i met lawrence wiener last week in an opening. he is a cool man, not so nostalgic for the past, even though he was one of the creators of what now is called conceptual art- something quite big here in germany if you study fine arts and that is mainly based on that every single work of art may have a concept behind it. which is fine to me but sometimes can be an excuse to show quite many pieces of mediocre work, or mediocre concepts behind it, as you want to see it, under the name of "contemporary art". i mean i love some stuff when is so smart that you cant avoid being surprised, and lawrence is a great artist. works with words. my main passion. but this is more or less how part of the conversation went.
elena-lawrence i want you to meet florencia, she is a great musician.
florencia-well, not really, or maybe im really shy, but nice to meet you lawrence.
lawrence- im shy as well, dont worry, is quite normal to do something creative and be shy at the same time. should i speak german, or english or french?
florencia- english or german are fine. so you are also shy hhh??- i just look around and we are in an opening in a really prestigious museum of art in germany, surrounded by lots of supposely intellectual people, all very burgués and much older than me- and how do you fight against it?
lawrence- scotch...-says lawrence showing up the glass-..
florencia- yeah, i did it so for a while, before the concerts and so. i was always really nervous because im a actually quite a shy person. gin tonic and so, but really was a bit extreme...
lawrence- yeah when i was your age, i used to do it the same way...but dont worry, because sometimes you need it...and how come you are here florencia?
florencia- well, i used to work here but somehow for me is a bit strict...
lawrence- yess...it is strict...but i can deal with it, what really makes me a bit strange is like this need they have to think that we should know about everyyyything. like today in the press conference, they start talking about the "back then", which was when?...40 years ago, thats such a long time ago...and they pretended me to make an essay about the good old times, and so...and im like thinking to myself. why are they asking me questions about so many things?...i just know how to do one thing...and i do it well, because you know florencia, is also fine to do well something. we dont have to feel bad about it, or guilty...
florencia- i know but sometimes is like this feeling that some people feel molested when they see that somebody else do something well. or that is doing well with a creative path they develop...
lawrence- yes, thats true, but the truth florencia is: that it is ok. even though if we have to drink a bit of alcohol once in a while to be able to satisfy all the people we work with.
florencia- yes, youre right. so this thing of doing well one thing is cool. youre gifted then.
lawrence- well, im not gifted. im skilled. ive learnt within the years how to do it well. is a question of experience. ive learnt it. and now im good at it. and is okkkkkk...
and the conversation went to different paths, but lawrence was cool. or his mindset was cool. it made me feel really confortable after so long without being at the museum.
back to earth. and learning to do something. always learning.