I was speaking with Evelyn Eastmond about this very subject two nights ago.
It’s only long after the fact that I’ve come to really appreciate what an art school education provided me with. Here, at Eyebeam, I’m looking at a piece that’s nicely done, but then runs these cables to the floor carelessly and with duct tape. I remember doing something similar as a freshman at Cooper Union, and Hans asking what it was supposed to mean, the way I laid the AC cables across the floor. I said, “that’s just infrastructure, it’s not part of the work.” Hans said: “so you are saying that there’s part of this I *should* look at, and part of it I *shouldn’t* look at?” I nodded, and he shrugged and said “it would be a shame, if you understand that to be what artists do.” (Taken with Instagram at Eyebeam Art & Technology Center)