YOU MIGHT DEVELOP WINNING INSIGHTS

this week i came across the work of artist Robert Irwin.

he started out as a painter, and evolved to create large scale installations using light, rooms, buildings, windows, and even gardens. as Michael Govan writes, “he wanted to make works without frames, without limits, which he did, continually questioning the very nature of art in almost every visionary work he made.”1

one of his installations is called “Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue 3” a name which i love intensely (and don’t necessarily know why).

Govan writes, “The primary medium of Irwin’s art is not painting or sculpture, nor walls and trees, but rather our perception, our curiosity, and our desire to make sense of the world around us. By often destabilizing our experience of light and space, his work forces us to construct a personal awareness of the very act of seeing.”2

for a time Robert Irwin made a living betting horse races because he was so astute: “Irwin’s own powers of observation were so great that for a time, as a young man, he was able to make a living betting on horse races — becaue if you are observant enough, not just of the animals but of every detail of the track and the jocekys and trainers, you might develop winning insights.”3

attention, presence, observation strike again. i say i came across but i think i was actually brought across, brought somewhere by this man’s art, ethic, questions. brought from over there where i’ve forgotten, to this bank: “a little more aware than the day before of how beautiful the world is.”4

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