chr tre 

Studio Discussion with Chris Rees, Francis Colpitt, and Luther Smith

In the heart of the studio, a three by three-meter blue foam mat lay ready for discussion. This open stage aimed to encourage those present for the discussion to become active participants in a work of art. The blue foam mat served as a pretext (I claimed it to be the artwork under discussion). The artist in the back right corner, in front of the sink, originally participated in the conversation. The video footage was later altered to show the artist looking at the wall, not engaging in the discourse— which, in essence, played no role, as it revolved around the pretext of whether the blue foam mat in the middle of the room could be considered art. Naturally, it was not art at that moment, at least not in the artist's sense. The final video documents the spatiality in which art was conceived, produced, and discussed at that time, using a wide-angle lens. It transforms the interior of an institution into a still life. The figures, like those in an oil painting, are deprived of their voices. However, like a photograph with a timeline, the image reveals something that is part of everyday academy life but is rarely visible outside the institution, making this alternate reality the subject.