Space/Materiality FY Workshop Report

I visited the “Sedimentations” exhibition at the 8th Floor Gallery on 17th Street on November 29th. There were many artists featured in the gallery; a few that I took note of were Michael Rakowitz, Maren Hassinger, and Roberto Visani. The featured artists were three-dimensional artists from all around the world, I researched some names and found that they are all very successful and pretty well known. For this exhibition the artists created pieces that used found objects to make works that reflected social, environmental, cultural, and/or spiritual issues relevant to the artists’ lives.

The artist’s found interesting ways to repurpose found objects in their sculptures. I was reminded of the Dada and Surrealist work that we studied in class, I can see how these modern artists were influenced by those movements. Michael Kelly William’s piece, M’Boom, was built from a drum pedal, chains, whistles, a bird cage, and lights, which are seemingly random materials, but he created a cohesive structure out of them. The piece, when activated, creates a noise similar that resembles the “beginning or end of a performance”, meaning it captures that split second of energy. Though there was no video installation to illustrate this for us, I found it interesting that this piece could stand alone unactivated and still have purpose. It reminded me of our performance object project, Michael Kelly Williams succeeded in creating a piece that is meaningful with and without human participation.

Some of the sculptures were incredibly meaningful, this could be evident in the end result but the piece that caught my eye was one that was meaningful through the making process. Maren Hassinger’s Love occupied a corner of the gallery, the piece was composed of pink plastic bags filled with her breath and love letters. This work was created from love, and for me that makes it really special. I was reminded of a classmate who wanted to use rainwater in their plaster, I think paying attention to small details through the making processes adds so much meaning to a piece for both the artist and the viewer.

The intention in the composition of the pieces in Sedimentations was something I took note of. Michael Kelly Williams’ sculpture Protect Yo Net seemed so simple to me at first glance, and since there’s no description to explain it, I almost passed it off as meaningless. I really stood and stared at it for a while and realized how much thought went into it. It is symmetrical, there’s unison in the color of the materials, and the texture of the basketball net is reflected in the weaved plastic above it. Although plastic and rope are both simple materials, the harmony created between them gave them more value as a whole. I also thought the shadows created by this piece were interesting, and that could have been something the artist considered. My thought process about this piece was derived from the way I’ve learned to analyze my classmate’s work during critiques, I was able to appreciate this piece more because of that.

The entire exhibition paralleled concepts, processes, and materials we have explored in class. I thought it was cool to see how professional artists handled found objects and expressed their take on meaningful themes and issues. It could have been a useful field trip in the beginning of the semester because they are all great examples that would have fit the types of projects we did in class. Had I seen it sooner, I might’ve been inspired to experiment with plastic or metal more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *