Frames: Does Capitalism Enclose Art?
Obnoxious Liberals. Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982. Frames capture things. They entrap them with thick, ornate gold; heavy-set, and claustrophobic. But they also contain them. Whether there is frame or no frame, there is a sense of frame-ness, which arises as soon as it is possible for a frame to be there. Contained or uncontained physically, the artistic object is always defined by the frame, whether it loudly announces its presence or not. Setting something in gold is very different, and carries different messages, to setting it in dull copper. The frame also constitutes its content. In relation to the rich gold, the delicate-hued picture appears washed out. Rather than balanced, it is faded, de-vivified. Inside a white frame, or stuck straight onto a white wall, it is predominant. The decorative frame tells a story of its own. Every object is an artistic object. By placing a frame around a picture, we create a dialogue between the two. This dialogue might be sensical, or nonsensical. Pl
