A few quick thoughts

So I said I'd say a few words on the two other works on view at the Boiler Room: Yoon Lee's JFK and Jonathan Schipper's 215 Points of View, and since I like to do what I say I'm going to do, here goes.

Lee's painting is dramatic, with its skeins of looping paint artfully choreographed across the surface of the 20-ft length of PVC paneling. The sense of energy and dynamism is impressive, and I appreciate the gesture toward the narrative through the title, the word "JFK" conjuring momentous unplanned disaster and violence. Yet, in this particular work the gray geometrical architecture that contrasts with the colorful curved lines evokes anonymous corporate architecture or, given the context in which this work was shown, as-yet-unfinished luxury Williamsburg condos. Is it that such architecture itself is the perpetrator of violence or the recipient? For though both title and composition might indicate disaster, they might just as well suggest youthful hope and promise, unbounded energy and joy. Although I actually quite like Yoon's painting and the way in which it draws on a video-game aesthetic, I worry that it's too close to mainstream graphic tee-shirts sold at Urban Outfitters.

Schipper's work is quite an attraction, and despite an awkward conversation with the artist in which he asked me repeatedly which way I would twirl the globe to uncoil the cord, which was twisted (not knowing he was the artist, I kept insisting that I was fine with the cord the way it was and that it needed no untwisting [see cord at left]), I was generally intrigued. The 215 surveillance cameras on the globe shot footage, feeding it back through the monitors, and viewers spent some time trying to locate which camera corresponded with which screen, and not a few enjoyed spinning the entire work in one direction or another (leading to the cord troubles alluded to above). The interactive element, whether actually condoned by the artist or not, was one of the best aspects of the work and heightened its ability to incite inquisitiveness. The sense of totalizing surveillance was underlined by the perhaps a-tad-too-obvious symbolism of the globe, but this heavy-handedness was softened by the object's beauty and its ability to encourage interest in how surveillance technologies work, and how insidious they can become. On its own, the work is a strong one. If the artist hadn't snipped "did you take physics? did you go to college? then tell me how to uncoil the cord?" I might have liked it more. alas.

Addendum. Apparently I did not speak to the artist....and hence I'm quite glad that I can now safely say I liked the work, as no personal affront was incurred.