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    Art Review: ‘Perpetual Care’ Makes Enormous Use of Small Space

    Nestled between two unassuming buildings on Livingston Avenue in Livingston Park and accessible only through an alley, Dream Clinic Project Space is a refuge for artists seeking a space that will let them experiment, create and explore their practice without the looming specter of capitalism overshadowing their artistic visions. A large garage with high ceilings, cement floors and workbenches make up the majority of Dream Clinic and serves as artist studio space for Morgan Rose Free, co-founder of Dream Clinic, and five other artists. The project space itself, the tiny transformative room where artists can exhibit work, once served as an old office for the previous tenants.

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    “When you think of a gallery you think of a pristine white cube,” Free explains. “Project space means that this isn’t a super formal space, like clearly, it’s a closet inside of a garage. You can really change the space into whatever you want it to be without breaking the bank.”

    Dream Clinic Project Space makes use of an old office - Photo provided by Dream Clinic
    Dream Clinic Project Space makes use of an old office – Photo provided by Dream Clinic

    The founders of Dream Clinic intentionally chose to keep the architectural details of the space intact, such as a door, a window cut into the drywall, and a miniature pedestal that artists might wish to incorporate into their exhibitions. How someone might end up utilizing the space and all of the unique details within is often what the founders consider when inviting artists to exhibit.

    Ian Hersko, a Cincinnati-based artist, educator and curator, has taken the small, 72-square-foot Dream Clinic Project Space and transformed it into a reflection of temporal space and memory with his body of work perpetual care, which engages with the space in a way that Free and the other co-founders found intriguing.

    “We were really impressed with Ian’s visual language of having these really strong works that are also really poetic,” Free says. “You want to spend time with everything individually but then also together.”

    Stepping into the small office-closet-turned-project-space, viewers are transported to a glimmer of a memory that is Hersko’s mother’s childhood home. The space doesn’t feel confining despite the low ceiling, harsh lights and narrow build.

    Hersko has managed to capture a moment in the past and, in that long pause of reflection, has created an experience that slows down time for the viewer. If there’s a way to press pause and live an entire lifetime in someone else’s memory, Hersko has achieved that for the viewer.

    “I feel like all of my bodies of work have been instigated from an experience of a space,” says Hersko when asked about installing perpetual care. “While the work was not made for Dream Clinic, the way it was installed was very intentional to activate that specific space.”

    Hersko describes the show as time-based. The materials used become manifestations of things that are gone. The house that lives in his memory is deteriorating in real life, giving in to the passage of time, while a different celebration of time occurs outside the house—the natural landscape on the property is thriving and reclaiming space. 

    Ian Hersko chooses different objects to expose images onto using anthotype printmaking - Photo by Ashley Steward
    Ian Hersko chooses different objects to expose images onto using anthotype printmaking – Photo by Ashley Steward

    The work that Hersko creates also uses time and natural materials to achieve their desired, ephemeral effect. He makes use of anthotypes, a printmaking process where one uses the photosensitive liquid extracted from plants to expose an image to selected material. The process can be labor intensive and long; it requires collecting and pulverizing enough plant material (in this case, grass) to get enough extract to then use in the image-making process. Additionally, the exposure process can last up to two months. Hersko describes the final anthotype as a “portrait of the landscape.”

    Grass makes an appearance in many of the objects that are tenderly placed throughout the room. Of many common threads that tie the works in perpetual care together, grass is the most obvious for the viewer.

    “Grass is a neverending obsession of mine. It’s my favorite plant because it’s the most mundane and banal but also the most pervasive,” Hersko explains.

    Indeed, grass doesn’t require much care or attention. It can grow without humans tending to it and it can spread to and thrive in any place with favorable conditions. Grass, despite its banality, can remind us of the enormity of time and space. 

    Ian Hersko uses anthotype processing to create images with plant pigment - Photo by Ashley Steward
    Ian Hersko uses anthotype processing to create images with plant pigment – Photo by Ashley Steward

    Visitors to the opening of perpetual care will have a different experience than victors who will view the work during one of Dream Clinic’s open hours. Free encourages people to return after the opening and have a more intimate experience with the work and uncover elements that might be overlooked during a busy opening. Project spaces like Dream Clinic offer up a sort of magic that transforms walls, boxes and otherwise modest places into otherworldly planes, where the work within can conjure up different stories depending on the day.

    Dream Clinic Project Space is located at 1018 E. Livingston Ave. in Columbus. Visitors can park on South Ohio Avenue or South Champion Avenue. Additional information can be found on their Instagram account.

    Open Hours for perpetual care are 12 – 3 p.m. on the following days:

    • Saturday, October 22
    • Saturday, October 29
    • Saturday, November 5
    Dream Clinic is a contemporary project space in Livingston Park - Photo provided by Dream Clinic
    Dream Clinic is a contemporary project space in Livingston Park – Photo provided by Dream Clinic
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    Ashley Steward
    Ashley Stewardhttps://www.columbusunderground.com/
    Ashley is a contributor for Columbus Underground and a long-time supporter of the arts in Columbus. They studied Fine Art at The Ohio State University and have spoken on the subject of art collecting and NFTs for Pecha Kucha, Wild Goose Creative, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. They currently serve on the Advisory Board for 934 Gallery and have curated a number of past exhibitions. Ashley also serves as an advisor for Rela Art and sits on the board of Matter News.
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