For the 43rd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Francine Snyder, Director of Archives at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, about her recently published book "I Don't Think About Being Great: Select Writings by Robert Rauschenberg," co-published by the foundation and Yale University Press.

Their conversation reveals a side of Rauschenberg that many don't know: his relationship to language and writing. Despite self-identifying as dyslexic, Rauschenberg kept a substantial body of written work—correspondence, artist notes, testimony, speeches, and fragments—which he labeled in his own hand as "file RR writing." Snyder discusses the editorial choice to preserve Rauschenberg's misspellings, cross-outs, and grammatical idiosyncrasies rather than correct them. These visual elements function like collage—intentional word play and phonetic experimentation. The book presents 100 writings selected from nearly 900 in the archive.

They discuss several key texts, including Rauschenberg's 1963 artist statement declaring "it is extremely important that art be unjustifiable"—a phrase he arrived at by crossing out "justifiable" in earlier drafts. This refusal of explanation aligns with his resistance to fixed meaning and his insistence that viewers bring their own interpretations. The conversation also addresses Rauschenberg's activism, from founding Change Inc. in 1970 to provide emergency support for artists, to advocating for artist resale royalty rights and NEA funding, to launching ROCI (Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange) in the 1980s to foster artistic dialogue across borders.

For anyone interested in postwar American art, artist archives, or how foundations steward intellectual legacy, this episode offers insight into an artist whose relationship to language was as experimental as his visual work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Francine Snyder is Director of Archives at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, where she has worked since 2015. She specializes in artist and museum archives and in fostering research and scholarship on contemporary cross-disciplinary creative practices. Major initiatives under her leadership include the foundation's Fair Use Policy to reduce barriers to image use, the Archives Research Residency program, and expanded digital archives.

PURCHASE THE BOOK https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282566/i-dont-think-about-being-great/

SUBSCRIBE, FOLLOW AND HEAR INTERVIEWS:

For more information, visit meganfoxkelly.com, hear our past interviews, and subscribe at the bottom of our Of Interest page for new posts.

Follow us on Instagram: @meganfoxkelly

"Reading the Art World" is a podcast featuring live interviews with leading authors and writers on important new art books. Megan Fox Kelly is an art advisor and past President of the Association of Professional Art Advisors who works with collectors, estates and foundations.

Music composed by Bob Golden