BINGE CULTURE
  • Home
  • Projects
  • About
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Contact

Bandwagon Column: Appreciation Anxiety at the City Gallery

20/11/2009

0 Comments

 
Picture
Appreciation Anxiety at the City Gallery

Ok, I like what they've done with this room, its fun. Its black and covered with thousands of yellow dots: no kidding, the walls, the floors, the big blow up shapes hanging from wires, the gallery attendant... 

No, hold on. The attendant is wearing normal black gallery clothes, and it kind of ruins the effect. She just stands there, 
not being part of it. A visitor asks her if it gets boring, standing in this spotty room all day.  She shrugs agreement, but says they rotate so its not so bad. The dots change. This explains the neutral clothing, I suppose. It'd be a hassle to have to change spots with every shift, but it does ruin the effect a little. 

I step into the spotty room and try to, you know, get amongst it. I glide between the globules, I unfocus my vision, I try standing on just the big spots. But that gallery attendant is 
right there. She's watching me, judging my experience. She's been around, she knows when the patrons are faking it, and I'm behaving like a spotty 14 year old. Its coming back again, the feeling I always get in these situations: acute appreciation anxiety. I get agitated, nervous, lose confidence. Am I getting anything out of this? Why can't I just relax and just have fun with all the dots? They must have taken someone hours to do, after all. The pressure of the ten dollar entry fee doesn't help- I hate it when its all built up and nothing fires. 

The gallery assistant is still in the same spot, and 
she has nothing to do but look at me. If she'd just go out for a while, give me some space, I could focus, get something fizzing.  For god's sake, its only art, nothing to be anxious about. Maybe I should have loosened up a bit beforehand, had a wine, got a bit high. I can't perform in front of a stranger.

I reckon I'll go home, find a small room, say a broom cupboard or the bathroom, and sticker the shit out of it myself. Then I can go in a
nd relax, have some tea, put some music on, get naked. Ten dollars will buy me a lot of dots.
-Ralph

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Scrapbook

    A place for putting writing and links. 

    Posts by Ralph unless otherwise noted.

    © Binge Culture Collective
    All rights reserved
     

    Archives

    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    June 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    RSS Feed

Official website of Binge Culture.
© 2021 Binge Culture Collective Limited.

  • Home
  • Projects
  • About
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Contact