Meaningless 2005

Mel Bochner made this word painting, 'Meaningless,' with paint stick and watercolor on handmade paper. The paint is pretty thin, bleeding into the paper and the watercolor creating these runny edges and drips, like the words are dissolving. There’s a real tension here, between the way the colors are really vibrant and beautiful, and the words themselves – all these synonyms for nonsense, jargon, and just general blah, blah, blah. Look at how the letters are stacked so tightly, it's almost claustrophobic, and the colors pop unevenly, some brighter, some fading into the background. I see a kind of parallel with my own process, how I'm always trying to find the edge between control and accident, pushing and pulling at the surface until something unexpected emerges. I see a connection with Ed Ruscha here, in terms of the interest in language, but Bochner brings this painterly, almost chaotic energy that feels really fresh. It’s not just about the words, it’s about the experience of seeing, of grappling with meaning and meaninglessness at the same time.