PRINTThe language of art
Ben Dillon
Bob Hartzell, primarily a screen printing artist, is showcasing his MFA exhibit entitled “Polite Conversations” at Orr Street Studios April 21 through May 3.
May 1, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Usually you’re not allowed to touch art, let alone take it home for free. Bob Hartzell breaks museum rules. He doesn’t want to alienate the art from viewers; he wants the art to become a part of the community.
In Hartzell’s MFA thesis show “Polite Conversations,” he says in a sign hanging above his works, “I believe art can and should be used to illustrate traits, ideas and fears that we have in common and to encourage discussions among viewers that focus on common ground.”
Hartzell unfolded and flattened the books to hang them on the walls.
Hartzell asks recipients of Give Me Another Chance to finish the remaining five lines that ...
The responses Hartzell received from the recipients of Give Me Another Chance range from the ...
Hartzell mass produced 300 copies of Give Me Another Chance. He handed out 200 copies ...
The Big Red One (left) was a book Hartzell mass-produced and sent to soldiers in ...
Hartzell’s display at Orr Street Studios through May 3 is not a show you can slowly walk through as you can in a museum. The 15 silk-screen printed books are placed on small, makeshift shelves in the exhibition space. These books are also flattened and hung on the wall like a canvas would be, but the resulting effect is completely different. The pieces no longer read like a book, and this allows the viewer to focus on the colors and images rather than the words.
Hartzell’s use of metallic paints on top of colored paper creates texture on the pages. What’s even more surprising is that you can actually run your fingers across the grooves of the paint — an act that would be forbidden anywhere else.
Hartzell’s exhibition dismisses the idea of art as a commodity. He brings the community into the artwork as part of the process instead of alienating them from it.
“I’m trying to show the local community that there is a purpose to art,” Hartzell says. “These books are meant to be given away because I want people to start talking — start talking about art, about themselves and other people. This leads to a healthy community, which will feed back into their understanding that art is important.”
The words inside each book flow more like poetry and can be confusing and wondrous at the same time, as seen in the piece Coming Attractions, on which one page reads, “Sleep flings an opaque hood over from behind.”
They are memorable though and are not meant to be a framed artwork hanging on a wall. The books intimately interact with each person. They are meant to be touched; to be flipped through. They become precious to the owner and will one day show the wear of the many hands the work has passed through.
Just like long-forgotten notes or a wilted flower hidden in the pages of well-loved books, Hartzell’s folded, six-page artworks will one day sit on someone’s shelf and be a reminder an artist who creates relationships.
Give Me Another Chance is one of the 15 books that make up Hartzell’s exhibition. Give me Another Chance reads “And / This / time / I / will / not.” On the back page is Hartzell’s own words, “Disappoint / Forget / Fail / Gloat / Hate.” Below this are five lines that Hartzell asks the reader to fill in and then mail to him. He exhibits the varied and sometimes strange responses he received. One book recipient’s response sheet was torn off with that person’s teeth. Other recipients of the book sent back the page with drawings or collage art on it.
The ephemera of the production process, including misprints, are also on display. Hartzell began silk-screen printing about 30 years ago and 15 years later began making band posters for the Chicago-based Screwball Press.
Hartzell’s point is to get the community involved in art that is accessible to anyone and to make Columbia realize that it has a growing list of talented artists working on interesting projects. His involvement in art is not only making art as a product but also creating community. “(In other countries) art isn’t something that is held above,” Hartzell says. “It is a part of everyday life.”
