[by Katerina Kyselica] “Slash: Paper Under the Knife” is an exhibition currently on view at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in New York City. It examines paper as a traditional material through the lens of contemporary art and design. In addition to traditional forms of paper art, such as two-dimensional cut-outs or book art, paper is used as a medium for sculptures, wall installations, three-dimensional objects, and video.
‘Slash’ is a series of exhibitions aimed at investigating traditional materials and techniques. These have previously included knitting, lace making and embroidery, and now the MAD’s curators David Revere McFadden (Chief Curator) and Laura Stern (Assistant Curator) present paper. 52 artists from 16 different countries created their works using scissors, knives, laser cutters, glue, and punchers. They rolled, shredded, used wood-turning tools, cut and pasted back together, and formed paper into amazing objects.
Andreas Kocks 'Paperwork #701G (in the beginning)', 2007 / photo: Christoph Knoch
Although the exploitation of paper here is quite stunning, it is the idea each artist carries through their work that is worth focusing on, as in any other art form. The exhibition is divided into “Form and Space: Slicing Architecture”, “Cutting as Texture”, “Dissecting the Past”, and “Corporeal Concerns: Body as Subject”.
In “Form and Space: Slicing Architecture”, books are transformed into unexpected mini-spaces, and architectural drawings set into mini landscapes (talk about recycling the wasted paper in architectural offices!). There is an image of classical architecture painted on wall and carved out of the layers of gypsum wallboard. A video of British New Yorker Rob Carter, “New York‘s Cathedral of St. John,” is humorously reminiscent of Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. Carter uses stop-motion animation and sound effects, and manipulates cut-up ephemera such as old maps and new photos to create a constantly moving landscape. If you cannot make it to the exhibition, see Carter’s fantastic videos at www.robcarter.net.
Noriko Ambe 'Flat File Globe 3A Red version', 2007 / Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Masahiro Noguchi
In “Dissecting the Past”, Anne-Karin Furunes from Norway created portraits, such as “Yang Li” (from “Shanghai series”, 2006), by perforating paper painted with acrylic. Using 30 different punchers varying in size by just 1/2mm, she achieved tonal variations and shading. American Nava Lubeski shows “Crush” (2008) – cut and shredded love letters of a man searching for sexual identity, arranged in a large circle. “Cutting as Topography”, as much as it sounds familiar, has a few surprises among some more expected topographical cut-outs. Nopiko Ambe from Japan used an ordinary flat file, in red, to create “Lands of Emptiness” (2008). You play with the drawers, open each of them, change the levels of transparency, and experience the ‘emptiness’ throughout the whole file, as intended by the artist.
Five cream colored, identical looking vases about 12 inches tall were designed by Slovak Tomas Gabzdil who lives in the Netherlands and who has been working with the Dutch Droog Gallery and New York Moss Gallery. Up close, you notice a subtle gray colored outline of a tree on the outside as well as inside of each vase. You learn that Tomas used black & white prints of a tree, laminated them into a solid block. A woodworker then transformed the paper blocks into vases using a woodturning technique; each layer of the lamination reveals part of the tree.
One of my favorite pieces is “Untitled (74 Layers)” by American Adam Fowler. He felt he was missing a third dimension in his drawings of lines, so he started cutting. His “74 layers” does consist of 74 layers of cut-outs. He created almost a curtain-like composition, in gray. The piece is perceived almost as fabric, a heavy draped curtain, as he varied the thickness of the cut-out lines.
The exhibition is on view in MAD until April 4th. I add a link to another source of excellent paper art at webdesignerdepot.com. Though, it should be seen in person to be believed, and be experienced.
Filed under: Art, New York City Tagged: | Art, MAD museum, New York City
