The more I think about this project and what I want the end result to be and how I want the end result installation to materialize- I cannot help but think about some of the amazing installation based works I've seen in the last number of years. Up until recently, the Olafur Eliasson exhibition Take your time, at the MCA in Chicago was top on my list of installation work that the viewer was able to really actively engage themselves with the work, but in a passive way. As the viewer, one was able to step into theses spaces he created and be surrounded by light, sound and even a mist of water. That exhibition was the first time I can remember being really, really excited by installation based work.
Fast forward four years to early spring of 2013, I was up at the John Micheal Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon) and artist, John Grade (WA) was there starting the installation of my work, Capacitor, that was commissioned by JMKAC for their upcoming exhibition series UNCOMMON GROUND. I couldn't wait to see the work once it was finished being installed, however, that was going to take well beyond the weekend I was there to teach.
We will jump forward a few more months to the end of July when I was able to make a road trip up there for nothing other than some art viewing and art experiencing time. It was worth ever bit of the 2.5 hour drive each direction to see the works in the UNCOMMON GROUND series.
I arrived at JMKAC a little before 11 am and was lucky enough to have a full 5 minutes or so to experience John Grade's work in total silence with no one else in the galleries or seemingly within earshot. I will spare you all what exactly I said aloud to myself when I stepped into the gallery, but to put it simply, I had the wind knocked right out of me. Visceral experience would be an understatement here.
It was an oddly cold and windy day for the end of July, but that could not have been any better for experience this particular work, as sensors on the roof or the Arts Center determine how the sculpture moves and how bright the lights are- so a windy day was a very, very good thing. However, the oddness of the weather that day speaks to exactly why this work was created by Grade and that we need to take a harder look at the how and why we as humans impact our environment.
Fast forward four years to early spring of 2013, I was up at the John Micheal Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon) and artist, John Grade (WA) was there starting the installation of my work, Capacitor, that was commissioned by JMKAC for their upcoming exhibition series UNCOMMON GROUND. I couldn't wait to see the work once it was finished being installed, however, that was going to take well beyond the weekend I was there to teach.
We will jump forward a few more months to the end of July when I was able to make a road trip up there for nothing other than some art viewing and art experiencing time. It was worth ever bit of the 2.5 hour drive each direction to see the works in the UNCOMMON GROUND series.
I arrived at JMKAC a little before 11 am and was lucky enough to have a full 5 minutes or so to experience John Grade's work in total silence with no one else in the galleries or seemingly within earshot. I will spare you all what exactly I said aloud to myself when I stepped into the gallery, but to put it simply, I had the wind knocked right out of me. Visceral experience would be an understatement here.
It was an oddly cold and windy day for the end of July, but that could not have been any better for experience this particular work, as sensors on the roof or the Arts Center determine how the sculpture moves and how bright the lights are- so a windy day was a very, very good thing. However, the oddness of the weather that day speaks to exactly why this work was created by Grade and that we need to take a harder look at the how and why we as humans impact our environment.
As I stepped into the interior or the work I could begin to see the work moving ever so slightly and the interior LED lights dim and slightly flicker at various points. The feeling of standing there, totally surrounded by the work was something very special- and to have those moments of absolute quite with no one else around could not have been better to experience this work.
John Grade: Capacitor
through September 1st
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more work by John Grade, click here
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In the gallery adjoining Grade's work was a site specific installation by Wade Kavanaugh (NY) and Stephen B. Nguyen (NY): Rush to Rest- and while I was still trying to digest what I had seen with Grade's work, I again had the wind knocked right out of me. I stood there in front of this enormous paper form that was layers upon layers of both brown and black craft paper. It read like a mountain that had grown out of the floor of the galleries it is installed in.
As I moved to the entrance of the work and further read what the work spoke it, it is meant to be a reaction to the seasonal ice sheets on the shores of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan as well as the sand dunes.
John Grade: Capacitor
through September 1st
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more work by John Grade, click here
_____________________________________________________________________________
In the gallery adjoining Grade's work was a site specific installation by Wade Kavanaugh (NY) and Stephen B. Nguyen (NY): Rush to Rest- and while I was still trying to digest what I had seen with Grade's work, I again had the wind knocked right out of me. I stood there in front of this enormous paper form that was layers upon layers of both brown and black craft paper. It read like a mountain that had grown out of the floor of the galleries it is installed in.
