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Cry Me a River, Tim and Sue
Tim Noble and Sue Webster, YBAs (Young British Artists) who recently showed at PS1 here in NYC, are known for three types of work: a sculpture of male and female Neanderthals reminiscent of Ron Mueck's sentimental output, flickering Vegas-y light pieces, and collections of odd rubbish that cast figurative shadows, a trick that Mac Adams, an OBA (Old British Artist, but living/showing in the States), has been working with for years. The pair is profiled in this month's Sculpture magazine, and as the following excerpts make clear, they want us to know they have problems:
Noble: "When we first started doing [the light pieces], to us, they were aesthetically insulting. You were supposed to...be confronted by them 10 feet in front of your face... [B]ut as time goes by and they get photographed more and more, you don't get the closeness. You need that slap in the face.The last two quotes were interspersed with the usual protestations that they've taken their career "off the rails" and are no longer on the "roller coaster"--as they move from MOMA affiliate PS1 to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Ah, humility.Webster: "We take reproductions very seriously so that the work can be documented and find its place in history."
Webster: "When you are young and starting out you have nothing to lose, you are alone in the studio making work and no one is looking. But then you get exhibited, and the ball starts rolling: you get booked for shows and everyone wants a piece of you. Then they try to determine when you finish the work. You can get drawn into the system, where you'll have a show in London and then one in New York, and someone says when the work gets made and even tries to influence what it is that has to be made."
Webster: "We get offers every day from people who build their careers around us. You, as an artist, are actually just producing a feed in the system. They harass you to take part in some project because it is all about them. We have to be aware of that because we could have our careers tied up for the rest of our lives producing one show and then another, but the reason we are artists is not to be part of this system."