Mel Bochner
If the Color Changes (Beobachten ist Nicht)
2003
monoprint with engraving and embossment on Twinrocker handmade paper
33 x 46 inches
Published by Two Palms, New York.
© Mel Bochner / Photos: Ellen McDermott & Laura Mitchell
Courtesy Kramarsky Collection
Mel Bochner born 1940, lives and works in New York
“Samuel Beckett and Ludwig Wittgenstein have been pervasive influences on Bochner’s language pieces. In a recent phone conversation with the artist, he cited Wittgenstein’s last work, On Certainty (1951), as a primary source, and also mentioned as a key influence the enigmatic poetry of Wallace Stevens. ‘I like the fact that meaning is not easily surrendered in his work,’ Bochner remarked. He expresses a similar attitude toward his own word paintings. ‘When I was young I was very clear about what my work meant and I purposely tried to contain the meaning. But as I got older, I realized that I don’t have the only interpretation and I don’t have the exact meaning. Generally, I know what I’m about. But now I stay away from interpretation completely. I certainly do not want to guide the viewer’s interpretation. Often there are strong misunderstandings about my work that interest me. Sometimes they can lead me to a completely new thought.'”
– David Ebony, yalebooks.com, 2014