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Values

Subject over Object

By | Art & Social Change, Of Love and Concrete | 2 Comments

MoMA PS1 is a satellite institution of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Long Island City. PS1’s mission is to “display the most experimental art in the world”.

Many things about it are boundary pushing. It does not glisten near the “plastic” likes of Time Square. It unassumingly melds into the grimy street environment of Queens. It does not posses its work. It merely provides a space for work to be experienced. The work is not obvious like the sensory overload of a room adorned by Mattisse, Picasso and Degas. It is deeper with subtle nuance and lasting impression. The artistry is not about the perfect brush stroke, impeccable implementation of color theory, or hours of technical craftsmanship. The artistry is about the concept and the process of creation. PS1 is a place to experience the spectrum of values that art has to offer. PS1 moves art from mere object to dense subject.

The current exhibit Expo1 at PS1 includes several installations that push subject over object.

Art is paradoxical:

Upon entering the re-purposed school building that houses PS1, one instantly notices the sound of water. It is not a trickle of water, and it is not a torrent of water. It is the recognizable sound of a stream of water falling into a pool. It is unexpected, yet oddly rhythmic and extremely compelling. In short order one passes by the source. Meg Webster in her work, “Pool,” has turned an interior room into a pond oasis! The mini-ecosytem is complete with three feet of water koi, rock, moss and vegetation. It is the outside world brought inside. The paradox is aesthetically pleasing. More importantly, the paradox gives us new perspective. The man-made natural setting in the man-made architectural setting forces us to see nature. It unabashedly shows how beautiful nature is, and compels us to take note on our next stroll through the woods. “Art” — as we commonly understand it — does not alone own beauty.

MEG WEBSTER. POOL. 1998/2013. INSTALLATION VIEW OF EXPO 1: NEW YORK AT MOMA PS1. PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS.

MEG WEBSTER. POOL. 1998/2013. INSTALLATION VIEW OF EXPO 1: NEW YORK AT MOMA PS1. PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS. http://www.MoMA PS1.org

Art is process:

There is no space that art cannot be experienced. The boiler room in the basement of PS1 houses several works of art. Part of Saul Melman’s work, “Central Governor,”  is immediate upon entry. He has enshrined parts of the behemoth boiler with gold! It screams for the attention it deserves. Soot turned to masterpiece. Nearby in a small alcove is a piece even more compelling. A one-foot-square shape colored by crayon. It is so simple it is overlooked. Sol Lewitt conceived Crayola Square. Yes the object is extremely trite. Anyone with a kindergarten education could complete it assuming they passed the test to color within the lines. But the object is not the focal point. If one read the statement near the work they would find discrete detailed instructions for the creation of the work. The art is the implementation of the strict instructions for the square. The art IS the process.

Saul Melman. Central Governor. 2010. Photo by Eva Qin. Courtesy the artist. http://www.MoMA PS1.org

Saul Melman. Central Governor. 2010. Photo by Eva Qin. Courtesy the artist. http://www.MoMA PS1.org

Sol LeWitt. Crayola Square. 1999. Photo by Matthew Septimus. Courtesy P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. http://www.MoMA PS1.org

Sol LeWitt. Crayola Square. 1999. Photo by Matthew Septimus. Courtesy P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. http://www.MoMA PS1.org

Art is simple:

The top floor of the warehouse is the administrative area of the institution. It is easy to just forgo the trip up the final flights of stairs to see the few works displayed there. It would be just as easy to pass by the imperfection in the bricks about 10 feet off the floor. This is a refurbished warehouse after all and shabby chic is part of the experience. However, if one stops and explores the small crater in the wall, one will see the light. Alan Saret’s work “The Hole at PS1 Fifth Solar Chthonoic Wall Temple” is merely a hole through the east facing exterior wall of the institution. The beautiful beam of light that shines through is like a delicate laser. It feels like the divine peeking at you, smiling, and telling you that all is right in this moment. And it is. A hole in a wall letting the abundance of the sky be felt is art and it is simple.

PS1 is not a typical museum filled with objects of awe and wonder. PS1 is much more. It is filled with beautiful things, repugnant things, unexpected things, and simple things. But the things are not the end. The end is what the things bring out in you. The end is your new perspective on life and new revelations about the world in which you live that life. The end is not the object, but the subject.

 

The Spectrum of Art

By | Art & Social Change, Of Love and Concrete | No Comments

Agnes Denes is one of the featured artists in the current exhibit Expo1 taking place at PS1 through September 2nd. Denes is an environmental artist. Her canvas is literally the world around us. The work on display at PS1 was documentation (photos) of a piece she created in 1982; Wheatfield – A confrontation: Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan. It is a powerful work of art! It is a work that calls for change as it exemplifies beauty, calls for hope, and explores the human condition.

