Wade Guyton (b. 1972, USA)
Untitled, 2007

Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany / Visited 23/01/2020

I was struggling at first. Poorly printed photos or just some stripes or X:s on large canvases, overprinted pages ripped out from books and magazines. My art-recognition-organs were not attuned to take it in. What’s the point? Where is the appeal? Is it just extreme case of institutional critique?

I still don’t know for sure. But gradually it started growing on me. There is something in repetition of certain elements and methods, especially on a large scale or in large series. There is something in offering such a resistance to my otherwise pretty open-minded view of what can pass as “art”. There is also something in not making it easy for me as audience.

Yet, before I even noticed, I found myself borrowing some methods – like mixing digital and analogue techniques, overprinting pre-printed paper etc. I have not fully executed any of that as yet – but when I was preparing to, I happened to stumble onto a totally unexpected project based on scanned second hand books, Rererepresentations – so he has already affected my practice, before I even “figured him out”.