Crafted: Objects in Flux @ Boston MFA

The Boston MFA's exhibit Crafted: Objects in Flux (August 25, 2015 to January 10, 2016) challenged and effectively obliterated the false dichotomy between craft and art in a way that reminds me of the 40 Under 40: Craft Futures show at the Renwick Gallery in 2012. This exhibit, curated by Emily Zilber, goes even further by including artists of multiple generations and multiple nationalities. The show is also very important in breaking down the barriers between "craft" and "art" because, surprisingly, it is the first time an exhibit of this kind has been held in an encyclopedic museum.

My favorite work in the show were these pyrographs by Japanese-American artist Etsuko Ichikawa.

Etsuko Ichikawa

Trace 2012 and Trace 2112

glass pyrographs on paper

The pyrographs themselves are both beautiful and interesting but what makes them truly great is watching the accompanying video that shows how Etsuko makes them -- by snaking molten glass on paper and using an immense amount of skill in creating beautiful designs without causing the the entire effort to go up in flames. Part dance, part performance, part glass making, the end result is a work that captures a unique moment in time.

Etsuko Ichikawa

still from glass pyrograph video

Etsuko Ichikawa

still from glass pyrograph video

Charlotte Potter's Pending is an interesting conceptual piece. She projected a map of the US on the wall and placed a cameo pendant of her pending Facebook friend requests on their location.

Charlotte Potter

Pending

hand-engraved glass cameos, metal, images courtesy of Facebook

The length of the rod is proportional to the number of their mutual Facebook friends. Additionally, she very skillfully carved the image on the cameos from her friend's Facebook profile picture.

Charlotte Potter

Pending (closeup)

Greg Payce, a Canadian artist, sculpts amazing negative space images with porcelain vases that he throws by hand. Unfortunately, because I hate reading wall text in museums, I totally missed the images he creates and, consequently, didn't get a good picture of the actual vases in the exhibit.

Greg Payce

Adam and Eve

Two lenticular photographs of porcelain vases

Christy Oates often ties the traditional decorative furniture technique of marquetry with conceptual art. Here she has created work that you might expect to be made for the top of high-end furniture but they are designed using a computer algorithm based on the top trending Google news story of the day. There were fifteen pieces on display representing fifteen days in September 2011.

Christy Oates

Kaleidoscope Algorithm

Fifteen segments in various woods

Thankfully, there was an accompanying video to clarify her process.

Christy Oates

still from Kaleidoscope Algorithm video

Similarly, Alison Elizabeth Taylor uses the same traditional technique to "paint" a very different type of contemporary commentary.

Alison Elizabeth Taylor

Tap Left On

wood veneer, shellac

Her work often deals with working class issues, which is an interesting contrast to the "craft" typically used as decoration for economic elites.

Alison Elizabeth Taylor

Armstrong Congoleum

wood veneer, shellac, aluminum

Chien-Wei Chang, a Taiwanese-British artist, created this Huge Ladle (I'm guessing it is about five feet long). With it he plays with the concept of craft objects being functional. Additionally, his ladles are conceptual, relating to his own journey of emigration -- being scooped out of one container and being placed into another. 

Chien-Wei Chang

Huge Ladle

silver plating, padauk wood

Faig Ahmed is an artist from Azerbaijan who uses traditional rug making techniques and styles of his culture as a launching pad to visually tie the past with the present.

Faig Ahmed

Invert

Handmade woven carpet

With her Hair Craft Project, Sonya Clark honors artists that are traditionally overlooked and under-valued. Over a one year period she visited eleven hairdressers and had them create their art in two forms, ephemerally on her head and permanently on canvas.

Sonya Clark

The Hair Craft Project

Hairstylists with Sonya

color photographs

She also photographed the artist with their creation, thereby literally and metaphorically standing up for the work so that it can be seen as museum quality art. 

Sonya Clark

The Hair Craft Project

Hairstyles on Canvas

silk threads, beads, yarn, shells on canvas

Astrid Krogh is a Danish artist who created this beautifully woven optical fiber "fabric." The title, Ikat II, refers to a technique of resist dying that allows subtle bleeding of the colors, similar to how the different color light fibers interact with each other. As such, it is a work that is equally contemporary and traditional.

