A new David Hammons book will challenge you, scold you, flirt with you

David Hammons Arrived at my door with promises and pages. This is per Hauser & Wirth, which is the “Post-Verification Catalog” which he released the book about six years after the artist’s 2019 performance at the Los Angeles location in downtown Los Angeles. As a self-proclaimed book lover and exhibition catalog collector, I almost got such a gift next to myself. Removed it from the packaging, I let the book fall on my dining table with a satisfying roar and then reach out to the smooth, hard cover. The 12 x 12-inch hybrid weighs less than 7 pounds and has countless pages of pages – countless because there is no page number to count.

I didn’t have the 2019 Hammons show in Los Angeles, the largest comprehensive survey of artist’s work to date, and I think the catalog will provide a unique view of his six decades of mystical practice. I opened the book and soon found that there was no text. Title page flips to display full page color images for untitled or year. Imagine when I opened the book, my passion for turning pages, no catalogue found, no cross-section title, no exhibition text, no timetable, no bibliography, and no papers. No paper. Just a humble result and the artist’s name. The assumption does indeed make you and me the same ass.

As a catalog – The form of books traditionally designed to record exhibitions –David Hammons disappointment. This type of book usually provides context for art, artists and exhibitions. This book doesn’t do that. It offers hundreds of beautiful images – Gaelic mounting lenses, art reproductions, symbols – no title, no date, no bill of materials, no recognizable order. It can be assumed that the catalog includes the breadth of the 2019 exhibition, as that was the occasion for its publication, but hungry audiences have little to fight against the art itself and presented in a primitive and unapologetic series of images.

It is easy to think of this “post-detection post-catalog” as a marked coffee table book, beautiful and easy to consume, or a response to the anti-intelligence wave in our culture, which has had a huge impact on the production and publication of research in our field. I think the book is doing a clever job that makes itself inaccessible, not the public, but rather to art historians, curators and scholars who may seek to express certain powers about Hammons’ work or his life. Intuitively, about half the page, you’ll find an incredible series of mounting shots that are past Hammons exhibitions where his work is presented on white walls. Since there is no text that provides context and no date that can anchor us in time, each featured work will be fought for by vision only.

David Hammons It does not function like an exhibition catalog; it functions like an artist’s book, and more importantly, like the artwork itself. After turning to a few pages, readers will introduce David and Chie Hammons’ 2011 collaborative installation, which was produced for L&M art in the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York City. These images show the original frontal view at the bottom of the landing, next to the winter dress view, the artist uses a variety of paint, char and debris like a canvas. Those familiar with these works may know their criticism of the class and class performance, which is an ongoing criticism of Hammons. For those who don’t, the work has been removed from the background of the gallery, which has led to the spontaneous view of the coats on the city streets, where he often sourced materials.

The book’s press release states David Hammons It is a “strange book created entirely under the guidance of an artist.” Hammons is labeled “elusive” for rejecting the institutional structure of the art world and its highly sought form of verification. Why is his book different? Without authoritative curatorial voices, these images can argue for the artist’s voice. The result is a rhythmic, almost flow of consciousness of vivid images that inform each other. There is no mention of the artistic historical example, no comparison with other artistic expressions of black people. These works are almost impossible to be historic, let alone not be determined by previous knowledge of the Hammons profession. In other words, Hammons said what he had said. This image allows him to say it again and again.

Here, I find myself questioning my desire for this book is clear, traditional and useful. Is he challenging me, scolding me or flirting with me? His refusal to make his work easier to achieve is like inviting more listeners to exercise a range of skills: He invites us to see him while making room for our own responses and explanations. It is evident from the images of this book that the daily audience can make most of Hammons’ work possible, whether the audience is addicted to short-lived artworks or just spending time witnessing the ordinary sublimity. You browse the page and experience what forces you. It’s arguably totally cliché, but the book reads and writes a lot like jazz – with rhythm, but that’s not consistent. It lingers here or there, it gets loud and hot, and then fades the buzz of confidence.

It seems like, as needed for textless directories, is probably a popular lesson. The value of this book comes from not only the information recorded by IT, but also the experience and endurance required for consumption. Many contemporary artists attribute their careers to Hammons, and as you flip through the pages, it becomes increasingly clear that his practice is not a singular work, but the methods and means he does–contemporary art has been defined. He uses the materials found, the idolatrous crumb occupancy of cultural symbols, his experiments on time and his reverence for the crumbs of life all change and expands the surroundings of paintings, sculptures and performances we already know about them. Maybe that’s why his name is the only necessary quote – everything you need to know is on the title page.