Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Where do we come from? Cosmogony 2.0

"Where do we come from?

Much like the stars scattered throughout the night sky, we seemingly come from everywhere and from nowhere: from chaos, from a silvery egg, from ice, from earth and saliva, from mud, from tears."
~Carol Emmons


I had the privilege to view artist Carol Emmons' installation of Cosmogony 2.0 before it officially opened. I walked through the gallery in a state of awe. There were colored gels over the ceiling lights and lines of text crossing every which way. Never before had I seen this gallery's ceiling space artfully utilized, and I was excited. Furthermore, the objects she chose to display gave me vivid memories of walking through the Galileo Museum on Florence, Italy a little over a year ago during my semester abroad. I left the space enveloped in a sense of wonder and mystery. 


 
However, my science boner quickly went flaccid upon attending Emmons' talk. It became clear that she didn't really understand her work either. Hers was a situation in which I admired her more with less understanding about her artistic intent. The cradles on tracks filled with trinkets were elements of the installation that I had previously mused over. Post lecture, I found them cliched. The ladder that led into the skylight of the space lost its mystique after hearing Emmons' explanation that "there was a hole, and I just wanted to put something in it." Perhaps her work fell short as a result of the enormity of her subject: the genesis of the universe, cosmogony itself.


3 comments:

  1. I agree with your wonderment at the ceiling. I didn't realize it could be so cool. I wanted to climb that dumb little ladder and exist in that little crevasse. I do wish she had a tighter grip on what she created, being that her extensive research supposedly plays an important role in her artistic creation.

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  2. It's true how powerful her exhibit was in terms of completely enveloping the viewer and creating a new space. In terms of Emmons' lack of explanation for the reasons behind her exhibit's contents... that is both satisfying and unsatisfying for me. It is satisfying because it gives me reassurance that I don't always need to have an explanation behind why I choose to create the artwork I create. On the other hand though, her lack of explanation forced me to come up with one of my own. I always want to put the pieces together, especially in art, when a concept or explanation is lacking.

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  3. i agree that there was no other exhibitions in my years here that has utilized the space so well! And that itself is a statement.

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