Undying love of Felix Gonzalez-Torres for Ross Laycock

By Ma. Alaine Pernecita Allanigue

Essay by Adriano Pedrosa

Upon reading the essay of Adriano Pedrosa talking about the undying love of Felix Gonzalez-Torres for Ross Laycock, I was moved by this way of expressing love for someone through art. In this blood-covered letters essay, I have noticed these “Untitled” titles. Felix Gonzalez-Torres has been known through his works with titles of “Untitled” followed by words with parenthesis. 

Untitled (Ross and Harry) 1991
Photo Source: http://greg.org/archive/felix_untitled_ross_harry.jpg

Just like in Sonnets, Shakespeare’s sonnets were all entitled “Sonnet” followed by a number. But each sonnet has its own art, its own emotion and rhyme. I might be one of the public who were puzzled by these titles of using “Untitled” as titles with words such as a name (Ross) and memorable significant dates enclosed with parenthesis beside it. According to the artist, his public is Ross, his lover and friend, these untitled titles may have a relation on what he wants to say to him and he wants him to remember. When a loved-one is dying, you are reminiscing and trying to get back the memories, holding them up to the very last breath. Maybe this is one of his intentions. And that his love for Ross cannot be interpreted through words, that “Untitled” may have hold this unexplainable love for him. 

Photo Source: http://itooktheother.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_4558.jpg?w=1280

In effect to me, once you named an art, it might seize the audience with the idea surrounded and related only to the title limiting them to explore freely and feel the emotion presented by the art but when you give an open title welcoming everyone to let them think freely and realize what the art wants to say, a deeper appreciation takes place.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s works were moving once you know the story behind it. His installations may look ordinary at first, let’s face the fact that not all people have this art-interpretation skills. 

Photo Source: http://www.catch-fire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/felix.jpg

His works such as the clocks (perfect lovers), the empty bed, the portrait of Ross might look ordinary but it will be made significant once you learned the feeling, emotion and love behind it. 

According to Emily Boone Hagenmaier’s essay on “Untitled (queer mourning and the art of Felix GonzalezTorres)”,

“Gonzales-Torres’ art  provides an alternative  to dominant, normative  understandings  of grieving… the art of Gonzalez-Torres does not insist upon letting go of a loss in order to overcome grief. The artist posits that the memory of people or events lost continues to affect the present and offers hope for the future.”

 I wonder if the arts made by people at present time will be appreciated like this. For mostly, arts of ages are more appreciated and served as a framework or standard basis of what is good art and what is bad art. 

Photo Source: http://imageobjecttext.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-bed-1992.jpg