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Graymatters - Review by George Kovats One look at J.B. Daniels work entitled "graymatters" will bring to mind order and gray sameness of days long gone bye. My first impression was just that: Gray sameness. Gray sameness ordered as if ready for a military parade. The work is arranged in six (6) rows of five (5) works each except for the last row containing only three (3) works. The work thus consists of twenty eight (28) parts, each 8 x 11 inches in size and individually framed. The image? A common looking woman's torso without head and legs rendered in sepia ink and reproduced by an inkjet printer. Each of the twenty eight (28) torsos has an identical translucent envelope affixed in place of the head. Each envelope contains a flat everyday looking object. Small images, wrappers, arrow and like images. This work fits almost seamlessly in today's system based art. System based art, popular intermittently during the last several decades, is making a powerful comeback. System based art is popular with modern artists and audiences alike. The artists are freed from making artistic decisions as the system makes the decisions for the artist. The artist is creative in conceiving the system itself although this creativity can be questioned as it is relatively easy to create a system. Once a system has been conceived and formalized it develops almost automatically. This is of course reflected in the work itself. Most of the system art looks and feels precisely as the Daniels' "graymatters": Gray and Same. The audience loves the system art due to its implied simplicity. For the uninitiated member of the public, the viewing of the system art such as the "graymatters" represents multiple experiences with minimum variation in image. Let's consider this phenomena in a greater detail. The artist has created one image and reproduced it mechanically twenty eight (28) times. Economy. He then introduced a token variation into the system by using envelopes containing everyday flat objects and placing them at what has unquestionably become a center of interest of each image to entice the viewer to view each image separately. The two (2) missing images - the fact that images are missing is implied only - force the viewer to conclude that the work is in progress and more of the same is to come in future. The viewer would not be incorrect to conclude that at least two (2) more images will be made part of the work at a later date. The viewer can only debate what the envelopes may contain in future images. This adds mystery and anticipation possibly forcing a second visit by a curious viewer. The open ended work of this nature also forces the viewer to conclude that the artist may be adding new images for a long time to come. No end to the system is indicated or implied yet at the same time the viewer is not sure that anything is missing at all. This results in number of emotions for the viewer. Anticipation of future things to come is certainly one of the emotions. Predictability is another. Fear of the same may be a third emotion felt by the viewer. The real meaning of this particular system may be hidden from the viewer forever. In today's world when art can be almost anything and everything and in this particular instance the meaning is left completely to the viewer's imagination. The viewer may make any conclusions whatsoever regarding the meaning of the work. - George Kovats