Drastic New Year hangovers, a postponed flight back to the British Isles, and way-too-overdue works signal, not a deep plunge to the nightmarish vision of professional mundanity, but a gleeful start of a new, daring and liberating chapter of life. But, where do SUPERSWEET end up? Just a few stops away from Elephant and Castle tube station. And, what are we doing there? Just standing, standing still and examining TRASH!
This pile of trash, to be more specific, is dumped into, and in effect, displayed in, a gargantuan glass bin situated in the main exhibition space of the South London Gallery. The project by acclaimed artist Michael Landy, who has, on several occasions, been involved in trashing and binning stuff, has attracted loads of kindergarten kids, art students, collector stupid enough to buy junk, wanna-be, but miserably failed artists, as well as high-profile dumpsters - we are talking Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst here. The ethics of this Art Bin is that "over the course of the exhibition people can discard art works in the bin to create what Landy describes as 'a monument to creative failure'". Indeed, this is a noble and a nobly green idea, isn’t it?
Kindergarten kids? Yes, if you read this article carefully, SS have mentioned “kindergarten kids” in the former paragraph. Enough nagging. As one loiters around the massive bin, one spots colour-splashed paper cups stashed together to resemble a honeycomb, a black helmet, a fluffily stuffed head of an unidentifiable mammal mascot, and the list goes on, until one spots a rather large painting of a skull onto which remain remnants of encrusted crystal. That was, you are absolutely right, Damien Hirst’s. After a whole trip round the bin, SUPERSWEET are very sad to inform our readers that most of the R.I.P. works at the SLG are infantile, bad beyond redemption.
Despite the visual mess, this Art Bin brings about some interesting questions on artistic production. In an instant, art works are taken out of the hygienic context of an art gallery, piled up in ways that desecrate any noble ideas behind them. But, what if they were once again nicely exhibited, hung in golden frames with a tiny tag for artistic self-justification? Would we take these discarded works a bit more seriously? Does the physical environment of an art gallery help add value to otherwise rubbish artworks? There seems a very, very fine line between (some) art and trash.
Conversely, as Landy still invites artists, collectors and enthusiasts to dump things into the bin, can we actually look at the bin as the art justifier? SLG announces:
Anyone can apply to dispose of art works at www.art-bin.co.uk. Until 14 March 2010 works can be brought to the SLG to be disposed of in “Art Bin” from Tuesday to Sunday, 12-6pm.
So, things that go into the bin, at the very least, have to be failed art. What is the majestic difference here? Can one really judge what is actually a failed creative work? Can we really differentiate between rubbish and failed art? The bin essentially, yet ironically, gives artistic significance, a nonchalant recognition to this cluster of doomed creativity by justifying that failed art is still art, that art finding its way into this Art Bin is still better than art that is thrown in just any bin. But, will this end up as a monument Landy hopes? SUPERSWEET are at the exhibition when the project is still at the nascent stage. That means, we will have to wait, perhaps contribute some of our failed, recycled artworks, and go check out the result.