Take me away to a land of "Make Believe"
In Wicker Park we have a Milwaukee Mile of Art Installations filling empty shop fronts. Entitled "Make Believe," one would hope we were being transported to Alice in Wonderland. Some of the artists manage to achieve this, for example Chicago Robotic Theatre.
In discussion with a member of the jury, I learned that they were given the concept "Imagine the future of commerce" by the sponsoring WPB (SSA #33). What a limitation. Only one person out of the three chosen to jury the proposals was an art specialist.
Indeed as one walks down Milwaukee Avenue the converted shop fronts that are supposedly housing art projects fade into commercial oblivion. At least two of the artists used mannequins and in one window there is nothing. Was this meant to be a comment on the future of commerce? One wonders why the organizers came up with such a literal concept for artists to make proposals on. How narrow and unimaginative. If the organizers had run with the open-ended concept like "Make Believe", I'm sure the work would have been more exciting and original.
Wicker Park has the potential to be a buzzing art district just like Soho is to Chelsea in New York and Old Street is to Soho in London. If the concept had been more open ended, it could have put Wicker Park on the art map internationally.
In curatorial terms, there are those who think they are the artists, creating the concept for artist to follow and there are those who facilitate exhibitions letting artists be the artists. The later approach always tends to be the strongest and is ultimately the approach of Contemporary Art Museums around the world. We have so many amazing artists living in Wicker Park this could have been a real opportunity to show the diversity and brilliance living and working in our neighbourhood.
Having said this, there are some pieces that stand out like Chicago Robotic Theatre. When you place your hand on the window it comes alive with song and automata. It takes you to a place where one questions one's role in the world and one's responsibility to the planet. The title of the piece "More Than Clouds in the Sky" works on different levels but could be more dramatic visually. However, it remains a work of art that takes time and contradicts the notion of "shop till you drop," as the best art often does.
The piece that is the most visually striking is the ARTichoke project by Christophe Gauspohl. A wooden structure exits the building by the front door. Acrobatic mannequins leap through the space, heads collide in flight. Yet mannequins are a popular sign and signifier of the fashion industry and commerce down Milwaukee. The artist states that he is creating a dialogue between abandoned space, architectural gesture and human form. It's all literal and lacks visual poetry. But maybe it's a statement of consumers banging their heads with commerce.
Across the street are the portraits of entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood. The portraits are constructed out of hand-shakes which is a nice idea but they have chosen to only represent men in the neighbourhood. Aren't there any women entrepreneurs in Wicker Park? It almost looks like a shop front for a political party. Next door is the Zoetrope machine which is easy to miss. I presume it is meant to move yet one is faced with a monumental black hexagonal form standing frozen in time, sprinkled with cardboard boxes on the floor.
Another installation is an interactive camera project entitled "takemewithyou." They have placed 100 disposable cameras and hidden them in Wicker Park. The artists live in hope that the cameras are found and that you email them the photos. Interesting idea to create different visions of the neighbourhood, but this project is lacking in execution. An abandoned space remains.
I cannot bare to talk about "Wing It," it is as bad as it sounds. Transporting you to another commercial district is the work of Matt Siber. This piece requires night time viewing and is a one minute video on a loop of the commercial district in Beijing, China. Does this transport us to another world? Yes, but only in the hours of darkness.
In "Slow" a series of cloud like forms are suspended in the window made out of styrofoam cups. "Slow" is created by two people who have a company designing shop fronts. When asked if the cups were recycled they said "Yes" when I asked what kind of cleaning fluid they used, one of the artists was none the wiser, while the other chirped in with a popular brand name. Those cups are so sparkling new there is no way they are recycled. Plus, the shop front designers have not utilized the material and really transformed it into something else other than styrofoam cups in circular formations.
Each artist or creative organization received $1,000 and it is great that artists are directly receiving financial reward for installing work in an exhibition space. I question why the organizers didn't come up with a more creative initiative to promote Wicker Park? Secondly, why did they need to hire two consulting firms to do the project? I'm sure one would have been enough. Thirdly, we may get a better selection if the jury is composed of art specialists. Plus the money saved on the expense of the second consulting firm could create a bigger chunk of money to be distributed to the artists. It costs each artist a minimum of $2,000 to put a show together. We need to be creating a system were we are able to provide the costs of installing a show and providing artists with a living wage.
I urge you to vote for your favourite window display by October 29th and one of the artists will win $5,500. "Make Believe" could have been a great opportunity to celebrate the talent living and working in Wicker Park. But I'm left to conclude in the spirit of commerce, may the best one win!
Comments
Official Response from the Sponsors of Make Believe
So sad.
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