lot with God and angels.

Lawrence laid out these bookends before us simply and eloquently, and yes, we were hanging on his every word. He said "Where are we without either? All we want, all anyone wants, is to be a good person. But how?"

Having dispensed with Marx and angels, we're adrift—head over heels—trying to be good, trying to have heart. All anyone wants is to be a good person—but how? I've thought about that a lot since that day, and in thinking about it, have come to understand more what LW means when he says that he wants people to see this image as an icon, independent of him and art and the art world and everything else.

To be a good person is a practice; it requires constant effort and correction. It seems no mistake that there's a heart at the center of the icon Lawrence has created for us. It's something to meditate on and to anchor oneself to, something to go after, if you will and something to share with the world.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING PURCHASING LIMITS:

- We're limiting collectors to two 10"x8" prints each, and only one per collector for prints 20"x16" and larger.
- This edition is not eligible for any discount or promotion.
- We reserve the right to refund purchases if we determine that a single collector has acquired multiple prints or used a discount code.

Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/) http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/