MIA visit : Lisa
My first impression of Andrea Stanislav’s exhibit was that it was AMAZING. I loved her concept of working entirely with reflective surfaces, which really allows the viewer to interact with and to change the works of art. It also introduces a sort of self-consciousness to the act of viewing—you are looking at yourself looking at the works of art (I kept getting distracted by the sad situation of my hair). The river installation was definitely the most conspicuous piece in the exhibit, and I thought the images in the film were quite beautiful and haunting. I was really taken aback the first time I heard the explosion; I originally thought there was no sound. But standing on one of the stepping stones and watching the moving images reflected on the floor and ceiling along with my own image was really fascinating to me, and sort of a psychedelic experience. It was especially cool to see reflected images of myself going back into infinity…it really was the River to Infinity!
I basically stayed in the exhibit the whole time—just when I was about to go look at something else Andrea showed up and it was really interesting to hear her talk about her work. I really enjoyed hearing the ideas and the processes behind it. In a lot of ways I am much more interested in the process than in the finished work of art. But after she explained the significance of some of the things the whole exhibit definitely took on new meaning, and I felt more connected with it. I was interested in the ghost images before but when I heard her explain where she had gotten them, and that these images had sparked her idea I had a much better understanding of their importance and their relationship to the rest of the exhibit. Her stories about the difficulties she had shooting the explosion in the film and constructing the horse sculptures were really appealing to me and I think made me appreciate her art more because I understood the effort behind it, and because she seemed so willing to let us see that effort.
I have tried explaining this exhibit to my friends and family, but it’s difficult to get its impact across in words. I would probably say that the artist uses mainly reflective media like mirrors in her work and that you get this sort of dazzlingly bright and shiny effect, the “glam-rock aesthetic” but also that she is treating a lot of heavy issues in her work so it’s really rewarding to get beyond the shininess and really try to see what she is getting at.
After our visit I even wrote a (first draft of a) poem about Andrea's exhibit which you can read or not (it's probably not as cool if you actually get what it's about but...):
Andrea and I in the Salt Flats with Dynamite
Vsitors can enter an interactive environment saturated with reflections, sounds, and images–an experience made profoundly physical through perceptual manipulation. Stanislav describes her installations as “metaphysical journeys into contemporary science and culture, executed with both humor and a glam-rock aesthetic.”
-River to Infinity-The Vanishing Points: Landscapes by Andrea Stanislav
the Salt Flats absorb your moisture, ours,
afterwards.
shards of your chest jut out
deflect the wreckage of chemistry
and cream
your hands
tearing into vats of rhinestones.
we constellate.
we council each others’ reflections
there are some things that no one should see
the graphic explosion
the fuse so clearly a finger and we
so desirous of change.
river stones are flat enough
for the grateful taxidermists to cross
in one take
desperate for appearance
the tacking-on of skin and getting back
to better, livelier days.
ghosts hang in the mirrors
headless horses touch noses
Andrea and I are registered
at every level of a vicious regress.
there was no second day in the Salt Flats
so when the walls go black
the shards shine.