WONDERLAND SF - ART AT THE DUMP

RECOLOGY

09.21.12 Part II

(with assistance from Jenny Wantuch)



Pros and cons of art made with experimental materials. Click Here.

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Wonderland SF: Generacion X.

Artists: Alec Huxley, Andrzej Michael Karwacki, Henry Lewis, Jeffrey Nemenzo, Lani Tanaka, Lee Harvey Roswell, Mark Campbell, Melanie Alves, Robert Bowen, Tatiana Suarez, Todd Laby, Ursula Xanthe Young.

Comment by AB: Respectable array of urban endeavors.

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Art at the Dump: Tamara Albaitis - Dwell; Amy Wilson Faville - Everything is Beautiful; Calder Yates - Corpus Curare.

Review by Jenny Wantuch: Three artists at the Recology San Francisco Dump have their end-of-residency exhibits.

Calder Yates's show, Corpus Curare, includes video work, mixed-media sculptures and drawings. The materials in the mixed-media sculptures are broken chairs that have been given "first aid" with straps and tape. One installation is an arrangement of old TV screens, displaying repeating images of ordinary kitchen knives. His show also includes a short video of a truck carefully tending to a pile of recycled material. Calder Yates's show brings to mind the idea of assembling things together and then taking them apart in an endless repetitive cycle. In his own words, "My work is about vulnerability, and the need to fix things."

Amy Wilson Faville's show, Everything is Beautiful, is a series of mixed-media collages. Her work combines discarded two-dimensional materials, such as mattress ticking, vintage wallpaper, blank hospital forms and fabrics, with her own drawings. Her intention is to create something beautiful from rejected materials and evoke issues of sustainability. Faville's sensitive use of color, form and line creates a series of harmonious and delicate "landscapes" using materials we once thought that we needed.

Tamara Albaitis's show, Dwell, consists of sculptural sound installations constructed from discarded speakers and other finds from the Recology recycling plant. Her use of sound and lights together with the placement of curious objects inside empty speaker boxes allows the viewer to be part of a treasure hunt, perhaps glimpsing a future when discarded materials of today might have different significances and values. Albaitis's attention to detail and interesting use of repetition creates harmony and elements of surprise.

Comment by AB: Good show; go see.

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111 Minna Gallery: Mike Shine - Dr. Flotsam & The Carny Bastards.

Comment by AB: Mike Shine transforms the gallery into a delightfully devilish realm of amusement, populated with wicked and aberrant beings who regale with escapades from the past. Transport yourself back in time and stay for a while...

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