Thursday, November 26, 2009

JEFF WALL'S CONCRETE BALL

As you may be aware, I am not a fan of Jeff Wall's work and here is another classic example as to why and it just boggles my mind how he can be so successful.

Concrete ball 2002
Transparency in lightbox 2040 x 2600 mm
Private collection, Basel
Documentary photograph

Here is a quote from Tate Modern on Concrete Ball:
"Based on a found scene, the quietness of Concrete ball reveals Wall's attention to pictorial composition. The concern here is not to represent an event, but rather to depict a generic urban landscape, without specific qualities and devoid of any drama. The perspective is carefully calculated and the central element responds to the curve of the road. The large scale of the work, proportioned to the human body, evokes a sense of immersion in the scene."

Are you fucking kidding me?! This is complete and utter bullshit, void of any artistic merit. If I or any artist or photographer took a photo of this thing, even if it was composed better, and went to a gallery and said, "Hey, would you be interested in what I consider a real work of art?" they'd look at it and laugh in our faces. The only thing going for this is the fact that it has Jeff's name attached to it. A friend of mine said, "My [3-year-old] takes better pictures."

Hit the road, Jack!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:31 PM

    You clearly know "Jack" about art.

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  2. Kelsey Wagner11:13 AM

    "Based on a concrete ball, the quietness of Concrete ball reveals Wall's attention to well... a concrete ball. The concern here is not to represent an event or anything of interest whatsoever, but rather to depict a generic concrete ball, onto which horribly pretentious and wanking art reviewers can project. The perspective is not so carefully calculated unless you are willing to ignore several lines which fail to converge on a point of interest and the central element in no way responds to the curve of the road as there isn't one there... I mean, literally. I know where this is and there is no fucking road there. The large scale of the work, proportioned to the human body, evokes a sense of immersion in the scene but only if you squint your eyes and jiggle your head around like a fool."

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