“In Sight” stands as a reminder to me that art isn’t a cold and distant thing. Living in a world where works of art are turned into products and modern art is colloquially discussed first and foremost in terms of price tags, it takes the warmth and emphasis on process seen in an exhibit like “In Sight” to re-contextualize things a bit.
“In Sight: An Ekphrastic Collaboration between eye lounge and Four Chambers Press” is currently on display at the Eye Lounge contemporary art space on Roosevelt Street. It features works from 11 local writers who composed works in response to visual art from 11 Eye Lounge artists.
The art — both written and visual — had no cohesive theme, and varied fairly drastically in quality. However, some were truly amazing.
For instance, Tawny Kerr’s “We could not sustain ourselves only on white peaches in summertime” is an incredibly balanced multimedia work that manages a complex, multi-textured exterior against a subtle captured space on the inside. It feels both derelict and beautiful, mitigating the organic body with a specifically artificial presentation mechanism in the form of the string and metal slide holding the work up. It, in my reading, shows the human relationship to nature: simultaneously productizing it and degrading it.
Rosemarie Dombrowski, the author paired with Kerr for the show, interpreted the work in a very different way. Dombrowski displayed her poems “The body of an insect inside the root of a citrus tree” and “A bag of starlings inside the legs of a dancer,” written in response to Kerr’s works.
These works enforced an abstract connection between humanity and nature. Decay became a mutual interaction as opposed to an enacted force. Personification and reduction were used in equal measure to create a unity between man and nature, where both are being subjected to decay and consumption.
Here Dombrowski displayed an entirely disparate perception of Kerr’s work, and that is where “In Sight” truly shines. It treats art as a social and truly collaborative entity. In seeing Kerr’s work alongside Dombrowski’s we as audience members get to feel our perception line up and conflict with the writer’s. We get to see our own method of perception stack up to someone else’s.
That gave me a feeling of social engagement; it reminded me of moments walking through museums with friends, throwing theories back and forth. In seeing Dombrowski’s interpretation I got a broader and more rounded view of Kerr’s work.
It was the same for the works where I read the written pieces first. My viewing of the visual art informed and broadened my interpretation of the written work. It reminded me of the value to be found in collaborative analysis and the joy to be found in encountering another person through art.
“In Sight” will be on display at Eye Lounge through April 10, with a live performance at The Newton at 419 E. Roosevelt St. on April 16. I would recommend giving it a look, and bring a friend. You’ll be better off for it.
Contact the columnist at csmannin@asu.edu.
