LA JOLLA, CA.- The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and Murals of La Jolla have installed Blah, Blah, Blah, by Mel Bochner at 1111 Prospect Street. This new mural installation was completed Thursday, May 14 and will be included on the next Murals of La Jolla monthly tour, Wednesday, May 27 at 5:30 p.m.
Mel Bochner’s mural, Blah, Blah, Blah, repeats a rhythmic, graphic pattern that slowly reveals itself as a textual play with words. At first glance, the work appears as stark, bold, abstracted shapes. Once the viewer engages the piece more closely they can identify the phrase “Blah, Blah, Blah” scrawled repeatedly. Bochner deploys this phrase instead of the singular use of the word “blah” for new effect. It seeks to reflect a critical commentary on the blather of advertisers, politicians, bloggers – while also critiquing the social media world of texts and tweets. Bochner creates a parade of words, shamelessly demanding for attention.
“We live in a world that is oversaturated with empty language,” said Bochner, “small talk, tweets, texts, leet speak, chit-chat, pop–up ads, telephone-answering messages (“your call is important to us…”), warnings on medicine bottles (“if you have an erection lasting more than four hours…”). If there is no escaping this linguistic tsunami, the Blah, Blah, Blah paintings subvert it from below.”
Bochner’s career has been driven by a fascination with words, language and interpretation. He was among the first to examine language in the visual arts, which prompted a launching point for the Conceptual Art Movement in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Along with fellow artists, Sol LeWitt, Dan Graham, and Robert Smithson, Bochner’s work sought to renegotiate the artist’s relationship to expression and material.
Blah, Blah, Blah, (108' wide x 18' high) a triptych, replaces Ryan McGinness’ 53 Women which had been displayed since 2011 on the back side the of Hotel Parisi building. Blah, Blah, Blah, joins thirteen other murals currently installed throughout La Jolla.
Bochner was born in Pittsburgh in 1940. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology and went on to receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005 from the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. His work has been part of many permanent collections in prestigious museums including Tate Britain, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and The Whitney. He lives and works in New York City.
Murals of La Jolla offers tours the last Wednesday of the month (May 27, June 24, July 29, August 26 and September 30) starting at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library at 5:30 p.m. RSVPs are suggested.
To date, works by John Baldessari, Mark Bradford, Kelsey Brookes, Gajin Fujita, Anya Gallaccio, Robert Ginder, Ann Hamilton, Jean Lowe, Robert Irwin/Philipp Scholz Rittermann, Nina Katchadourian, Kim MacConnel, Ryan McGinness, Roy McMakin, Richard Allen Morris, Catherine Opie, Julian Opie, Fred Tomaselli and William Wegman have been installed throughout La Jolla. Three of these have been replaced or temporarily removed. Overall, 19 murals have been commissioned since 2010.