As I moved to the entrance of the work and further read what the work spoke it, it is meant to be a reaction to the seasonal ice sheets on the shores of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan as well as the sand dunes.
This particular work by Kavanaugh and Nguyen speaks to the power of wind and water in our environment and as the viewer moves deeper into the space and literally stands next to and at some points under, areas of this massive work- one cannot help but feel a little small and humbled, as we should to the power of nature.
As I made my way through the gallery and then back to opening between the galleries, where I had Grade's work behind me and Kavanaugh and Nguyen's work filling my view, a little bit of magic happened. Grade's work, as it is being moved by a system of wires that run to a central control device, the interior armatures make slight creaking and popping noises. The view of Rush to Rest with the ambient noises from Capacitor was perfect to say the least.
I have been lucky enough to have been to Alaska not once, but twice in my life and seeing this massive form of "ice" in front of me and the popping and creaking instantly brought me back to standing on the deck of the ship in the middle of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska's inside passage and watching the glaciers calving huge chunks of ice into the water. I half expected this paper based work to come crumbling down. The interaction between these two works is simply perfect.
Since this is a site specific installation, at the end of the exhibition it will be no more, like the ice melting in the spring and the winds shifting the configuration of the sand dunes.
Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen: Rush to Rest
through September 22nd
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which, again, is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more collaborative works of Kavanaugh and Nguyen, click here
To see more work by Kavanaugh, click here
To see more work by Nguyen, click here
I have been lucky enough to have been to Alaska not once, but twice in my life and seeing this massive form of "ice" in front of me and the popping and creaking instantly brought me back to standing on the deck of the ship in the middle of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska's inside passage and watching the glaciers calving huge chunks of ice into the water. I half expected this paper based work to come crumbling down. The interaction between these two works is simply perfect.
Since this is a site specific installation, at the end of the exhibition it will be no more, like the ice melting in the spring and the winds shifting the configuration of the sand dunes.
Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen: Rush to Rest
through September 22nd
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which, again, is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more collaborative works of Kavanaugh and Nguyen, click here
To see more work by Kavanaugh, click here
To see more work by Nguyen, click here
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The third work I will be talking about in this post is by Lauren Fensterstock (MA): Celebration of Formal Effects, Whether Natural or Artificial. This is the 2nd time I have had the pleasure of viewing this particular work by Fensterstock, as it was on view when I was at JMKAC in early March- and it was still as captivating on the 2nd go around.
This work is all paper based, and everyone knows how much I love paper, especially paper that has been formed in into other shapes in a meticulous manner! Installed in the galleries that were once the library of J.M. Kohler's home, which the Arts Center has been built next to and is attached to, gives the viewer a different feeling than being in the massive spaces in the main part of the Arts Center where the other works were. Here, as the viewer wanders though the three "gardens" created by Fensterstock, there is very much a feeling of peaking in one someone's back yard or personal space.
One installation is that of a lawn area, speaking to our obsession here in the U.S. with the perfect lawn. From there you move into an area with with a tiered garden, partly unruly and partly well kept. Fensterstock was inspired historical gardens. The third garden was contained within a square "planter" and was rows of perfectly spaced chrysanthemums. Having lived in the Midwest my entire life and made many trips back and forth to Iowa to see family, rows and rows of corn along I-80 came flooding into my mind.
The third work I will be talking about in this post is by Lauren Fensterstock (MA): Celebration of Formal Effects, Whether Natural or Artificial. This is the 2nd time I have had the pleasure of viewing this particular work by Fensterstock, as it was on view when I was at JMKAC in early March- and it was still as captivating on the 2nd go around.
This work is all paper based, and everyone knows how much I love paper, especially paper that has been formed in into other shapes in a meticulous manner! Installed in the galleries that were once the library of J.M. Kohler's home, which the Arts Center has been built next to and is attached to, gives the viewer a different feeling than being in the massive spaces in the main part of the Arts Center where the other works were. Here, as the viewer wanders though the three "gardens" created by Fensterstock, there is very much a feeling of peaking in one someone's back yard or personal space.
One installation is that of a lawn area, speaking to our obsession here in the U.S. with the perfect lawn. From there you move into an area with with a tiered garden, partly unruly and partly well kept. Fensterstock was inspired historical gardens. The third garden was contained within a square "planter" and was rows of perfectly spaced chrysanthemums. Having lived in the Midwest my entire life and made many trips back and forth to Iowa to see family, rows and rows of corn along I-80 came flooding into my mind.
