Event 2: Hauser & Wirth - "Installations, 1994-2006" by Jason Rhoades

Last week I visited Hauser & Wirth, where an exhibition called “Installations, 1994-2006” by Jason Rhoades took place. The exhibition was a huge one and contained six parts, including “Swedish Erotica and Fiero Parts”, “My Brother/Brancuzi”, “The Creation Myth”, “My Madinah. In pursuit of my ermitage…”, “The Black Pussy… and the Pagan Idol Workshop” and “Tijuanatanjierchandelier”. Rhoades considered these separate works as components of one single piece. The ultimate idea of these six major works spanning the artist’s career was to break accepted rules and bring the impolite and culturally unspeakable to the center of the conversation.

"My Brother/Brancuzi"

"The Creation Myth"

From my point of view, Rhoades is not only an artist and sociologist, but also a critic and scientist. It may not be too obvious that Rhoades was being a critic, because his works seemed colourful and cheerful superficially. But the fact is that they delivered something replete with hidden reference, including religion, sex, racial and gender stereotypes. No subject was off-limits and taboo was embraced, such as sensitive elements including male and female sexual organs. Frankly, I did not recognize any critical implications of the works at first, and I was surprised by many of their hidden meanings. On the other hand, what I mean by comparing Rhoades to a scientist is that he was passionate in doing research and field trips. In order to create “Swedish Erotica and Fiero Parts”, which Rhoades likened to a home furnishings showroom, he frequently visited big-box stores such as Ikea and Home Depot so that he could observe and amass elements of consumer culture. Also, Rhoades embarked on shopping trips in search of elements contributing to the creation of “Tijuanatanjierchandelier”. His act precisely reflected how scientific method plays an important role in the inspiration, production and final success of an artwork.

Male and female sexual organs in "Tijuanatanjierchandelier"

The work that impressed me the most was “Tijuanatanjierchandelier”, because it revealed the drawbacks of globalization and modernization in a similar way to Walter Benjamin on industrialization. In “Tijuanatanjierchandelier”, the question raised was the disappearing traditional function of culturally significant objects due to modernization, as well as the assimilation of cultures due to globalization. This notion responds to Benjamin’s idea of how mass production system influences culture and art as well as destroys the idea of uniqueness, authenticity and aura. Rhoades expanded the idea a bit more by showing the shift of function and meaning of cultural objects caused by the cultural myths and stereotypes that tourism has encouraged.

"Tijuanatanjierchandelier"

A pineapple mistakenly became art display
(from Heatstreet)

People taking pictures of a pair of normal glasses
(from Heatstreet)

Here I feel the urge to talk about my feeling when I saw this well designed and colored exhibition but having no idea what it was about until I read the introductions. I guess many artworks give this feeling to people who are not very familiar with art and its representations. This phenomenon itself is not a big issue because that is how art works. Like literature, art presents ideas on a deeper layer. However, one problem raised is that sometimes when something really contains no specific representation, people still try to impose an idea of art onto it. I read a funny news today about students leaving a pineapple in a museum. The pineapple was put in a glass display case by someone afterwards and all visitors mistook it for art. Same thing happened when another person placed his glasses on the floor of an art gallery. People started forming a circle around the glasses soon enough and took pictures of the “work”. These may seem like jokes, but I think that it will be a tragedy if art becomes something misleading people. In modern society, art is gradually becoming a symbol of a person’s cultural cultivation, so people often try to pretend that they see and understand art. This also leads to the consequence of artworks losing their practical function as the reflection of social ills.

Overall, I still recommend my classmates to pay a visit to “Installations”. Rhoades once said, “If you know my work, you know that it is never finished.” If we spend enough time trying to understand the meaning behind the work, much more discovery is expected. Last but not least, I want to emphasize the importance of people putting more effort on truly understanding an artwork instead of pretending Mr. and Ms. Know-it-all. Never let art become the culprit of increased misunderstanding of the world.

Sources:

Hauser & Wirth. "Jason Rhoades Installations, 1994-2006", 2017. <https://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/3073/jason-rhoades-installations-1994-y-2006/view/> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

Ginal. "Summary: The Work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reproduction", Introducing the Frankfurt School, 28 Feb 2008. <https://frankfurtschool.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/summary-the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction/> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

Marchal, Nahema. "Students Leave a Pineapple In a Museum, Everyone Mistakes It for Art", Heatstreet, 9 May 2017. <https://heatst.com/world/students-leave-a-pineapple-in-a-museum-everyone-mistakes-it-for-art/> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York: Schocken Books, 1969. Print.

Soler, Francesca. "The resolute crudeness of art world bad boy Jason Rhoades is honoured in dizzying L.A. retrospective...", We Heart, 2017. <https://www.we-heart.com/2017/03/15/jason-rhoades-installations-los-angeles/> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.