May 06
Three Chairs at 48.70 degrees N by Marilyn Volkman; courtesy of the Department of Visual Arts
You have ten cubic feet, maybe less, white walls, and a bathroom to tell us: go. This was the challenge given to this year’s University of Chicago’s departing Masters in Fine Arts students. The Department of Visual Arts (DOVA) temporary space is displaying the work of one or two of the eight MFA thesis students every week until June 5. Despite the perplexing nature of many pieces, little is spared in the way of labels or explanation. The gallery space itself is rectangular, white, and unornamented: there is no grandeur here, simply art, and its success depends entirely on the viewer’s ability to connect.
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May 15
You haven’t felt the meaning of stimulus overload until you’ve felt it in the hands of artist Noelle Mason. Immediately upon walking into the one-room antena gallery, a barrage of slaps, gasps, and giggles welcomes the newcomer. You progress through the physically interactive show, weaving across cables, tiptoeing over broken bits of a chandelier that lies crashed in the center of the gallery’s floor, and bending over to view certain pieces properly. While standing near the two walls where about half the pieces are located, you can’t even step backwards without bumping into “Li’l Sparky”—an electric chair. Read the rest of this entry »
May 08
I have to admit, the setting was not as glamorous as I had pictured it. I was less than three feet away from Gloria Steinem, but despite the artful curve of Ratner Athletics Center’s side window I was still sitting on bleachers in a gym and two rooms away from a sorority pool party. Yet, as soon as Steinem took the podium last Saturday, that awareness faded. Laughing, she declared, “Progressives have taken over the University of Chicago!” Read the rest of this entry »
