solving man ray’s obstruction is a playful response to Man Ray’s sculpture obstruction originally constructed from wooden clothes hangers in 1920. Man Ray used arithmetic progression to build his pyramid mobile. In this reinterpretation, measurements were recalculated and adjusted to allow for the notion that if all the wooden hangers were horizontally aligned, they would never hit each other when set in motion. solving man ray’s obstruction frees the impasse that was inherent in Man Ray’s original sculpture and allows for movement and transformation to occur. The scale of the new sculpture made in maple is vastly increased from the original Man Ray work. In order for movement to occur each layer of hangars is approx. half the size of the layer before. This work is a part of a trilogy recently titled afterworks (itself a play on afterwards) that playfully looks at three male modernist artists, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp and attempts to address the legacy of their presence from a female artists perspective.
In sorrow mirrored we are presented with the word “sorrow” made from mirrored glass tube. Mirroring is also formally embedded in the word as it almost presents itself as a palindrome.The two “r’s” in the middle of the word are reflected to face or mirror each other. The panels on which the “r’s” are mounted move up and down covering the “s” and “o” and “o” and “w”. Functioning like a rowing machine the wings in their up position cover and erase the word and then return to the closed position. sorrow mirrored references how we are constantly being exposed to other people’s tragedies through media culture throughout our daily lives and recognizes how we absorb other people’s tragedies.
starlight is a text based work where words that come before and after the word “star” are randomly combined. There are 14 words on a concealed drum on the left side of “star” and 14 words on the concealed drum on the right side of “star”. We are only able to view one word on the left and one word on the right at a time through the two viewing window slots on either side. The combination of the generated words are at times funny, profound and ridiculous. The form/structure with the moving drums visible through slots along with the randomly generated words brings to mind a gambling machine that doles out re-mixes of popular culture and existentialism.
timeline is a decade of the artist’s archive arranged chronologically beginning in January 1990 and ending in December 1999. This piece is a portrait of the artist, documenting the health, financial status, material usage, places the artist lived, as well as personal handwritten correspondence between family and friends. The structure of the pages layered together and compressed echoes the record of time in the natural world. Layers of sediment (paper) and the variation in material and colour, speaks to a life lived.
the drawer hangs on the gallery wall in the open position. A drawer is a utilitarian, functional, domestic object. In this sculpture, there is no handle on it and it is the colour of the wall. When the viewer is out of range the drawer is open but it quickly closes when the viewer approaches keeping the interior contents a mystery. The piece speaks to our desire to find the answer to what is inside even though it is unattainable. In an age of instant gratification and in a society where there are few secrets – this “teasing” of the art object is sometimes viewed as a provocation or competition, causing viewers to run across the room in hopes of making it before the drawer closes.
Opening Reception
October 4, 2012 6:00 pm – 9:00 pmArtist Links
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Installation View -
Installation View -
Included Artworks
artwork detail
solving man ray’s obstruction, 2012
lois andisonmaple, stainless steel rod, bearings, bushings, powder coated aluminum, motor clutch, custom electronics, dimensions variable
artwork detail
artwork detail
sorrow mirrored, 2012
lois andisonmirrored glass tubing, aluminum, custom electronics 45” x 83” x 5”
artwork detail
artwork detail
need, 2012
lois andisongranite, powder coated aluminum, stainless steel, brass, aluminum, delrin, bearings, motor, custom fabricated electronics 12” x 30” x 6.75”
artwork detail
candle lamp moon (triptych), 2012
lois andisonletterpress prints, wood frame, glass, ed. of 21 53” x 27” installed
