FROM ANIMATRONIC TO ALGOCRATIC

JORDAN WOLFSON's internal dream world debuts at David Zwirner for Art Basel Hong Kong. Moment.

- STEPHEN SHORT

Titling is incredibly precise. Titling is like ... surgical. When you title an artwork be very careful, because the title can destroy a piece. I think it's surgical. It's so important." Jordan Wolfson is discussing the notion of titling artwork over Zoom. He's in Los Angeles, in late February, having this morning finished work he'll show through David Zwirner gallery at Art Basel Hong Kong. The works comprise "Red Sculpture", a boy the colour of ox-blood-more of that in due course—and three 'panels', two of which are "Untitled". I ask Wolfson that with demanding consumers living in the 21stcentury Algocracy (rule by algorithm), shouldn't artists stump-up proper titles for their "products"? That way admirers get to shoot, share, love, like and lavish the data analytics of a name all over Instagram, the world's premium gallery space.

"No. Without a name it's poetic," Wolfson says. "By choosing not to give something a title, in a way, that's beautiful." Sensing my incredulity (though in reality I'm touched by his sentiment), he elaborates: "Sometimes when you give a name to something, you limit it. Let's say it's a sculpture ... you have to give it a name that creates momentum for the artwork, it can't hold back the artwork, or control it... so therefore..." I interrupt him, "Isn't it most poetic to remove the title altogether? I.e, dump the bore-core term 'Untitled', which is so obviously a non-title." "That would be terrible," he says, aghast. "Nothing can also be a very negative thing. It's weird," he says. He visibly mindscrolls in deep silence for several seconds and reaches impasse. "There's no right answer." The subliminal irony in Wolfson's words is not lost on me; like he needed a title to create momentum for the piece that still defines him a decade later? And before we talk of his Art Basel Hong Kong offerings this month, let's first dispense with the, ahem... "animatronic in the room".