blur sand

I visited the new exhibition, Pandora's Box: Joseph Cornell Unlocks the MCA Collection, today. All in all, it was a fairly decent exhibition - due mostly to the strong pieces. To note, it was nice to see Pipilotti Rist's piece, Sip My Ocean; Gabriel Orozco's, Socks 1 and Ball on Water; and a small collection of borrowed Cornell boxes.

Gabriel Orozco - Ball on Water (c-print) 1995

After a few rooms dedicated to themes in Cornell's work (usually exemplified by only one of his boxes) I began to notice that the curated work from the MCA collection often overshadows and even alters the read on Cornell's more humble pieces. This is made exemplary by the "The Voyeur" room - where an innocently curious box displaying a cut-out nude image of Betty Page is seen in context with a overtly loud Jeff Koons piece and a series of re-photographed images of women from pornography magazines wearing progressively less clothing (the clothing theme here is a suit). To me, this seems like the largest reach among many reaches in this show. It seems like the boxes are just a device to exhibit some of the collection. Although, Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman, and especially Henry Darger's works do share some common ground with Cornell's understated and private piece. In these, the sexuality is more subtle, playful, and devotional.

Jeff Koons - Woman in Tub (porcelain) 1988

Also, I have seen Cornell's boxes in museums and in reproduction where the verso of each piece is accessible. This is interesting because there is often a collage on the back side. But in this exhibition, all of the boxes are carefully backed up and secured to the wall (or in one case, laid flat). A similar approach is taken to the double-sided drawing by Darger. To fully experience a full-round piece, it seems that the artwork should be seen in the full round. (Let's not even talk about how Cornell's boxes were meant to be played with - interacted with to create an ever changing arrangement of objects and sounds.)

To top it off there was a spelling error on a wall tag:

this should read 'blue sand' (reminiscent of a recent piece by Eric Fleischauer)

leaves

a lot of poetry can probably be read with Gabriel Orozco's work, but i have run across one Orozco-conjuring poetic instance in particular today. from Leaf-Stalks by Ágnes Nemes Nagy, a poem that describes the beauty in the fractals of a tree.

"Who sees the designs of trees? Appearing readily in material form behind the leaves, the web of sticks, stalks and tendons; precision ticking, raising and placing the leaves in position; accurate to the last mm. no matter how high it is raised. Precisely as far as the light. Each to it's proper place, to the geometrical point it must occupy. Whose concern is this transaction between branch and leaf, who is concerned with the network of auxiliary lines? With the precision hidden within the pathos of this leafy crown which is length, angle, and direction?"

Gabriel Orozco - Light Though Leaves (iris print) 1996

owl and mirror

I built an owl today; from the Owl Puzzle that I bought yesterday. I spray painted a different color on each side of the 4 sheets of balsa wood before I popped the pieces out. The construction was a little more complicated than I expected; mostly because the instructions, diagrams, and photo were vague.

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY
1. First, carefully push out each piece from the wood board.
2. Before assembly, use the enclosed sandpaper to smooth all rough edges.
3. Get [sic] general idea of where each part goes by referring to the front photograph and the diagram below.
4. Put all parts together by following the right order of numbers shown on the diagram. Join pices by interlocking the exact two areas together that have the same number (1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, and so on).
5. Glue can be used to assemble kit permanently. Glue is not included.
6. Before or after assembly, stain, varnish or paint can be applied on the wood according to personal choice in color and design.
7. String included for sails. After assembly of boat, lace string through holes noted by number in black circle (give example of number in black circle) on diagram on the right. Start with #1 and lace to #2 then to #3 and so forth. [evidently step 7 is an unedited step for a sail boat puzzle, and is included here by mistake]

With instructional issues aside, the owl has been made. For me, he is a magical owl. Flat pieces of wood that existed only as abstract shapes in the wood boards have been transformed into detailed feathers and body forms. The magic here is three-fold.
Working on this I understand the puzzle in a variety of ways: artistically, as a brainteaser, and as a playful child-like fascination with objects and games (similar to Legos). The latter is a quality of mine that I hopefully will never loose. I often feel like I am my current age (26) and 12 simultaneously. So on one level this puzzle is a game, and fun!
Secondly, through art, the owl addresses culture within it's mystical transformation from raw materials (cheep wood and spray paint) into a signifying object.
In the owl's last move he references a personal history. When I was in Boy Scouts I could sometimes hear owls calling to each other late at night. This only happened when our troop was camping deep in a scout reservation, well away from buildings and lights. Through seclusion and unfamiliarity these places were already mystical in their own right. The owl seemed to be an invisible watcher-protector of the forest. The following is a description of the Barred Owl (Strix varia), the most common owl in Illinois.

"Voice: A loud, barking hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo-hooo-aw!; a variety of other barking calls and screams.
...
This owl is seen only by those who seek it out in its dark retreat, usually thick grove of trees in lowland forest. There it rests quietly during the day, coming out at night to feet on rodents, birds, frogs, and crayfish. If disturbed, it will fly easily from one grove of trees to another."
-John Bull and John Farrand, Jr. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern Region. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1977. 634-635.

I placed the mirror behind the owl to show his back. This move has led me to some other questions about mirrors that I have been thinking of in other pieces. The following poem speaks to some of my interest in mirrors and mirroring effects as well as the sound of owls communicating across a forest.

Kenneht Koch
Aesthetics of Echo

Echo was............................Us
A nymph who lived in.........Din
Every Cliff..........................If

Owl (cardboard, wood, hot glue, acrylic, spray paint, glitter, sharpie, plastic rhinestones) 65" x 6" x 6" 2008

Some other work with/about owls from my image library:

Joseph Cornell - Untitled (Lighted Owl) (assemblage) c. 1949

Brian Kapernekas - Owl (mortar, pigment, straw, horsehair, twine, wood and nails) 2007

Gabriel Orozco - Owl (photograph) 1993

Roni Horn - Dead Owl (2 iris printed photographs) 1998

Ashley Morgan - Collar Bones (bones from owl pellets and glue)