There are two great things about Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point. One: Pictures? On National Public Radio’s website? Fret all you want about journalism dying; there really are some “old” media outlets embracing the idea of multimedia content, and doing it with quality. It makes sense for NPR to embrace slideshows as a way of presenting information – for those of us who spend way too much time reading (thanks, humanities courses!) it’s always nice to be presented ideas in a different way, be it audible or visual. If I was an NPR nerd before, now I’m a full-on fanatic. And I'm not alone.
Of course, the other reason I was inspired by this Picture Show in particular was because of the straightforward, frightening way it presents a particular aspect of this country: urban sprawl, freeways, aqueducts, and other features of our indulgent lifestyles. Aeriel photography provides a viewpoint that is just unfamiliar enough to provoke a whole new way of understanding the homogenized, isolated places that some of us live in. At the same time, as a Westerner, I found the images of expensive developments built on the shoreline and subdivision after subdivision depressingly familiar. The photographs also provide a sense of cause and effect – an image of a three-quarter-mile long freeway intersection is followed a few slides later by an oil tanker, part of what the caption calls the “unseen network” that fuels our personal transportation.
Even more shocking than those photos, however, are the images of the places that oil and freeways can take you to. A suburb stuck randomly in Utah farmland. A community (if we can call it that, although it doesn’t look very communal) called “Harborwalk” built on a Texas wetland, complete with artificial beaches. The places that future archeologists will uncover, shake their heads and ask, “What were they thinking?”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Art exhibition review: "Juxtaposed"
Not the Same:
“Juxtaposed” at the Maude Kerns Art Center
Machine parts and moss.
Alarm and absurdity.
Substance and empty space.
What do the above items have in common? Nothing – that’s the point. They’re juxtaposed, internally conflicted. Or are they?
This is not a question ripe for answering, but for a visual aid, visit the Maude Kerns Art Center between now and March 20th and take in its main exhibit, “Juxtaposed.” The sculptures and installations on display are from six artists – three of them local to Eugene – who are fond of consciously positioning unlike objects and ideas side by side. Each unique, provocative piece on display explores the tensions that tend to make viewers most uncomfortable, encouraging comparisons that are sometimes humorous, sometimes disturbing.
The Maude Kerns itself is a bit of an anomaly among Eugene's art galleries. Housed in an old church in a residential district, the non-profit Art Center has a folksiness and approachability that defies the cold glass exteriors of downtown’s art halls. With classes and lectures happening regularly and studios just next door, the venue prides itself in its ability to engage the whole community in art.
The journey through “Juxtaposed” may start from any of three entrances – another quirky feature of the converted building is the lack of a definitive main door. Visitors wandering in from the street side, however, will first confront Gerrit Van Ness’ installation “Campaign Trail,” a cynical take on the American elections process. The piece invokes the game of Candyland with lollipops, bright colors, and giant walking feet following a path – one made of dollar signs. Van Ness’ other works in the exhibit take jabs at Wal-Mart, bureaucracy and hypocrisy in general. Each piece functions as a 3-D, pop-art political cartoon, though most lack the biting cleverness that can be found in the editorial pages. And with the Bush Era over and an economic crises at hand, Van Ness’ lingering outrage over stolen votes and corporate profits feels a bit passé.
Better to enter the exhibition from the other end, where “Judging the Heart,” a site-specific installation by artist Mike Walsh, compares ancient and modern-day conflicts in the Middle East. The four boxes, or “Gates,” contain representational artifacts of ancient Egypt as well as modern-day maps of the region. Faces of soldiers are stenciled, ghostlike, on the glass, and the last box houses an image of George Bush. However, this political reference, in contrast to that made by Van Ness, speaks poignantly to the endlessness of war and the difficulty of measuring morality. Vertical ladders between the boxes possibly indicate an exit route in each stage of history.
The two pieces by James O’Keefe also approach serious subjects – nothingness and insanity – but do so with interactive whimsy, social commentary lurking just beneath the surface. “Psychological Storage Unit” is the quintessential impractical business model: Insert a quarter in the slot, the ramshackle cart instructs with stenciled lettering, and then write your psychological hang-up of choice on no more than three sheets of paper. Return for the problem later or just leave it behind. Psychoses already packed away are evidenced by the dozens of boxes, drawers and containers stacked on the cart, with labels like “illusions,” “violent thoughts,” and “panic attacks.” Metamorphosed by their kooky setting, these conditions become infinitely less frightening.
Here’s a juxtaposition: Next to O’Keefe’s fanciful construction is John Paul Gardner’s modernistic installation “Boundary.” A single set of parallel red fishing lines beam across the stage at the end of the room, creating a tension between movement and solid walls. “Range 1-4,” Gardener’s series of drawings also on display, capture the same effect with less drama.
Also working with the idea of flatness and dimensionality is Afrikaner sculptor Andries Fourie. His piece “The Carrion Eaters” is plantlike in form, with metal plates bearing silkscreened images – including a human heart, carnivores, a slingshot and a windmill – reaching out on solid vines. “Talking to Mr. Bhengu About Cattle” employs another metal plate along with a wood frame, a meat grinder, and a water faucet. This and Fourie’s third work on display, a frayed jacket hung with metal keys, defy interpretation. Perhaps the juxtaposition invoked here is that between logic and artistic inspiration.
