The Mason Gross Annual MFA show which opened in November this fall, featured work of the first year grad students at the school. While i found, like in many combination shows, a lack of unity in the work, as well as varying levels of interest about them. Some works i found to be impressive or substantial while others i could have done without.
Walking into the gallery, one first encounters Max Cemano's sculpture of a decapitated boar fountain. Not only is this a somewhat shocking and horrifying image in itself, the fountain uses a red liquid that gives the impression of blood. The stream flows into a large black oil drum. I had seen Max's original idea for this when it was still in sketch form, and i enjoyed seeing the changes made during its realization. He chose to leave certain parts of the inner workings of the fountain visible in its construction. The back shows the tubing for the 'blood' and in the boars mouth, one can also see the tube, and the attachment spout. What i found to be most interesting about his installation was how it changed over time. from the time the show was installed, to the opening reception, the constant flow of the fountain had produced a splatter effect of dried 'blood' on the floor around the sculpture. this added the element of time and its long term effects that would not have been noticeable in the original viewing. i do not know if this was something the artist had anticipated, but i would be curious to learn his feelings on the matter.
Max also had another sculpture, a cast of a shark that he then painted in a design similar to art on old bomber planes in World War II. He has used this design on other works of his that i have seen in his studio. He has a collection of butterflies that have been recolored with the fame grinning pattern.
These definitely drew attention, but they also were made using subdued colors and therefore could exist in the center of the room and attract attention and be in coexistence with the rest of the work on the walls. The other work used brighter colors and different styles so it worked well.
In one of the back rooms is an installation of Ryan Soper's. This is made out of the building material Tyvek and is a general 'tent' form that can be entered by the viewer. inside, are a light and strange objects constructed of various plastic materials. These also involve zippers and Velcro and use bright colors: red, yellow. With the blue lettering on the white exterior and the black detailing on the objects inside, it is visually pleasing with the simple primary colors and black and white. this was interesting to me, but it seems like it's almost trying to hard or something. it reads to me like it was made to be somewhat of an enigma and have a certain 'look' that can be seen in some contemporary sculptor's work. It did work well in the room with the other installation, as it was contained in itself so they could be in their own right in spite of the close proximity.
Finally, in the video room was the video and installation by Stefanos Milkidis. His piece was a large cinder block tunnel, in the low lit room. Upon first encountering it, the viewer would think that it is a solid block, but the video shows footage taken from what appears to be the top of the 'block' and one can see that not only is there hollow space in the middle, but also, in the videos are people contained in the structure. This at first can prompt the viewer to question whether anyone is currently trapped inside, as the blocks are tall enough that without the aide of a ladder, you couldn't check. I found it have a cold, hard feel it. the low lighting and the gray, rough bricks had a physical presence. i felt, contained, small and kind of helpless. i felt empathy for the figures inside, as there's no audio on the video so you can't get a feel for how the people contained feel. The blocks have a weight to them, besides there physical weight. their towering presence in combination with the knowledge that people have been contained inside gives it that.
I really enjoyed the installation in the first room to the left. it had beautiful colors as well as pleasing forms. the flow of stones on the floor as well as the udder-like plunger hanging piece forced the viewer to interact with the room around them. I also enjoyed the work in the room before the video room. these were everyday farming tools, a shovel and a pitchfork, but juxtaposed with alterations. The pitchfork's 'forks' were extended an extra couple of feet, to the point that the forks lie flat on the ground, and the wooden handle is supported in space. the shovel, installed in the corner, has a handle made of a fluorescent light tube. These remind me of work by Charles Ray [the pitchfork] and also Dan Flavin [the shovel].
