THE CITY
us visitors under control, assuring that it was all just an exhibit. Indeed I had been here before, but where was the candy? What distinguished P.S.1, however, was that unlike the school I am employed by, P.S.1 didn’t know when to stop. As I wandered deeper into Kathe Burkhart’s exhibit, I read sexually charged haikus that lined the walls to complement equally horrifying images of sexual violence. There are times when one should just walk out of an exhibit. Was this one of them? Wise friends have counseled me to avoid being too quick to judge the art world, suggesting I give it more of a chance. Just as a lab’s botched experiments are justified by the next medical breakthrough, so are we urged to show patience with art world experimentation; genius could be just around the corner. Furthermore, weren’t the greatest examples of modern art all bundled into Hitler’s 1937 “degenerate art” show? Not wishing to be Hitler, I pressed on.
I
availed myself of the iPod. Anticipating discouragement, I had loaded mine with artists’ statements from P.S.1’s well stocked website. Here was the chance for some explanation, but the program I listened to, a pretentiously delivered poetry reading, was nearly as obscene as the Burkhart exhibit. I skipped to the end, something about “kissing God good-bye.” Next on the audio offerings came the P.S.1 interview with up and coming artist Banks Violette. We all know about the art world obsession with taboo breaking. Consider the incestuous scenes explored by artists such as Eric Fischl and Paula Rego, who depict parents seducing children, children seducing parents. “What’s next?” a critic might ask in jest, “A solo show at the Whitney exploring ritual sacrifice to Satan?” Well, yes. I learned from the interview that Violette is a former Heavy Metal album artist, who after earning a Columbia University MFA, secured a solo show at the Whitney exploring crimes inspired by Satanism. The P.S.1 interview related Violette’s fascination with what happens when Metal fans lose their ability to be ironic, taking instruction to sacrifice virgins to “his horned majesty” and burn churches literally. “Every time that Metal advances itself is by moving away from irony, trying to make it more and more real,” he explained. While I would take issue with the verb “advance,” what Banks Violette said about Metal seemed also to go for contemporary art. I turned off the iPod. 100