Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Portrait of Ross

"Something that I tell my students is to read it once, then if you have problems with it read it a second time. Then if you still have problems, get drunk and read it a third time with a glass of wine next to you and you might get something out of it,  but always think about practice. The theory in the book is to make you live better and that's what, I think, all theory should do. It's about trying to show you certain ways of constructing reality. I'm not even saying finding (I'm using my words very carefully), but there are certain ways of constructing reality that help you to live better, there's no doubt about it. When i teach, that's what I show my students - to read all this stuff without a critical attitude. Theory is not the endpoint of work, it is work along the way to the work. To read it actively is just a process that will hopefully bring us to a less shadowed place." (Felix Gonzalez-Torres: être un espion. Interview by Robert Storr)

Beeldend kunstenaar Colter Jacobsen gebruikt dit citaat om zijn nieuwe expositie bij galerie Corvi-Mori in Londen aan te kondigen (20 januari - 5 maart 2011). Eerder exposeerde hij bij Jack Hanley in San Francisco:

When Jacobsen displays found objects together in pairs, I gather that he means to represent an idealized psychological rapport between two people (he is a long-time fan of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, especially that artist’s pair of synchronized wall clocks). Often his pairings have a comic edge, as with the thrift store paintings included in the exhibit. In these, he seems to acknowledge an embarrassing Kitschy-koo dimension in the longing for a perfect match.

A more subtle process occurs in Jacobsen’s core practice, which is the duplication of photographs by means of drawings (usually in graphite). I tend to think that an urge to touch whatever is in the photo plays a role in his choice of method — but feel free to dismiss this as errant psychologizing.

Colter Jacobsen

Colter Jacobsen, Bridal Veil Falls, 2007