This work being made entirely of black paper and being installed in a smaller, more intimate space gives the work a very specific feeling to viewer. If this work was created of white paper and installed in one of the large galleries at JMKAC it would read as very different. Even taking the same black paper work and installing it in a different space would again change the way the work is viewed and ultimately how the viewer interacts with it. The configuration of the work in this specific space work well, really well.
Lauren Fensterstock: Celebration of Formal Effects, Whether Natural or Artificial
through August 18th
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which, again, is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more work by Fensterstock, click here
Again, as I continue to work on the rejected stories project and plan for it's final form and installation, which admittedly will be fluid and each presentation of it will be likely be dependent on where the work is being installed, I will continue to think about the works in this post and how well the work fit the space and vice verse. These are three examples of installation based work that fits so well into the environment in which it is installed, and in these cases created for, that it would be difficult to imagine it existing in any other space. In the case of Rush to Rest, it will never exist in any other space.
Truly, well done installation based works are not so easy to come by. The work has to engage the viewer on many levels and it is a totally different experience from viewing wall based works. When installation based works are done properly, I often find it, personally, a more powerful viewing experience. There are certain works, wall based or not, of course, that most all people, myself included, have a visceral type reaction to; The Sistine Chapel (beside Grade's work, the Sistine Chapel was the only other time I wanted to kick people out and just have a few minutes alone in silence to soak it all in) and the room in the Uffizi holding Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. However, I have seen lots of installation based works- and many pale in comparison to these three. They are all excellent on their own, but them coming together along with the works of Carolyn Ottmers (IL) http://www.secristgallery.com/artists/carolyn-ottmers/ and Kate MacDowell http://www.katemacdowell.com/ shows how well though out and cohesive works are brought together and make for a special experience for the viewer.
These three works are something not to be missed and JMKAC is such a short drive from Chicago, make sure to take the trip, you will not be disappointed. I knew when I left JMKAC to had seen something special and was happy I made the drive there to be able to see all three works at one time. I look forward to stopping back in early September as I make my way up to Door County to teach and being able to spend a few more minutes taking in Rush to Rest and seeing what is new in the galleries.
I would like to thank the staff at the John Michel Kohler Arts Center for being, as always, great to work with and taking care of getting me the images and permissions to be able to share this work in this post.
To learn more about the programming at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, go to jmkac.org
Lauren Fensterstock: Celebration of Formal Effects, Whether Natural or Artificial
through August 18th
To read more about the work and to watch a short interview with the artist (which, again, is excellent, watch it) click here
To see more work by Fensterstock, click here
Again, as I continue to work on the rejected stories project and plan for it's final form and installation, which admittedly will be fluid and each presentation of it will be likely be dependent on where the work is being installed, I will continue to think about the works in this post and how well the work fit the space and vice verse. These are three examples of installation based work that fits so well into the environment in which it is installed, and in these cases created for, that it would be difficult to imagine it existing in any other space. In the case of Rush to Rest, it will never exist in any other space.
Truly, well done installation based works are not so easy to come by. The work has to engage the viewer on many levels and it is a totally different experience from viewing wall based works. When installation based works are done properly, I often find it, personally, a more powerful viewing experience. There are certain works, wall based or not, of course, that most all people, myself included, have a visceral type reaction to; The Sistine Chapel (beside Grade's work, the Sistine Chapel was the only other time I wanted to kick people out and just have a few minutes alone in silence to soak it all in) and the room in the Uffizi holding Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. However, I have seen lots of installation based works- and many pale in comparison to these three. They are all excellent on their own, but them coming together along with the works of Carolyn Ottmers (IL) http://www.secristgallery.com/artists/carolyn-ottmers/ and Kate MacDowell http://www.katemacdowell.com/ shows how well though out and cohesive works are brought together and make for a special experience for the viewer.
These three works are something not to be missed and JMKAC is such a short drive from Chicago, make sure to take the trip, you will not be disappointed. I knew when I left JMKAC to had seen something special and was happy I made the drive there to be able to see all three works at one time. I look forward to stopping back in early September as I make my way up to Door County to teach and being able to spend a few more minutes taking in Rush to Rest and seeing what is new in the galleries.
I would like to thank the staff at the John Michel Kohler Arts Center for being, as always, great to work with and taking care of getting me the images and permissions to be able to share this work in this post.
To learn more about the programming at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, go to jmkac.org