Sifting through the Evidence

Abstract

over-saturation, consumers and producers within the culture industry are constantly at pains to keep in check an ever-growing mountain of artistic and literary residue. Decisions have to be made on a daily basis whether to retain or discard exhibition announcements, catalogues, posters, magazines, advertisements, etc., not to mention all the leftover bits and pieces that accumulate from daily encounters with museums, galleries, bookstores, and other information distribution centers. The deeper one becomes involved in the gathering process, the one is faced with a seemingly infinite number of minor value judgments. A less is more philosophy may be encouraged by considerations of storage space, if nothing else; however, many of us have trouble parting with even the most trivial reminders of what we see and experience (I have met people who save the little metal clasps given to museum goers). While some people derive a sense of personal liberation from moments of deskand shelf-cleaning, others grant their hoarded objects a talismanic aura by enshrining them within files meant to be reopened some day for some unforeseen purpose. Skip Arnold, as his recent solo show at the Spencer Brownstone Gallery in New York proved, belongs to the latter group.