What do you think?
Rate this book
Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees
When this book first appeared in 1982, it introduced readers to Robert Irwin, the Los Angeles artist "who one day got hooked on his own curiosity and decided to live it." Now expanded to include six additional chapters and twenty-four pages of color plates, Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees chronicles three decades of conversation between Lawrence Weschler and light and space master Irwin. It surveys many of Irwin's site-conditioned projects―in particular the Central Gardens at the Getty Museum (the subject of an epic battle with the site's principal architect, Richard Meier) and the design that transformed an abandoned Hudson Valley factory into Dia's new Beacon campus―enhancing what many had already considered the best book ever on an artist.
336 pages, Paperback
First published March 10, 1982
164 people are currently reading
5,139 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Weschler
71Ìýbooks119ÌýfollowersLawrence Weschler, a graduate of Cowell College of the University of California at Santa Cruz (1974), was for over twenty years (1981-2002) a staff writer at The New Yorker, where his work shuttled between political tragedies and cultural comedies. He is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award (for Cultural Reporting in 1988 and Magazine Reporting in 1992) and was also a recipient of Lannan Literary Award (1998).
His books of political reportage include The Passion of Poland (1984); A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers (1990); and Calamities of Exile: Three Nonfiction Novellas (1998).
His “Passions and Wonders� series currently comprises Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (1982); David Hockney’s Cameraworks (1984); Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder (1995); A Wanderer in the Perfect City: Selected Passion Pieces (1998) Boggs: A Comedy of Values (1999); Robert Irwin: Getty Garden (2002); Vermeer in Bosnia (2004); and Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences (February 2006). Mr. Wilson was shortlisted for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Everything that Rises received the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.
Recent books include a considerably expanded edition of Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, comprising thirty years of conversations with Robert Irwin; a companion volume, True to Life: Twenty Five Years of Conversation with David Hockney; Liza Lou (a monograph out of Rizzoli); Tara Donovan, the catalog for the artist’s recent exhibition at Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, and Deborah Butterfield, the catalog for a survey of the artist’s work at the LA Louver Gallery. His latest addition to “Passions and Wonders,� the collection Uncanny Valley: Adventures in the Narrative, came out from Counterpoint in October 2011.
Weschler has taught, variously, at Princeton, Columbia, UCSC, Bard, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, and NYU, where he is now distinguished writer in residence at the Carter Journalism Institute.
He recently graduated to director emeritus of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, where he has been a fellow since 1991 and was director from 2001-2013, and from which base he had tried to start his own semiannual journal of writing and visual culture, Omnivore. He is also the artistic director emeritus, still actively engaged, with the Chicago Humanities Festival, and curator for New York Live Ideas, an annual body-based humanities collaboration with Bill T. Jones and his NY Live Arts. He is a contributing editor to McSweeney’s, the Threepeeny Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review; curator at large of the DVD quarterly Wholphin; (recently retired) chair of the Sundance (formerly Soros) Documentary Film Fund; and director of the Ernst Toch Society, dedicated to the promulgation of the music of his grandfather, the noted Weimar emigre composer. He recently launched “Pillow of Air,� a monthly “Amble through the worlds of the visual� column in The Believer.
(from )
His books of political reportage include The Passion of Poland (1984); A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers (1990); and Calamities of Exile: Three Nonfiction Novellas (1998).
His “Passions and Wonders� series currently comprises Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (1982); David Hockney’s Cameraworks (1984); Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder (1995); A Wanderer in the Perfect City: Selected Passion Pieces (1998) Boggs: A Comedy of Values (1999); Robert Irwin: Getty Garden (2002); Vermeer in Bosnia (2004); and Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences (February 2006). Mr. Wilson was shortlisted for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Everything that Rises received the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.
Recent books include a considerably expanded edition of Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, comprising thirty years of conversations with Robert Irwin; a companion volume, True to Life: Twenty Five Years of Conversation with David Hockney; Liza Lou (a monograph out of Rizzoli); Tara Donovan, the catalog for the artist’s recent exhibition at Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, and Deborah Butterfield, the catalog for a survey of the artist’s work at the LA Louver Gallery. His latest addition to “Passions and Wonders,� the collection Uncanny Valley: Adventures in the Narrative, came out from Counterpoint in October 2011.
