The Quick And The Dead
New Walker Art Center Exhibit
Sheryl Raygor
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The new exhibition at the Walker Art Center will appeal to philosophers, scientists, artists, and any person that has ever contemplated the ideas of time and death. Over 50 pieces of "art" were gathered by curator Patrick Eleey specifically for how they were created as oppose to the end product. Pieces include photos, drawings, paintings, taxidermy animals, sound recordings, and sculpture that are found throughout the walker museum, sculpture garden, and even the basilica cathedral.
Eleey doesn't want people to view the exhibit as conceptual art because many of the pieces are drawings, photos, or parts of scientific research while other pieces were created to be art. An example of a piece not intended for artwork is a photo of a glass of milk shattering taken by Harold Edgerton. Edgerton was a pioneer in strobe photography and because of this worked as a professor at MIT and as a researcher for the department of defense. Eleey chose some of Edgerton's work because it was one of the first instances of humans capturing actions that are too quick for the naked eye to see and for its cultural impact on the world and our perspective on time.
While there are many other pieces in the exhibit that were intended to be shown as art, Eleey tries to bridge the gap of art and science by displaying pieces where the processes in which art is made have scientific bases or can be compared to the scientific method. Pieces that show a process may not be considered finished until the viewer interacts, such as Marcel Duchamp's framed mirror that is autographed in the back so that the viewer becomes the "future ready made" art. There are processes and methods in art that can be followed just like a scientific research project and the outcomes are different with each variable viewer of the art.
Although some of the pieces seem simple or trite, such as Peirre Huyghe's "Time Keeper" which is a section of the wall sanded down to show all of the past colors underneath the final coat of paint compared to mathematician Anthony Phillip's drawing of a sphere turning inside out without ruining the sphere, all the pieces have a reference to time or death.
If you don't have a whole afternoon to spend on the trivial ideas of time, life, and death maybe this exhibit isn't worth your time. If you've got a lot of time on your hands and are amused by other people's perspectives on art, time, life, and death this exhibit was made for you.
"The Quick and the Dead" will be showing at the Walker Art Center April 25-September 22.
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