Hesse and Kosuth

A part of a fictional AIM conversation between Eva Hesse and Joseph Kosuth. Hesse's work consists of various paintings and sculptures while Kosuth's work lean towards concept art. (The whole thing was in Internet-speak so it’s been translated it into proper English for easier reading.)

sculptHESSE101: So, I hear you like chairs.

Koseptual: And you, boxes.

sculptHESSE101: I like turning the mundane into something mind-provoking.

Koseptual: Well, what do you know? So do I!

sculptHESSE101: I especially like your "One and Three Chairs" piece. How did you come up with that?

Koseptual: I'm not quite sure myself. It was something I came up with while browsing the Internet one day. I started looking at images, which either led to shopping sites or documentary sites. Then it just hit me how everything comes in three forms like states of matter: real, photograph (or drawing), and definition. As for the chair part, I wanted to convey this idea using something people see everyday and never really think about.

scuptHESSE101: That's fascinating. It's interesting how ideas come about in random ways like that.

Koseptual: It sure is. How about your Accession II piece? How did that idea come about?

sculptHESSE101: Well, that one's a pretty complicated affair to explain.

Koseptual: Do tell.

sculptHESSE: The piece is partially inspired by a scene in the movie, Labyrinth, where the main girl falls through a hole lined with sentient hands. She didn’t know whether to go up or down, which fascinated me because most people would want to get up out of a hole, but she chose to go down farther. I wanted to see how that concept would work in a box form.

Koseptual: Why a cube shape? Why not just make it cylinder to keep with the original hole concept?

sculptHESSE101: I wanted to do a more inorganic shape to convey the idea of a prison. Sure, a prison technically can be anything that can contain a living thing, but people identified more with the manmade variety. After all, I’m going to be critiqued by people, not cats and roses.

Koseptual: Interesting. And why use plastic tubing to line it instead of, say, doornails and the like?

sculptHESSE101: I felt that nails would’ve made the piece too rigid for my liking. The plastic tubing gave me much more flexibility, literally and metaphorically speaking. Plus, it gives the piece a unique texture and the intricacy of it makes it more eye-catching. It’s something that you can’t really walk by without giving it a second look.

Koseptual: I see. How about the title? Why did you choose to call it such?

sculptHESSE101: Ah, that. I knew you were going to ask me eventually as it’s not a word that is used in everyday conversations.

Koseptual: Oh, I wasn’t aware it was an actual word. I thought it was something you made up for those particular pieces of yours.

sculptHESSE101: No, it’s a real dictionary term. It’s a more proper form of the noun form of the word “access,” like when you gain access to something.

Koseptual: Ah, I thought there was a connection to the word “access” since it’s in the word. To tell you the truth, I first thought it said “ascension” rather than “accession.”

sculptHESSE101: Oh, well that’s interesting…

Koseptual: I think you did that on purpose, though.

sculptHESSE101: Now what makes you think that?

Koseptual: Ah ha, I knew it.

sculptHESSE101: Care to take a guess as to why I chose that particular word?

Koseptual: I believe you chose the word “accession” for its original meaning to convey the idea of being able to drop one’s gaze into the piece. In other words, viewers “access” the piece without actually touching it. Although, I think you may have allowed viewers to put their hands into the box, but I haven’t been to one of your exhibits personally so I cannot vouch for this. As for the tricking the eye into seeing “ascension,” the viewer sees that word because he or she is far away. And since the piece is on the ground, the viewer has a bird’s-eye look of it, hence the “ascension.”

sculptHESSE101: That’s pretty impressive how you managed to piece all that information together even though you’ve only seen a photo of my work in a book.

Koseptual: I try my best.

sculptHESSE101: Well, you know, truth is in the eye of the beholder so my original thoughts on the piece are subjective at best.

Koseptual: That is true.

sculptHESSE101: Besides, most of what you’ve already said is my original thoughts when making the “Accession” pieces.

Koseptual: Ah, so I did hit the nail on the head, so to speak.

sculptHESSE101: So why did you decide to become a conceptual artist?

Koseptual: I tend to have a lot of different ideas and most can’t really be drawn out or painted. Like my “One and Three Chairs” piece, many of my ideas involve things that are everyday things that people see on a daily basis without giving a second thought. My ideas require a different way of standing out, but at the same time I like being able to make my works stand out while seeming common all at once.

sculptHESSE101: It works really well though.

Koseptual: Indeed it does. That’s what I like working with things that are already there. Sure, I could’ve painted a picture of the chair instead of photographing it, but then that would’ve taken a lot more time than it really needs. And in the end, people would focus on the painting instead of the entire piece as a whole. Each piece is important so I didn’t want any to stand out too much that they become the center of attention. That would have ruined the whole effect of the piece.

sculptHESSE101: You make a good point. You’ve made plenty of well-thought out decisions in creating your piece.

Koseptual: As did you.

The rest of the conversation went on to other topics that are not relevant to art so it has been omitted to maintain the focus on art.