Tony Tasset, “Big Eye” (2001)
acrylic/polystyrene
60″ diameter
On exhibit at Feigen Contemporary
535 West 20th Street, NY NY 10011
Stuff like this amuses the hell out of me. I don’t know what its artistic “message” is or what it represents other than just a huge eyeball, and I really don’t care. I do know that when I tiptoed down into the lower level of the gallery, I didn’t expect to be confronted by this huge thing. Maybe that was the point.
I felt a little self-conscious taking its picture, because I know you’re not supposed to take pictures of this stuff … so of course I looked all around before doing so to make sure there were no cameras watching me. I did consider that maybe there was a camera inside the eyeball, but ignored that paranoia and just took the picture. I still think, though, that somewhere there’s grainy black and white surveillance videotape of me, and I’m going to be arrested. Should I make a scene?