Francis Bacons' voice reminds me too much of mindless days sitting at his reconstructed studio while working in the Hugh Lane Gallery. Melvyn Braggs' interview on a loop became the background track to my wandering thoughts on the job. However, here's one I heard recently and I must quote.
Bacon : "I am genuinely pleased that those people don't like them...I much more pleased when they really hate them than when they like them, after-all it means that there might be something there."
Sitting by my own work anonymously recently, I observed some reactions to my installation piece on exhibition. I realized that I got a good kick out of those who did not like the piece and outwardly expressed their dislike. I found these stronger, more instant reactions caused greater satisfaction for me. This is strange because I usually make work that is aesthetically pleasing and to my liking rather than disliking. Perhaps Bacon enjoyed the negative attention his work received while he was alive because through it he received something openly genuine and true from the public. I wonder if Bacon only felt a work was complete when it was satisfactorily ugly or shocking enough to receive some passionate and genuine reactions.
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