Last week, photographer Alec Soth opened “Advice for Young Artists” to Sean Kelly Gallery, as well as the results of Soth’s visit to the twenty-five undergraduate arts program between 2022 and 2024. The result is an indoor study, and still a life and self-por, and they are some strange or fanatical aspects of the art school. I recommend a book, too, but if you are in New York you should go to the show. There is no suggestion, but these photos have very few details and they are in better format. Observers recently met with Soth to learn more about the project.
Your version of this exhibition comes with a tricky note: “Who is this book?” I can ask this question, and also ask the origin of sticky notes running throughout the process (e.g., “clipart can”)?
I’m a fan of Notes and Marginalia. A little bit of graffiti gives you a glimpse into the mind of its manufacturer. While editing this new project, I found myself loving the look of these post notes next to these pictures. With the bright colors, some of the words about writing convey the spirit of the work. Like Koans, they are simple and mysterious at the same time. The first post (“Who is this book?”) can be answered in a different way. I like that it can be where the owner writes her name or asks me to sign. There is no correct answer.
What do you know about these 25 undergraduate art programs is usually part of your extensive survey?
Whether I’m at a prestigious Ivy League school or a small regional arts course, what matters to me is the spirit of a beginner. I just hope to be close to this energy, rather than trying to investigate or analyze these schools. I can’t really receive my undergraduate education today. There is no doubt that I have a lot of financial and bureaucratic problems. But no matter where I start an art student, I feel more optimistic and energetic.
The project contains as many studio and still life models as art students. What attracted you to the environment that discovered in art schools?
The art studio is like a sandbox for adults. This is an invitation. When I first enter these spaces, I observe them. But as time goes by, I start building my own still life and sand castle. In some ways, this project is an excuse to pretend I am a student in the Department of Fine Arts again.
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The book also includes a self-interview, which means you don’t have much specific advice for young artists. Have you ever learned from any advice you received when you were a young artist yourself?
I spent a lot of time trying to remember my time as a young artist. When it comes to suggestions, I always draw a blank! The details I remember are: my high school painting teacher’s smell of pipe cigarettes, and my college photography professor lay on the sofa while criticizing the work. These details are related to the general feeling of my world expanding. The suggestion doesn’t seem to play a big role in this feeling. What matters is the energy of the environment. This is how I want to communicate in these pictures.
To what extent are youths assets for artists?
Literally youth is less asset than being a beginner’s spirit. I met many people who returned to school in their later lives, and these people embodies this “young” spirit. Of course, young people have their own physical benefits, but life experience is also very valuable.
The project was inspired by the late career Polaroid adopted by Walker Evans in college. How do you compare the photos from this show to his photos? Do they have something in common?
I love these photos very much, but it also has something to do with my understanding of his biography, which is very different from mine. When Evans discovered Polaroid, he was an elderly alcoholic life living in the smoke of his early creation of success. As a result, there is a despair in this work. But I still associate with his hunger, revitalizing his creative juices by being with young people.
The title of the book and the exhibition will attract many people to actually look for suggestions. Do you think it’s possible that they learn something from this job?
Yes, just learn something undefined as words and concise. I remember going to a concert by experimental composer John Zorn when I was a kid. It felt like a huge learning experience I still carried with me, but it was hard for me to translate the course into words. If I did, it might be as simple and mysterious as those notes after these.
