PREVIEW ART
i i . i I Paul leshltt. curator of
The Botanics ill
- M ' .:- t. i - . .. _. . e Edinburgh has been Shfln- ‘ “ i T T I . i listed fora National Art-
.~-.;...;:t,~ ~, - ~ A 5 Collections Fund Award.
‘s-----"*"
This prestigious accolade is given to live individuals who are not artists but who have made an outstanding contribution to the arts. Watch this space.
I the Anatomy of a
l Watertall is a
f collaboration between art
student Christopher
Dooks atld music student
Rebecca Rowe will take
place at the Reid Concert Hall. Bristo Square.
. Edinburgh. on Fri 23 Apr
lat 8pm. £3/£l.5().
I I Street Level Gallery
1-39"; will be holding a
'j Photography Fair on Sat
freak
Beatrice Colin met artist Douglas Gordon to discuss some very slow goings-on at Bates Motel.
‘That bastard Andy Warhol.‘ said the taxi driver. ‘Who's he trying to fool. That‘s no‘ art.‘ In the back seat sat Douglas Gordon. the 26-year-old artist. on his way to the Tramway where his show. 24 Hour Psycho is just about to
open. ‘Well actually: .. .nGordon The 40-minute murder by Douglas Bordon ' 34 Apr {mm mmnhpm. COUtdh t help him-“e” hay'ttg- . . So what is this? Guerrilla an tactics? it‘s really compelling. You think you :Here you can buy or sell a A few minutes later and the [am driver .A piece Of an addresses the people know h but when he Slowed down . when, of phememnhS was‘ot‘itrag‘ed. You slowed down who see in. mums Gordon. .Thc [here are millions of things ynuwe and photographic-related liliiiirisicaiidkhiiiiiish anaich pet’plc th the but aren‘t expeetthg to See nevef “inked before' his .‘Fry . ISntiperstars and it normally and let everyone away art- YOU re maybe getting I0 PCOPIC med'tat'Ve fulfil WPPOSc tt 5 “petting Millionaires is the title of home: Why indeed. who d never set tool m a gallery, up the possiblllty for abstract thought i an inuhmwd leenne h), you‘re taking the work of art out into a even With a film Wthh IS 21 mm- 2 author and director of ‘ , . . , different place.‘ abstract medium.‘ liducation at Christies. I m “at Pretehdmg It S Two pieces of text he has used are. , Robert Cummings. ()n anything other than a ‘vod can‘t hide your love forever‘ and ‘We’re 90s people, not 60s 3 Thurs o May at the Boyd slowed-down tilm.’ ‘1 Won‘t breath 21 word to anysmcf people and I do really believe ' 2:13:13l‘g';,tf;flf‘:fi;gn :cn:::::ng m the the aniSts Working he will tracetile influence 24 Hour Psycho may puzzle a lot of ambiguous. but that does force people at present_a'| 0'8! the world . ShdhlzgiigfEéfiiie'ezl‘bxur people. Is it pretentious? Is it [0 come up with a meaning very are "Why _to "nu new Bereheeh and other conceptual“? Is it am? ‘I'm not quickly rather than coming into a territories . . . ’ American collectors. pretending it‘s anything other than a gallery and thinking it‘s not wonh : £~t/£2. A glass of ‘wine slowed-down film.“ says Gordon. ‘lt‘s thinking about. it‘s just a stupid text. preveeanve and engaging this Will be served before the an because t say his art- A” is lust ‘1 The Words are the Samct 3” that‘s artwork is not as tangible as a piece of lemme m 5'30an definition that individuals make about different is the Situation-i sculpture or a painting but is an things. it doesn‘t say whether it‘s good Distt’rtthg the familiar and example of the multitude of different or had, ‘An‘ doesn't qualify anything] confounding expectations are central to directions contemporary an is taking. 1“ gettertes 3” (“er Euml’et Gmdt’h t5 Gordon‘s work' I" 24 Hour PSyChO' the Like his peers. however. Gordon is not . recognised as being good. Very good. film Wt” he Prt’leeted 0" tt’ 3 huge happy with the ‘conceptual’ tag thev After graduating from Glasgow School screen and the Viewer can walk around have been given. 1n the 603 and 70'S ' of Art. he spent two years at the Slade it and see it from both the front and the artists were doing [hingS huI there were , in London° Since the“ he has Sth in rcvcrsc‘ But is it by Douglas Gordon 0' no objects involved. the art didn‘t exist. w France. Germany. Italy and a“ over is it by Hitchcock? ‘Ycaht the film is by Inevitably people said the quality or the Britain. A piece in ‘SelfConscious Hitchcock.‘ he says. ‘But to me what‘s work depended on the duality of the State‘ at the Third Eye Centre in 1990 important is not what‘s going on on the idea so ~e0neentnnj an. grew as a term. v. it I- was simply a net of an the people he screen. The whole motive for using the New Ihere is a hie emnhnniS en 15 us or Could think of in a four—week period. classic horror film. the classic noir. thinking but I think people are trying [0 His most successful recent shows have is to seduce people in. What I'm doing find new territory. I” nm interesting tasty food included texts and telephone calls. ‘The is modifying the way people see to be neoconeeptual because that y ‘ Phone Calls happened t0 People When Something they think they know- territory has already been claimed. l they least expected it. They would be What‘s important is What's happening think people now are trying to work Try our mteresung Standing in a hat and are Called to the tnStdc people‘s heads" with ideas which will provoke a hOt dlSh. a piCCC or phone, When they answer it, it isn‘t The murder scene now lasts for 40 completely new debate and than. a l t i h Someone they khewt bet it Pteee 0f teXt mim’tcs and the car WhtCh Bates dumpS much bigger risk for an artist than to sit succu en qu C e is read out to them. The curators of the in a swamp takes 30 minutes to sink. hack on history We‘re 908 people. not with one Of our gallery choose the bar and then h's up Once you ve watched it for ten . ‘ 60$ neonlednd 1 d0 Ten“), heheve that scmulatmg Salads. to [he hanehder to plek people at minutes. it takes on a whole life of its the best 3mg“ working in present a” random who they know by name.‘ OWNC Claims Gordon. ‘lt‘s not boring. over the world are trying to find new a bOWl or 80111) With . . . . e . We}: ten‘itorles.‘ . _ ‘ _ bread. or just have . * So what about the taxr driver? What ls ' * it: _ his problem? ‘Andy Warhol. he‘s not a cup Of cone and a e . difficult but his material is so familiar piece of cake, 99“" that some people can‘t call it an.‘ Gordon says. “Conceptual artists‘ On Friday treat work is so unfamiliar that people find it hard to call it an. Nice landscapes and yourself to our portraits are easy to call art because special goumet we’ve been educated to see them as that.‘ soup-
At the Tramway. Douglas Gordon paid his fare and jumped out of the taxi. Mon-Sat 1
‘Aye. I might have a wee look. not that 7 Grassmarket I‘m saying it‘s an. mind.‘ said the taxi
driver.
24 Hour Psycho at The Tramway. Tel: -2 T \ 11am-7pm daily. Sat 24 Apr—23 May.
The List 23 April—6 May I993 51