[Previous entry: "Out Among the English"] [Next entry: "Feeding the Fires of Anti-Americanism"]
04/05/2007: "My Addiction" by Michael Corbin
They say the first step in getting help is realizing that you have a
problem.
What should I do? I now have several art magazines sitting on top of my
dining room table, untouched and needless to say, unread. This is not the
first time they've piled up. Oh no. To be honest, it happens every month.
Let me just say that right after art, my second love is art magazines. I
subscribe to seven ... Art In America, Art Forum, Art News, Modern Painters,
Art On Paper, Arte Al Dia and American Art Collector. I also sometimes buy
Art Review, Art Nexus, Art & Auction, Art New England, Flash Art, Art Ltd.
(which used to be called, West Coast Art) and whatever else remotely
resembles an art publication. In addition, I subscribe to the Sunday New
York Times and I check it frequently during the week for the arts section.
Who can resist magazines with story headlines that read, "The New
Abstraction," or "The Dream of Aboriginal Art"? Not me. You may as well be
dangling a double cheesburger and fries (with a diet coke please) in front
of my face. In short, art magazines are my addiction.
However, because I write about art from my own personal experiences, I try
not to read the articles too deeply. I want my ideas to be original ... if
that's possible. Also, I'm beginning to resent art magazines because I feel
that they taunt me with art that's WAY BEYOND my price range.
What can I do?
I can either cancel my subscriptions and feel like I'm missing out ... or
keep them, many of which have just been flipped through, and let them
continue to build into unruly mountains of fodder around the house. Am I
crazy? I mean, who really needs all of these magazines? Not even super,
well-connected art titans have time to pour through all of these
publications. Do they? If I actually read all of these things, I wouldn't
have time for anything else! I remember not too long ago, I got a painting
delivered and set it on a table unopened so that I could flip through an art
magazine! It's like buying into some art fantasy when I've got the real
thing surrounding me. I'm in the art forest, but don't see the trees. It
makes no sense. Do I need an intervention?
>From time to time, I've heard myself judging people who LIVE for the New
York Yankees and attend EVERY home game ... or people who LOVE Star Trek and
attend EVERY annual Trekkie convention. If your passion is that narrow and
deep, are you really having a life? Okay, my answer to that is ... YES!
You're having the life of YOUR choosing. Shouldn't that be what life is
about? Our ability to choose? Still, there's a WHOLE WORLD out there. Do
I want to look back at my life and say that I was among the most well-read
art people? Or, do I want to actually GET OUT THERE and SEE art for myself
... and continue to enjoy my own collecting and direct communication with
artists?
The problem is I can't be everywhere, so I need these art magazines to be my
ears and eyes. I think that it really comes down to this ... LIMITATIONS.
By virtue of being human, we're all limited. We can't be everywhere or see
everything.
The song goes, "It's a small world after all," but you know what? This is a
HUGE world. How will I ever experience it all? That's the sad part. I
won't. None of us will. That's where National Geographic and Conde Nast
Traveler come in. I can travel by reading about far-flung places and
looking at the great photography. How will I ever taste every gourmet dish?
I won't. That's where Gourmet magazine comes in ... I won't be able to
taste everything, but at least I can see photographs of great food. How
will I ever see every architectural wonder of the world? I won't, so I'll
have to rely on Architectural Record to record most of them for me. This is
the invaluable role that magazines play in our society. Oops, I forgot.
They're in it to make money too.
Here's another thing. Most magazines worth their cover price are really
books. They just seem too good to toss out. I always feel like I've wasted
money when I throw out (or even donate) good magazines. I'm not kidding,
but I've actually bought old, second-hand issues of art magazines that I've
already had at home! Now keep in mind, I fully realize that I don't REALLY
have a problem. I'm blessed. There are people starving in India. THAT'S a
problem. There are people dying in Iraq. THAT'S a problem. There are
people suffering right now with inoperable brain tumors. THAT'S a problem.
I guess there really is a such thing as ... "too much information" or too
much anything for that matter. Too much information becomes too much
information when there just isn't enough time to process it all. We'll
never have enough time to process all of the information out there. It just
seems like such a waste, but it's certainly a blessing to have too much of
something good rather than not enough. Life itself can be too much. We'll
never have enough time to process it all, but you know what? GIVE ME MORE!
I guess that also applies to art magazines. Am I addicted to art magazines?
I don't know. It's better to have too many than not enough. Right?
MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF "ART IN KING SIZE
BEDS: A COLLECTOR'S JOURNAL," NOW AVAILABLE ON AUTHORHOUSE.COM.
