13/06/2026
We are delighted to host a performance art by Robin Yankin entitled "Opus" on June 23, 2026, from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ:
In William Gaddisโ The Recognitions, there was one particular passage (of course, out of many others) towards the middle of the novel that struck me as I read it as a freshman in university. It was when Basil Valentine (a corrupt art critic) revealed, by way of Huizinga, that the Flemish masters were not above selling out to rich patrons, a truth that shattered Wyatt Gwyon (an art forger facing various moral crises) and his fragile preconception of those masters having a unified spiritual vision for their oeuvres. Even many years later, this passage continued to ring true, even as I found myself pondering the extent of the interstices that lay between the artist and their work:
๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ถ๐ญ๐จ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ? ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐บ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ถ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ท๐ถ๐ญ๐จ๐ข๐ณ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ?
We have arrived at a point in late-stage capitalism such that, because of increasing economic instability, mass unemployment, disillusionment, disenfranchisement, and doubts regarding the future of traditional work settings, especially in the wake of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), more and more people are turning to art in varying degrees as a viable alternative, not only as it informs and reignites their raison dโรชtre but also provides them the unique opportunity to monetize their passion. Ironically, it is these same material realities that provided the backdrop for artists struggling to balance their pursuit of personal aesthetics against practicality, responsibility, and survival: it simultaneously held the potential for success or failure.
Inspired in part by the confrontational nature of Michael Lentzโs Schattenfroh, alongside the spirit and rigour of Tehching Hsiehโs One-Year Performance series, this work is, in essence, a real-time distillation, exploration, and exorcism of a near-universal experience that artists of all types and mediums have shared as it seeks to confront the following dilemma: art for higher ideals versus art for material ends. Moreover, it is a statement against AI, further proving that it stands no contest to human ingenuity and imagination.
It unfolds on June 23 (the date on which Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule patented one of the worldโs first commercially viable typewriters in 1868), over a period of five hours, with occasional interruptions for thought and composition. During the performance, I type on a ream of continuous paper using my Adler Gabriele 10, and the resulting โscrollโ is to be simultaneously displayed for public viewing and published for the widest dissemination. As for the โscrollโ itself, it is composed of one long sentence, the culmination of which will depend on my preoccupations, references, ideas, and other factors that play out within the allotted time. I will not be disturbed as I type, as doing so will break immersion. The text will not be revised.