 Astrid Krogh

Ikat II

woven optical fibers, paper yarn, light monitors

With this closeup you can more clearly see the weaving pattern and the subtle bleed of color caused by the interaction of light.

Astrid Krogh

Ikat II (closeup)

In all there were forty-one artists in the exhibit representing an amazing amount of diversity in styles, techniques, and background. The quality of work was great but what I truly loved was seeing a major fine art museum breaking down barriers between it collections and expanding the definition of what "fine art" means. 

Wonder and Wonderings at The Renwick Gallery

The Renwick Gallery's inaugural exhibit following a major two year closure and renovation is aptly titled Wonder because, not only does each of the large room filling pieces inspire wonder from the viewer, but the exhibit as a whole makes one wonder what what the Renwick, the self described museum of American craft, is planning for the future.

In remodeling the interior space the Renwick seems to be remaking their entire image that includes being more visible and drawing larger crowds. As part of this process they have created signage that has been controversial and drawn the ire of the National Parks, National Capital Planning Commission, and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts who decry, ask for removal, and question its legality, particularly of the one on top-center of the building which reads, "Dedicated To ^ the future of ^ Art." 

Whether ugly or illegal, the sign has certainly done its implied purpose of drawing publicity to the institution. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. I like the contrast of old and new, and I like how it challenges stodgy attitudes toward design. Not everything has to "go with" everything around it. Shaking up the viewer and getting them out of their "safe place" is part of what art should do. 

New Renwick Gallery signage

Signage and controversy are useful only if there is substance inside the museum to back up the publicity. Fortunately, the Renwick has fulfilled this objective in spades with a block buster show. In it they have given nine artists an entire room to work, each in their own way inspiring wonder from the viewer. Interestingly, at the beginning of the exhibit there is a sign encouraging photography which further indicates how much the museum wants to raise their profile and engage with the public.

In the first room most visitors will encounter is an installation by blue chip artist Tara Donovan. She is a master of taking inexpensive everyday objects and turning them into something mysteriously organic.

Untitled

styrene index cards, metal, wood, paint, glue

2014

Tara Donovan

Courtesy of Pace Gallery

In this case she has used millions(?) of stacked paper 3" x 5" index cards to create stalagmite-like mounds. It is a great piece and a great draw to the rest of the show. 

Untitled (second view)

From this perspective the work is both jagged and soft, seemingly made by some sort of natural process. Only from a tight closeup is it clear that it is made from index cards.

Untitled (closeup)

Jennifer Angus's installation titled In The Midnight Garden evokes wonder with hundreds of dead insects pinned to the wall and a red dye wall wash made from the cochineal insect. Given the numerous skulls created in a ring around the room, the work seems to be a meditation on death. It is a great piece.

In The Midnight Garden

cochineal, various insects, mixed media 

2015

Jennifer Agnus

Courtesy of Jennifer Agnus

It draws viewers in with a fascinating array of large, beautiful, and unusual insects; working on the macro- and micro-scale. And it guides viewers in thinking about life and impermanence, whether they realize it or not.

In The Midnight Garden (closeup)

In The Midnight Garden (second closeup)

Similarly, John Grade's piece, Middle Fork (Cascades), is a meditation on life and death. With it, he has cast and recreated the form of an actual tree (hemlock) in the Cascade mountains of Washington.

Middle Fork (Cascades), 2015

reclaimed old growth Western Red Cedar

John Grade

Courtesy of John Grade

It is built with thousands of blocks of reclaimed red cedar, evoking wonder about, amoung other things, its natural beauty and how it was re-created. It captures a moment in the life of the tree, like a photograph, and after the exhibit, it will be returned to the forest and allowed to decompose next to the tree that inspired it.

Middle Fork (Cascades), 2015 (second view)

Middle Fork (Cascades), 2015 (closeup)

Patrick Dougherty's Shindig is beautiful, and fascinating, but to me it feels cramped and out of place even with having been built in one of the largest rooms. The willow saplings, woven together, look as if they have come to life and are dancing, however. being placed indoors with a low ceiling, it is hard to see the full impact of the piece. 

Patrick Dougherty

Shindig

willow saplings

2015
Courtesy of Patrick Dougherty

Shindig (closeup)

Gabriel Dawes piece, Plexus A1, brilliantly creates the illusion of light passing through a prism using only colored thread.

Gabriel Dawes

Plexus A1

thread
2015
Courtesy of Conduit Gallery

There are many aspects of this piece that illicit "wonder," but one of them is the disbelief that it is really made with only thread. Well, here is a view of the ceiling to give a clearer understanding of how it is put together.

Plexus A1 (ceiling closeup)

In learning about this exhibit and seeing that Janet Echelman had a piece in it, I was excited to see it in person. I've seen numerous images of her floating "net" sculptures and wanted to experience one. And, judging from the crowd of people lying, looking, and relaxing underneath it, one could say it is clearly a success. For me, however, it felt like a bit of a let down. As with Patrick Dougherty's piece, it felt out of place, claustrophobic, and artificial being confined to a room, even if it is the largest room in the building. Regardless, I am excited that this (along with the printed textile flooring that Janet also created for the exhibit) will be permanently installed in this room. Perhaps my opinion will change over time as I repeatedly view it.

Janet Echelman

1.8

knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting and wind movement 

above printed textile flooring

2015

Courtesy of Janet Echelman, Inc.

One advantage of having the piece hang in a room, however, is the wonderful shadows it casts on the walls. 

Maya Lin is another "blue chip" artist most famous for her brilliant Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Her Folding the Chesapeake is installed on the second floor of the Renwick.

Maya Lin

Folding the Chesapeake

marbles and adhesive

2015

Courtesy of Maya Lin Studio

The piece is a map of the Chesapeake Bay projected on to the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room and constructed out of large green fiberglass marbles, the same type of marble her father used in the 60's for glass blowing in the early days of the studio glass movement.

Folding the Chesapeake (closeup)

The work clearly has personal meaning for Maya in terms of the history and emotions associated with the marbles. The wall text also makes clear that she is trying to sharpen "our attention to the need for conservation" of the Chesapeake and other natural wonders; but for me there seems to be a disconnect between the material, the image, and the concept. The piece does induce "wonder" but the wonder that I am stuck on is "what is the connection between marbles and bay?" which ends up being a distraction and ultimately makes it less interesting than many of the other pieces in the show.

Folding the Chesapeake (second view)

Anonymous Donor by Chakaia Booker is an almost-maze-like structure made of rubber tires and, for me, seemed to be the least effective piece in the show. I tried, but I was not able to find the piece emotionally, conceptually, or aesthetically interesting. Even after reading the wall text, which attempts to guide our interpretation with the thought that "By massing, slashing, and reworking a material that we see daily but never fully consider, she jolts us out of complacency to grasp these materials for what they are: a natural resource marshaled through astonishingly complex channels into a product of great convenience and superabundance." Unfortunately, I can't say the piece makes me feel "jolted out of complacency," rather, I spend my time wondering what the connection is between her goals and the structure.

Chakaia Booker

Anonymous Donor

rubber tires and stainless steel

2015

Courtesy of Chakaia Booker

The Leo Villareal chandelier is a permanent installation. It is made of hundreds of rods, each with dozens of LEDs and is programmed to flash in a way that the chandelier never illuminates that same way twice. I found this to be a confusing and disappointing selection for the space. He may be a great artist with many impressive installations, but this piece is so completely cold and impersonal I can't help but wonder why it was selected for permanent installation in what was once considered America's premier craft museum. Perhaps there is justification in association with the concept that it never illuminates the same way twice; and that idea probably represent individuality and the uniqueness of craft work, but looks very industrial and with just a single light color, all the different illuminations seem to be exactly the same, not matter that they are all said to be unique.

Leo Villareal

Volume (Renwick)

white LED, mirror finished stainless steel,

custom programmed software, electrical hardware

2015

Leo Villareal, courtesy of Connersmith

At the end of the exhibit there was a nice video presentation of each of the artists talking about their process and the work exhibited.

