How exactly are we supposed to write about art now? What context is left when the centuries old touchstones of critical evaluation have been exiled? We hitched arts’ critical wagon to the twin stars of truth and beauty, only to find that in post-election America both are pretty much meaningless. Truth? It’s clear now that if you have the capacity to shout something loud enough and often enough it will become truth for someone. Beauty? Well, let’s just say I hope you have a taste for gold-plated kitsch. We have, as it were, entered a new and literal gilded age. Call it Pre-Revolution Posh. Call it Lottery Winner Chic. Call it whatever you like, just make sure you’re ready to take advantage of the on trend offerings available through QVC.
Aesthetics aside, our recent election has the capacity to impact the arts in some other significant ways. Artistic expression requires the freedom of expression; the right to speak out and speak truth to power. For the arts, that means that protection of the First Amendment remains paramount (Artists and advocates take note). At a more bureaucratic level, consider this: if our PEOTUS is willing to appoint someone hostile to workers to head the Department of Labor and to appoint someone hostile to the environment to head the EPA, it’s no stretch to believe he’ll appoint someone hostile to the arts to head the NEA. If you thought our educational and cultural institutions were wary of rocking the political boat now, know that things could get much worse. Doom saying? Perhaps. But just to be on the safe side let’s enjoy some beautiful and truthful art while we still can.
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, currently on view at CCAD’s Beeler Gallery, presents five life-sized dioramas by New York artist Roxy Paine (Note: this exhibition represents the first time this many of Paine’s dioramas have been assembled in one space.). Crafted entirely of wood and presented in muted tones, these works offer static, detailed recreations of some of our most common spaces. Far from being neutral though, these spaces ask that we think critically about the world we inhabit. In fact, it’s the very passiveness of their presentation that provides viewers a chance to slow down and contemplate the environs they would otherwise take for granted.
Further, (and this is the magic part), the artist uses these spaces to help define us without “us” even having to be there. There are no people in these dioramas. Paine establishes who we are; our wants, needs, desires and preferences, through the spaces alone. That checkpoint looks the way it does because we wanted security. That fast food restaurant is no accident either. It looks like that because we valued speed, convenience and low cost. We’re not there, but we are. Every form, every detail is there because of our collective impulse. I’d suggest this is a sad commentary, but it’s not commentary at all. It’s the world we made; rebuilt and repackaged for contemplation and reflection. If we feel discomfort looking at these works; anxious and uncomfortable even, well, maybe we should.
Which isn’t to say Paine has presented the world with pure objectivity. He hasn’t. Given that full-scale replicas would be logistically impossible, Paine relies on forced perspective and clever optical trickery to create these works. This skewed sense of depth is dizzying and disorienting. It’s like a funhouse mirror, but without the fun. Add in some unnatural light and a bit of white noise and you’ve got a recipe for some serious psychic unease (If you’ve ever walked through a hospital or airport at 3:00 AM on no sleep, you’ll recognize the feeling). It’s an Edward Kienholz tableau without the unkempt shock, or a George Tooker painting without the people. Unsettling? Yes, but these are the spaces we have to own.
It’s refreshing, now more than ever, to know that art still has the capacity to rub our nose in it, that art can still remind us that this world we’ve created is often a grim, hollow and oppressive place; that art can still point the mirror back at us and say “Turn away if you must, but you need to take responsibility for this”. I expect we’re going to be needing a lot of that moving forward.
Roxy Paine: Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor is on view at CCAD’s Beeler Gallery through March 10, 2017. More information can be found at www.beelergallery.org.
Image Credits:
Roxy Paine
Checkpoint
2014
Maple, aluminum, fluorescent light bulbs, acrylic, prismatic light diffusers
Photo Courtesy of Beeler Gallery CCAD
Roxy Paine
Control Room
2013
Steel, wood, automotive paint, glass, fluorescent
Photo Courtesy of Beeler Gallery CCAD
Roxy Paine
Control Room (detail)
2013
Steel, wood, automotive paint, glass, fluorescent
Roxy Paine
Experiment
2015
Steel, maple, fluorescent lamps, acrylic, prismatic light diffusers, aluminum, oil paint
Photo Courtesy of Beeler Gallery CCAD
Roxy Paine
Experiment (detail)
2015
Steel, maple, fluorescent lamps, acrylic, prismatic light diffusers, aluminum, oil paint
Roxy Paine
Carcass (detail)
2013
Birch, maple, glass, fluorescent