Whatamawatters. Edible Western Front

Transcription

1 ( Whatamawatters. Edible Western Front By: Karol Sienkiewicz ( February 1, 2013 Edible Western Front ( January 18 February 23, 2013 The title of the exhibition at Western Front, Edible Glasses, was contributed by New York based artist Ieva Misevičiūtė and this is how she marked her presence here so far. She is going to perform ( for the audience at the closing day of the exhibition. I hope she won t refer to the title literally. ( content/uploads/2013/02/brokebackwww_unique- 1/9

2 screenwriting-com_-brokeback-mountain-heathledger-hug-shirt.jpg) Still from Brokeback Mountain, film In his curatorial text, Jesse Birch lures us into the nooks and crannies of the surreal life of things, quoting André Breton, Walter Benjamin (expounding on surrealism), and even late Karl Marx, who famously described the wooden table that, stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas. The most surreal of all the artists contributions is the title itself but the works follow suit. Edible Glasses include objects and films by three other artists, both Canadian and international. The object here is not a mere thing; it surpasses its thingness and offers an uncanny playfulness. Again and again, the spectator has to exclaim: This is not a pipe! The titular goddess has just gone mushrooming. Her only visible part is her mushrooming breast, hidden under the curtain. But look out, what you imagine being a breast may easily turn into buttocks. Gird up your loins, it s an excellent day for an exorcism. The things are hogging the gallery space, scattered around yet arranged according to a disciplined logic. The vase on the low plinth, almost on the floor level, has a ceramic arrow protruding from it, pointing down. Here, the arrow plays the role of a buttress. (But as it turns out later, this vase is the lonely survivor of a small ceramic holocaust.) The lounge chair in the corner seems an ordinary piece of furniture but only on the face of it. On second look, it reveals its quizzical nature. In the adjoining room, glittery thingies frozen in a solemn moment, set up as elaborated lamps or big boobs attached to the wall are chastely covered by a piece of gauzy fabric. But of course these are not boobies, these are two inflated exercise balls. It was my sordid mind that made me think of something else. How bizarre. The artists, Feiko Beckers ( Tamara Henderson and Eun Kyung Kim are 2/9

3 not only using things, they are all storytellers. And even Misevičiūtė s title has a great storytelling potential. The everyday objects are actors and sometimes overpower the script. Eun Kyung Kim Peacock Parade with Goddesses on Mushrooms 2013, mixed media with Tamara Henderson s Pacific Peace in the background. Among these objects, two films are screened. The sound of the old-fashioned projector permeates the room. And here the story begins. Things are characters of Henderson s short 16mm film (Neon Figure 2012). Venetian blinds going up and down like a curtain unveil scenes worthy of Un Chien Andalou ( Flies drown in the martini glass. The deckchair is covered in cobweb. The typewriter is typing itself a script, as if invisible hands were pushing the buttons. (But anybody who used electric typing machines knows that they really could do this trick.) And finally, the eponymous neon figure. Some hands-on operations are going on, even if we don t see them. 3/9

4 Henderson s white lounge chair (Pacific Peace, 2013) wouldn t stand out in a crowd of lounge chairs if it didn t have its colourful additions and a pair of jeans and T-shirt spread flat on it. It s no eureka; the clothes resemble a human figure. The T-shirt has Nova Scotia Hot Tub emblazoned on it. An invisible guy just got out of the hot tub, put on some clothes, slumped into the lounge chair and enjoys the rainbow. Henderson devises her films and assemblages as by-products of her dreams and hypnotic sessions. One can only wonder what she was dreaming about. Whatever she experienced when mesmerised, the result is tonic. Tamara Henderson. Neon Figure 2013, 16 mm film and Pacific Peace 2013, mixed media (chair). The arrow-vases, like the one by the entrance, are props in the film by Feiko Beckers. A short video features two characters, the artist and, reportedly, his brother. Beckers puts the vases on a tall and thin pedestal. His attempts are futile as the arrows cause imbalance. One after another vases smash on the 4/9

