‘Far Out’: Sci-fi fun, scientific pursuit and spiritual haven
Toolbox
Published: January 30, 2004
By Anne Galloway
Times Argus Staff
NASA released images this week of a rock outcrop on Mars taken by the rover “Opportunity.” The images don’t look like much — white lumps embedded in red soil — but it was enough to titillate earthbound geologists and make President Bush’s man-on-Mars proposal seem, well, just light years away.
The space station Mir may be an orbiting tribute to Rube Goldberg, and the space shuttle Challenger evaporated into thin air, but NASA’s under-funded projects and missteps have all been forgotten in the grim glow of Mars.
Our psycho-sociological need to penetrate deep space, to master the final frontier, is a natural extension of manifest destiny that’s best summed up by the bumper sticker: “Earth first. We’ll screw up the other planets later.”
A new show at Studio Place Arts, “Far Out,” is all about our cultural fixation with space. More than 40 artists from around the country have created about 64 pieces – photographs, paintings, sculpture, furniture, a video and an art book.
On the whole, the work is innovative, ironic and perceptive. Many of the pieces are just fun, others are intense visual analyses. “Far out” is as much about the way we treat the earth, as it is about our forays into the black beyond.
There are also two other new exhibits at SPA: an exhibit of work by Williamstown students on the second floor, and Dan Moran’s show of gothically demonic, explicitly sexual drawings “From a Dark Abyss” on the third floor.
The curator of “Far Out,” SPA founder Janet Van Fleet, looked at space from multiple perspectives: as sci-fi fun, as a scientific pursuit and as a spiritual haven. And so the work is appropriately theme-bound, but eclectic.
Carol Pfeffer’s camera-less, chemically produced contact prints (made with ammonia and pigments) look like realistic photographs of Magellanic clouds, the wreckage of exploded stars and other types of nebulae.
“Dangmo,” a sculpture suspended in the center of the space, is made entirely of branches from a privet hedge and corn tassels. The artist, Bill Botzow, is a legislator from Bennington. Van Fleet says the name “Dangmo” is a jumbled version of the abbreviations DNA and GMO put together. And if you look at it with genetic modification in mind it begins to make sense. Order, represented by the privet, arranged in a symmetric, spirally pattern, descends into a chaotic column of corn tassels.
Ann Young’s oil painting, “Impact Crater,” is an image derived from an orthographic photo of a crater caused by the Hydro Quebec dam project. Gold rivers of flame cut through a lumpy black and blue topography. It’s as though the whole landscape is afire.
The most renowned artist in the show is Stephen Huneck. His “Rocketship Bed” dominates the front corner of the gallery. The classic four-poster is encrusted with silver rocket ships; it’s every would-be astronaut’s dream. The piece is on loan from collectors Billi and Bobby Gosh.
There are a number of way-out welded sculptures in the show. Martin Smith of Calais is fond of “free range harvested barb wire” that he scavenges at the dump. His “Shadow Planet” is an orb made entirely of barb wire crisscrossed into a kind of web. A naked light bulb hangs from the center. The lamp is suspended from gambrel cord butcher hooks.
The most prolific artist in the show is Charles Buckley. Twenty-one of his metal creatures, made of old car parts and bits of metal, people the show. They look like anthropomorphized robots. Each of the sculptures is a wry commentary. “Mr. Universe” is made up of various sized gears. The arms are ratchets that move up and down. And even though at first glance, the sculpture looks like a bunch of welded together bits of junk, the vainglorious character of the weight lifter is there in full force.
In this show it’s possible to find the ordinary-cum-sublime, and the simply sublime. Cheryl Betz’s “Of Veins,” is purely esoteric. The delicate veins of a leaf form a patterned gold and green subtext for the center of the oil painting, which is a glow of white light. Looking directly at the painting is like vicariously passing through that threshold people who’ve had near-death experiences talk about. Somehow, Betz makes a connection between the terrestrial and the supernatural.
And that’s an aspect of the show, too. As a curator, Van Fleet didn’t shy away from looking to the heavens.
‘Far Out’ gala
Studio Place Arts’ annual gala, “Far Out” will be held on Saturday, Feb. 7, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The festivities include a poetry slam with Geoff Hewitt and local talent, followed by a poetry reading by David Budbill. Walk-ins can sign up to participate in the poetry slam from 7 to 7:45 p.m. The gala features two bands, Heather Moz Ensemble (jazz sextet) and Stretch ‘n’ the Limits (rock), food and a cash bar, a silent auction, a Far Out costume contest, and an art book sale. Tickets are $15 for SPA members, seniors and students/ for others. For tickets or information, call 479-7069.
“Far out,” “From a Dark Abyss” and an exhibit of Williamstown student art run through Feb. 28. The SPA gallery is open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tues.-Wed., noon to 6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. The second and third floor exhibits are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mon.-Fri., and noon to 6 p.m. Sat. SPA, which is located at 201 N. Main St. in Barre, is wheelchair accessible. The public opening reception is today at 7 p.m.
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