When it comes to unique activities (especially on a rainy day like today), I don’t think you could plan better than to spend an hour inside Cascade: A Jen Stark Experience; an immersive, interactive, wildly psychedelic digital art experience presented across 6,000 square feet of exhibition space at the William Vale Hotel in Brooklyn. If you’re curious whether Cascade — which is currently competing with two immersive digital Van Gogh exhibits, andBanksy’s Genius or Vandal — is worth the trek from Manhattan to Brooklyn, let me assure you that it is all that and a bag of shrooms.
If you enjoy humorous, absurdist art in the conceptual style of David Shirley, and you also love Midcentury Modern Furnishings, and you have an Instagram account, then you will surely go wild over Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm’s latest exhibit, Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, which is in its final two weeks at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Grab your camera and your sense of childish playfulness and head on over!
Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order (which is also the title of the piece seen front and center in the above photo) is an exhibit that a encourages — even demands — viewer participation in that you are asked to physically interact with the art in a series of One Minutes Sculptures, as follows:
The basic premise of a One Minute Sculpture remains uniform. For each work, using a drawing or specific text, Wurm directs participants to pose with an object, which have ranged from cleaning products and sneakers to furniture and fruit. The viewer enacts the proposed sculpture on a low plinth, manipulating their body and the predetermined prop in a pose held for a short time.
While instructions are printed on each object, a descriptive sheet with photo illustrations is available at the gallery’s front desk.
Let’s take a closer look!
A Sofa and a Blue Dustpan invite you to perform the One Minute Sculpture known as The Parallel Universe.
Hold the Dustpan against the sofa with your body.
Instructions for Ethics Demonstrated in a Geometrical Way: kneel in front of the chair and place your head through the hole.
Head TV: Lower your head through the hole in the cabinet.
Fun!
Wurm reiterates that the success of these ephemeral pieces is determined by the exactness with which the directions are executed, stating, “The One Minute Sculptures only come into existence if the public follows precisely the instructions of the artist and free will has a low priority.”
Deep Snow: Step into the holes and lift the bench, holding it aloft with your legs.
Organization of Love: With a partner, hold the foam sheet between your foreheads with your arms resting on the cushion.
Roast Yourself Under the Sun of Epicure: Rest your head under the lamp.
Spaceship to Venus: Lie down inverted on the seat of the chair and lift your legs in the air.
Equitable
In addition to the One Minute Sculptures, the exhibition includes five new sculptural works in cast bronze and mixed media, including Equitable (2016) and Flat Iron (2016), recreations of two iconic New York buildings that appear to be melting, and Bad Thoughts (2016), created by casting deformed bags of clay.
Flat Iron
Bad Thoughts
Bad Thoughts reminded me of Big Kastenmann, the sculpture that Wurm made for display in front of the Standard Hotel back in 2012. As you can see, the exhibit is lots of fun and be sure to go with a friends so that you can get your snaps in!
Erwin Wurm’s Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order will be on Exhibit Through May 26th, 2017 at Lehmann Maupin, Located at 536 West 22nd Street, in the Chelsea Gallery District.
May 23rd, 2012 would have been the 78th Birthday of Dr. Robert Moog (pronounced MOHG), whose many achievments in electronic music include the invention of the synthesizer. Google honors him today with their very clever Moog Synthesizer Google Doodle. Not only does it look cool, but the Doodle is also interactive! You can click to play it, but if you want to make real music, use the QWERTY row of your keyboard for the white keys, and numbers for the black keys. The buttons and knobs work as well, and you can record and play back your masterpieces on the tape recorder! Read more about the fascinating life of Bob Moog at This Link or by clicking directly on today’s Doodle. Happy Birthday, Bob Moog!
