#dustheads

Jean-Michel Basquiat Dustheads 1982

“Interpretation takes the sensory experience of the work of art for granted, and proceeds from there. This cannot be taken for granted, now. Think of the sheer multiplication of works of art available to every one of us, superadded to the conflicting tastes and odors and sights of the urban environment that bombard our senses. Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life–its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness– conjoin to dull our sensory faculties. […]

“What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.”