Narrative Art. Groningen; 7.10. - 5.1.79.

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100 S. mit zahlr. Abb.; kart. Gutes Ex.; Einband berieben. - The narrative content of the works is always regarded as the common basis of narrative art. Liesbeth Brandt Corstius, in her article "Art is where you find it, a story about 'narrative arf "(4), compiled an inventory - little fantasies, fables, fairy-tales, events from (one's own) everyday life in the present or past, the history of culture, architecture or ethnology; and Margarethe Jochimsen dealt with the way in which text-photograph syntheses are produced in her article on "Story Art" as early as 1973 (5). In her opinion genuine synthesis never occurs: the photograph does not illustrate the text, nor, vice versa, do the texts explain the photographs. Usually, photographs merely incite artists to make a story. The texts do not proceed from any scientific argument in terms of "if this is so, then we must conclude that.". They can be better compared with "jellied" processes: thought processes about a course of events, memories, experiences, emotions, dreams, daydreams, ideas, adventures, fantasies, suggestions, analogies, associations, advice on superstitions or prejudices. Since the emphasis is on neither the photograph nor the texts, the viewer/reader must swing back and forth between them in search of the gist. In her last article in Kunstforum, Margarethe Jochimsen called this process "irritating fluctuations", and in the same journal Georg Jappe coined a phrase reminiscent of the Mannerist period in Italy: "Fixation as Vexation and vice versa" (6). Forms of non-art can have a similar effect: television pictures in which the commentary is out of step (asynchronous), or newspaper photographs with captions referring to something quite different, or advertisements with highly surprising supporting texts. This is usually less obvious to the "consumer". John Berger, the art critic who is constantly bridging the gap between art and visual communication, is astounded at the naivete with which photographs (or TV pictures) are generally regarded as veritable proof of reality. He is afraid that this makes it very easy for photographs to be used against us as ideological weapons, and he sees a need for us to familiarize ourselves with photography as a weapon which can be used against our will (7). Artists like Bill Beckley and Jean Le Gac share this opinion. "This is no coincidence", Bill Beckley wrote, "because I've spent a lot of time in subway stations, waiting for the train among the adverts. Although I travel by bus nowadays, I still read magazines. Most of the adverts consist of a combination of text and pictures. Commercial techniques have probably innovated the medium of photography more than traditional photographic art. The only difference between my work and commercial photography is that it is important to the latter whether the message is a lie, and not to my work". This last remark seems a little questionable. After all, there is no mean significance in Beckley's work in the connection between photograph and text being a fiction, otherwise the viewer/reader would not be lured into the intentional traps. On the other hand, he means that in the end the advertisement or newspaper photograph have a commercial product or political message up their sleeve, whereas in Beckley's traps we are meant to become aware of the techniques he uses, the aim being for us to see through such dangerous manipulations better in future. This morsel of pedagogy cannot be ignored in the intention of narrative art. … (Antje von Graevenitz) // THE TURTLE AND THE HARE, 1974 - veertien zwart-wit foto's - ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE, SUGAR IS - SWEET, SO ARE YOU, 1974 - drie kleurenfoto's - THE RADISHES, 1975 - een zwart-wit foto en tekst, op karton - nr 1/13 - l.o. gesigneerd, gedateerd - FIRST SEXUAL INTERCOURSE PIECE, 1975 - een kleurenfoto, een zwart-wit foto en een tekst - 59,5 x 50,5 cm ieder - achterzijde gesigneerd, gedateerd - HOT AND COLD WITH DRAIN, 1975 - drie kleurenfoto's. Seller Inventory # 1036749

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