The quaint, well-organized Zimmerli art museum presently houses the exhibition Water, an eclectic show that explores the many relationships we have with this natural resource. Functioning both as matter and theory, the show provides its viewers with multifunctional pieces of art from both the past and present using different methods such as video and interaction stations. This show is a successfully strong exhibition of a majestic resource that society tends to take for granted as they ignore its natural beauty and wonder. Water is certainly a show for the masses, and presents this reserve as it surrounds us with all kinds of polars from life and destruction to new and old.
Upon entering the exhibition, I was unaware of how the theme of “water” was going to be expressed and portrayed. As I began to experience the show with the curator and fellow students, it became apparent that this particular exhibition was not going to supply us with only one theme, but like the vast uses of water itself, it supplied us with numerous themes. Water is represented in multiple ways as an essential resource we need in order to continue life, as well as models in landscapes and mystical functions.
The layout of the show was executed very well as multiple mediums were placed together to create a multi-faceted viewing space. For example, the “Condensation Cube” by Hans Haacke was placed in a room filled with photographs, like Francisco Infante’s “Wanderings of a Square”, to successfully create depths of multimedia in the gallery space helping integrate the pieces together. The curator’s choice to place 18th and 19th century work next to contemporary and modern pieces kept me from losing interest as it showed an extreme sense of variety between the works, simultaneously showing an extreme sense of the multiplicity of the natural property of water.
Of all of the works displayed within the exhibition, I appreciate the installations the most. Maya Lin’s “Pin River” and “Dew Point” were by far the most unique and distinguishing because they allowed the curator to make decisions with lighting and placement. The complimentary placement within the first two spaces of Lin’s work bonded the rooms together and created a double exposure effect. The pieces also came with limited directions, so it enabled others to make the lighting and placement choices.
From beginning to end, anyone can come into this show and find something that they like, understand, and relate to, even individuals who do not necessarily understand art.
Selections:
I chose the "Condensation Cube" by Hans Haacke for my sculptural piece because it represents the cycle of water as a natural resource. In a simple but yet complex way,it represents water not only as a natural resource, but as a continuous birth and re-birth as it goes from one form of matter, to another, and back again.
The photograph by Phyllis Galembo, taken in Haiti is a symbol of relief and healing within such a muddled country. It stood out to me amongst the other photographs in the exhibition because it shows water as a alleviating source.
A painting done in 1856, “View of the New Brunswick Railroad Bridge” is a classic depiction of water in a landscape. Just as in Water, I too wanted to include a classic portrait of a landscape.
“Pin River” by Maya Lin is a multifunctional work of art as it can function both as a landscape drawing and a scultupure. It is an extremely intriguing piece, bringing fourth ideas of creation and destruction within it’s placement of lighting in the space.
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