Charles Cohen Interview for Project 1

In an interview with Charles Cohen, the famous artist known for his "cut out" series Buff, the audience learned just what was behind this and other works of his art. According to Cohen, there are three elements when it comes to "cut outs." First, the viewer has an immediate recognition of the void. Second, there is an "abstract effect" and third there is a "reflective effect." The viewer's reaction is an expectation of the piece. The viewer then starts to question the type of imagery and the "effect of the imagery in general" which is the "abstract effect." The "reflective effect" is when the viewer understands the work through dissecting the experiences and possibly "assumes co-authorship with the artist" Cohen also talks about how Buff is an intellectual exercise to dialog with the viewer about expectation and imagery in general. Analogtime, which is related to Buff, is about issues of attachment and lack there of. It is an emotional narrative where Buff is more lust than emotion. Cohen also expresses how the white spaces in his cut outs "allows the viewer to project thought into both cases [both pieces of art]."

Not only is Cohen's art good but it makes the viewer become involved. For most art, people just look at it and walk away. Cohen makes the viewer really get attached and makes the viewer really try to understand what is going on and what the message is. What is nice about his work is that even though Cohen might have had a particular meaning in mind when creating it, the viewer may have another interpretation which is just as correct as Cohen's. This makes the viewer part of the art experience and the art itself. Taking images we already recognize, like porn or even pictures of couples and cutting out key pieces of them, gives the audience a whole new way of thinking about things they already know about. It is all about perception of what people see and what they don't and Cohen does a great job incorporating the audience into making that decision for themselves.