Roger Hiorns in Conversation

Roger Hiorns in Conversation
(an entry on the A.I.C. blog)


The roof of the Modern Wing is a spectacular setting





As recorded here, when it first opened.

But what can compete with all that
late 20th C. Chicago architecture ?

Only things which, themselves,
are also out-sized and
perhaps a bit ridiculous.

Like the Scott Burton chairs,
or now the rusting mega-jet engines.

The Romantic side of me
enjoys seeing awesome ruins,
especially train wrecks
and tall buildings in demolition.

So I've got no problem with these giant, corroding engines
and am looking forward to whatever other crazy junk
the curator of contemporary art
wants to put up there.

But I do get annoyed
by the art talk
that inevitably must accompany it.

The "symbolic power of culturally “dominant” objects" ??

How thrilling to feel dominated!

And who better to explain that domination
than that cute, fey, blond young Brit, Roger Hiorns,
with his long, slender, delicate hands
fluttering in the air:






So, I think the video
is the best part of this installation
(and actually,
is the only part
that I'm going to see,
since I've seen
free standing jet engines
up close before)


But there is a dark side
to all this frivolity.

Because this is art
that despairs of our civilization
rather than attempting to improve it
(like the great artists of the past did,
or almost every blue collar worker
of today)

The only admirable artists
in the above video
are the skilled hard-hats
who delicately maneuver
the tons of art-junk into position.