Weschler has taught, variously, at Princeton, Columbia, UCSC, Bard, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, and NYU, where he is now distinguished writer in residence at the Carter Journalism Institute.
He recently graduated to director emeritus of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, where he has been a fellow since 1991 and was director from 2001-2013, and from which base he had tried to start his own semiannual journal of writing and visual culture, Omnivore. He is also the artistic director emeritus, still actively engaged, with the Chicago Humanities Festival, and curator for New York Live Ideas, an annual body-based humanities collaboration with Bill T. Jones and his NY Live Arts. He is a contributing editor to McSweeney’s, the Threepeeny Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review; curator at large of the DVD quarterly Wholphin; (recently retired) chair of the Sundance (formerly Soros) Documentary Film Fund; and director of the Ernst Toch Society, dedicated to the promulgation of the music of his grandfather, the noted Weimar emigre composer. He recently launched “Pillow of Air,� a monthly “Amble through the worlds of the visual� column in The Believer.
(from )
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
July 26, 2016
Completely fascinating. It's a biography of Robert Irwin, a contemporary artist, and one whose rather minimal works (a canvas with two lines! an apparently empty room!) I'd previously have been inclined to dismiss unthinkingly. Irwin is a thoroughly amazing character, and Weschler subtly but expertly brings him out, largely through Irwin's own words. What feels to me like the core of the book -- and, if the biography is as honest as it feels, the artist -- is the dynamic between certainty, dedication, and bullheaded effort on the one side, and, on the other, perception, full awareness, surrender. Weschler gets this beautifully in a couple of paragraphs where he describes two recurring gestures of Irwin's. In one, his bunched hands spread out, blossoming, as he speaks of wonder and observation. And then he's talking about nailing it, doing it right, getting it down, and he twists his arm, clenched and determined, turning an invisible screw. Opening up, forcing determinedly ahead. And the combination, as I read this book, felt a lot like grace.
June 20, 2013
Firstly, I read this book at the recommendation of my Senior Seminar professor, who, instead of telling me to read the lengthened version, encouraged me to get the first edition with 100 less pages because it was cheaper. Instead, I figured if I was going to read it, I might as well read it all, and found the extended edition in the Harold Washington library which I have promptly renewed seven or eight times. I would highly suggest reading the extended version, as I didn't start gleaning pieces of information that were useful until after the lengthy introduction (yes, two hundred pages) to Robert Irwin.
After three hundred pages, I still don't know how I feel about the minimal artist, whose personality is not one that seems recognizable. He seems foreign, but I must admit, also a genius. Seriously, I think this guy has it all figured out and he's just laughing at the rest of us, or trying to help us figure out the secret to life, since he's so far ahead of us in that region. Maybe this is why it took so long for me to start collecting useful information from the book for my own practice, because Irwin is such a strange, unearthly character.
Weschler perhaps describes Irwin perfectly when he states that his "egolessness...can at times seem positively egomaniacal." And this is precisely why Irwin is so hard to connect with. He is at once completely humble while also remaining completely stuck-up. And maybe this is also why people have such a hard time approaching his work as well. Because no one can tell if he is sitting behind the curtain laughing at our stupidity, our need to find meaning, or honestly asking us to experience.
I would have to say, this book is definitely not for everyone. Though I think it would be a nice introduction to contemporary art, I would also caution that it is a nice re-introduction for those of us who are well versed in conceptual art aesthetics and theory. For me, this book came at the most perfect time. I was just finishing up my final undergraduate courses and emerging into the world. I'll be the first to tell you, I am completely disillusioned, especially when it comes to "art." I am completely stuck-up and have a hard time trusting in the mantra "anyone can make art." This book is perfect for the disillusioned. In many ways, Irwin reminded me why I make art, why anyone makes art.
I didn't enjoy every page of this book. Sometimes it's really hard to continue reading it. But I'd urge any young artist to power through it. You will be frustrated, mostly by the fact the Irwin is a living paradigm, constantly shifting and seemingly contradicting himself every turn. But somehow it all makes sense. Seriously, this guy's figured it out, all of it.