End of exhibit video discussions

Typically this types of presentations are only given cursory viewing by audiences, so it is a testament to the quality of the show and the interest it has generated that so many people took the time to sit and watch it, often through completion.

Exhibit video audience

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the Renwick's inaugural show. It definitely met its goal of inducing wonder and the work is really top notch. However, I am also left with wonder about what the show means for the future of the Renwick's collection and its history as a "craft" museum. I believe that the term "craft" is very limiting and may have past its historical usefulness in situations where the artist's goal is to create art using "craft" materials, but I hope the museum maintained a historical connection to its past as a "museum of american craft." With the major exhibit before the renovation, 40 Under 40: Craft Futures, the Renwick did a remarkable job of balancing the past and future of art/craft. This one makes me wonder about the museum's future and whether it has decided to abandon its past in search of larger audiences.

Craft Is Dead . . . Long Live Art

There is a great (and by "great", I mean fantastic!) exhibit at the Renwick Gallery in DC on display until February 3, 2013. Titled, 40 under 40: Craft Futures, it features forty artists under forty years old and has been assembled as an anniversary show in celebration of the museum's fortieth year of operation. Though it was conceived as the Smithsonian American Art Museum's home its "craft and decorative arts" program, I've always wondered how or why certain pieces are deemed "craft" and assigned to the Renwick Gallery, and how other pieces are deemed fine art. Certainly, a Sam Maloof chair, or an Edward Moulthroup turned vase are classical craft pieces, but why are iconic Renwick pieces like Wendell Castle's Ghost Clock or Larry Fuente's Game Fish so deemed? Likewise, why is an artist like Alexander Calder, who worked in metal and wood, and made many works of jewelry, deemed a fine artist. Or why is an artist like Martin Puryear, who uses boat building and furniture making techniques in his wood sculptures, never seen along side pieces by someone like Matthias Pliessnig , who uses similar techniques to create furniture? Is Roy Lichtenstein's Brush Stroke Chair fine art and Judy Kensley McKie's Monkey Settee craft? The truth is, there is no way to define fine art or fine craft that is exclusive of the other and trying to do so only sets up a false dichotomy that has no useful purpose. In the end, art is art and we should evaluate it based on our reaction to it, not by the materials used, the market value, or the history of the artist.

So I was elated to see the current exhibit at the Renwick -- one that I hope everyone should see (and by "everyone", I mean everyone) because the curator, Nicolas Bell, has totally ignored the dichotomy, selecting work based on quality and ignoring, all together, any definition of "craft" other than one that embraces work that is well made.

For example, Shawn Smith's pixelated sculpture of a camp fire, made with small cubes of plywood, titled Between 1 and 0, is much more conceptual than it is aesthetic, and in no way would one normally expect to find it in a show of "craft". 

Between 1 and 0

plywood, acrylic paint, ink

2011
Shawn Smith
Smithsonian American Art Museum collection
Gift of the Washington Design Center; Museum purchase through the Richard T. Evans fund

(photo: Teresa Rafidi)

And Dave Cole's piece, Evolution of the Knitting Needle Through Modern Warfare, is also conceptual, though it does have a tangential association with craft in that he has sculpted a crafting tool, knitting needles, in it. The sculpture is a hypothetical historical look at what knitting needles would have looked like if they had been issued by the US military since the Civil War. It is an amusing and thoughtful piece that you can best see it on his website here.

As an interesting twist on craft versus art, Stephanie Liner's work is a craftcentric conceptual piece that is, in part, about the furniture industry in the south eastern US as well as the fashion industry. For the exhibit, she has a giant egg shaped upholstered furniture/dress on display that a woman can "wear." It also has a window in which viewers can voyeuristically look in (the images on her website give a better understanding of the sculpture).

  Mementos of a Doomed Construct (closeup)
upholstery, plywood, fabric, sequins, yarn, embroidery, adhesive, cardboard
2011
Stephanie Liner
Courtesy of the artist
(photo courtesy of John Michael Kolher Art Center)
  

And then there is Melanie Bilenker's amazing drawings with hair, like Dresser Drawer. Yes it is technically a brooch, and yes, she is technically a jewelry maker, but her work is so much more than jewelry -- it is contemporary art that just happens to be wearable. Its functionality seems to be more of an afterthought or coincidence. By wearing it, the owner becomes a walking art exhibit. Incidentally, the piece is much smaller in person than the image below would imply. To make this "drawing," Melanie would have to have the manual dexterity of neonatal heart surgeon.

