Blurb #2 – Form of a Waterfall
Do not be daunted by the small size of Sadie Benning’s “Form of a Waterfall” exhibition; it has many hidden meanings behind the seemingly simple works of art on display. Fortunately, the artist herself was there to explain them, otherwise I never would have guessed the ideas behind the creations. Using audio and visual mediums, Benning depicted the concept of contact in her video and colored-pencil drawings. For example, an eerie black and white video, which reminded me of the movie The Ring at first, showed a pen scribbling lines across and making contact with a surface. Many of the symmetrical figures in the drawings represented a sense of balance and a back-to-basics notion. What looked like basic shapes and colors also symbolized different aspects of genders. They looked like the images one would see when meditating. My favorite part of the exhibition, however, had to be the vinyl record playing in the center of the room. Music accompaniment made viewing more enjoyable and relaxing, going back to the idea of art as meditation. Besides acting as a soundtrack, the reasoning behind choosing a vinyl record over a cassette was also for aesthetic and physicality purposes. I had never actually seen an old record player before, so it gave an interesting vintage feel. While the exhibition was not exactly exciting, it did raise my curiosity. Anyone who enjoys deciphering abstract drawings would appreciate Benning’s work.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:14 am
I went there with you! Anyway, yeah I agree that the exhibit was not “exactly exciting.” While the themes mentioned by the artist were very interesting, trying to find out the themes before the artist’s input was utterly frustrating.