"Irwin's sensibility is immensely playful, but the play is absolutely serious."
I'll probably come to a point in my career when I'll need this book again, but I certainly hope I won't have to trudge through the heaviness of it for at least ten years. With that said, I should also say, read it.
After three hundred pages, I still don't know how I feel about the minimal artist, whose personality is not one that seems recognizable. He seems foreign, but I must admit, also a genius. Seriously, I think this guy has it all figured out and he's just laughing at the rest of us, or trying to help us figure out the secret to life, since he's so far ahead of us in that region. Maybe this is why it took so long for me to start collecting useful information from the book for my own practice, because Irwin is such a strange, unearthly character.
Weschler perhaps describes Irwin perfectly when he states that his "egolessness...can at times seem positively egomaniacal." And this is precisely why Irwin is so hard to connect with. He is at once completely humble while also remaining completely stuck-up. And maybe this is also why people have such a hard time approaching his work as well. Because no one can tell if he is sitting behind the curtain laughing at our stupidity, our need to find meaning, or honestly asking us to experience.
I would have to say, this book is definitely not for everyone. Though I think it would be a nice introduction to contemporary art, I would also caution that it is a nice re-introduction for those of us who are well versed in conceptual art aesthetics and theory. For me, this book came at the most perfect time. I was just finishing up my final undergraduate courses and emerging into the world. I'll be the first to tell you, I am completely disillusioned, especially when it comes to "art." I am completely stuck-up and have a hard time trusting in the mantra "anyone can make art." This book is perfect for the disillusioned. In many ways, Irwin reminded me why I make art, why anyone makes art.
I didn't enjoy every page of this book. Sometimes it's really hard to continue reading it. But I'd urge any young artist to power through it. You will be frustrated, mostly by the fact the Irwin is a living paradigm, constantly shifting and seemingly contradicting himself every turn. But somehow it all makes sense. Seriously, this guy's figured it out, all of it.
"Irwin's sensibility is immensely playful, but the play is absolutely serious."
I'll probably come to a point in my career when I'll need this book again, but I certainly hope I won't have to trudge through the heaviness of it for at least ten years. With that said, I should also say, read it.
October 16, 2017
“It is precisely because Irwin insists that each progressive abstraction from perception to formalized truth implies a loss rather than a gain that he sees his own progressive deletions of the formalized requirements of the art object as a gain rather than a loss.� 184
“Art exists not in objects but in a way of seeing.� 190
“‘Duchamp bluntly illustrated that any object could be art if so called,� [wrote Roberta Smith]. ‘Irwin’s work has been suggesting, with increasing insistence, that any situation is art, if so experienced’� 192
“There’s a tendency to think that the ordinary has been weighted down by all the biases which ensnare it, but in another sense, it was never part of those biases. The presence of something, anything, everything, is untainted. The ordinary, could we but see it, is just as extraordinary as the highest consciousness imaginable.� Irwin 193
“Even revolutions don’t cause change: change causes revolutions.� Irwin 204
“Turning people on to the world, in this view, means turning them on to the single most beautiful thing in the world: the human capacity, the human responsibility, for perception.� 227
259
“Who cares about virtuality when there’s all this reality—this incredible, inexhaustible, insatiable, astonishing reality—present all around!� Irwin 292
“Art exists not in objects but in a way of seeing.� 190
“‘Duchamp bluntly illustrated that any object could be art if so called,� [wrote Roberta Smith]. ‘Irwin’s work has been suggesting, with increasing insistence, that any situation is art, if so experienced’� 192
“There’s a tendency to think that the ordinary has been weighted down by all the biases which ensnare it, but in another sense, it was never part of those biases. The presence of something, anything, everything, is untainted. The ordinary, could we but see it, is just as extraordinary as the highest consciousness imaginable.� Irwin 193
“Even revolutions don’t cause change: change causes revolutions.� Irwin 204
“Turning people on to the world, in this view, means turning them on to the single most beautiful thing in the world: the human capacity, the human responsibility, for perception.� 227
259
“Who cares about virtuality when there’s all this reality—this incredible, inexhaustible, insatiable, astonishing reality—present all around!� Irwin 292
March 15, 2009
Probably the best book about an artist you'll ever read (assuming you ever do read one).
