Perfection is the Enemy of the Good from Rachel Stevens on Vimeo.


books

cassette

17secondfaith

Video, 6 min., 2014
texts from:
Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland;
Art and Fear by Paul Virilio

Alternating quotes are taken from two books with the same name, Art & Fear. One is an encouraging self-help book and the other a theoretical rant on politics and aesthetics in 20th century art. These dueling sentiments mirror my own process of making work.

This piece was presented as a performance at Kunsthalle Galapagos in Brooklyn. Each time one quote would end and the next quote (from the other book) would begin I would flip a cassette tape in a handheld cassette player over as fast as possible, amplified by a microphone. On one side of the cassette is the album 17 Seconds by The Cure, and on the other side is Faith, also by The Cure. The standalone version, with audio from two different generative music apps for iPhone, was included in the The Last Brucennial.