ok I take back what I’ve said about contemporary art. This is amazing.
THIS is what art is about. I bitch about modern art a lot but the problem I have is that most of it (and I've worked in a museum and been an art student) is bullshitting. It is only sometimes you get shit like this, that is 0% bullshit and 100% raw screaming emotion that is demanding you LISTEN and FEEL and CONFRONT. This is art. This is what art is about. Are you mad? Are you horrified? Are you uncomfortable? GOOD.
[Image description: a photo of the exhibit and the description.
The exhibit shows a plugged in white box fan enclosed in a clear box.
It is by John Boskovich (1956-2006) and titled “Electric Fan (Feel it Motherfuckers); Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate, 1997.” It is made from an electric fan encased in Plexiglas with vinyl faux etching and Plexiglas base with casters. It was a gift of the artist in memory of Stephen Earabino, 2000.12. The description says “Soon after the death of his lover Stephen Earabino from AIDS, Los Angeles conceptual artist Boskovich discovered that Earabino’s family had completely cleared out his apartment, including the artist’s possessions, save for the electric box fan in this work. An entire person, existence, and relationship had been erased, like so many were during the AIDS crisis. Boskovich encased the fan in Plexiglas as a kind of evidence and added cutouts to allow its circulated air to escape and be felt by the viewer, almost like an exhalation. In a sense restoring Earabino’s breath, at least as a facsimile in memoriam, Boskovich makes a tender and brokenhearted gesture toward some form of eternal life.”
End image description]
