ABSTRACT
The artists themselves have been more than ready to offer ambitious explanations for the simplest of their creations—to such an extent, indeed, that one wonders if there may not be a "law" operating here to the effect that, the more minimal the art, the more maximum the explanation. Anyone suffering from an incontinent sense of humor may be excused, perhaps, for finding something ludicrous in the discrepancies that obtain between the complexity of the discussion and the simplicity of the objects that prompt it. Boring the public is one way of testing its commitment. The new artists seem to be extremely chary; approval, they know, is easy to come by in this seller's market for culture, but commitment is nearly impossible to elicit. Boredom is only another name for a certain species of frustration. And the new languages which the interesting art of our time speaks are frustrating to the sensibilities of most educated people."
