February '22

There are perhaps many more opinions about what creates artistic value than there is actual artwork. Some say that, as soon as it is described, art ceases to be art. In spite of such observations, I still believe an artist should know what the audience wants to be served, without making the audience aware. It can be a masterpiece by Michelangelo or an overlooked morsel of our daily reality that only gains meaning when light is shed upon it. Pop artists are good at this.

We happen to like that theory because it likens art to a Sockfellow membership. Society receives regular deliveries from the art community with a promise of originality and interest. This analogy also harbours a key warning, though: the eternal chase after the unexpected can also lead to less pleasant surprises. Take Piero Manzoni, who, just like Andy Warhol, felt an affinity for cans. But instead of painting them, he allegedly filled a total of ninety cans with his own waste products. To this day, nobody knows whether that story is true or bull. Nevertheless, each can of Manzoni’s doing now sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which presents, well, let’s call it reason number two not open those cans. What if they are empty?

But worry not. Sockfellow deliveries are full of pleasant surprises only. We take inspiration from the less avant-garde masters, such as representatives of pop art. Still, too bad that the can was chosen over the sock. By Warhol, I mean.