Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Written Portraits

Left Lily Cole, Fiona Banner - Sky Art's 1 Art Matters. Source -  http://www.1301pe.com/news/detail.asp?NewsID=489

I have been following the Lily Cole series Art Matters on Sky Arts 1.  The Anthony Gormley one was interesting as was the Tacita Dean one (the latter was a former student at Falmouth Art college) - I even understood how she thought of herself as an artist rather than a photographer, as her film is closer to paintings than actual celluloid.  The Fiona Banner one confused me somewhat.

( Lily Cole / Fiona Banner )

I feel more unnerved reading Banner's  'written portraits' than I ever would just seeing a nude painting or sculpture and possibly more uncomfortable hearing the subject read out Banner's observations of her.  It could be argued that the work simply isn't my taste, or as one critic put it 'just conceptual bullshit.' I am not that worried about the fact that I don't 'get' the 'ISBN as Art,' nor 'The Nam' novels either, but I want to challenge why the poster board written word makes me uncomfortable, where a regular nude wouldn't.  Is it because of the intimate space in my mind, rather than the visual concept before me?

I don't really think of myself as unusually repressed and usually I am able to think out of the box.  So - help me here. Why am I not getting this concept of art and why does this also make me feel that I am way out of my comfort zone?