reviews, features & interviews
Never too late
By libby
December 16, 2008 · 2 Comments
Well sometimes it is too late. Here are a couple of things I saw that I didn’t get up before they closed. But I really liked what I saw, so I had to share, anyway.
Michael Coppage at Crane
Michael Coppage, A Mature Pair, mixed media drawing on pegboard, a detail from Coppage’s installation
1) Michael Coppage’s show in the so-called Archive Space at the Crane Arts Building is the first I’ve seen in that awful alley that found a number of ways to rise above the constraints of space, the aggressive daylight streaming in through the window, and the aesthetic disgustingness imparted by two old urinals.
Michael Coppage, installation detail
Litterbug was a happy confluence of subject matter and materials (corrugated cardboard, spray painted stencils of the bugs, bubble wrap–you get the idea– that seemed tailor made (well some of it was; it was an installation, after all).
Jennie Thwing at Nexus
Here’s a mercifully short video of part of Jennie Thwing’s installation, Catch My Legs; clearly my video skills need upgrading.
2) Also at the Crane, Jennie Thwing‘s somewhat mysterious video installation Catch My Legs at Nexus includes animation, photographs, sculptural installation and totally unexpected imagery. Socks are harvested from trees in the woods, where everyone seems ghostly. In another video, substantial socks slip across the screen and slither away. Birds are projected onto a suburban development–a relief of roof tops on the wall. Some of the footage is projected on a tent, reminding us of Kara Walker’s installation at the Fabric Workshop. Each video had a different affect, atmosphere and sense of place. The back story of a collective of women who harvest legs doesn’t really make this more understandable. What is clear is industriousness, the world of nature, the world of spirits and ghosts, and the world of people.
Some of the footage was inspired by the death of her grandfather.
Tags: crane arts building, Jennie Thwing, michael coppage, nexus
Readers Comments (2)
I thought the Coppage was the best installation in the Archive space ever–since it covered up the urinals!
Here’s the little video I took when I was there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4_4Y-m83-c
Also, Jennie Thwing’s Catch My Legs is outstanding–I’m so glad we got to see it. Very robust multi channel video installation.
Thanks for adding that video. Also thanks for clalrifying that it was multi-channel video installation! It was a very atmospheric sort of thing, and most unusual.