Tuttle Therapy

Richard Tuttle, artist and wisdom worker

From time to time I have observed how protracted, focused work in the studio can leave me feeling a particular kind of tightness. It could be described as a slow motion contraction that has moved me away from that elemental sense of expansion and playfulness that should always be present.

This proclivity can be remedied by a number of techniques, and here’s one to add to my list: The San Francisco MOMA has assembled a cache of video interviews with or about Richard Tuttle, any of which take me right back to the reason I started making art in the first place. Whether he is talking about his small work or his use of language, Tuttle is the best human reminder of what is magical, enchanting and beguiling about making something out of nothing. In one of these short video clips he says, “Art is a kind of food, a food for the spirit”. Just hearing him say that, with no pretension, artifice or posturing, moved my set point higher, wider, lighter.

And referencing my post from two days ago, I think of Tuttle as an episodic narrativist–his is a wild adventuresomeness with an overarching connection to meaning. And yes, happy endings.

BTW, I’ve written about Tuttle a lot on this blog over the years since he is one of my all time favorite artists. For a listing of those postings, go here.

Photo: Richard Tuttle

Thanks to my friend David Novak for alerting me to this link.