I may be exaggerating the effect of on-going construction work by Sciame on this graduating class because I was a part of that class, but I feel strongly that my year bore the brunt of Cooper Union's New Academic Building growing pains: we remember the Hewitt Building and will leave this institution both without knowing any of the New Academic Building's amenities and with the pressure to produce work in severely condensed senior show/studio space as a result of the Hewitt building's demolition. By these environmental factors I believe that the class of 2009 have been strongly encouraged to make increasingly unambitious work.
I see this in the timid, manageable nature of most shows so far this semester; while I do not want to suggest that bigger work is necessarily better, I have seen very little work in the semester that dynamically engages with the space it is shown in. Like it or not, size is certainly a factor in that concern and this is where my review begins in pleasant surprise:
With their expansive installation strategies, Rich Mixtures of Similarity in the 2nd Floor Lobby and Hyacinth Room in the 6th Floor Lobby give lie to my critique of the way our institution has handled the New Academic Building's construction. Ambitious displays in my year, it turns out, were not killed (even if they were submerged in great adversity).
Laura Miller's work on the second floor coats the floor's architecture: it is impossible to casually walk through the space without walking through or noticing at least one interesting architectural intervention. The work on view is immersive and imposing in all the ways work installed in the same space has been subtle and restrained during the last few months. It's a great show that I know I will think more about the particulars of during the week. The sunlight streaming through tarpaulin Laura hung from windows was remarkable this morning and I recommend setting aside some time before class to see it this week if you can.
That said, the work is problematic as far as style is concerned: I read the show (its materials and their freely organized displacement throughout the space) in part as a sort of de-politicized love letter to Arte Povera. That this should bother me more than it does doesn't stop it from being an important détournement to consider: aestheticization of the past is dangerous ground (though occasionally fertile as this show demonstrates).
Taylor Shields and Justin Smith take a more democratic approach to filling space with Hyacinth Room. By curating friends' work into their senior show, the two have strengthened their presentation without having to fall back on the scale of already impressive large sculptures that each have contributed to the show. It makes for a rich and full environment even if individual works are sometimes unsatisfying by themselves: if you don't like what you see, I suspect that you will when you turn around... and if you feel like remaining stationary as you consider the work in this show, Justin and Taylor's Media Center lets you do just that.
As a final word of critique, I return to style and materials: Cooper Union's storied "house style" is something to be wary of. The way each of these shows (like many in this building that I can remember) employ vast arrays of un-painted plywood is something to be conscious of, though it is the second instance in this review of an objection that doesn't dim the enjoyment of my viewing. There was much good to see this week and—for the first time in a while—there was nothing in the way of my appreciating it.
joshua
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