Weschler does what any/every greater writer should do. That is, to coax the reader to invest (and perhaps even "care" about) a subject heretofore (yes, I just used heretofore in a sentence --- correctly?) thought/felt to be uninteresting.
If you're not reading Weschler, you're just not reading.*
*With god (intentional lower case) on my side (thanks Zimmerman) I'll be able to take a graduate course with Mr. Weschler next spring --- which he has already "personally approved." How do you say? Fucking A!
Weschler does what any/every greater writer should do. That is, to coax the reader to invest (and perhaps even "care" about) a subject heretofore (yes, I just used heretofore in a sentence --- correctly?) thought/felt to be uninteresting.
If you're not reading Weschler, you're just not reading.*
*With god (intentional lower case) on my side (thanks Zimmerman) I'll be able to take a graduate course with Mr. Weschler next spring --- which he has already "personally approved." How do you say? Fucking A!
September 17, 2021
It’s weird to say this, but I think everyone who is in ministry should read this book…Irwin’s view towards the ordinary and towards life in general should teach us all something of what it means to live well. May whoever picks up this book and reads his story realize that it is true…the wonder is still there.
February 28, 2025
This was one of the few books that have changed the way I look at art. (Philip Guston's is another.) Irwin was remarkably articulate about his lifelong quest for identifying what he thought art was. He was equally single-minded and articulate about imagining and then creating environments that enable others to experience art as a phenomenological event. Weschler does a masterful job of interweaving Irwin's words with background information. This includes biographical facts, tales of his friendships and exhibitions, and occasional reality checks on some flights of fancy. I put it on my favorites shelf, the first such addition in a while. He wrote another book, also based on decades of conversations, about David Hockney () which I will read soon.
Luckily I live in California, so it's fairly easy to find his works in museums and public spaces. I have seen his garden at the Getty Center several times, and his installation in the eucalyptus grove at the University of California San Diego before I had ever heard of him. I'm planning a trip next spring with a friend, and we'll make a point of visiting both of those, the San Diego modern art museum, and a few more.
Highly recommended.
Luckily I live in California, so it's fairly easy to find his works in museums and public spaces. I have seen his garden at the Getty Center several times, and his installation in the eucalyptus grove at the University of California San Diego before I had ever heard of him. I'm planning a trip next spring with a friend, and we'll make a point of visiting both of those, the San Diego modern art museum, and a few more.
Highly recommended.
October 31, 2018
So the name of this book is really intriguing and I was super excited to read it but I didn't know anything about Robert Irwin. Well now I not only know a lot a out him but I am like WOW his mind was in a GOOD PLACE. I would say I am a person who likes art, but sometimes with the SUPER abstract contemporary stuff I am like hmmmmmm what! is! the deal! but now I realize the significance of conceptual art and how narrow mindedly I've perceived what is art for so long. This biography is beautifully written and read like fiction as you followed Irwin from reflecting on his carefree LA high school days to his settled times late in life where he was imagining and (less often) producing pieces that covered a variety of mediums yet were always so sound in concept. Perception and presence. His art focused on the first part of the perception process and the whole idea of awareness as art is :,) There were so many times I wanted to mark up the book with underlines and annotations, but this was from the creative lab library so wasn't sure if I was allowed so instead I wrote all my notes/quotes on paper here are some:
"curiously came to supersede ambition as his primary motivation"
the ENTIRE art and technology section but specifically: "our interest is in a form where you realize that the media are just perception. the experience is the 'thing', experiencing is the 'object'"
his concept of being available in response
"boredom is a very good tool"
"art existed not in objects, but in a way of seeing"
on compounding perception => abstrsction: "each new whole is less than a fun of it's parts"
"even if there is a God: fine, so what? That wouldn't replace your responsibility to act on your own unique potential"
"but, at another level, the presence is always there. you can see it in the most restricted things, but you can see it in the most elaborate things, too, so long as you're attending to it"
"curiously came to supersede ambition as his primary motivation"
the ENTIRE art and technology section but specifically: "our interest is in a form where you realize that the media are just perception. the experience is the 'thing', experiencing is the 'object'"
his concept of being available in response
"boredom is a very good tool"
"art existed not in objects, but in a way of seeing"
on compounding perception => abstrsction: "each new whole is less than a fun of it's parts"
"even if there is a God: fine, so what? That wouldn't replace your responsibility to act on your own unique potential"
"but, at another level, the presence is always there. you can see it in the most restricted things, but you can see it in the most elaborate things, too, so long as you're attending to it"
Read
April 14, 2020"There are things I've undertaken as an artist that I will never accomplish in my lifetime," Irwin told me one afternoon. "It's just not possible. The kind of change I'm envisioning, the ideas I'm entertaining, simply don't enter society whole. There's always a process of mediation, overlapping, intermeshing, threading into the fabric. But we're headed there: the complexity of consciousness, its capacity to sustain being in presence in all its rich variety will be growing with each generation. Sometimes I feel on the verge of that."
