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Upon an Ether Sea:
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
There is no subject more elemental than the sea, save perhaps the air; and as the air we breathe is invisible, and transparent into the high heavens, and the sea is sturdy, depthful, may be sailed upon, and conceals deeps of which no man knows the secrets, the sea may be said to be the more potent symbol. Upon an Ether Sea: Water and Ship Imagery from the MCA Collection is an exhibition of twenty contemporary works with the deeps of the sea and the many vessels that sail upon her as its theme. Though modest in scope, the variety of works on exhibit, dating from the 1960s to the present, provide a number of stimulating points of departure in the manifold ways the sea and its vessels reflect human endeavors, needs or fears. At the most primal level, there is water, lifeblood of existence, wellspring of origin. In its many and various paths across the face of the earth, water has long had symbolism of journey, conveyance, a means by which things are carried into greater spiritual union. In the deep gurgle and wave sounds of the video portion of Indira Freitas Johnson's Where Sky Meets Water (archival inkjet prints, DVD, and altered canna leaves: 2006-7) are lodged an age-old response to water as both soothing and sacred, an impression reinforced by the rambling flute melody laid over the rush of the waves. Long leaves float on benignly rippling water, their centers incised with the curling character of the sacred syllable 'om'. The work commemorates an event, performed at the Michigan Avenue Bridge in October 2006, in which the artist released the leaves upon the water as a ritual offering, elevating the humble and much-maligned Chicago River from the level of tourist scenery or mere industrial convenience to an uncommon expression of sacred content. With much of the world this summer cracked in drought or drowned in deluge, this gentle propitiation based upon the ceremonial offerings of South Asia is a moving reminder of the essential nature of water itself. Two of the altered leaves, and two color photographs of the leaves at rest upon reflective waters, complete the commemoration of a ceremony the artist hopes to also perform in the waters of New York, Berlin, China, Japan and India. In a more traditional medium, photographers Lynn Davis and Brett Weston use similar images of an iceberg landscape to evoke a dramatically different play of mood and intent. Sky and glacier, glacial shadows and water are the primary elements in Davis's large photographs, each entitled Icebergs (Disko Bay, Greenland) (gelatin silver print: 1988). The formal photographic presentation of these titanic ice-mountains, rising in serene triumph above the calm waters, present the sea as clothed in grandeur and beauty: nature, lordly, magnificent, and serene, particularly in the areas of breathtaking purity along the white sides of the sunward ice-faces. Where Davis's icebergs seem grand and yet navigable, Brett Weston's similar imagery in Alaska (gelatin silver print: 1973) is riddled with menace and danger, not overtly, but in the razor-edged areas of shadow and confusing mirror-mazes of reflection. The high glacial ridge is itself cloaked in deep shadow, an impenetrable blackness. At its foot, ice and water confound the mind dangerously, a frigid labyrinth suggestive of threat and deceit. Lake and sea can be symbolic of the subconscious, and while Lynn Davis's grand natural vistas reflect a frank and forthright beauty, Weston's Alaska seems to hint at all the submerged and treacherous reefs of the unconscious mind. Lighter in note is Roy Lichtenstein's Seascape (screen print on laminated plastic: ca. 1965), in which the artist applies his signature pop-art style in reducing the watery horizon-line to a dizzying mass of oversized halftone dots. Accompanied by Lichtenstein's Folded Hat (screen print on smooth wove, vinyl-coated paper: 1968), perfectly suitable for a pantomime admiral, Lichtenstein finds a more playful side to water and the sea. But if the sea is dangerously navigable, there are also vessels. The vessel, boat or ship, is one of the earliest tools by which humankind became able to venture out into the vast expanses of sea and fjord. The vessels represented in Upon an Ether Sea hold less of an idea of safety and surety, and more of the precariousness and the disassociation, even past the thresholds of death, that such ventures hold. Early Arctic peoples made sea kayaks out of common materials, everyday substances, sealskin, driftwood, sinew, to try the vast seas for hunting and trade. It was an object of utility rather than fashion. Kayak #2: Norte (corrugated steel, bone, wood, rawhide, fur, knife, string, hair, siding, and paint: 1973) by Rafael Ferrer translates that utility into terms of contemporary materials, primarily corrugated steel in this lifesize re-creation, as if modern suburban man attempted to cobble together a seagoing vessel with materials to hand. But in a complete reversal, Ferrer's kayak of jagged metal is unseaworthy and would fail to float. The juxtaposition of suitable and unsuitable materials prompts reflection on what constitutes a seaworthy craft, and if this is a purely symbolic endeavor, what it might mean. Jeff Koons' Lifeboat (bronze: 1985), and the nearby print Adrift (color stencil on paper: 1984) by Richard Bosma, both offer up ideas of castaway and need for rescue. Like Ferrer's corrugated metal kayak, Koons' bronze lifeboat is more suited to be a sculptural representation than a functional object, although the more common practice of representing items in bronze makes this seem simply some kind of naval commemorative. More moving is the stark presence of Death Ship of No Port (pine, canvas, bronze, wire and paint: 1957) by H.C. Westermann, with its rigid figure seated at the foremast, facing forever the blank horizons of the afterworld. One of several "death ships" constructed by this self-taught artist, himself a veteran of aircraft carrier duty in World War II and the Korean War, the blocky construction, carefully rigged canvas sail, and stiffly seated figure are reminiscent of the tomb figures of ancient Egypt. By itself, the ship could be a rude model; the addition of the figure, seated with knees half-bent, invests it with the chill and sorrow of a spirit on a lone, eternal voyage. The several small 'artist's books' seem spurious inclusions in an otherwise solid offering; not only are they somewhat raggedly xeroxed facsimiles, presumably to permit visitors to riffle through them, but their content is minimal -- one is composed of several loosely-drawn cartoons -- and they add little of depth or commentary to the mix. And in direct contrast to the outflowing petition of Freitas Johnson's prayerful canna leaves is the self-absorbed video Sip My Ocean by Pipilotti Rist (video installation: 1996), which is less about water or the sea than about the artist herself. Rist is the starring image, her close-up and often uncomfortably intimate underwater swim spliced into two psychedelic halves on huge video screens, while in the background her voice caterwauls endlessly the words to singer/songwriter Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game' (1989). While the better works in this exhibition proffer deeper and more enduring themes, Sip My Ocean seems an example of that trend in contemporary art to focus far too intently on the self; and surely, after the run of the exhibition, the staff of the MCA will have had their fill of 'Wicked Game'.
says British poet John Masefield in 'Sea-Fever',
The call of the sea is mutable and endless, and echoes human experience, from sacred propitiation, unto the long last voyage beyond the thresholds of time. Upon an Ether Sea: Water and Ship Imagery from the MCA Collection is at the MCA through September 9, 2007. Artists represented in Upon an Ether Sea include Richard Bosma, Lynn Davis, Rafael Ferrer, Joe Goode, Indira Freitas Johnson, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Gabriel Orozco, Pipilotti Rist, H.C. Westermann, and Brett Weston. --Katherine R. Lieber Katherine R. Lieber has edited ArtScope.net's Visual Arts reviews since 1998. Ms. Lieber is Editor and Associate Producer for ArtScope.net. |
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