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Objects As Wellspring Of Human Heritage
It is one more installation of found art, but one that aims for a profound and surprising new relevance because it makes us wonder: Should we think of preserving some ruins of the city’s past as places to contemplate the dreams and illusions of civilized life? Or simply take time out in a setting made of stone and iron and wood rather than glass and steel. The physically powerful installation —many of its objects were in the innards of American Express’s former stables on Hubert Street—first confronts us with a large pyramidal wooden shape that echoes ancient Egypt, magical images and esoteric human activities. Past this sentinel unfolds a labyrinth of more massive shapes made from rough wood and rusted iron. Often coated with tar, these geometric shapes that were once functional machinery are now artistically ordained objects with the authority of statuary, abstract sculpture or sacred icons. Some of the objects, of varying scale, are arranged into tomb-like alcoves that evoke religious and funereal themes. The discoveries of these two artists can inspire us to excavate our own psychic basement and mythically obscured past of cultural and personal history. Photos, objects, books, bits and pieces adorn our daily lives to remind us that we are besieged by time as we persist in our wish to transform the material of our world into our lasting spiritual legacy. These artists as excavators have created a grotto where we can meditate on archetypes of time and human ingenuity. Similar themes occur in the work of artist in residence Olivia Plender, who takes us into her vision of the complexities of human relationships. In her installation, memories, dreams and broad daylight consciousness are admixed with video projection and walls hung with stark graphic images of language and portraits. This human archeology brings us inside our own minds, where minute-by-minute word constructs abstract us, embody us, change us and link us tenuously to common human experience. Mind and heart, dominated by media, struggle fiercely to express the inner being. Love, fear, desire, always lurk close to the tattered edges of every phrase and idea and image we form to make an imperfect history of our lives. In the street-level gallery, artist Fawn Krieger creates a variation on the store event that artist Claes Oldenburg first invented in the raucous heyday of New York art in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Krieger, however, makes no replica but rather a poetic contemporary evocation of the old expressionist event. Her store celebrates the ancient painterly, sculptural ritual marriage of fine art objects and inspiring real-world mundane objects. Krieger’s store sells us objects whose pedigrees remind us of our powerful instinct to endow the images and materials of the utilitarian world with the heartfelt life of artist and audience. All three installations aim to bring us closer to the wellsprings of our common cultural heritage, our wish to preserve a moment, and our search for the lost treasures buried under the many moments of our transient lives. They conjure the conventions of visual poetry into tantalizing human mysteries that will haunt us and taunt us for a while. Art in General, 79 Walker St., 212-219-0473, artingeneral.org. To 3/29: Little & Fergason and Olivia Plender. To 4/26: Fawn Krieger. Tue–Sat 12–6 pm.
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