Richard Tuttle

Recently I saw the documentary Herb and Dorothy which was wonderful. It's about a working-class couple that become major art collectors on very small means. It describes their passion and openness to all types of art, and the way they are really able to see and make wise choices because they are really looking. "The art world was their habitat." - Pat Steir

That kind of attention is so nurturing for artists. For the first three years out of grad school I had gallery representation and it was an enormous help. In that time I had two solo shows and participated in 15 group shows. Sadly, the gallery changed direction and all of us video and photo artists were let go in favor of abstract painters and sculptors. It was a huge blow to me and my work not to have that support anymore.

I wish I had known Herb ad Dorothy because I flourish under that kind of attention but also because they have no video or photography in their collection. It was something I really missed there. The only photo based piece I saw was a process piece by Vito Acconici which is important and wonderful but that was the only photographic work in a collection of almost 5,000 pieces.

One of the most intriguing parts of the film is to learn that the Vogels had rules for their collecting that were predicated on meeting the artist and in may cases become very close to them. They would often come by their studios and look at everything. They would never buy a piece of work where they didn't know the artist and hadn't made their own selection from their work.

One of the artists they loved was Richard Tuttle. In the documentary Richard makes wonderful connections between the Vogels and art, the way they really see and are so in tune with artists work. He had a great line about the relationship between animals and art, that he couldn't explain the reason for it but it was a strong connection.

Here are some more musings and insights by him I thought were good. I find his way of thinking inspirational.

These simple things that any child could do, these sort of “rules of art.” Like the famous rule of negative capability, or whether it’s “to be or not to be.” That has so much energy. It doesn’t say anything, but it has so much energy in it that generations and generations of human beings have pondered it. In some sense the best art or the aim of the best art is to just let it. You know we should just let things happen that want to happen. You know it’s not about making something happen but about allowing something to take place.