Read
December 20, 2023I think that Robert Irwin met the Buddha in the road and killed him, sometime around 1970. Most of us, well me, anyway, still aren't ready for that, and even he, having done it, after renouncing the physicality of art-making in preference to the primacy of perception and attention (which is probably true), went back into the world and created, among other artifacts, the stunning gardens at the Getty Center in LA and the almost holy space of Dia Beacon, where other artists' artifacts are displayed, and cloister gardens surround the art contemplatives. This book, which I took up after reading Weschler's book on Hockney that introduced me to the playful enmity between the two artists, was written nearly 40 years before Irwin died this year (2023). I think there's probably quite a bit of work to catch up on. He's an engaging speaker in the YouTube videos you can find, funny, kind and cranky, with his favorite Coke near to hand. There's no question he was an original in every sense of the word.
December 8, 2022
Intense and eye-opening
August 15, 2019
“If � you asked me, ‘What is your ambition?� � basically, the answer is just to make you a little more aware than you were the day before of how beautiful the world is � What artists do is teach you how to exercise your own potential.�
I have to admit, I didn’t know who Robert Irwin was before this. And now, he’s one of my heroes. Reading his insights made me understand myself as an artist: I’m not crazy or obsessed, there really is a process and things really do take time. It also just made me appreciate being human.
I am amazed at the dedication of Lawrence Weschler to keep up his conversations with Bob Irwin for over thirty years. Reading this book is like taking a live peek into a brilliant mind. HIs thought process and eloquence is just so impressive.
“How I handle information � how I hold it all in a state of suspense while I examine it before I select what I will let into my life. Because for me, ideas are very potent elements that can radically change your life. Nothing is the same once you accept an idea, and you can never return to the place you left. So I proceed very cautiously in the realm of ideas and information.�
The paperback carries its impact and gravitas in the weight of its glossy paper. I highly, highly, recommend reading this book if you’re looking for ways to shake up the way you think and the way you see the world. Absolutely profound.
I have to admit, I didn’t know who Robert Irwin was before this. And now, he’s one of my heroes. Reading his insights made me understand myself as an artist: I’m not crazy or obsessed, there really is a process and things really do take time. It also just made me appreciate being human.
I am amazed at the dedication of Lawrence Weschler to keep up his conversations with Bob Irwin for over thirty years. Reading this book is like taking a live peek into a brilliant mind. HIs thought process and eloquence is just so impressive.
“How I handle information � how I hold it all in a state of suspense while I examine it before I select what I will let into my life. Because for me, ideas are very potent elements that can radically change your life. Nothing is the same once you accept an idea, and you can never return to the place you left. So I proceed very cautiously in the realm of ideas and information.�
The paperback carries its impact and gravitas in the weight of its glossy paper. I highly, highly, recommend reading this book if you’re looking for ways to shake up the way you think and the way you see the world. Absolutely profound.
