MELVIN M. TUMIN
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canvas thinks. Th e canvas itseH becomes the bra in , the imagina tion.
You may say tha t in a n th ere is an externa li za ti on of the mind into
the medium.
T umin:
Wha t, then , o f the idea tha t the subj ect ma ller o f much of
recent pa inting h as been the act o f pa inting itself?
R osenberg:
It' s on e way in whi ch tha t thought has been fo rmul ated ,
and it's no t inco rrect, but it's a lso no t the whole sto ry.
T umin:
Would you n ever as a criti c comment a bo ut the appos iten ess
or inappos iteness of the medium for the probl em o r the idea?
R osen berg:
I wouldn ' t say, thi s doesn 't reall y belong in p a inting,
maybe it belo ngs in a nineteenth century nove l.
T umin:
You wo uld no t say tha t.
R osen berg:
No.
T umin:
Wh a t. then , o f a third criteri on : how imagina ti vely and
knowledgeably does th e ani st rea lize the poss ibiliti es and powers of
th e medi a?
R osenberg':
I do n ' t think in those terms. I'm a syntheti c thinker, tha t
is. I ta lk about con crete situa tion s.
T wnin:
If
I go th ro ugh your writing , I can show you you ' re mu ch
mo re th an con crete. T here is a lways impli cit, a lmos t expli cit ,
tho ugh no t u sua ll y, a se t o f o pera tive criteri a by whi ch you 're
makin g judgments.
R osenberg:
Th a t's right , I don ' t just say I think thi s pa intin g is good
or bad.
T umin:
T h a t' s ri ght. and you say wh y.
R osen berg:
I say wh y.
T wnin:
And you say con ceptua ll y why, no t just concretely wh y.
R osen berg:
Th a t's right, but if you want to genera li ze those gen eral-
iza tions, you h ave to do it. I don ' t gen erali ze my gen era liza tion s.
T umin:
But one is permilled to as k wh ether thi s is a fa ir sta tement of
your gen era li za ti on s.
R osen berg:
I don ' t know. I haven't an a lyzed whi ch gen era liza ti o n
you 're referrin g to . I' ve been do in g thi s fo r a bo ut twcnt y- riw yea rs , a t
least. and I can ' t put th e sum to ta l into a few fo rmulas. Let me quo te
something else Ba udela ire sa id. H e u sed to be an an rev iewer, whi ch
I'm no t. I don ' t run a round as much as he did . He u sed to revi ew the
salo n s and ga ll ery shows. and he sa id it often occurred
to
him tha t
hi s life wo uld be much eas ier if h e h ad a se t o r ideas which he could
a ppl y
to
p a intin gs and h e would be a ble to go into a show a nd a ppl y
hi s sys tem and come up with judgements o f th e pa intings. He tri ed
to wo rk o ut such a sys tem and he sa id it was a di saster becau se eith er
