ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG INTERVIEW: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao "Gluts"

An Interview With Robert Rauschenberg Book Cover
Elizabeth Avedon Editions | Vintage Contemporary Artists Series
Back Cover: Robert Rauschenberg. Metal Assemblage, Swaddle Glut, 1986
Front Cover: Photograph (c) Richard Avedon /All Rights Reserved

Robert Rauschenberg, Greek Toy Glut (Neapolitan), 1987
Metallo Asemblato (c) Estate of Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg, West-Ho Glut, 1986, Metallo Asemblato

(c) Estate of Robert Rauschenberg

I think of the "Gluts" series as souvenirs without nostalgia. What they are really meant to do is give people an experience of looking at everything in terms of what its possibility might be. –Robert Rauschenberg

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The following text is from An Interview With Robert Rauschenberg by American Art Critic, Barbara Rose, published under the imprint "Elizabeth Avedon Editions | Vintage Contemporary Artists" by Random House (Here):

BR: There's a lot of recycling and reuse in your work. You believe that you don't have to throw something away just because it's old. There's always a possibility for a use. This isn't a common idea. People are really into "new" today.

RR: The only thing I like to keep out of a work, no matter what the materials are, is the history of the process of putting it together. I don't bring that into it. I think of the "Gluts" series as souvenirs without nostalgia. What they are really meant to do is give people an experience of looking at everything in terms of what its possibility might be.

BR: Your art has certainly always been available. You don't need to have an enormous background on Rauschenberg's history to relate to his work. There is always something there to which anybody can relate. That's why it's popular. You may not contrive to be popular, but you are.

RR: When I see the sorts of things you are referring to, I try to destroy them. I'm sure that I haven't been able to avoid developing some "classic" qualities, and I don't mind them being hidden. I just object to their being the subject.

BR: You prefer a composition that is not obviously a composition.

RR: I prefer not to brag about it's sophisticated anatomy.

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BR: I have watched you work, and it is an interaction–it is your encounter, and you interact with this material or this image or whatever, but you never plan your work. There is no plan or sketch. It's absolutely pure process. Which comes, I believe, from abstract expressionism. It's the process. You don't know until it's finished what it is, and it's done when you've decided that that's it–I think that's an aspect of your work.

RR: Actually, when I'm painting, I think that my mental attitude is to drive with the brakes on, and when I sense a funny smell, then I turn off the ignition.

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RR: For me, Tibet was a living relationship with people. It was a reaffirmation of the fact no matter what the language is or the customs are, there is a general love between human beings. I know it sounds simplistic, but you could see it in Tibet. Some places it's harder to break through that. These people–perhaps because the air is so thin, or their life is so hard, or because they are so religiously rich–have love all over the place. I mean, every step, no matter how cold it is or how hot or how muddy, is still part of the palette of friendship.

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February 12 - September 2, 2010
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG GLUTS
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao