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VSF VARIOUS SMALL FIRES812 N HIGHLAND AVE LOS ANGELES
[email protected] / 310.426.8040VSF VARIOUS SMALL FIRES812 N
HIGHLAND AVE LOS ANGELES [email protected] / 310.426.8040Unzicker,
Allyson, “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists Working in Clay,”
The Brooklyn Rail, April 2, 2014, page 1 of 5.
Kathleen Ryan, “Block Wall,” 2012. Glazed ceramic,steel, 72 ×
140 × 24 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Critics Page April 2nd, 2014
CORPOREAL IMPULSE: Contemporary Artists
Working in Clayby Allyson Unzicker
Tactile experience […] adheres to the surface of our body; we
cannot unfold it before us, and it never quitebecomes an object.
Correspondingly, as the subject of touch, I cannot flatter myself
that I am everywhereand nowhere; I cannot forget in this case that
it is through my body that I go to the world, and tactileexperience
occurs ‘ahead’ of me, and is not centred in me.
—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, 1945
In an age where technology tends to form more physical
detachments than connections, there is acultural longing to
experience something tangible and handmade. It is this reason that
a mediumsuch as clay continues to appeal today. Touch is absorbed
into clay, leaving a record of the artist’spresence on its surface.
In recognizing these imprints as the mark of its maker, the viewer
becomesconscious of his or her own hands and body. In examining
ceramics through a phenomenologicallens, we are challenged to
consider the role our bodies play in perceiving the world around
us.
In Phenomenology of Perception, written in 1945,Maurice
Merleau-Ponty helped to re-conceptualize theway in which we look at
the world, not just with ourmind but with our bodies, which is to
say, beyond thevisual world alone. Instead, he postulated an
embodiedperception, an idea that positions our body as amedium,
through which we gain consciousness of ourworld. A blow to
long-held dualistic theories ofconsciousness—ones that separate the
mind from thebody—Merleau-Ponty’s theories afford an active
andexpansive means of understanding ourselves andviewing art.
Through his corporeal lens, we begin tounderstand how our entire
body, not just our sight, is fundamental to experiencing
artwork.
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[email protected] / 310.426.8040
Bari Ziperstein, “Bust,” 2013. Terracotta, custom
decals,concrete, leather, 36 × 24 × 36 ̋. Courtesy of the
artist.
Julia HaftCandell, “Toupee,” 2013. Terracotta, wood,linen.
Approx. 18 × 20 × 6 ̋. Courtesy of the artist.
By applying Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological assessments to
clay, we can begin to comprehendthe role that the body plays in
viewing and creating art as an experiential practice. Through
ourbodily awareness, we can appreciate the affective quality of
clay, the impulse to touch with our eyesand to see with our hands.
It is through this aesthetic empathy that we are able to perceive
thesensation of touch to our own bodies. Corporeal Impulse, at the
Vincent Price Art Museum at EastLos Angeles College, references
this relation in clay through hand-built sculptures. The
worksdiscussed in this essay can be seen as remnants of bodily
sensations, as the residue of clay on one’sfingers.
Influenced by biological systems, Julia Haft-Candell’s sinuous
sculptures are a reflection of whatshapes the organic body inside
and out. Created by layering multiple materials including clay,
fabric,paper, and wood, tight patterns are often meticulously
etched onto their surfaces, while string isoften used to bind the
winding repetition evoked in her linear clay forms. Their structure
is a playbetween plant and human life, in which undulating shapes
become intestinal in appearance. As seenin her work “Toupee”
(2013), the resemblance to an infinity symbol is a cue to internal
bodilyfunctions. The smeared texture of its surface is
scatological; its fecal membrane creates an endlessintestinal
system. “Toupee”operates as an infinite spiral reflecting ingestion
and digestion; theconstant flow of matter into and out of the body.
The unending curvilinear object creates a constantrhythm,
interrupted by a piece of linen placed atop its “head” that
anthropomorphizes thesculpture’s abstraction. Haft-Candell’s
three-dimensional collages reveal both the simplicity andcomplexity
of the systems in and around us. Through their repetition, rough
yet smooth textures,and intuitive yet careful formations,
Haft-Candell’s forms postulate an awareness of how the organicbody
is both a medium and an inspiration to the production of her
work.
Usinghis ownbody to
measure the connection between body and material, Matt Merkel
Hess’s installation consists of ashelving unit that displays a
series of hand-built ceramic sculptures. The shelving unit reflects
theexact measurement of Merkel Hess’s height and wingspan, with the
height of each individual shelfcorresponding to his body parts
including his feet, legs, hand, arms, and mouth. The
shelvesfunction as a temporary archive, recording Merkel Hess’s
bodily presence through clay. The works
Unzicker, Allyson, “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists
Working in Clay,” The Brooklyn Rail, April 2, 2014, page 2 of
5.
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[email protected] / 310.426.8040presented in this installation are a
wry experimentation with simplistic modes of artistic
production.For instance, “Knee Bowl,” “Shin Bowl,” and “Palm Bowl”
(all 2011),are all made by simply pressingclay onto his body to
create an indentation. “Right Hand Sculpted By My Left Hand” is a
sculptedversion of Merkel Hess’s right hand using only his left
hand. The object’s awkward construction isthe result of the
artist’s attempt to sculpt solely with his non-dominant hand. In
their archivaldisplay, the sculptures become memory objects of his
artistic practice.
The top shelf displays “Every Spoon In My House” (2013), an
homage to a piece in Mike Kelley’s1993 exhibition, Mike Kelley: The
Uncanny,in which Kelley collected and displayed almost everyspoon
he owned. Kelley stated that, “the uncontrollable impulse to
collect and order is itself,
uncanny.”1 By re-creating every spoon in his own house in clay,
Merkel Hess’s piece functions as astand-in for the original. These
spoons, holding no sentimental value, represent the accumulation
ofarbitrary household objects over time. Yet, their handmade
quality serves to index a moment in hispersonal life and artistic
practice. Through the mundane act of collecting everyday objects,
theartist’s identity inadvertently becomes attached to them.
