Simplicity of the Everyday

One day I received a phone call from my good friend, John Baldessari. He told me he needed help with this new piece he was creating because one of his painters was ill and wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week. I’m always willing to help a friend in need so I went to his house. John has a shed out back where he works on his art. When I knocked on his front door and didn’t hear anyone inside, I knew he must already be in the shed. As I rounded the back of his house, I heard some clanging in the shed, solidifying my hunch. I entered the shed and found myself face-to-face with a giant piece of canvas.
“Wow,” I said to myself.
“Big, huh?” John replied after coming around a large shelf.
He held in his hands two paintbrushes and a can of grey paint.
“Ready to work?” he asked, lifting up the paintbrushes and can of paint. He sauntered over to me and sat the brushes and paint on the wooden stand. I picked up one of the brushes. I dipped the brush in the paint and lightly stroked the canvas. While we worked we talked about the latest news, TV shows and of course, art galleries. The most recent art gallery we had both visited had included the piece “One and Three Chairs”. This piece of artwork was so interesting. We were lucky enough to meet the artist, Joseph Kosuth. He explained the piece to us, as well as his philosophy of art. He believes that the idea of the art is the art itself and that the physical art is merely there to describe the idea. The three painted chairs were placed around the museum in different areas. Each of the chairs was regarded differently by the viewers because of where the chairs were placed. One was outside, where people sat in it, one was in a bathroom, where no one noticed it, and the last chair was placed in the center of the museum with a spotlight, where everyone was in awe of it. Kosuth explained to us that he enjoyed seeing everyday objects, such as chairs, being used or examined in so many different ways. I had a feeling that John liked his idea and was attempting to implement at least simplicity into his work of art. After all, the entire canvas was grey.
The painting took five hours and now it was 3:00 PM.
“Let’s get some grub,” he sighed, finally putting the brush down. We ate quickly because we knew it would be much more work.
When we returned he handed me a thinner paintbrush with a can of black paint.
“This is the reason I called you,” he explained. “I needed someone with a steady hand to paint this message for me.”
He gave me a scrap of paper with scrawled writing on it. No wonder he had asked me to paint the words, his penmanship was barely legible! Within a few hours, I had finished. The grey rectangular canvas read,
“What is Painting

Do you sense how all the parts of a good
Picture are involved with each other. Not
Just placed side by side? Art is a creation
For the eye and can only be hinted at with
Words.”
As I stood back to examine my handiwork, I heard John chuckle.
“It’s so ironic don’t you think?” he chuckled some more. “I’m pretty sure this is going to throw all the art critics for a loop.”
The simplicity and sarcastic nature of the finished piece was astounding. The piece of artwork he had created was so contradictory. I knew that this would not be the last piece he created with this sentiment. He enjoyed the feeling too much. He had created a simple painting with irony, a smaller version of life itself.