Conversation Peace

Doesn’t the world have enough things standing as art?  What would it be like if we did away with craft and artifice and went directly to talking between one another where there is no creator or created but instead an exchange, a co-generation?  What if it became second nature to not only expect but to look forward to and make it the purpose of a visit, to be engaged directly in conversation about literally whatever it is one would like to talk about with others and so forth?  

I see a time when simply meeting with people at a designated site will be what we call a museum.  It will consist of simply sitting down in chairs opposite each other and talking to one another about anything desired.  We have a kind of scrim laid round this practice as that which may be too therapeutic in nature.  Perhaps there will be some quality of therapy involved, in fact, yes of course there will but more than that is all of the other dimensions and dynamics that lie in waiting within the generative and spontaneous quality of a conversations.  

We are not talking enough with each other.  And it is important to note that talks are not the same thing as conversations.  We always do these talks by artists and curators and so forth but this is just a continuation of the one-way interfacing of an art object.  We need a method for generating culture capital that directly engages people and I propose that conversation is this portal.  Artists, Curators, Directors and so forth should be present at fairs and museums to talk with the people who visit and on a regular basis and not just about the objects housed in the rooms provided but about life itself.  It is through an exchange of knowledge and experience directly among individuals that we will have a renewed understanding of creative potential and our place in a much larger social stratosphere.  

This is not a hard thing to do.  And beyond just aesthetic sensibilities it also provides a beautiful model for the environment as well as there is simply a verbal exchange between parties instead of materiality constructed and placed .  It is this type of interaction that summons what it is we do as we scour the internet for news, look for dates online and watch endless hours of television.  A real living presence is what we seek through these simulations.  This type of immediacy makes it ever relevant to enact these engagements.  The entire cache of knowledge from throughout a person’s life time and through any learning that has gone on is present with the parties taking place.  The living will in this way in interfaced with directly and most powerfully.  

Let’s begin to make nice, comfortable meeting places of our museums and even galleries.  Such outpost should be for idea sharing and exchange not presentation, not exhibition.  These are outdated notions.  That is like owning a computer and not being able to type on it.  Of course you want to engage.  We need to put an emphasis on this engagement for the art object as such has waned.  There is more waiting for us in direct engagement between one another through conversation.  We must make galleries and museums welcoming not only in its decor and set up for sit down conversations among other artists, curators and directors and just the art going public at large but also we need to set the tone for these endeavors that puts it in the heads and hearts of folks that the gallery and museum is a site for creation, it is a creative act that all people are involved with, that we are in a sense each artists and works of art ourselves.  

If we can do away with the art object in artistic production and in how we share art we will have a very special future ahead of us.  The historical development of art has lead us along this path and to this very unique place of contemplation in a world of so many things and stuff, products and production.  What could be even better is that this dynamic of setting up conversations will lead to an opportunity to listen to one another for a change while also getting a very imperative chance to express our voices in a place of meaning and social value.