There is something special upon entering a museum you have never seen before. While you have an idea of what art lies beyond the doors, there is always an uncertainty of what exactly you are about to experience. Will you love it? Will you hate it? Is it “your kind” of art? The exhibit, “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary” exceed expectations of a preconceived notion. It gives light to the relationship between the part and the whole this is because the various and seemingly useless “parts”, with a little ingenuity and creativity, combined together makes beautiful “whole” pieces of art.
Upon entering the two-floored gallery, the first piece that grabbed my attention was the “Perpetual Steam” by Steven Deo. This work is complied completely out of various puzzle pieces put together in such a way that it looks like two people in a river or stream. They appear to be in this river or stream because the legs are cut off at the ankle to give the assumption that they are standing in this body of water. This particular piece appealed to me because it is one of the only pieces that’s sculpted into a human body. The way the pieces were glued together really made the piece look like a smooth human form rather than jagged puzzle pieces.
Another piece that combines a relationship between the part and the whole (and maybe even a third party) is the “After the Mona Lisa” by Devorah Sperber. This piece is created from 5,084 spools of thread to create a portrait of the Mona Lisa with a hand and camera in front of her face. What makes this piece interesting is that it is upside down and can be only viewed right-side up by looking through a viewing sphere or on the surface of a convex mirror. It is interesting how the Mona Lisa was replicated because the Mona Lisa was created with such detail but looks perfect in the form of individual colored spools and through a looking sphere. I enjoy the humor displayed by the camera and hand in front of the legendary Mona Lisa because she is blocked by some unruly tourist.
“Portrait of a Textile Worker” by Terese Agnew is yet another answer as to how the part and whole come together. In this piece it is, as stated, a portrait of a textile worker but created from 30,000 clothing labels or tags. From far away the portrait is incredibly intricate taking into the fact that it is created from clothing labels alone. There is beautiful use of shading and even background detail. Up close, you can recognize famous clothing labels from Van Heusen to Ralph Lauren to the Nike check symbol.
The one piece that I was particularly impressed with the most is the “Reading Chair with Buddha Heads” by Long Bin Chen. This impressive piece is in the shape of a Buddha sculpted out of books. What is amazing is that these books and pages are not glued together making this piece even harder to complete. Chen shows that books do not only have to be read but can be used as an expression of art that is close to him on a personal level. As an avid reader of books and art enthusiast, this particular piece reaches to me because it combines two prominent interests of mine.
The Museum of Art and Design’s “Second Lives: Remix the Ordinary” exhibit gives light to the relationship between the part and the whole. Without the part, there can never be a whole. In this exhibit, artists showcase the fact that you can take regular and ordinary items such as puzzle pieces, thread spools, clothing labels, and books and create beautiful and unique pieces of art. These artists know that the close relationship between the part and the whole is absolutely essential in self-expressing their own creativity and talents.