David Hatcher
What can we see?
David Hatcher’s practice incorporates printmaking, painting, video, drawing, writing and publishing in an investigation of ‘material and optical artefacts’ within social, political, economic, philosophical and aesthetic discourses. He employs ‘found’ excerpts and aspects from key or ‘authoritative’ sources which, when removed from their original context become more fluid in their meaning. The juxtaposition Hatcher employs within their re-presentation often exposes a paradox or alerts us to the potential for multiple readings.
In Ludwig and Hugh (2004) two giant fluorescent pink shapes are painted onto the wall; one a diagram illustrating a philosophical observation (by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein), one a company logo (for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire). Separated from their usual trappings (philosophy journals and textbooks on the one hand, saucy magazines and affiliated merchandise on the other) their meanings are displaced. The left hand shape dates from the early 1890s and can be perceived as either a duck or a rabbit (it tends to be comprehended as one shape first and then, often as a result of prompting, the alternative shape becomes apparent). It was used by Wittgenstein in conjunction with his proposition that interpretation is an action.[1] While our initial interpretation may be proved false or overtaken, each act of looking and processing what we see draws upon what we are familiar with, what we can embellish and imagine. The Playboy bunny has a raft of very different associations, but is still a ‘known’ code. If the association with Hefner is not recognised, the bow-tied bunny is just that. When both creatures are seen as rabbits, they meet eye to eye. If they nudged closer they could kiss. When the ‘duck’ is in effect, communication appears to have failed.
Classic Hits (excerpts from the Oedipal Manoeuvres in the Dark project) (2006) addresses aspects of philosophical discourse at an unexpectedly literal level. In this ongoing study, Hatcher takes a closer look at diagrams and doodles from philosophers’ notebooks and published texts (including Freud, Lacan, Wittgenstein and Hegel); annotations where words didn’t quite cut it. Isolated from the texts they are associated with and repeated or centred on a piece of blotting paper, perforated to ape the way the hallucinogen lysergic acid (LSD) is distributed for consumption, their meaning floats. The mirrored frames of each of the sixteen pieces fractures and reflects the viewer, placing emphasis on the physical act of looking and how this relates to perception. This image/material combination sparks a barrage of questions. Is philosophy the new acid? Has philosophy failed and are mind-altering substances requisite for true insight? Are we in danger of having our minds blown during our encounter with received wisdom through societal institutions such as universities and public art galleries? Note the pun on the work’s details: the artist produces the work on 100% acid free recycled paper.
Hatcher and Los Angeles-based artist Cindy Bernard’s collaborative video work The Inquisitive Musician: Screen Tests (2004) uses a translation and adaptation of a seventeenth century German satire (attributed to Johann Kuhnau)—Musicus Curiosus, or Battalus, the Inquisitive Musician; the Struggle for Precedence between the Kunst Pfeifer and the Common Players—which pits official court musicians against a group of ‘beer fiddlers’ in an argument over who is the better musician—those who play tunes by ear and memory, or those who rely on printed music in order to perform. The text is read by visual artists in the manner of a screen test audition, some with a droll and deadpan delivery, some imbuing the text with much theatricality. The argument played out for us is poignant and pertinent comparisons can be drawn between this historical disagreement and contemporary discussions regarding elitist vs. populist forms of cultural expression. This video is part of an open-ended project across multiple formats, most recently manifesting as a live reading of the complete adaptation of the play at Tonic in New York and a radio broadcast as part of a programme in memory of Danièle Huillet in Bologna.
Heather Galbraith
Notes:
[1] While commonly attributed to a Ludwig Wittgenstein text published after his death in the mid 1950s, the form first appeared in German humour magazine Fliegende Blatter in 1892. This was noted by American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1899, and in Wittgenstein’s text the philosopher acknowledges Jastrow as his source for the composition.
David Hatcher artist bio:
Born Auckland, 1973
David Hatcher is an artist and nutritional psychiatrist based in Berlin, Los Angeles and Puhoi.
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film), University of Canterbury, Christchurch; Postgraduate study with Prof. Katharina Sieverding, Hochschule der Künste, Berlin; Diploma of Critical Studies, Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art & Malmö Art Academy, Malmö; Master of Fine Arts (Interdisciplinary Studio), University of California, Los Angeles.
Selected solo exhibitions include: ‘For Real’, Starkwhite, Auckland (2005); ‘Oedipal Manoeuvres in the Dark’, Müllerdechiara, Berlin (2004); ‘Standard Deviations’, Lippische Gesellschaft für Kunst, Detmold, Germany (2003).
Selected group exhibitions include: ‘Bring the War Home’, Q.E.D., Los Angeles, and Elizabeth Dee, New York (2006); ‘The Backroom’, 2692 La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles (2005); ‘A Complete Guide to Rewriting Your History’, Sparwasser HQ, Berlin (2004); ‘Bloom: mutation, toxicity and the sublime’ Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2003).
Cindy Bernard artist bio:
Born San Pedro, California, 1959
Lives and works in Los Angeles
Bachelor of Arts, California State University, Long Beach
Master of Fine Arts, California Insitute of the Arts (CalArts)
Bernard is known for photographs and projections that explore the relationship between cinema, memory, and landscape including the widely exhibited series ‘Ask the Dust’. Since 1986, her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is in the permanent collections of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as well as international collections. In addition to her visual practice, Bernard is creator of the experimental music series ‘sound.’ as well as the founder of The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS). Taking
an active interest in instigating social exchange, Bernard founded SASSAS out of the need for a small sustainable organization dedicated to experimental music in Los Angeles.
Image credits:
David Hatcher
Ludwig and Hugh 2004
fluorescent pigment on wall
Courtesy of Starkwhite, Auckland
Details from Classic Hits (excerpts from the Oedipal Manoeuvres
in the Dark project) 2006
perforated prints on 100% acid free recycled paper
Courtesy of Starkwhite, Auckland