On a recent trip to Valencia I visited IVAM - Instituto Valencia de Arte Moderno. Boasting a large collection of Dada, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionist and conceptual work being shown as part of their 25th anniversary exhibition, it was the perfect place to spend an afternoon. I was greeted by a variety of Dada-era work by the likes of Kurt Schwitters, Man Ray, and Duchamp - artists I have always seen as influences, particularly in the medium of collage.
Further into the gallery I saw a piece that immediately appealed to my sense of humour in relation to art - ESSO-LSD by Öyvind Fahlström is at once idiosyncratic and amusing yet touches on darker subjects of recreational drug use and consumer behaviour. Displayed nearby were John Cages Edible Drawings, of which I have written about before. I love the idea of defying the pristine and precious conception of a framed piece in a white gallery by making it with the intent of rotting, degrading and destroying itself. Work more along a Pop Art feel included Jasper Johns' The Critic Sees (a direct comment on the whimsical nature of commercial art and its analysers) and some large prints by John Baldessari, who's work I had not come across before but liked his appropriation and subsequent editing of media images such as covering the faces - a technique which can be seen in my own work.
In the same room was Bruce Nauman's seminal Bouncing in the Corner (http://vimeo.com/3692362) - I plan to utilise his idea of using just the body and simple movements as the sole materials in a performance in an upcoming piece.