5 floor, turning into a layer of debris. The scene of destruction however serves as the backdrop for the artist s short speech. He elaborates on the subject: what do we call a problem? The fact of forgetting about his nephew s birthday provides him an example. But, is it really a problem, Beckers pontificates, if there is no solution to it? He claims it s not a problem anymore. It s an established fact. What can be said? Don t worry. That just happens. Of course, one could dwell on the whole dialectics and convoluted structure of Beckers film. Two guys, smashed vases, one plinth and two brooms all these small but telling details. And is the artist to blame? Is it him who condemns the vases to death? Or are they just flawed? It s merely a part of life, as the title of the film says. The arrow-vases tend to suggest quite the opposite conclusion than the one reached by Beckers. And as he is not responsible for cleaning up any mess, it is his brother who sweeps the floor. The artist s attitude reminds me of the Giant So What, coined by Woody Allen in one of his films ( when it came to a discussion about God. Anyway, no matter determined or not, no matter how it affects your family life, it s like, lets echo Allen again, anything else. As all of us secretly suspect, God is an underachiever. But what about the producer of those strange suicide vases? And yes, we all know we re gonna die one day but isn t death just a perfect way of cutting down on your expenses? Regardless of the man s (and things ) fate in the empty universe, there are more stories here. Eun Kyung Kim concocted her body of works out of everyday objects, some of them more unusual than others. With a little help from the title, Peacock Parade with Goddess on Mushrooms (2013), one can easily identify the main characters. Window blinds turn into a half-circle, fan-shaped plumage of two peacock-lamps. The peacocks are flanking the central figure of a mushroom, with a sparkly upturned bowl serving as its cap. The titular goddess has just gone mushrooming. Her only visible part is her mushrooming breast, hidden under the curtain. But look out, what you 5/9

6 imagine being a breast may easily turn into buttocks. Gird up your loins, it s an excellent day for an exorcism. By coincidence, or not, there was another exhibition in Vancouver examining the phenomenon of things, overlapping Feiko Beckers. Merely a Part of Life 2011, ceramic vase. with Edible Glasses. Things Matter ( (mind the apostrophe) at Or Gallery employed quite a different theoretical perspective. It s not objet trouvé, it s a thing bestowed with power. And as curator Jesse Birch from Western Front suffused the works with the spirit of Breton, the curator of Things Matter, Klara Menhal, propped up her choices with Martin Heidegger and more recent proponents of thing theory ( In both cases, theory predates practice. However, devoid of theoretical framework, the works at Or Gallery do not hold water, whereas Edible Glasses speak Esperanto of art. The interest in things that talk came as part of wider posthumanistic turn over a decade ago. To make a long story short, this shift ridiculed the dominance of an anthropocentric point of view. Art assisted the birth of thing theory, which later became its fountainhead. The visitors to last year s documenta 13 ( in Kassel could detect both directions of inspiration from art to thing theory and back. But when not approached gingerly enough, in the quicksand of visual arts, the notion of thing power can imperceptibly become a dicey catch-all. Take the installation by Jen Weih at Or Gallery for instance. As Manhal kindly explains, the artist 6/9

7 grants the assemblage of things the anthropomorphic behaviour of watching, and in so doing activates their consideration as subjects. And all that by simple fact of putting the things in front of the screen. It rubbed me the wrong way. If the things at Or could literally talk, like farm animals on Christmas, they would tell us what a boring life they lead nothing compared to the famous watch from Pulp Fiction or a shirt steeped in manly tears from Brokeback Mountain. The shirt which, according to gay mag Attitude ( has been hailed a Ruby Slippers of our time. Honestly, to learn about thing power, I d rather watch Tarantino instead of visiting Things Matter. While Things Matter barked all day, Edible Glasses actually bite. But finally, even a life full of inexplicable mystery is like anything else. However brilliant the title, life usually outruns art. Maybe there are no edible glasses (yet), but make a beeline for a local erotic shop tout de suite. Edible undies, various sizes and flavours, would make a bankable performance in Buñuel s film. And, have fun. 7/9

8 Edible Glasses photography by Maegan Hill-Carroll and courtesy of Western Front. You May Also Like ( ( ( Perfect Day: Susanna UNIT/PITT ( By: Ross Birdwise Susanna Browne: A Perfect Day (What Future UNIT/PITT. February 22 April 27, 2013 When Read more» ( 8/9

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