In the Galleries With An Ear to the Archives: John Baldessari
Jun 9, 2010

On the occasion of artist John Baldessari’s inclusion in Off The Wall Part 1: Thirty Performative Actions, we take a look back at the Watch & Listen archives to get some insight on I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art (1971).

In 2008, during his Walter Annenberg Lecture, Baldessari described how his teaching and artistic process have informed one another over the course of his career. The artist taught for over thirty years, in both public and private institutions, ranging from pre-school to graduate school to a juvenile detention center. While for some artists teaching is a way to make ends meet, Baldessari saw the potential in it for his art as well. “You never know what’s going to happen in the classroom, it’s always different” the artist explained, “I said I’m going to think of the teaching just like I’m doing art and that saved me. And then it sort of flipped on itself because I really learned how to communicate—or you’re lost when you’re teaching. Then I said: ‘Well art is about communication.’"

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art demonstrates the give and take between teaching and art-making present in Baldessari’s work. By using a phrase culled from his personal notebooks, the artist encouraged art students to make the same oath that he did while exploring his own creative process. Ultimately, the students were receptive to the idea. “I thought it would just be an exercise of futility and there would be blank walls. (But) the gallery was full!” the artist explained of the original 1971 performance.

By Sarah Meller, Interpretation and Research Assistant