Al Cruz’s new one-man exhibit, From Propositions to Propositions, features new interpretations of subjects already familiar to many viewers, yet rendered differently as Cruz dwells more on the idea behind those images. “Ideas transform art-making through time,” says Cruz, using ready-made art, appropriation, and replication to capture a semblance of the spirit of the original work, and discovering new nuances in the process. From Propositions to Propositions looks up to the works of Duchamp and Kosuth, on the premise that sees “painting as appropriating an idea, and using it to represent another idea.” To demonstrate this approach used by the above-mentioned artists, Cruz first takes on Duchamp’s “Bicycle Wheel,” in which a bicycle wheel was seen affixed to a kitchen stool. As replicas of that “influential” work were produced for different museums, “the idea of appropriating ready-made objects and presenting them as artwork questioned the nature of art-making during that time. The ready-made [objects] in art-making became an alternative proposition.” Artists like Kosuth then adapted the idea, using a wooden folding chair that is presented with a photograph of the same chair, shot where the work will be exhibited, and a photo-panel of the dictionary meaning of the word, “chair.” Notes Cruz, Kosuth’s work was recognized as conceptual art, where the idea is more important than the object itself. Cruz applies this concept in “Wheel Turning,” using Duchamp’s “Bicycle Wheel” with an implied recycle symbol on its shadow. The bicycle wheel image was taken from the Internet, and arrows on the shadow were added with the help of a Photoshop pen tool. “One and Three Objects” is Kosuth’s “One and Three Chairs” with text, painted three times. Each painting sits on a wooden folding chair. The image was taken from a book, and text was added using the Photoshop pen tool. Al Cruz studied studio arts at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.
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