MFA Lecture Series - EXTRA CREDIT (Merlin Carpenter)

Merlin Carpenter, No Re-Entry, 2011

Today, I attended a lecture by artist, Merlin Carpenter. During the lecture, Carpenter talked about three of his recent exhibitions. The first exhibition featured a door barricading a room. In order to enter the exhibit and see the paintings within, one had to pay 5000 euros, or they could stay in the greeting area and pay nothing to see playing cards with the paintings on them. Through this exhibit, Carpenter plays with the idea of commodity. As an artist, one produces commodities of no value, but with regard to the capitalism system, art becomes of value. Thus, paying 5000 euros becomes alright in the minds of the consumer to view and purchase commodities. Furthermore, Carpenter criticizes how money plays a crucial role in the art world. In addition, another exhibit carpenter talked about was titled Tate Cafe. In the exhibit, Carpenter sent up the space to look like a cafe, furnished with pricing menus, chairs and an no re-entry door. The no re-entry door symbolized how the space was an organized thought out area, but when the viewer left the space, they would return to a world of chaos. Furthermore, the door symbolized how the artist can manipulate the viewer, like the manipulations of a capitalist society. As such, through this exhibit, Carpenter shows how the artist is a free person, but works within the constraint of capitalist realism. Moreover, the last set of slides Carpenter displayed to the audience was of his project with around 30 faux Burberry pattern paintings. Carpenter brought these Burberry paintings throughout Eastern Europe with him. Bringing these paintings throughout Europe with him allowed him to juxtapose the symbolic nature of the pattern of Burberry in that it has resulted from a capitalist society with the wildly capitalist society of Eastern Europe. While the Burberry paintings are seen as lavish, when set next to an rundown environment of Eastern Europe, it looks even more lavish. In a sense, while capitalism works for Burberry, Carpenter suggests that it may not be beneficial for everyone, such as Eastern Europe.

Merlin Carpenter, Burberry Paintings, 2010

Although Carpenter's work lacked artistic aesthetic value to my personal taste, it was interesting to learn of his ideas. Carpenter highlighted to me the importance of viewing art through the constraints of capitalism. Capitalism is prevalent in society, and as an artist, one must not completely avoid the system. While artists desire to be removed from the ideals of capitalism, without working within the constraints of capitalism, artists will be left out of the competition for influence.