thgis past 7th day, i went ot the glennstonew museum with some folks from my local meeting hgouse in rockingham. Another friend and i had just ggotten stephen d moore's book: Mark & Luke in post structuralist perspectives. my friend commented that the opening sure was a zinger with: Jesus might have escaped decomposition but not deconstruction. Most contemporay art lives and grows from the ideas of postmodernism, constructivist, and post -structuralists. Really, these idiologies have affected everything in our world to the point some say we now live in the Metanarrative but I digress onto theory without the art talks.
The first major piece of work we spent time with was Andy Goldsworthy's dirt ball and then later his voids. The third work was closed due to the weather, but the docentsd assured us that you didn't need to see all three to understand or relate to the work. I might disagree for all threse field stone huts or sheds implied unifrmity. However, their insides were all quite different. The first was a dirt ball about 6' in daimter, without any realt skelton so it had slowly been cracking since installed in 2007 and would eventual crumble back to dust. The other room had a hole in the back clay covered wall with consetrict circles going inwards with raised ribs between each decent: about 10 deeper layers into the void, mailstrom, blackhole, or whirlpool.
Goldsworthy bio implies some buddist leanings but i couldn't help to think about Christianity within the work, plus is the artist present? how does modernity allow the artist to exist in the work: especially when there's a big pond bertween? So do the three huts repreent the trinity? might we all have uniformity outwards but swirling differences in ourselves? some might take shape, other a void, or something in between that hasn't grown or taken shapen?
after seeing andy goldsworthy, we went up to the main museum and wandered into one of serra's concentric twists called sylvester. one of the friends with us joked that this could make an interesting meeting space. Our conservative friend group typically meets every 5th sunday in a new space, void of tech, to have a bit of an unplugged experience. Installations for meetings isn't new to quakerdom when thinking of James Turell's entire oveture and career. I entertained the idea as yet another new approach to Serra's work as a place for holy gatherings and meetings. There is a nice wandering labryth into the center of the sculpture along with some shielded privacy: no windows just sky. So maybe, it could be a space for worship? I am new to the conservative quaker world so not sure that appeal but can't think that we are called to witness and pray everywhere.
we headed indoors to warm up in the Ironclast exhibnition at Glennstone. This exibit is some of the major icons of the collection and it didn't disappoint. The first piece we encoutered was Duchamp's Fountain: inverted urinal from the Dada period that really open up the posibilities of what could be art: we just call it art and it is. Maybe its like Christians who say that are Christians so they are, even though they don't seem like it but mearly act like readymades? What transformation has occured in their lives for that? Duchamp signed a fake named to the urinal and inverted it, maybe that happened too in the Christian's life to get a signature from Jesus and their orientation changed from the bodily to the artful spray of water fountain?
speaking of fountains, outside in the snow was another piece by Felix Gonzalles Torres: two large marble pools. Sadly they were covered for the winter to prevent cracking. I have bveen often to the museum and none of the docents ever seem to know anything about them or their context and design: alost seemingly forgotten even though they take up 20 squ feet or more? The first docent didn't really know anything about them but the second one in the building did. He made an interesting statement comparing them to pools, tubs, and baptism ponds. I was intrigued to think about a queer artist making these items, especilly considering his Catholic exposure. His other work revolved around two similar objects like Clocks paired to gether yet how even that samenes can change over time with batteries die, time changing between the two, oppsotie of being in sync, and general drift. So how might therse ponds change? Could the water get allergy blooms, one evaporate quicker, one be warm, birds land in one and not the other? How might our baptisms also different? we might all go into the same literal or spiritual waters but the drifting from there goes afar from that moment of sameness.
Ater seeing the Irconclasts show, we wandered into the Larger museum section to see some newer work of 'found' poems by Lorraine O'Grady and Cady Noland. Grady's exhibit essay was inspiring as a counter to the intersectionality of identity that blackness brought to surrealism: for some don't get to go above reality but below it. Her poems were quite intriguing with their dsualities and phrasing usagess from the same source text of the NYC times. I wondered again about Christians and their selections from scripture of simple verses and coupling them together. There can be some seemingly disjointed conversations happening in scriptuire wqhen taking things from contexts yet they still live on together. how might be take the words and sentances together and understand their larger contexts? Is that the role of the light in our lives and the word: jesus to lead us together and with the scrupture as guidance?
The other artist was Cady Noland. I had kinda forgotten about her work since grad school and she's not really been making work for the past 15 years, either: can't blame me. I knew I kinda knew it but not the keys to its understand. Maybe I would have better relation or first impressions if I had remembers to read more but walking into her untitled 2023 exhibition was quite a mystery. It was kinda like a crime scene but more like a clean hoarders situtation. Dont' we seem to encounter more hoarding and clean up in life than active crime scenes? The crumpled beer cans, resin encased grenades, and industrial vibes implied something harsh. The walker with gloves and a sherifs bad implied a retirement of justice or aged justice but still couldn't get a full understanding or relationship to the work. The next room has even more of her haunting industrialism.
The entry was 3 tires hanging by chains from an armature. It seemed kinda cute like a tire swing in the yard but the starkness of the gallery and the materials had a sinsister vibe. That would continued into the room with stainless steel stoakages, images of lee oswald, etc. I later learned this osswald sculpture was famous for being the most expensive piece of art ever sold by a living female artist: $6.7 million. i couldn't help but have this art linger in my mind, there had to be more, deeper meaning.
over lunch, folks talked about the fact this was the hardest work to grasp, seemed overated, and obtuse to understand. Even one of the docents struggled and thought an unknown indutrial part might be the key to understanding. Thanksfully, christianity isn't as obtuse to understanding or entry into belief. Yet, the more we did into it, the more understanding and relationship we develop with the Lord. There might be seeminly sinster componets like in revelations or leviticus and crucifiction but the contexts of love, care, and continutity prevail throughout the scripture. I have found myself as a 'new quaker' similiary perplexed sometimes in my walk. I don't really know this George Fox fella. I don't really know about the lack of rituals. But I can see the sense of calm and piece, and I can feel the spirit stronger at meetings and life. I've spent many an evening looking over Fox'
s journals and reading letters of Old Friends.After the Glenstone visit, my brower still had tabs open to Cody Noland and Ohio Yearly Meetings' queries and advices.
One advice that stuck to relvancy in the day was #19: Be zealous that education shall be continued throughout life. Willingness to be used in mind as welklk as in body, anbd to be equipped in both, is a needfull part of the Christian Character. Our service to God is incomplete wiithout the conttribution of the intellect. As a recovering conservative anabaptist attendee--black bumper variety--I have really appriciated this advice. in my previous church setting, i was typically the most educated in the academic sense with a BA, MA and MFA. Many of my fellow brothers and siters had stopped education at a 8th grade level or done mail school to 12th. That might not be much different in our contempory world with ever lower test scores. Yet, it did leave a void around some conversing with the quality of man, lock vs hobbes, or the strugle of languages and its universalism, or even thinkg about the allegory of the cave. So to be in a setting that encourages learning and doesn't distrust it has been a new breath of air.
I have been curious about that advice especailly for its use of zealous. that terms comes from the jewish zealots who had their last stand against the romans to the point of holding out in Masada against the romans. I wonder how our education and its pursuit relates to this Jewish trradition, especially since they were likely the ones to most call for crucifiction?
But yes, to wonder though a museum while talking a contemporary theology book keeps things alive in your mind. The artist might be dead, the viewer is present, and the Lord is everywhere. So it cvan bring a new encounter to the works. It's not really in vogue to bring theology within into a museum but what a bore!
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