~HIGHLIGHTS . . . from: ‘LOCAL OBJECTS’ / INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS / BROOKLYN / PART 1
A BIG GROUP SHOW – AT A SPECTACULAR . . . NEW GALLERY, INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS / UP TILL . . MAY 28, 2023
here it is coming up on Memorial Day & summer /
and we are still talking about . . House, HOME & GARDEN . . !!
way to go, NYC !!!!
GIVE US – SOME RESPITE / IN THIS TOO FAST, CRAZY, WORLD.
we started with the utilitarian basics: DIY, ‘TURN ONZ’ lightswitches & lamps, presented by Jeffrey Tranchell & crew / in the historic Lower East Side. Took a turn, and did a slow-paced rambling through garden Diaries and Memory-making with Josephine Halvorson & her crew in Chelsea; then took a sharp jump over the East River, to land in nature’s ‘disappearing garden’, with Sam Cockrell & his butterflies, at International Waters, and thus from lightswitches & postcards, began an imagined Sci-Fi Time Travel / a leap of the imagination inspired by the contrast between International Waters in old school Bushwick . . and its new sister gallery – the palatial, sci-fi palatial !!
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS, and believe me when I say, not being one to dwell often on architecture, give me a pop-up any day / this a trip !! this is a . . time travel to the future.
this is a flight from homey gardens, to the big wide unknown. Sky top, concrete terraces – of space ships.
‘LOCAL OBJECTS’ / A BIG GROUP SHOW of mostly LOCAL, NYC artists
opened March 18th, & runs thru . . . SUN MAY 28, 2023
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS, 53 SCOTT AVE., FIFTH FL, EAST WILLIAMSBURG – BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN 11237
VIEWING HRS . . .
THURS: 12 – 10 PM
FRI-SUN: 12 – 6 PM
ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
THOMAS BERGER, ‘Greasy Hole Pulpit Chair, 1 & 2’, 2023
Paper pulp, wooden frame, polyurethane, and paint
108 x 16-1/2 x 18 in.
you could say the sci-fi vibe starts with the concrete brute, wide wide spaces, wide, wide & high windows, that open onto endless terraces, that look out over miles and miles of Bushwick Industrial wasteland. only 5 stories high, but the highest building for miles, you could start a fire, and send ‘smoke signals’ – to the Manhattan mainland, unimpeded.
but I say: the sci-fi vibe – starts with that huge wide entry staircase.
which is so curious, just in that itself / that a huge, wide & minimal, but grandly proportioned, concrete staircase would evoke a future-world worthy of Moebius, and, with no elevator in sight.
is it the new rule ?
that the more complicated and futuristic we go, the basic DIY skills, come charging back in at us / like walking up stairs, with an increasing sense of wonder, and entering a space in complete awe, out of time & body, even.
SHANIA TABAK,
top, on the wall: ‘Folding Table No. 1’, 2021.
sapele, poplar, walnut.
bottom, open as a table: ‘Folding Table No. 2’, 2021.
sapele, poplar, walnut.
NICK SULLIVAN, ‘Brown Trust Stove’, 2023.
steel, magazine, pigment, charcoal / 19 x 6-1/2 x 13-1/2 in.
right background:
MAX LAMB, ‘Delaware Bluestone Chair’, 2009.
Bluestone / 19 x 13 x 19 in.
om the wall:
SAM COCKRELL, ‘Self-Portrait’, acrylic on shaped canvas
41 x 132 in.
I mean just imagine . . .
if this was a future world, skeleton ‘QR CODE’.
the cabinet beneath it:
TAYLOR BALDWIN, ‘Hunger Stone’;, 2022.
Mixed media / 31 x 57 x 18 in.
these 2 pieces really worked well together, & kept the sci-fi narrative – on high alert /
Hunger Games, anybody.
again, primitive DIY seems to go hand-in-glove – with future world scenarios, it’s always the samo, same old same old !!
survivor vs predator. name your century. name your book of thrones.
CAIT PORTER, ‘Light Bulbs’, 2023.
oil on linen / 64 x 48 in.
MEREDITH JAMES, ‘Planter’, 2023.
Planter, wood, acrylic paint, faux paint, LED lights, and pedestal.
74 x 58 x 58 in.
MEREDITH JAMES, detail
Meredith James, detail
YIKES . . . !!!
SERRA VICTORIA BOTHWELL FELS, ‘Venting’, 2020.
cast & powdered aluminum
UP NEXT: HIGHLIGHTS FROM ‘LOCAL OBJECTS’ at INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS . . .
PART 2: FOOD FOR THOUGHT . . . !!
PART 3: UP ON THE (MIGHTY) ROOF . . . !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH