Tuesday Edition: Amy Jean Porter

Jen:

Choire!

Choire:

mmm!

Jen:

Can you explain [redacted] to me? And incidentally what should I write about Amy Jean Porter?

Choire:

LOL

Jen:

Do you know which image we're releasing today? It's called Mandrill. It's a Mandrill that is blue, naturally. Well, blue and teal too, which is apparently exactly how Mandrills are in Amy Jean's universe. I'm excited that it's MONKEY WEEK on 20x200. Because I have no [redacted] shame. But in all seriousness, do you have a moment for some semi-earnest questions about Ms. Amy Jean's work?

Choire:

phew yes go

Jen:

You know I love animals and Amy Jean and YOU! So, naturally, I am excited about today's edition.

Choire:

Why wouldn't you be? Pre-spring is in your heart.

Jen:

Hahah, yes!

Jen:

But here's what I am wondering: How would you answer anyone who tried to dismiss Amy as being overly arch/ironic and/or someone who leveled an accusation of her being in league with the smug hipster-dom that the McSweeney's cabal is often accused of embodying. (I am being provocative, see?)

Choire:

Oh!

Choire:

You know, that's so funny, I never would have thought of her as being arch or ironic. If you have ever met her—she is a fairly wispy and ethereal yet loopy and slightly crunchy thing, who laughs a lot and is very quick and funny and I have never, ever heard her utter even the slightest cross word—you would not suspect her of even knowing what irony is. And also when you see her work in book or exhibition form, you see pretty clearly that it's about delight, and it's about how funny all we animals are, and you see how warm it is. Mostly Amy just thinks we're all funny!

Jen:

It's about delight! That is perf... OK!

Jen:

Here's a side question: do you think that Amy will take offense if I tackle questions like this so directly?

Choire:

No! (I'm not sure Amy even "does" offense!)

Jen:

So here's where I am coming from: I am totally down with delight and with Amy Jean's work too. Always have been, that's why I reached out to her about doing editions long before I even knew that you knew her. But I am also really sensitive to the kind of person who is trying to "get" art and is prone to feeling as though they're being messed with and/or really bristles at work that make them feel like they don't/can't/won't ever in a million years get it.

Choire:

Oh sure! Contemporary art often feels like an inside joke, or a game that no one told you the rules about.

Jen:

One thing that people don't realize is that being delighted is enough, and that it doesn't necessarily have to be about something.

Choire:

Well and what's more delightful than A MANDRILL??? LOOK AT THAT.

Jen:

Although, I would argue that AJP is about more than delight by sheer virtue of the conscientiousness of pursuit. I mean, she's drawn more than one thousand species of animals for chrissakes! And she's done it in a style of her own invention that's very distinctively Amy.

Choire:

Right. The thing that I like about her is that YOU are in charge of making any associations or context-giving that you want. Any print or drawing can be a place of departure for ideas.

Jen:

Alas, a lot of people are afraid of that responsibility, especially when it comes to art. They don't want to be wrong.

Choire:

But there's no "secret conceptual message" that OMG YOU'RE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO GET IT if you don't have a Master's in Art History from Fancypants University.

Jen:

A while ago, someone named Erin who writes a blog called Design Crisis wrote something overly positive about 20x200 but dismissed some of our editions as [gasp!] "twee" and said something along the lines of how she couldn't blame me though because, hey, everyone's got to make a living. Naturally, I read this at 2 a.m. and once I was done sputtering and shaking my fist at the computer, I wrote an "au contraire" response.

Choire:

Heh! Well, also people are afraid of attractive or drawn things sometimes!

Jen:

Right! As if it has to be ugly to be legit! (And heaven forbid it actually makes people, you know, happy or something like that.) Anyhow, part of what I wrote there is germane to this whole convo we're having:

I have pictures of cute animals hanging alongside my most prized art possession—an Ed Ruscha print. There's a dimestore paint-by-numbers propped up on the console facing that wall. I hope to never believe that something that I own is too fancy to live in the good company of other things that makes me immeasurably happy and/or remind me of a time/place/memory that means a lot to me.

Choire:

I think there's something in there about "value" connoting actual value? By this I mean: the ONLY THING I will allow in my house is art that has value TO ME.

Jen:

Yea, but... it takes a lot of confidence, or dare I say it, bravery, to trust yourself enough to say that because you LIKE it, it is GOOD.

Choire:

Oh sure. But always the real "value" of the art you put in your house is that it brings you enjoyment.

Jen:

IN A PERFECT WORLD.

Choire:

Ha! Well? It's nice to have things accrue in value! But it's even better when they accrue in emotional value.

Jen:

Yea, I always tell people that buying stuff you love is the first and last rule of collecting. Sometimes they listen!

Jen:

Going back to the McSweeney's cabal of ironic hipsters... One thing that I find so vexing about all this is that I actually think they're awfully sincere. Starting with the thing that begat McSweeney's in the first place, namely Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

Choire:

Oh yes, largely yes!

Jen:

All the way through to 826 and all the stuff they do for kids' literacy AND the gorgeous stuff they produce—books and boxes and DVDs and things. Their books? They're really nice! And not practical. Beauty and impracticality all have a place in this world.

[Speaking of McSweeney's! And books! And Amy Jean Porter! She's made a book with them, an impractical beautiful book. It's called Of Lamb and you should buy it. She was also included in Chronicle Books' Art of McSweeney's which is available right now.]

Choire:

Oh absolutely!

Jen:

One thing that I personally really love about Amy's work—aside from OMG ANIMALS SO MANY ANIMALS—is that it reminds me of coloring books and how one of the greatest parts about being a kid is that you're not afraid of being wrong nearly as much as you will be once the world's had its way with you. You're not nearly as concerned with how things are, or even how they're supposed to be. You're just having a good time getting your Crayola on. So the Mandrill is blue and teal and hanging out amidst some improbably large orchids because you say so.

Jen:

And once you're done, your mom is probably NOT going to tell you that it's awesome and praise your imagination and stick it up on the fridge. And even if she doesn't do that, it's highly unlikely that she's going to accuse you of being an ironic hipster.

Choire:

Ha! Well, depends on the mom. Brooklyn parents are a tough crowd! :)