Dresser Drawer

2" x 2" x 1/2"

hair, paper, wood, gold, crystal, brass

2011

Melanie Bilenker

 Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

(photo: courtesy of Sienna Gallery)

In contrast to other conceptual artists in the exhibit, Laurel Roth uses a traditional "craft" technique (crocheting) for conceptual purposes. With her Biodiversity Reclamation Suits she has created costumes to disguise common urban pigeons as extinct birds, thereby reclaiming them.

Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Carolina Parakeet

suit: cotton, silk, bamboo, wool, acrylic blends; mannaquin: hand-carved basswood, acrylic paint, gouache, glass eyes, metal legs, walnut stand

8" x 9" x 13"

2009

Laurel Roth
Courtesy of the artist and Frey Norris Gallery

(photo: Andy Diaz Hope)

 Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Carolina Parakeet (closeup)

The quality of her "craft" in sculpting and crocheting is exquisite, but the loving/bittersweet humor in the concept of the work is what makes it really special. (Note: The Renwick is hoping to purchase at least one of these birds for their permanent collection through micro donations of $10 or more from the general public. They are really great pieces so, hopefully, they will reach their target. You can learn more at this link.)

Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Passenger Pigeon

suit: cotton, silk, bamboo, wool, acrylic blends; mannaquin: hand-carved basswood, acrylic paint, gouache, glass eyes, metal legs, walnut stand
8" x 9" x 17"

2008

Laurel Roth
Courtesy of the artist, Frey Norris Gallery, and Schroeder Romero and Shredder Gallery

(photo: Andy Diaz Hope)

 Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Passenger Pigeon (closeup)

And in Food #6, Pistols, you can see the beauty of her unadorned wood sculpture -- in this case a jaw bone of a fairly small cow that references a pair of dueling pistols. Is it craft because it is made of wood? No, it is in a "craft" show because it is made so darn well!

Food #6, Pistols

pistols: walnut, gold leaf, Swarovski crystals, bronze

case: velvet, walnut

20" x 15" x 3.75"

2009

Laurel Roth

Courtesy of the artist, Frey Norris Gallery

(photo: Andy Diaz Hope)

Thankfully, the curator also included works in the show that are classically seen as "craft," thereby further helping to tear down the false dichotomy of art and craft. Matt Moulthrop's untitled wood turning is an example of this,

Untitled

red maple

2008

Matt Moulthrop

Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

Gift of Dan Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser

 as is Jamin Uticone's black ash woven basket.

Urban Pack Basket

black ash, vegetable-tanned hide, brass fittings

2011

Jamin Uticone

Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole 

Both of these artists apprenticed for long periods to learn their chosen fields (Matt for nine years and Jamine for six) but, regardless of the functionality, or lack there of, of their products, their work is remarkable as much for its devotion and vision as it is for its artistry.

Likewise, there are a number of participants in the exhibit that straddle the line between traditional craft and fine art. Including Jeffrey Clancy, whose Tea For One at first appears to be just a funny looking gun but in reality is an art teapot. Technically, it is functional but its function isn't the point, rather, its high level of craft helps the artist make a statement. It is beautify, humorous, and poignant all at once.

Tea For One

silver and mahogany

6" x 10" x 4"

2002

Jeffrey Clancy

Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

purchase made possible by the Charles and Margret Craver Withers Bequest

 

Andy Paiko's exquisite Spinning Wheel also falls in this category. It is a beautiful and delicate sculptural object that is perfect on its own, without being associated with any function, but it is also a fully functional object that can be used to spin yarn. The combination of the seemingly contradictory elements make the viewer see the object in a new way. 

Spinning Wheel

blown glass, cocobolo, steel, brass, leather

2007

Andy Paiko
Smithsonian American Art Museum collection
Gift of Peg and Bob Van Andel 

(photo: Andy Paiko)

 Spinning Wheel (closeup)

A video of the piece in action can be seen here. 

