"This is the more agreeable one..."

October 31, 2010 10:13 AM

How To Explain It To My Parents: a video series from Lernert & Sander where conceptual artists explain their work to their parents.

Featuring Arno Coenen (shown in the main link), Martijn Hendriks (Previously), Martin C de Waal (website), Harm van den Dorpel (Previously), and Bart Julius Peters (website).

posted by fryman (5 comments total)

I just watched the first one, so far. Incredibly sad. Probably better art than the piece under discussion, which, I hate to say it without having seen it, sounded like typical contemporary sociopolitical commentary about corporatism.
posted by kozad at 1:03 PM on October 31, 2010

Haven't watched these yet, but as a designer/academic hard-pressed to explain her work to her parents, I love the premise. Looking forward to viewing these...
posted by marlys at 2:26 PM on October 31, 2010

I would like to see a companion series wherein conceptual artists explain their work to children.


Having seen it happen in real life, and having attempted such a thing myself, I can assure you it would be a worthwhile and very, very entertaining endeavor.
posted by louche mustachio at 5:22 PM on October 31, 2010

My personal favorite, though, louche mustachio, is watching parents explain to their children why they don't want to buy art (at our open studio events).

"But mom! I have enough allowance money for this print!"
"Oh, you don't want THAT."
"But I like it!"
"No." [drags child away]

And then they'll allow the kid to buy a $5 cupcake from the studio next door.

The cupcakes started as a joke. They've practically become performance art. Fucking asshole parents won't let their kids buy art (yet they'll bring them to an art event So They Can Get Cultured, And Shit), but $5 cupcakes are ok. Me, I'm gonna sell cupcakes for TEN dollars this time (one of our 2 open studio events per year is this weekend) and pass it off as performance art.

Bonus: if that asshole comes back who likes to say, loudly, about my studiomate's [oil] paintings "these aren't painted with oils, they're acrylic, I KNOW" ----- I can plaster him in the face with some buttercream.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:02 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

The first one struck me as a bit funny when the dad started asking Arno about what was his trick that made beer art and what was it like in the museum, bringing up what seemed like a sore point--that dad didn't visit a big 10-day exhibit.

My favorite part of the Martijn Hendriks video link is the mom saying, "But I like this because I know what it means for you." Even if what came after it was as he said, indulgent.
posted by PY at 3:27 AM on November 21, 2010