Wheat1

From an aesthetic standpoint, the photographs probably do not do the piece justice, but what they show is nothing short of breathtaking. Remember the context is 1982. The Battery is not a lush green environment; it is barren. Also recall that 9/11 is unimaginable. A wispy rural wheat field, two acres of wheat growing in a near desolate environment. Golden rods of grain flitting in front of skyscrapers. The image that resonates for me is the amber grain waving in front of the Twin Towers, “America the Beautiful” to a T. The aesthetics of the piece left a tingling sensation in the body.

Wheat7

Webster defines hope as “desire with expectation of obtainment.” When Denes was inspired to do her work, the Battery was a desolate canvas. Two hundred truckloads of dirt were trucked in for the installation. She toiled with the soil for months to ensure that the plain was fertile. In the end, a bountiful crop displayed the amazing opportunity. An empty landscape can be so much more than blight. The opportunities with creativity and hard-work cannot be contained.

Wheat9

Two acres is not a lot of grain in the grand scheme of things. It does not feed many people, and it does not generate a lot of revenue, particularly considering the resources invested into the production. But Wheatfields explores something far more meaningful. According to Denes,

Planting and harvesting a field of wheat on land worth $4.5 billion created a powerful paradox. Wheatfield was a symbol, a universal concept; it represented food, energy, commerce, world trade, and economics. It referred to mismanagement, waste, world hunger and ecological concerns. It called attention to our misplaced priorities.

The field was more than just the beautiful landscape it created. It was even more than just the fruits of someone’s labor. It was a statement to one of the most powerful streets on the planet.

Things have changed in the 30 years since the field. Battery Park is a lush tourist destination containing many new symbols of hope. The Towers have fallen. Some things have not changed, hunger still exists and Wall Street excess still persists. I think there is room for many more installations to make bold proclamations like Denes’ two acres of wheat. There is still room to show us beautiful things in everyday surroundings. There is still a place to show opportunity. There is still a place to show us what really matters in life.

IMAGE CREDIT. [Agnes Denes, “Wheatfield — A Confrontation” (1982), two acres of wheat planted and harvested in Battery Park landfill, Manhattan, New York (© Agnes Denes, via theecologist.org)].

 

A Human Project

By | Art & Social Change, Of Love and Concrete | No Comments

JR is an international street artist who uses portraits to tell stories. His work is not only big in the sense that his canvases are typically measured in meters but his statements are huge!

Portraits of a Generation: Byron, Paris, 20ème arrondissement, 2004

In his early work, Portraits of a Generation, JR captured images of the overlooked population of  youth in the projects of Paris and posted them in highly visible locations throughout the city. In his later work Face 2 Face, he captured images of both parties to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and posted them side by side on the Separation Barrier. His most recent work, The Inside Out Project, is an open invitation to the world to tell their story through portraiture. The Emmerson Collective is using the project as a tool to highlight the stories of the newest residents of the United States.

Inside Out Baltimore: Kristin Stith, Scott Burkholder, Bonnie Schupp photo by Theresa Keil via What Weekly

JR’s work touches upon some of the most divisive topics: poverty, human dignity, the middle east, war, immigration and the list goes on. However, JR refuses to get political and professes that his work is apolitical. How can he do that? JR does so by looking at these circumstances through the lense of values and not as “issues.” He sees his work as telling the story of humanity

“This artistic act is first and foremost a human project”

JR: Women Are Heroes Action in Kibera Slum, Train Passage 5, Kenya, 2009

JR has tapped into the most powerful and important attribute of art. Art is about values!

When art is a place for society to explore our values, it is extremely powerful. By focusing on human story, JR directs our attention to our universal axiom of being human. He gives us dignity and causes us to explore dignity without regard for condition because we all have a story. JR and successful art gets to the root of humanity by using issues not for the sake of an agenda but for the sake of reminding us of the most important things about being human.

Exploring our values is extremely important! In a society, and world, that is hung up on the fleeting nature of issues, we have become overly divided. I dare say that there are values that all people will claim. Life, liberty,  love, the pursuit of happiness … to name a few. There are very few issues or interests that a significant majority would claim (see the current Habor Point TIF issue in Baltimore Maryland.). It is in our values that we will have the opportunity to not only work together, but to live together. The divided world needs to consider the values behind our thoughts and actions. In that exploration we might possibly find the ground big enough for all of us to stand on.

JR is not a politician, but his work is making big bold statements as if he were one. And his work is likely doing more to change the world than politics as usual.

IMAGE CREDIT. [Scott Burkholder June 2013 NYC].