June 16, 2020
I wish I could recall how I happened upon this book. . . . who gifted it to me or who recommended it. After a biography on Duchamp written by Tomkins, this is easily my next favorite biography. Thirty years. . . and you feel as if you are sitting shotgun the entire way. It is a love letter to Irwin, a love letter to L.A, a love letter to the automobile, a love letter to abstract art, and a love letter to change. So many moments stick with me from this book, but one specifically about a young African American teen who came into an exhibit in process (maybe in the 70s or 80s in NY) and understood it on a level that Irwin said the critics and curators never would. If I had't lent my book to a good friend, I would find the passage, but instead I encourage you to pick up the book and read it for yourself.
October 31, 2011
An amazing portrait of Robert Irwin, a modern artist who I wasn't aware of until I began this book.
The title of this book captivated me when I came across it via a random link somewhere on the net. I found as I dug in that many of the themes Irwin deals with are the same I love to ponder: the abstract vs the concrete. The role of perception and thought in how one experiences the world. Spirituality and mysticism, and of course zen and buddhism. A fascinating book, and I _really_ want to find some of Irwin's installations if any museums still happen to have them displayed properly somewhere.
The title of this book captivated me when I came across it via a random link somewhere on the net. I found as I dug in that many of the themes Irwin deals with are the same I love to ponder: the abstract vs the concrete. The role of perception and thought in how one experiences the world. Spirituality and mysticism, and of course zen and buddhism. A fascinating book, and I _really_ want to find some of Irwin's installations if any museums still happen to have them displayed properly somewhere.
July 15, 2008
I read this book on after reading an article about it online (I can't remember if it was NY Times or LA Times). Anyway, I've never really understood Irwin's type of art, that is until I read this book. I really wish that I could see some of the paintings that are described, the early ones that he wouldn't allow to be photographed.
December 13, 2012
A TRILLION STARS
January 2, 2023
Inspiring read tracing the trajectory of someone who thought more deeply about their art than almost anyone else I'm aware of. An absolutely incredible look into Robert Irwin's work.
June 27, 2023
Hmm...overall I mostly enjoyed this book - enough poignancy, fresh ideas to make it worth reading, but it very often veers into navel-gazing self-seriousness. I am one of the modern-art-scoffers that the author mentions a few times, and I must say reading this did give me some appreciation for what's going on with "that" type of art. Intellectually I know that there is no - and should be no - objective standard for judging what is and is not "good art". Buuuuuut let's keep it real - people do not tend to experience any given artwork through the lens of meta-commentary this book explores. I doubt very much that Irwin enjoyed the Swing music of his youth because of any higher level meta relationship with the arc of music history. It sounded good, and it was fun to dance to and hang out with other people. I think the same goes for visual arts...it's fine to go down the rabbit hole of analysis and "asking questions", see how far you can push the envelope, etc., but mostly I think people just appreciate art that is visually striking or otherwise engaging without needing to work for it.
Also - hard to put my finger on it but I found the writing style in the later chapters eyeroll-inducing. Weschler lays the flowery language and Deep Thoughts on a little too thick for me.
Also - hard to put my finger on it but I found the writing style in the later chapters eyeroll-inducing. Weschler lays the flowery language and Deep Thoughts on a little too thick for me.
August 9, 2017
This is one of very few books on art, especially from the high-arts perspective, that I’ve found that are, indeed, phenomenologically rigorous. Despite a definite Deweyan twist to the proceedings (at one point, Irwin and Turrell, along with collaborator Ed Wortz, write out that “If we define art as part of the realm of experience, we can assume that after a viewer looks at a piece, he “leaves� with the art, because the “art� has been experienced…All art is experience, yet not all experience is art,�), Irwin cites Husserl, Ponty, and others much more frequently. It’s a rambling book, largely biographical in nature, and somehow intensely relatable. in one memorable scene, Irwin, arguing with a Marxist art critic who denies that customized cars can act as a sort of folk art, finds himself at an impasse, and leaves the critic on the side of the highway. There is deft deconstruction of art-world shibbolethology, and out in its place, extremely clear ideas on being human, experiencing, and creating work.
