In Pursuit of Feeling

this is how they did it in the old days right? you have a few project space shows, make a few music videos and whabam: institutional show. catching an artist before they've contracted pauper syndrome. the works are wilfully scrappy, sketches of larger things, and the installation of the work reflects that - exposed cables are tacked along the walls as if part of the work themselves, connecting to undersized provisional display setups. how often it seems that video has been a space for budget bloat, for artists to enact dreams less of art than of someone handing them 300,000 to make 20 minutes - with the curatorial staff skittering behind brandishing budgets like awards. ponzi's work feels produced for the price of the coffee required to shoot and edit them. what potential laziness is at play here is muffled by the fact that there is a palpable swagger to the works, like oops, they're cool as fuck. i can't remember the last time i thought an artist was "cool"? and how important it was, when i was more excited about art, to find an artist "cool". mark leckey, for instance, is cool as fuck. early frances stark seemed cool as fuck. arthur jafa was cool as fuck. so i guess the gavin brown roster circa 2017 was super cool is what i'm saying.... anyways - i left thinking, wow maybe i should make art again. how rare, how wonderful an experience is that.