The artist with the most work on display in this exhibition is Jud Turner, whose found object sculptures incorporate the contradictions between nature and technology; past and present. Witness a tree growing out of jumbled engine parts, a zeppelin strung from clouds and a machine that incorporates a human femur. Turner’s Artist Statement is almost as interesting as his art, describing how an exploration of quantum physics led to his fascination with dichotomies. “I have many ideas for sculptures roaming around in my imagination,” it reads, “but only those that operate on multiple levels of meaning and visual satisfaction are featured in the physical world.”
Visual satisfaction may, at times, take precedence over meaning in “Juxtaposed,” but the artists do aptly define and explore the theme, each making a unique contribution to the well-executed exhibit. By placing together objects and ideas of unequal stature, they demystify one while bringing new meaning to the other. Ultimately, out of disorder comes order, these reactions creating a sense of the grand congruency of the universe.
“Juxtaposed” at the Maude Kerns Art Center
Machine parts and moss.
Alarm and absurdity.
Substance and empty space.
What do the above items have in common? Nothing – that’s the point. They’re juxtaposed, internally conflicted. Or are they?
This is not a question ripe for answering, but for a visual aid, visit the Maude Kerns Art Center between now and March 20th and take in its main exhibit, “Juxtaposed.” The sculptures and installations on display are from six artists – three of them local to Eugene – who are fond of consciously positioning unlike objects and ideas side by side. Each unique, provocative piece on display explores the tensions that tend to make viewers most uncomfortable, encouraging comparisons that are sometimes humorous, sometimes disturbing.
The Maude Kerns itself is a bit of an anomaly among Eugene's art galleries. Housed in an old church in a residential district, the non-profit Art Center has a folksiness and approachability that defies the cold glass exteriors of downtown’s art halls. With classes and lectures happening regularly and studios just next door, the venue prides itself in its ability to engage the whole community in art.
The journey through “Juxtaposed” may start from any of three entrances – another quirky feature of the converted building is the lack of a definitive main door. Visitors wandering in from the street side, however, will first confront Gerrit Van Ness’ installation “Campaign Trail,” a cynical take on the American elections process. The piece invokes the game of Candyland with lollipops, bright colors, and giant walking feet following a path – one made of dollar signs. Van Ness’ other works in the exhibit take jabs at Wal-Mart, bureaucracy and hypocrisy in general. Each piece functions as a 3-D, pop-art political cartoon, though most lack the biting cleverness that can be found in the editorial pages. And with the Bush Era over and an economic crises at hand, Van Ness’ lingering outrage over stolen votes and corporate profits feels a bit passé.
Better to enter the exhibition from the other end, where “Judging the Heart,” a site-specific installation by artist Mike Walsh, compares ancient and modern-day conflicts in the Middle East. The four boxes, or “Gates,” contain representational artifacts of ancient Egypt as well as modern-day maps of the region. Faces of soldiers are stenciled, ghostlike, on the glass, and the last box houses an image of George Bush. However, this political reference, in contrast to that made by Van Ness, speaks poignantly to the endlessness of war and the difficulty of measuring morality. Vertical ladders between the boxes possibly indicate an exit route in each stage of history.
The two pieces by James O’Keefe also approach serious subjects – nothingness and insanity – but do so with interactive whimsy, social commentary lurking just beneath the surface. “Psychological Storage Unit” is the quintessential impractical business model: Insert a quarter in the slot, the ramshackle cart instructs with stenciled lettering, and then write your psychological hang-up of choice on no more than three sheets of paper. Return for the problem later or just leave it behind. Psychoses already packed away are evidenced by the dozens of boxes, drawers and containers stacked on the cart, with labels like “illusions,” “violent thoughts,” and “panic attacks.” Metamorphosed by their kooky setting, these conditions become infinitely less frightening.
Here’s a juxtaposition: Next to O’Keefe’s fanciful construction is John Paul Gardner’s modernistic installation “Boundary.” A single set of parallel red fishing lines beam across the stage at the end of the room, creating a tension between movement and solid walls. “Range 1-4,” Gardener’s series of drawings also on display, capture the same effect with less drama.
Also working with the idea of flatness and dimensionality is Afrikaner sculptor Andries Fourie. His piece “The Carrion Eaters” is plantlike in form, with metal plates bearing silkscreened images – including a human heart, carnivores, a slingshot and a windmill – reaching out on solid vines. “Talking to Mr. Bhengu About Cattle” employs another metal plate along with a wood frame, a meat grinder, and a water faucet. This and Fourie’s third work on display, a frayed jacket hung with metal keys, defy interpretation. Perhaps the juxtaposition invoked here is that between logic and artistic inspiration.
The artist with the most work on display in this exhibition is Jud Turner, whose found object sculptures incorporate the contradictions between nature and technology; past and present. Witness a tree growing out of jumbled engine parts, a zeppelin strung from clouds and a machine that incorporates a human femur. Turner’s Artist Statement is almost as interesting as his art, describing how an exploration of quantum physics led to his fascination with dichotomies. “I have many ideas for sculptures roaming around in my imagination,” it reads, “but only those that operate on multiple levels of meaning and visual satisfaction are featured in the physical world.”
Visual satisfaction may, at times, take precedence over meaning in “Juxtaposed,” but the artists do aptly define and explore the theme, each making a unique contribution to the well-executed exhibit. By placing together objects and ideas of unequal stature, they demystify one while bringing new meaning to the other. Ultimately, out of disorder comes order, these reactions creating a sense of the grand congruency of the universe.
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