"Get the Picture" by Bianca Bosker

I don’t often read non-fiction. God forbid that I actually learn something when I pick up a book. But I ordered a copy of “Get the Picture” by Bianca Bosker as soon as I heard about it. How could I not read a book written by a journalist who immersed herself in the contemporary art world to develop her “Eye.” I loved it.

I’ll say at the top that this is not a book for everyone. If you have no interest in art, stop reading now. But if you're interested in knowing more about what happens behind the scenes in the art world, this book is a must read. 

Bosker didn't just interview people in the art world for her book. Instead, she lived the life, working in various jobs over the course of two+ years -- all on the record. She "interned" at two different galleries. She worked as a studio assistant to Julie Curtiss, an artist whose paintings are beginning to be seen in museum shows. She even got a job as a guard at the Guggenheim. The hours were long, the demands were many, and the people were often, well, crazy -- or at least seem crazy to those outside their world. But you can tell from her words that she thoroughly enjoyed the process and (most of) the people she met along the way. 

"States of Mind" by Julie Curtiss

I often use post-its when I'm reading to tag language I enjoy or passages I might want to revisit. As you can see, my copy of "Get the Picture" has an abundance of post-its marking its pages. 

The most outrageous storyline involved Bosker's exploration of the world of performance art. In a nutshell, performance art is art created through actions by the artist and/or other participants. At least for me, it's often hard to appreciate as "art" rather than theater or dance. In fact, it's often hard to appreciate (full stop). 

But in for a penny, in for a pound. Bosker somehow ended up exploring performance art in the form of ass influencers. (Yes, you read that right. I surely did not know that was a thing.) And when Bosker gets into a subject, she gets into it. Her introduction to this world began with participation in a "live face sitting." Enough said. Reading about that experience was one of the many times I laughed out loud while reading this book. To Bosker's credit, she spent a good amount of time trying to understand the performer's intention behind her art form. (I'd say "unique" art form, but it turns out it's not.) FYI, the wanna-be ass influencer has an MFA from Columbia. Somebody else please read this book so we can discuss! 

Bianca Bosker

Bosker shares a lot of other crazy stuff about her time in the contemporary art world that made me laugh or shake my head. But there were also many times when I sat back and thought about an experience she'd had or her take on her new world. Like, for instance, when she talked about how spending extended time with a work of art deepened her understanding and appreciation of it. It's so easy to glance at a work, take a peek at the wall card to find out what you're seeing and move on, especially if the work doesn't speak to you or makes you uncomfortable.

I am personally quite guilty of taking this approach. I understand why I do it. I enjoy looking at works that immediately resonate with me. (I've been known to literally run across a gallery -- or past several booths at Art Basel -- when there's a work that I MUST SEE RIGHT NOW.) There never seems to be enough time to linger. I'm intellectually lazy and having to figure something out takes too much effort. Isn't there a docent around who can help me out???  But if I'm being honest, here's the biggest reason I pass by a lot of contemporary art -- looking at something I don't understand makes me feel dumb rather than curious. So it makes sense that I'd rather avert my eyes or at least cut to the chase and read the wall card before taking a good look. 

I'm publicly vowing to push myself in this regard, thanks to Bosker's words. To really look at at least one work of art each museum visit that I would have otherwise passed by. To give myself time. The world isn't going to end if I spend an additional five minutes doing some close looking. Bosker shared an approach that might make this process a bit easier. Note five things that come to mind when you look at the work. It doesn't have to be anything deep or smart. It could be a mood or a color. It could be a tiny detail that makes you smile. Keep looking past the point it's comfortable. Let the work open up to you. Then -- and only then -- look at the wall card for the description. But I (kind of) digress. Note: Bosker's words are a testament to the Slow Art Movement. While I was previously familiar with this approach, it somehow clicked when I read about Boker's experience as a museum guard. 

"Virgin" by Joseph Beuys (1979)

While working at the Guggenheim, one of Bosker's posts was near Joseph Beuys' "Virgin." She said she was "locked in a bitter feud" with the installation, finding it incomprehensible despite many 40 minute shifts looking at the work while making sure nobody sat in the chair or wiped the dust off the table. Then she began asking visitors what they saw. Their responses ranged from a Soviet investigation room to thoughts of a parent washing her kid's mouth out with soap. (The yellow object on the table is a bar of soap.)  "Virgin" -- and the other works Bosker spent time with -- suddenly became "portals to other places" as she gave herself the latitude to just respond to the work instead of feeling she had to see it in the same way as its creator did. How liberating. 

Bosker also wrote about the idea that beauty has become suspect in the contemporary art world. That's a topic in and of itself that I'm not going to get into here. But along the way she developed a broad definition of what she believes constitutes beauty. "Beauty ... doesn't have to have a physical form, and it certainly doesn't have to be something we agree on. Beauty is that moment your mind jumps the curb. Beauty is the instant you sit up and start paying attention. Whatever makes that happen for you can be beautiful. Math equations. Gymnastics. Planes Landing. But you have to be open to seeing it. Beauty doesn't find you. You create beauty by looking for it, and the moment you do find it, stop and pay attention." 

And on that note, I'm off to search for more beauty in my own world. I encourage you to do the same.