Saturday, 18 March 2006 | Elif Sungur
Sitings 2006
Sitings projects celebrate and exploit the architectural idiosyncracies of the Museum's four-building complex and often comment on the Museum itself. A competition open to all RISD students, the program fosters and facilitates interchange among students, the public and the Museum. Artists were given a menu of alternative (non-gallery) spaces to consider. In this, the competition's eleventh year, 26 contestants submitted 29 written proposals in a blind jury process. Artist Mark Lancaster juried the submissions and chose the winning entries. He selected the proposals of Joseph Graham-Felsen [RISD '07, Film/Animation/Video] and the team of Elizabeth Doering [RISD '06, Textiles] and Thomas Staton [RISD '07, Ceramics]. Each winning entry received a $300 prize.
M.A.D. in the Farago Staircase
Graham-Felsen's installation takes facets of the American aesthetic and turns them on their head to create a carnival-like interpretation of the country's foreign policy. M.A.D. attempts to question the United States' role in the world while straddling the line between serious and playful. The work is open-ended, leaving the viewer to fill it out in his or her own way. For example, the signs "We're at WAR" may be read as proud factual statements, but may also appear to be shocking reminders of a shameful misadventure. The kaleidoscopic images on the wall strangely transform brutal scenes and iconic figures of the post-9/11 age into something aesthetically pleasing and subversively disorienting. Using imagery very familiar to our visually saturated culture, this work seeks to transform such familiarity and to present a new perspective from which to view current affairs. M.A.D. creates a unique space for the viewer, provoking him/her to use the museum experience to evaluate the politics and practices of the United States through means similar to those we use to evaluate and interpret art.
Tradition Says an Oasis is Neutral Territory outside the Radeke entrance
The life of Doering and Staton's installation is playful and gentle. The eggshell is a structure both fragile and strong that provides protection and safety to a growing creature. In many parts of the world little protects people from war, natural disaster and any number of iniquities. The opulent spread of this piece pays homage to the fragility and comfort of a refuge, of a home.
The exhibition will take place until June 4, 2006.
For further information, please visit http://www.risd.edu/exhibitions.cfm
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