Installation View 

Curator: This is an installation view of work by Claude Rutault. It employs mixed media and site-specific interventions that exemplify conceptual art. The use of the gallery space as part of the artwork prompts an examination of the relationship between art object and its environment. Editor: Mmm, austere, isn’t it? Makes me think of a freshly painted room in an old house, staged to look minimalist… but there’s this faint air of melancholy, like waiting for something that won’t arrive. Curator: I see that. Rutault challenges conventional notions of art making. His work often involves the application of paint to walls, canvases, or objects, aligning them with their surroundings through color and material, thereby dematerializing the art object. Editor: So the paint, the canvas…they're kind of disappearing acts, huh? It’s funny how the architecture around the ‘art’ kinda steals the show. That trim along the wall is really something. What’s the labor look like, in something like this? Does the artist have a team, or...? Curator: Precisely, it directs attention to the broader spatial context. In terms of production, often the instructions are more central than the labor itself. The execution is almost delegated, decentralizing the artist's role in the traditional sense, thereby, inviting various interpretations depending on execution. Editor: Huh, sort of like a recipe then, open to infinite cooks. The sameness feels deliberate, like, three shades of waiting… it’s kinda soothing and unnerving, all at once. If art mirrors society, this says a lot about standardization and maybe alienation, even. Curator: That’s astute. The repetitive use of similar forms and colors within this context reflects the repetitive nature of labor in modern production. Moreover, its interaction with pre-existing architectures can prompt reflections on institutional power and historical continuities. Editor: I'm strangely moved by what's missing. A bit haunted, even, in the loveliest way. Curator: Absolutely. By reducing art to its most elemental components, Rutault invites viewers to consider the socio-economic factors underpinning its production and reception. Editor: Well, after dissecting it together, I’m starting to feel the chill ease up a bit, replaced by… intrigue? Curator: Precisely the goal, I think – a material investigation revealing the conceptual.