SculptureCenter: In Practice Projects, Marlo Pascual's Untitled

In the basement of the SculptureCenter there was a space reserved for the In Practice project series for emerging artists. When you walked down the staircase you were immediately struck by Marlo Pascual’s Untitled. The piece consisted of a large unframed black and white c-print of Elizabeth Taylor. Slicing through the image, right below Taylor’s right eyeball, was a fluorescent light bulb. The two pieces criss crossed one another in an X shape and the fluorescent light had the wire protruding in front of the image. A small rock was placed on the floor behind the edge of the fluorescent light, presumably to help stabilize the sculpture.

The slicing fluorescent bulb is the primary source of tension in this piece. Oriented along the axis of Taylor’s right eye the bulb extends both outward and inward. This axis creates tension between the portrait’s outward projection of glamour and the possible inward retrospection. The glossy surface of the digital print and the strikingly sophisticated pose in the portrait make it impossible for the viewer to forget this used to be a Hollywood starlet. This Hollywood reference provides an easy segway into the glamorous projected life style, but by using the black and white photo and an older Hollywood starlet Pascual forces us to look back upon the past, bringing about feelings of retrospection.

Three other elements brought tension to the piece as well; the chord, the light reflecting on the c-print, and the rock supporting the sculpture. The fluorescent bulbs’ chord was awkwardly placed in front of the image and then twisted around towards the rear side. If Pascual wanted the chord to be hidden it could have easily been positioned on the end resting on the floor, instead she seemed to want it front and center. Maybe she was trying to connect out outward projection and inward retrospection but somehow this attempt seemed to fall short. The highly reflective surface of the c-print worked well because it caused a distortion of the light and served as a nice reminder of the distortion of photography and projected imagery. The rock on the floor appeared to stabilize the sculpture and keep it upright but as allegory this inclusion left me with more questions than answers. Overall Pascual’s Untitled does a nice job of bridging the connection between projected glamour and a melancholy inward retrospection.