Harrell Fletcher reminds me of myself in some ways. I attended PNCA in 2006-2007 as a photography major. I felt different from the other students there, something that Fletcher seemed to have felt while in school. I didn't like the work that the other students were doing; it was too self-referential. I wanted to present the smallest beauty of the world to the people who lived in it, and no one seemed to understand me. My work was also made more for the people, so I understand where Fletcher was coming from.
Birdhouse, 2005
Bench, 2005
I like how Fletcher interacts with his audience. He is very hands on and wants to understand people on a very personal level. It's easy to question Fletcher's philosophies and process as being "art", simply because he is often far removed from the finished product. The interview discusses his piece Come Together, where he asked people from the art world to chose other people who then chose topics on which to give 10-minute public lectures. Fletcher encourages those who may not be involved in the art world to take part in it, and opens a window into the lives of these outsiders to those who may have never seen it. One could question where the art in a lecture lies, especially one that was not even the original idea of the lecturer. Is the art in the documentation? Or is just the idea of creating this space for people to learn about each other the art? I believe that Fletcher's idea creates a type of performance art, inviting those in and out of the art world to create a performance.
Come Together, 2003
Fletcher's work on Learning to Love You More reminds me of another artist who uses other people to create projects, Lee Walton. On a current project, he plays rounds of golf at various courses, then gives his scores to people who create geometric 'drawings' out of electrical tape in that represent his scores. Walton is essentially providing a set of instructions to people who carry out his work in a site-specific manner. Walton and Fletcher are questioning who has to carry out the piece to be the author, and the importance of the author in the art world. Is the piece any less valid because the 'artist' did not create it himself? There is a thin line that these artists walk, but there always has to be someone pushing the boundaries!
Lee Walton, Golf Drawing, 2007
