Archive for the ‘sculpture’ tag
Alex Hubbard at Maccarone
I saw Alex Hubbard’s exhibition at Maccarone back in May, buy only now in mid-June do I have the time to consider what I saw. Hubbard took advantage of Maccarone’s size and multiple galleries to present two separate sets of work “Magical Ramón” and “The Five Bar Blues.”
I didn’t care for the work making up “Magical Ramón” and I particularly disliked the “bent paintings.” The bent paintings are solid colors of polyurethane hanging off the wall or laying on the ground. I could consider the formal qualities of these things… the colors, shapes and the fact that they are likely work intensive, but I consider them toxic and boring.
“The Five Bar Blues” on the other hand are brilliant! Meticulously constructed sections of life-size dive bars installed into shipping crates! The bars were filled with liquor. I asked the attendant of the sculptures were interactive, she said yes, and the friend I was with dived right into the Hennessy. Besides the brilliance of drinking stations fitted into art crates, each bar can only fit one person and is modeled after dive bars with iconic elements such as the steel black gate and blue neon or alternately the wooden saloon half doors with wood paneling interior and Budweiser sign and both with drop ceilings.
The fact that there is only space for one person evokes Hopper’s Nighthawks and a host of other impressions – bars that open at 6am where lonely people might spend the day and afternoon…
Over the years, I’ve known any number of artists who wish they owned a bar or hope to one day open up their own bar, Alex Hubbard has found a great alternative… build a little bar into a crate, stock it with liquor and place it in a gallery!
Undocumented Drones at New York Hall of Science
Last Thursday, October 25th was the celebration for the opening of ReGeneration, an exhibition at the New York Hall of Science in Corona Park, Queens that will be on view through January 13th. I will be writing one or more extended articles regarding the works in the exhibition. Meanwhile, I am posting a video of the Undocumented Drones being installed at the Hall of Science as part of my installation titled “a geography of being : una geografia de ser”. This is an installation comprised of a video game and three wooden figures with screens and motors that are networked to the game. The figures or undocumented drones help the player along through the game at specific points. Each figure has a corresponding icon on the game screen that tells the player that the small robot has a message. If necessary, the player may step away from the game to view the undocumented drone’s embedded screen for instructions.