~NICHOLAS STEINDORF .. LIGHT OUTTA THE BOX
another funny thing about . . . NICHOLAS STEINDORF,
or . . the Man in the Lake, as we like to call him,
he likes to think – outside the box.
THE MAN IN THE LAKE – LIVES .. OUTSIDA THE BOX.
as well as his idea-charged ‘painting studio’, Nicholas also took the Yale Open Studio Weekend / Spring 2013 as an opportunity to showcase some of his newest light projections – in an entirely different room, on a different floor.
thus: outside the ‘studio’ box.
thus: light projected from inside .. a box, onto a wall / becomes .. outside the box, literally.
I mean ‘light’ art in general, is outside the box, no matter how you cut it.
this is the projection, for this piece. there were 2 pieces on display.
I liked how small – it was … as well as the swirl of energy & color. and the the trace of .. unpredictable imagery.
I also liked the contrast put into play, with the ‘hard copy’ plywood art board . . above.
as I write this . . looking back to April 2013, from the vantage point of August 2013 . . it’s relevant to note the huge huge torrent of press / exhibition activity this summer has seen . . for the ‘godfather’ of light – JAMES TURRELL.
as well, for followers of the greater media culture this summer, who can see an electric plug so close to the ground . . and not crack up, re: LARRY DAVID & ‘THE HOWARD’ . .
but, that’s .. another post, for another day.
some of the color range in this work – had that same vibrant bold color that one sees in the TURRELL work, albeit on a much smaller scale, production-wise.
I mean that’s interesting, not just as a comparison of grad school budget vs artist at his commercial height (!!) – but more, how infinitely amazing . . . it is to contemplate ‘transparent’ light – turned – bold ‘pigment’.
with that in mind – the floor / base under the projector – was really interesting too.
in contrast to the ‘light’ projection . . becoming pure ‘solid’ color, the supposedly ‘solid’ floor – is totally made . . un-solid, un-real, shimmery and, well . . hard-to-define, esp as ‘space’.
as .. in ‘painting’ ?
just asking . . . !!
since,
it’s my fate, my journo beat ? – to scout out ‘new’ talent, JAMES TURRELL is a just little bit played-out for my purposes, and way obvious by now. but still, there’s a resonance of similar ‘light’ play – going on here, between these 2 artists, who are at the very opposite poles – of the art world spectrum, career-wise . . to make some comparisons.
I don’t know ..
maybe I wouldn’t like grad student Nicholas’ work, as much either .. if it could be “raised and lowered hydraulically to function as a skyspace as well as a dining area that seats 12” (T Magazine, see link below) as MR. TURRELL’S piece . . for Santa Monica art collectors RIC & SUZANNE KAYNE does.
it’s more thinking along the lines of DAN ASHER’S tiny ‘fingerprint’ scribble on a wall of other-wise empty paper vs Basquiat’s huge over-all hyper-dense and profoundly active compositions. you know, the yin and the yang. sometimes the small gesture steals up from behind, to win the hand.
now, that’s what I call, a moment of .. truth.
the other projection – was even more obtuse, abstract, ‘strange’.
note how the ‘rawness’ of this ‘light’ shape / animation . . upon the wall, it’s almost .. ‘nothingness’ – contrasts with the projector itself. which is so machine / tech / tangible.
so . . stereo/record player-like. very JACK GOLDSTEIN.
as opposed to TURRELL, come to think of it.
Nicholas makes/sets up .. the mechanical elements himself. I guess that makes him a bit of an artist/techie.
serious . . and playful.
an arc of light . . transforms a wall.
who doesn’t want to put their hand through the eternal mystery, the unseen ‘chemistry’ of . . a beam. a beam of . . light.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF, YALE MFA OPEN STUDIOS, APRIL 27-28, 2013
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
see: JAMES TURRELL, ‘SEEING THE LIGHT’, NEW YORK TIMES T MAGAZINE
see: JAMES TURRELL, ‘CAN THE LIGHT SET YOU FREE’, WALL STREET JOURNAL