Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tris Vonna-Michell, X Initiative
Tris Vonna-Michell occupies the entire fourth floor of X Initiative, combining new and existing works in a site-specific installation featuring 35-mm slide projectors and analog stereo equipment. The vast exhibition space is divided into three rooms in which several projectors show selections of snapshots while tables, chairs, a tape deck and headphones form three listening stations. Two sheets of white copy paper are stuck to opposite walls: transcripts of the prelude and conclusion of a performance. This minimalist installation is intriguing but disjointed.
At each listening post, Vonna-Michell tells an autobiographical anecdote: the inner monologue of a frenzied traveler who goes from Berlin to Japan and back again, chasing ephemeral moments with “a bulbous camera in a bulbous bag” but never quite managing to capture every fleeting experience. A clever wordsmith with a breakneck delivery but impeccable diction, Vonna-Michell transmutes fragments of his personal history into a gleaming alloy of immediacy, nostalgia and wanderlust.
Those exhausting but poetic spoken word pieces are the strongest works in this show. By contrast, the installation’s other elements seem to have been included as an afterthought. Though eye-catching and vaguely related to the recordings - the slide shows illustrate the narrations; the hum of the projectors offsets the loud voice coming through the headphones; the printed words act like parentheses around the recorded ones - they prevent visitors from fully immersing themselves in the travelogues. Vonna-Mitchell is a promising new voice but this exhibition would have had a stronger impact if it had been conceived as a sound installation.
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Although I agree with the context in which you have placed the artwork and concept, I would have to disagree that it was exhilarating and visually interesting. There was definitely a sense of discontinuity through the vast gallery space in which only a few projections and photographs were being displayed. I was not sure how the minimalistic qualities and the aesthetic choices contributed to the idea of the reconstruction of history or the fleeting experience of a traveler. I feel like if Vonna-Michell was trying to capture moments of every experience, he focuses a little too strongly on certain imagery and didn’t provide an overall sense of that mentality (for instance the constant repetition of the two slides shows of concrete, paper and fish in a tank). I feel like there should have been a reason why the artist made some of the construction choices of this show. There should have been a reason why the printed words were so poorly integrated into the overall piece. Though the outdated machinery does tap into a nostalgic feeling, I just feel like certain aspects of the show were not thoroughly considered by the artist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Michi! I agree that the elements of the show feel rather disjointed. Only after I watched all the slide shows, listened to all the performances, read an interview with Vonna-Michell and spent quite a bit of time in the space did it all start to come together for me. The recordings provide a bit of context but the show would have definitely benefited from an explanatory wall panel.
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