Saturday 25 August 2012

Serrano Ham

A conversation with Pete McGovern.

(Pete is one of the artists whose work I curated in 'I Love You' at Tenderpixel in May)

15.08.12

Hi, Richard
hope you are well and life is good.
I doubt you will remember me once mentioning a photographer Ithought was worth you checking out - Andres Serrano - well I just saw a copy of his book AMERICA published by Taschen at a great price and I'd like to get it delivered to you.

It can also be used for upper body fitness training, it's pretty HEAVY.  Don't let your dog Otto chew it till you've had a proper flick through first and let me know what you think.
hugz,
Pete
x

24.08.12
hi Pete,

wow, it is a monster book...i have had a very strong reaction to it. I find it emotionally stunted, dated, horrid, commercial magazine portraiture with clumsy narrative content without any insight or subtly!

hate it! I don't think i can keep it in my house incase i die and someone thinks i liked this work...REALLY hated it!

hahaha... i do feel bad that you got me this as a gift, what do i do with it!! Can we return it?

I am concerned that you thought i would like this work, I hope you don't feel my work is in any way similar?

arrrgh!

Dx

25.08.12
Hi, Richard
I've got a feeling you didn't really like the Serrano book.
I think I'll be laughing too much to sleep when I go to bed tonight.  I was going to get my copy down to have a look and see where you're coming from - but it was on a high up shelf and I didn't have the strength. 
Hm, I am not sure I can send you petrol in the post to help engulf your copy in flame in the back garden and I'm worried that you burying it would still involve a certain small risk of discovery (even posthumously) and potential damage to your reputation.  As for charity shops at Muswell Hill they would almost certainly politely (or maybe not politely but abusively) decline to take it (unless you asked a friend to distract the staff and sneaked it onto their bookshelf without asking while no-one was looking and left quickly before the stand collapsed.)
Copies can go for £40-£50 on Amazon marketplace these days so feel free to flog it - but use someone else's eBay account to maintain anonymity.
Are you sure you didn't like it?
hugz,
Pete
x


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