Jeffry Mitchell’s vessels embody artistic and queer identity
through narrative displays involvingsmall animals, skulls, flowers,
chains, and other whimsical objects and creatures. These figures
oftenappear cartoonish and clumsy due to the immediacy involved in
their construction. Althoughseemingly light-hearted in appearance,
they are deceptively irreverent. Covered in a thick, creamyglaze,
the figures become almost buried in obscurity. Innocent creatures
are cast alongside malegenitalia and orifices making the muddy and
crude application of the glaze read as excrement andother bodily
discharges, such as semen and spit. Embracing the craft domesticity
of ceramics,Mitchell employs clay as a medium to engage with
critical content, such as the struggles of religion,sexual
identity, and loss.
Mitchell’s piece, “1976,” depicts husky men holding hands, along
with bears, skulls, and large
grasping hands, all of which spiral around the shape of the
stacked vessels. The playful bears2
symbolize pre-AIDS era promiscuity. The hands reach out and
grasp for freedom only to be buriedin a pile of skulls which are a
reoccurring symbol in Mitchell’s work and serve as a reminder
ofhuman mortality. This continual interplay between fertility and
impotence, life and death, reflectsthe pleasures of a fearless time
in history before the devastation of the AIDS crisis. Ripe with
tensionand visual splendor, Mitchell’s work provokes a longing for
touch. Their raw physicality is madeevident by their totemic
presence. They become minor monuments representing the
tenderstruggles of repression, desire, and longing, allowing the
viewer to feel their emotive content that isboth joyous and
contemplative.
“Decorative Protection”(2011 – 2013), is a series of work that
dismantles misconceptions about thefemale body and its need to be
protected. Here Bari Ziperstein expands her ceramic practice
outsideof clay by incorporating cement, leather, custom decals, and
other found materials into hersculptures. “Bust”combines terracotta
in the upper body and cement in the lower. The face is made
Unzicker, Allyson, “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists
Working in Clay,” The Brooklyn Rail, April 2, 2014, page 3 of
5.
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[email protected] / 310.426.8040
Matt Merkel Hess, “Right Hand Sculpted By My LeftHand,” 2013.
Unglazed porcelain, 4 1/4 × 8 × 2 1/2 ̋.Courtesy of the artist.
with a decal of an abstracted screen door with leeringeyes,
while the lower half is devoid of limbs, consistingonly of cinder
blocks adorned with a leather shawl. Thisimagery is derived from
1980s advertisements depictingwomen standing near wrought iron
security doors,protective devices meant to appeal to a demographic
ofstay-at-home wives.
Ziperstein’s sculptures deconstruct the female form
byabstracting the body and re-presenting it as a powerfulstructure.
These Frankenstein amalgamations of thefemale figure effectively
contrast the visual seduction ofmarketing and the misconceptions of
women as weakand frail as portrayed in these ads. In using such
durable materials, Ziperstein creates a super-evolved female form,
whose strong exterior becomes a screen-like partition for her own
protection,rather than the subject of vulnerability. The stacked
cinder blocks act as a dividing wall betweenviewer and object; its
turned head and watchful eyes peer out as if warding off danger.
Though thesefigures are a fragmented and abstracted form of the
female body, their totemic fortitude conveystheir strength.
Kathleen Ryan’s sculptures are as much about physical strength
as they are about fragility.Intuitively visceral and deliberately
raw, her sculptures are created by pinching and molding clayover
steel armatures. Finger prints remain visible on their surfaces
retaining a visual record of theirhistory and maker. During the
firing process, the steel begins to melt and the cracking of the
clayoccurs as a resistance to the steel. “Block Wall” (2012)is a
drooping outline of a cinder block wall: itsthin lines create the
appearance of a three-dimensional drawing in space. Drawing, like
clay, sharesa similar sense of immediacy. Standing as a melted,
deteriorating screen, the upright position of“Block Wall” is made
possible only with the support of each panel leaning against one
another. Thisunconventional construction distinguishes it from the
sterile industrial architecture that inspiredthe artist.
“Block Wall”’s crumbling exterior exists in a form ofconstant
decay and repair. It is innately contradictory inthat it is durable
and fragile, large yet unable to stand onits own; it is both steel
and clay. Its large scale garners afirm, physical presence that
requires the viewer to walkaround it; yet it again counters its own
sculpturalqualities by being deceptively flat. In this way, the
piecefunctions much like a drawing, challenging thespectator’s
perception of depth through its illusoryscreen. The negative space,
in and around its outlines,
Unzicker, Allyson, “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists
Working in Clay,” The Brooklyn Rail, April 2, 2014, page 4 of
5.
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[email protected] / 310.426.8040Jeffry Mitchell, “Basket With Two
Skeletons,” 2013.Glazed earthenware, 10 1/2 × 10 × 9 1/2 ̋.
Courtesy ofthe artist.
causes the viewer to fill in the missing information withtheir
own imagination. It is through absence that theforms become
present.
Notes
1. Note from Harems (2004)
2. Also a slang term used by queer men to identify husky men
with body hair
CONTRIBUTOR
Allyson Unzicker
ALLYSON UNZICKER is an M.F.A. candidate in Critical &
Curatorial Studies, University of California, Irvine, Claire Trevor
School of theArts. This essay was written for the exhibition,
Corporeal Impulse, at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los
Angeles College(January 21 April 12, 2014).
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Unzicker, Allyson, “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists
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5.