There is also work that leans more to function but that is designed to such a high level that it is equally fine art, such as Christy Oates' ingenious Crane Chair that, when it isn't being used as a chair, folds up and functions as a wall hanging (see more images here to understand how it works).

 Crane Chair

laser cut and engraved plywood, maple veneer, bungee cord

acrylic paint, wood dyes

2009

Christy Oates
Smithsonian American Art Museum collection
Gift of Leon and Miriam Ellsworth 

(photo; Christy Oates)

Along the same lines is her Mosquito Lamp (more images here).

Mosquito Lamp

laser cut and engraved plywood, maple veneer, bungee cord

acrylic paint, wood dyes

2009

Christy Oates

Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

Gift of Myra and Stephen Kurzbard 

(photo: Christy Oates) 

There were also two representatives of the new movement of ecologically conscience good design. Daniel Michalik's 3/1 Chair is one such object because it uses reclaimed cork (there by recycling an already renewable resource) and formaldehyde free FSC-certified plywood with low-VOC paints.

 3/1 Chair

recycled cork

FSC-certified plywood, low-VOC paint
2011

Daniel Michalik
Smithsonian American Art Museum collection
Gift of Phyllis and Sidney Bresler in memory of Charles S. Bresler and in 
honor of Fleur Bresler
photo by Daniel Michalik  

Also represented in this group is the Cyclone Lounger by Uhuru, the design team of Jason Horvath and Bill Hilgendorf, because is uses reclaimed boards from the Coney Island Boardwalk. In making the piece they did a nice job in referencing the roller coaster of the amusement park from which it came.

Cyclone Lounger

reclaimed Coney Island Boardwalk (ipe), laser cut powder-coated steal base

2010

Uhuru

 Smithsonian American Art Museum collection

Gift of Bill Hilgendorf and Jason Horvath in memory of Cynthia Bricker Hilgendorf; Gift of Fern Bleckner in celebration of Etta B. Brown's ninety-fifth birthday; and  

Gift of Shirley Jacobs

(photo: Uhuru Design)

Christy Oates' E-Waste Project piece is also ecologically conscience but more in a conceptual way than in actual materials used. In creating the piece, a highly detailed work of marquetry, she photographed the process and made a companion stop action video that highlights the issue of e-waste. I had commented on the video many months ago after stumbling across it somewhere and was blown away by the brilliance of the concept, execution, and the shear fortitude in assembling the thousands of small pieces of veneer.

E-Waste Project

12 various wood veneers

2011

Christy Oates

Courtesy of the artist

(photo: Christy Oates)

 E-Waste Project (closeup)

An interesting aspect of the piece, especially in this show, is how she takes a traditional "craft" technique like marquetry and creates it with computers, robots, and lasers. Yes, it is still a "craft," but the techniques used to make it are no more craft than an iPhone. You can view the video below to get a better understanding of the piece. Although interesting and beautiful on its own, I don't think it really makes sense as a stand alone piece without the video.

Additionally, an interesting aspect of the show are the videos that the Smithsonian American  Art Museum asked the participating artists to create videos as a way to introduce themselves to the public and, perhaps also, provide some information about their process. With forty artists, there is a lot to look at but it is well worth viewing, especially if you want to learn more about specific artists. You can see all of them here, but if you just want to look at a few, I highly recommend the videos of Christy Oates, Olek, Gabriel Craig, Shawn Smith, and Melanie Bilenker. If you look at the videos you'll notice many great artists working in many different media. I've restricted my review to works made with wood because I have to draw the line, otherwise I would be spending all my time writing. For example, what would stop me from saying how I absolutely love Vivian Beer's work, and then how do I stop from talking about Olek, or Cristina Cordova, and then it is all down hill from there.

And finally, I just want to emphasize again what a great show this is, not just in terms of the quality of individual pieces, but in the overall selection of the work. The curator, Nicolas Bell, showed a lot of courage and vision in ignoring convention.Yes, each piece in the show is great, but the sum of the works says more than the individual pieces. As a group they make a commanding statement. To me, it says that finally, we can forget about fine craft and fine art definitions and just talk about the quality of the art. Craft is dead . . . long live art.