“To Organize Delirium.”
Delirium, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a state of frenzied excitement. Delirium has a dreamy, almost mystical ambience to its presence. And that is exactly what I felt walking through Helio Oiticica’s exhibit at the Whitney Museum on Friday morning. I felt as though I was walking through something created in a dream-like manner, but with a sharp focused eye, staying true to the exhibit’s claim of “Organizing Delirium.”
Oiticica was most definitely an artist of all trades. As filmmaker, photographer, writer and exhibition artist, Oiticica’s talents and outreach were beyond belief. His ideas and his creations crossed geographical borders (ex: Brazil to New York City and back again), political frames, and sexual boundaries. There was so much of Oiticica’s work to see and to think that someone could create so many great pieces and installations in a lifetime is incredible.
I won’t lie and proclaim that I understood every single piece that Oiticica had created in this gallery, but there were many that although I did not understand, I thoroughly enjoyed. A particular (and apparently most famous) work of Oticica’s was his TROPICALIA, an interactive and immersive display that addresses cliches regarding the idea of “tropicalness” and placing it in contrast with a TV monitor and sculptures nearby. Although the setup and the display seemed a bit ambiguous to me, Oticica’s determination to create a piece that was entirely interactive for his audience delighted me. To those who cannot entirely understand the mind of an artist, allowing those to step into said mind is almost as fulfilling a feeling as understanding the artist entirely.
The series of materials within this interactive piece were thought-provoking and intriguing. Oticicia strikes me as an eccentric man, with deliberate and intentional ideas that he expressed throughout his life. The books and the foam “blocks” were soft to the senses but a bit confusing to my mind. The visible veil hanging over this “pit of novels” and “crater of blocks” seemed to just add to the mystery.
In fact, most of the materials in this exhibit seemed to be geared towards our senses. There was the roughness of the gravel we were required to step on, the soft relief of the sand. There were the piles of leaves and the shallow pool of water we were permitted to step on. There was the tent with headphones for listening and the exhibit was a sight for the eyes itself.
My favorite work of Oiticica comes from his time spent in New York City. As a girl born and raised for all her life in New York City, this city in its great expanse has always been my greatest source of inspiration. It is a comforting friend, a mysterious lover, and the most delicate muse. Walking around The Whitney and seeing Oiticica’s work in the East Village leads me to believe that perhaps he too felt the same way about New York City.
“His artistic experimentation in New York reveals in interest in the tensions between public and private spaces, discrete artworks and immersive environments, and the artistic avant-garde and mass entertainment.”
This particular narrative on Oiticica’s time in NYC really struck me. It seems as though artists and creative souls truly become more relatable and much more easily understood when they have stood and created in the same city as you have. Thinking about his time spent here in NYC, I can see how much he lets his ideas flow freely, how he photographs people and places in the way that expresses his mind, and in the way he challenges our definitions of ourselves.
Oiticica’s 1973, Neyrotika, which contain 80 images of male models in various states of undress, was my favorite of all of his work. Something about the expressions of the model’s faces and the composition of the photos stood out to me as brilliantly artistic. Adding to that, Oiticica’s background soundtrack of himself reciting homosexual poetry of the 19th century is brilliant and haunting- the perfect way to complement this piece.
Helio moved to challenge human beings in their views of politics, of social issues, of sexuality, of sense and of self-liberation. And although most of his work is geared towards creating a feeling in his audience, what I took away from this exhibit was his own personal breath in every piece he created. I think Helio is an incredible artist who encompassed so many ideas in his works. He is the embodiment of seven mastermind artists in just one being.
I think you well described Helio Oitcicia’s intention throughout his work. He wanted to challenge the social norm and societies way of thinking by challenging the typical expectations of art from society. This was done through challenging many views towards politics, sexuality and self expression, as you described.
I love how expressed how you saw Helio’s personal breath in every work he created. He most certainly had a bold means of expression, leaving his mark engraved upon thousands.
Well said!
I really agree with what your statement that “allowing those to step into said mind is almost as fulfilling a feeling as understanding the artist entirely.”
I think that is so incredibly accurate. We all don’t see things the same way. What may be art to me may not be art to you and vice versa.
In that sense, it’s almost impossible to understand the emotions and intent of an artist one hundred percent. We can only identify with another person so much. At some point things become individual. However feeling like we do, like we have connected to someone, is one of the best feelings out there.
Great work!
Truth be told, I am the type of person who likes to know what they’re walking into- not just with art galleries and museums, but with everything in life. I like to read the background and history of certain galleries or exhibits that I’m seeing with my friends, or perhaps when I’m traveling, I’ll read up on the history or the culture of the place I am visiting. My personal belief is that it makes an experience or a state of mind more meaningful and impactful is one is well-educated and knowledgeable.
Before visiting this exhibit at The Whitney, however, I didn’t do any background research or information gathering on neither the artist nor the exhibit itself-primarily for this assignment. “Going in blind” is always really confusing. It takes a while to orient yourself and to pick a viewpoint to connect to the artist. After reading the review of this exhibit in The New Yorker, a lot of the components of the exhibit seem to make a lot more sense to me. There were certain parts that I thought were connected to each other, whereas they were meant to illustrate different ideas altogether. I also saw a flow and connection between the lifespan of Oiticica’s life and his progression of work that I failed to see when at The Whitney. I wish I had known the way Oiticica’s creations follow his life journeys and his clear mindsets in each stage of his life. I’d like to have put together a “mental flowchart” of sorts in the exhibit itself.
The art critic writing for The New Yorker was correct in pinpointing Oiticica’s burning star presence in New York City. His concentration on self-exploration and self-liberation during this time are evident. The reviewer also discusses the influence of the drug culture on Oiticica’s physical being as well as his creative mentality and his works. I did not know that drugs and cocaine played such a huge role in Oiticica’s life, but in retrospect, so many components of the exhibits seem to have pointed towards just that.