Rauschenberg Redux
Plate 121: Nettle. His hands & feet, fingers & toes long-jointed, are astonishing; they certify his work. & the signature is nowhere to be seen. Or if you don't see it, mebbe you need glasses. When it's a question of losing yr eyesight the best thing to do is to find the best eye doctor (the best painter) he'll fix you up. I am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I'm doing.
Plate 22: Short Circuit. (He says—& is he speaking of technique?—"What do you want, a declaration of love? I take responsibility for competence & hope to have made something hazardous with which we can try ourselves.") He's like that butcher whose knife never got dull because he cut with it in such a way that it never encountered an obstacle. The thing is, we get the point more quickly when we realize it is we looking rather than that we may not be seeing it. And object is fact, not symbol. Technique is: how are the people?
Plate 101: Broadcast. Dante is an incentive, as useful as a chicken or an old shirt. More important is to know exactly the size of the door & techniques for getting a canvas out of the studio.
Plate 5: Elaine's Party. It was a New Year's Eve party in the country & one of them had written a philosophical book & was searching for a picture that would illustrate a particular point but was having difficulty. Another was knitting, following the rules from a book she had in front of her. The rest were talking, trying to be helpful. The suggestion was made that the picture in the knitting book would illustrate the point. On examination it was found that everything on the page was relevant, including the page number.
Plate 137: First Landing Jump. This is not a composition. It is a place where things are, like a table or a town seen from the air. Setting out one day for a birthday party, I noticed the streets were full of presents. The gifts he gives are things we already have. Were he saying something in particular, he would have to focus the painting; as it is he simply focuses himself & everything, a pair of socks, is appropriate.
Plate 153: Door. Mebbe because we've had it around for so long so close to us without putting it to use, which is its meaning.
Plate 107: Gift for Apollo. So somebody has talent? So what? Dime a dozen. And we're overpopulated. Actually we have more food than we have people we're willing to give it to, & more art. We've gotten to the point of burning food. When will we begin to burn our art?
Sources: John Cage, "On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, & His Work"; Robert Rauschenberg Combines (MOCA, LA exhibition catalog, Steidl 2005)
