I spent time today cleaning up the living room and trying to get rid of stuff that I was saving for nostalgic reasons or things that would spark my memory.

Last fall, I went to the Dia Beacon with Mike and I learned of three artists that I really liked.

Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin, a minimalist/abstract expressionist artist had many pieces at the Dia consisting of very pale or white canvases with lines with slight variations of color, pattern, thickness, and texture. A single piece, I think, would not have impressed me, but the collection of works had me see an artist experimenting with how such simple works can evoke emotions or feelings. I had never heard of her before, so I am pleased to learn of her and her works.

Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt is an artist that I have experienced previously through his sculptural works, but I really enjoyed the works that he had at the Dia Beacon. One work was a series of cubes arranged in different combinations. I enjoyed the intellectual nature of the piece. The other works we didn't get to see since the gallery was not yet open, but we caught a glimpse through an opening into the gallery. It was a collection of wall drawings, some with mathematical attributes. This intrigued me immensely, both because of the intellectual exercise but also aesthetically they were gorgeous. Reading essays where he discusses Conceptualism, I really enjoyed some of his statements.

“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work." “All decisions are made beforehand, so execution becomes a perfunctory affair.”

I like the idea that "a work may exist in more than one place at any one time" and "the work is the idea—that is, the set of instructions (which take the form of a certificate and an accompanying diagram, held by the owner who purchases the “use of the idea”)". There are artists out there that I love the execution of their work and its extremely difficult to replicate (see Rembrandt) and then there are artists like Sol LeWitt where the execution is not as important as the ideas behind it. It tickles a part of my brain rarely tickled and I love it.

On Kawara
I had never heard of On Kawara before, but I liked his journalistic once-a-day art. It makes me think of Anais Nin. It's not like I think she's dead brilliant, but there's something about the dedication of making art constantly, having to do it every day about that day because it's a part of life, that I enjoy. It's not that other artists do not make art every day, but there's something intriguing to me about the everyday recording of life and the art-as-it-happens concepts. Art is Now and to record the Now is to make Art. This tickles a different bit of my brain. It's not intellectual. It's more a respect for the daily ritual and the dedication to it. This artwork isn't distant to me like others, it makes me feel like I can make Art too.