It's Better To Know babysuit – Douglas Gordon
EDITION of 500: COLLABORATION WITH NEW MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Through his work in video, photography, sculpture, and text, Douglas Gordon explores dualities: temptation and fear, life and death, good and evil, innocence and guilt. His edition for the New Museum is no exception, combining the simple space of an infant’s white cotton bodysuit with the contemplative and ambiguous texts “It’s better to know” and “It’s better not to know.” Together the statements convey an ambivalent preference for both wisdom and ignorance, an age-old debate described in the biblical dichotomy between Eden and knowledge.
However, in this case the text is superimposed onto a baby’s psyche, projecting the essence of human indecisiveness onto a person just starting the process towards understanding. Both humorous and unsettling, Gordon’s simple texts provoke a deeper consideration of infancy and discovery, no doubt inspired by his own devotion to fatherhood.