July 10, 2019
what i enjoyed about this books was that instead of it reading as just another biography it reads more as a documentation of the artist as an interview as oppose to anything else......you learn not just about him and his thought process but the little silly things that somehow actually matter even though usually they are kept out....it brings up interesting ideas...its funny and serious i recommend it to anyone...as a book that is written about an artist...reading things like this articles and such and seeing movies like this in classes all the time i will say this is definately(sp) for me one of the more successful ones....i really enjoyed..
July 18, 2019
Wow. Apparently it took me a year and a a half to read this.
I recall it being a slow start. A third of the way through it really began to pick up though and once I was half way through, I felt like I was flying.
Concepts introduced in the beginning were useful for me to consider over time. In some ways, I felt that I had to digest the information. It is over thirty years of dialogue between the author and artist of course.
If you enjoy art, philosophy, light and human perception, you will most likely find something of interest in this book.
I recall it being a slow start. A third of the way through it really began to pick up though and once I was half way through, I felt like I was flying.
Concepts introduced in the beginning were useful for me to consider over time. In some ways, I felt that I had to digest the information. It is over thirty years of dialogue between the author and artist of course.
If you enjoy art, philosophy, light and human perception, you will most likely find something of interest in this book.
March 2, 2025
Unusual and interesting and deserving of a very careful reading. Weschler obviously got deeply immersed in Irwin's life.
Quotes:
- There's no such thing as a neutral gesture.
- The simple straight line is the best possible tool, the cleanest element.
- Over the next two years, Irwin did nothing but paint the same painting over and over again.
- Irwin continued this "phenomenological reduction", successively bringing into question all the usual requirements for the art act-- image, line, frame, focus, signature, permanence, eventually even objecthood.
Quotes:
- There's no such thing as a neutral gesture.
- The simple straight line is the best possible tool, the cleanest element.
- Over the next two years, Irwin did nothing but paint the same painting over and over again.
- Irwin continued this "phenomenological reduction", successively bringing into question all the usual requirements for the art act-- image, line, frame, focus, signature, permanence, eventually even objecthood.
September 6, 2024
While light on the practicalities Irwin’s artistic life, such as making art for a market and the life of an artist ‘outside� of their art, “Seeing is Forgetting� goes deep into the arc of an artist’s career as seen from their own perspective. It is less of a history than mythmaking in real time, which is perhaps more true to Irwin’s philosophy (and frankly more interesting) than an exacting account of Irwin’s rise in the art world would have been.
September 15, 2019
The unique character and energy of Robert Irwin shines brightly throughout this amazing collection of conversations between the subject and his author. So many great takeaways, not just about art, but about life (which, I imagine Irwin would note wryly, is the same thing in the end). Highly Recommended!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2023
well I know I would not like Robert as a person but when has that ever stopped one from admiring what their accomplishments are...FLW and Picasso...but I have to give credit to Lawrence Weschler for making this so readable. I can't imagine this was an easy task. I really found this interesting and as someone said possibly the best book describing an artists arc in their career.
April 23, 2024
Part biography, part explication of an artist's philosophy. Weschler successfully contextualizes Irwin's work within his life. Although at times Irwin and Weschler both come off a bit arrogant, Weschler does well at explaining why Irwin's work is important. I'm interested to read the more recent edition to see how/if Irwin's philosophy has shifted since the early 80's.
May 27, 2017
A friend had recommended this to me for the early descriptions of Los Angeles in the 40's and 50's, but I read on, fascinated by Robert Irwin's dedication to an art that teaches us how we experience our world. The title comes from a poem by Paul Valery.
April 14, 2022
lawrence weschler is a master in regards to connecting everything, the threads of everything, together into cohesion. this is a brilliant biography and robert irwin’s thoughts on art have informed many of my own, along with the sister book to this one, “true to life� about david hockney.
March 25, 2023
dnf (cw) leaving a review to caution other readers that there's a description of sexual assault that is very glossed over early on in the book. Other than this the interviews are interesting and engaging.
February 24, 2018
This book blew my mind a few times, and in between was super interesting. Recommended for anyone who makes art or is interested in understanding the past 75 years or so of visual art.
March 4, 2019
Such an interesting look at an artist I didnt even know I was into! Thanks Austin Kleon for the suggestion (via his newsletter)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.