Now My Butt Hurts
portrait of ross by felix gonzalez-torres
As I’ve gone on and on about this guy today, it’s easy to see why he’s one of my favorite conceptual artists.
At first glance it would appear to be the perfect parody of  contemporary art. “Why, it’s only a pile of candy!” Those more inclined  to actually interrogate it as a work of art might be more charitable.  They might interpret the color, the texture. They might realize how the  haphazard nature of the candy’s piling makes it’s final form mutable.  And if they were bold enough, they might take a piece of the candy and  eat it and enjoy it, and realize that this work of art gave the viewer  some sort of tactile reaction and sense manipulation that a Monet or  Martini or Mondrian couldn’t.
Ross was Gonzalez-Torres’s lover, who died of AIDS. When Ross was first diagnosed, his doctor told him his ideal weight was  155 pounds. Every day, the candy is weighed and 155 pounds is placed  out. Here the candy IS love/happiness/sweetness/togetherness. Visitors to the museum are encouraged to enjoy a piece. It’s a  giving, generous work of art; but with a dark edge; for as the candy  gradually diminishes it symbolizes Ross’s weight loss due to AIDS. However,  each morning the candy is weighed out and replenished,so that in this artwork (unlike life) Ross may live on forever.

portrait of ross by felix gonzalez-torres

As I’ve gone on and on about this guy today, it’s easy to see why he’s one of my favorite conceptual artists.

At first glance it would appear to be the perfect parody of contemporary art. “Why, it’s only a pile of candy!” Those more inclined to actually interrogate it as a work of art might be more charitable. They might interpret the color, the texture. They might realize how the haphazard nature of the candy’s piling makes it’s final form mutable. And if they were bold enough, they might take a piece of the candy and eat it and enjoy it, and realize that this work of art gave the viewer some sort of tactile reaction and sense manipulation that a Monet or Martini or Mondrian couldn’t.

Ross was Gonzalez-Torres’s lover, who died of AIDS. When Ross was first diagnosed, his doctor told him his ideal weight was 155 pounds. Every day, the candy is weighed and 155 pounds is placed out. Here the candy IS love/happiness/sweetness/togetherness. Visitors to the museum are encouraged to enjoy a piece. It’s a giving, generous work of art; but with a dark edge; for as the candy gradually diminishes it symbolizes Ross’s weight loss due to AIDS. However,  each morning the candy is weighed out and replenished,so that in this artwork (unlike life) Ross may live on forever.

  1. artificialisland reblogged this from whynotarose
  2. hagatha-christie reblogged this from oldshipsbones and added:
    Naw, girl. I cried when we talked about this in class and when we saw it at the Art Institute.
  3. oldshipsbones reblogged this from winterinwittenberg and added:
    this made me cry. is it my hormones or something else???
  4. asecretwonderland reblogged this from winterinwittenberg
  5. doedearohdeer reblogged this from whynotarose
  6. whynotarose reblogged this from winterinwittenberg
  7. sassafras-and-lemongrass reblogged this from winterinwittenberg
  8. winterinwittenberg reblogged this from nowmybutthurts and added:
    Feast exhibition. Go check
  9. cheap-papers reblogged this from shapeandcolour
  10. cheap-papers reblogged this from kittensandcakes
  11. 872005 reblogged this from nowmybutthurts
  12. bhr22mary reblogged this from nowmybutthurts
  13. bhr22mary reblogged this from nowmybutthurts
  14. orange-calories reblogged this from nowmybutthurts
  15. orange-calories reblogged this from nowmybutthurts
  16. pocketsizederi reblogged this from diamondcanopy
  17. spacepuppy reblogged this from diamondcanopy
  18. diamondcanopy reblogged this from heckyeaharthistory
  19. mikilofsouthern reblogged this from kittensandcakes
  20. kittensandcakes reblogged this from humbles and added:
    I saw this artwork when I was very young. I’ve always had a dim memory, of my parents taking me through a museum. Of...
  21. steezybeezy reblogged this from treee
blog comments powered by Disqus