S+ART

Roads of Arabia Dazzles at the Sackler

Funerary mask, Thaj, Tell al-Zayer, Saudi Arabia, 1st century CE, Gold. H x W: 17.5 x 13 cm. National Museum, Riyadh.

Few archaeological discoveries in recent years have so radically transformed the understanding of a region as have the objects on view in the Sackler Gallery’s exhibition Roads of Arabia. Mysterious stone steles, monumental human statues, haunting gold masks and finely forged bronze figures testify to Arabia’s largely unknown and remarkable history before the rise of Islam in the seventh century CE.

The exhibition’s earliest objects are anthropomorphic steles, or vertical slabs of stone used for commemorative purposes. They are among the earliest known objects from the Arabian Peninsula. Neolithic bladelets, arrowheads, bifaces, and scrapers testify to the technology that was in use even thousands of years ago.

This is just a glimpse into the wealth of fascinating and revealing artifacts on display at roads of Arabia. Come unearth the rest!

-Jen Schiller

The Sculptural Vase

A Smithsonian Associates Studio Arts Course

A student finishes the interior of her vase. Photograph by Jen Schiller.

 

Over the millennia, ceramic vases have served various purposes, depending on the culture. Some cultures used them only for utilitarian purposes, others for religious rites; and others as objects of beauty. For example, the Greek, Syrian, and Turkish cultures adapted their architectural traditions into vases. From the heads of gods to fully carved figures, these vases reflected a departure from the traditional ceramic vases decorated with painted brushwork decoration. In The Sculptural Vase, an 8-session course, students have the opportunity to create their own unique ceramic vase.

Sculptural Vase docent works on her project. Photograph by Jen Schiller.

I sat in on Tuesday’s session with Instructor Alfredo Ratinoff. He kicked off the class by bringing out color samples students had made the previous week. Color samples display how finish coats, layering, and the glazing process react to the kiln’s heat, allowing students to get a preview before committing to their entire project. For instance, Cobalt will appear dry blue by itself but becomes vivid blue with a top coat.  “The objective is to look at the variations you get with different materials,” says Ratinoff.

This student's vase will double as a garlic holder. Photograph by Jen Schiller.

"If you don't have samples, you don't have a good piece," he says. “Certain colors change drastically in temperatures of 2200 degrees. Samples remove the guesswork.” He also points out that the real kiln (a 12-hour process) gives a better glaze than the test kiln (2 hours) used for color samples. He compares the different outcomes to microwaving versus slow simmering a meal: The result is a much richer, more vibrant color.

 

-Jen Schiller

Directions: Antonio Rovaldi

The Opening Day. 2009. Digital video, looped. Courtesy artist and monitor gallery, Rome.

 

Italian multimedia artist Antonio Rovaldi lives and works in Milan, where frequent long distance walks and bike rides provide an open air studio for him to contemplate landscapes, space and distance. These elements are key to his drawings, sculpture, photography, performance, and video art.

Rovaldi uses two projectors for his video installation The Opening Day (2009), a looped performance of a pitcher taking aim at mass-produced ceramics.  The intangible arc of a fastball creates suspense, while surround sound and opposing screens submerge the audience in the action. The pitcher is dressed in full uniform and appears as focused as if he were on first base at a high stakes game. The viewer feels as if they are simultaneously a participant in the middle of the action and an invisible bystander on the sideline.

The pitcher reacts to either hitting or missing the ceramics, displaying a victorious open armed gesture when toppling a giant dog figure. Displayed as classical still life, the ceramics represent the traditional hierarchy of "high art" which has been shattered by moving-image work that was once considered to be outside the realm of fine art.

-Jen Schiller

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Dark Matters: Muek’s Big Man

Australian born sculptor Ron Muek’s style is described as hyperrealist, and that is no exaggeration.

Close-up of Untitled (Big Man). 2000. Pigmented polyester resin on fiberglass. Ron Mueck (Australian, b. Melbourne). Photograph by Jen Schiller.

His early work included model making and puppeteering for children’s television and films, notably the film Labyrinth. Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. Although highly detailed, these props were usually designed to be photographed from one specific angle hiding the mess of construction seen from the other side. Mueck increasingly wanted to produce realistic sculptures which looked perfect from all angles.

Untitled (Big Man). 2000. Pigmented polyester resin on fiberglass. Ron Mueck (Australian, b. Melbourne). Photograph by Jen Schiller.

In 1996 Mueck transitioned to fine art. His sculptures faithfully reproduce the minute detail of the human body but play with scale to produce disconcertingly jarring visual images. Currently on display at the Hirshhorn is Untitled (Big Man) – a giant, hairless, naked man crouched in the fetal position in the corner of the gallery. The piece is undeniably the most noticeable in the room, causing visitors to stop in their tracks and revel in the hyperrealism of every detail, from the translucent flesh to the cracked toenails. The artist uses pigmented polyester resin on fiberglass to achieve a realism that is grotesque and unsettling and purposefully so. As part of the show Dark Matters, Big Man relates to the solitude, threat, and emptiness of darkness. We naturally fear darkness as we fear loneliness, rejection, and violence. Big Man possesses all of these unnerving elements. His humanoid appearance, intimidating size, and dejected posture conjure up mixed feelings of empathy and fear; the viewer cannot help but ponder his or her own perceptions of beauty and acceptance.  

 

-Jen Schiller