Jessica Williams
Simple Gestures
May 13, 2008

     Simple Gestures basically consists of two works that represent the two opposing feelings I have concerning contemporary art practice and consumption. If I have learned anything from art school, it that it is no longer acceptable for the artist or image-maker to produce images--he must also be accountable for them how they relate to both each other and the world. This applies to images the artist creates as well as those he appropriates. Groundwork must be laid for discourse, or the artist must at least leave an opening for the viewer to enter the image or object.

     The two main works in the show are a book entitled Imperfect Archives and a project tentatively called Calendar. Imperfect Archives is almost exactly what it sounds like: it is an attempt to collect and assemble every single image that I have made during my four years at the Cooper Union. As the title implies, it is not perfect, but it is still an earnest (and at times almost embarrassingly personal) undertaking to give a physical form to my time here at the school. At over 300 pages, the book is inherently generous, yet the edition of the book is intentionally so small (only ten will be made) that no one person will be able to purchase a copy. On the other hand, Calendar is a much more modest work. The original idea behind the piece was that I would add something to it each day until it became so thick that it would physically represent the amount of time it took to create, like a calendar. However, as more and more things were added it and it became so heavy it almost was not able to support itself on the wall, the piece became less and less about the physical representation of time. Instead, it began to read as intentionally hiding one's process and the devaluation of production: Calendar contains everything from original drawings to prints, photographs, film stills, short stories, personal family documents, etc. Also, adding to its already fragile nature, the work is attached to the wall with four tiny precarious clips warning the viewer to keep his distance. On the floor beneath the work there is a large stack of posters depicting the many stages of the calendar's progression, free for the viewer to take away.

     In many ways the works are complete opposites: one is overwhelmingly generous, and the other is closed, even uptight. However, while it is impossible to own the Archive which one can freely see and consume, a key is available for free representing the Calendar which is impossible to see in its original form. These paradoxes of art production, exhibition, and consumption fascinate me. Outside of these two pieces the majority of my work deals more generally with making connections and finding relationships between things--formally, conceptually, emotionally, etc. Collage, drawing, photography, design, and performance all interest me as media to explore these relationships and I utilize all of them depending on the situation. In the case of this particular show, the favored medium is printed matter.