For friends who look at contemporary art with a admission of ignorance, they look to me as someone with a knowledge they don’t possess. In other words, that I must be bringing something to the art to engage in the experience. Why else would I go to so many openings, museums and make it a big part of my life? I must understand it but my reading is a naive one. By naive I mean, my experience is wholeheartedly subjective to my tastes and most times, I don’t even try to understand why I like something, I just do. The historical dialogue is long and we only have so much time to listen in on the debate. Unless you read the PR release or the informational text plastered on the museum/ gallery space, no one knows what is going on, you just walked into a centuries long discussion on representation.

I don’t have a role in the art world other than developing a knowledge of my own tastes. You don’t know what you like till you see it. And after you see it, you don’t know how it will change you, infiltrate your thoughts or art production. If you’ve only seen or heard of Van Gogh, then your desires start and end there. I may not be able to explain Katherina Grosse but I know I love her work. These thoughts are old, but the Daniel Hylden pictures are new.