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EZRA
SHALES
Cosmic Views of Queens, An Arcade Project
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September
30, 2002 - February 16, 2003
Opening reception: September 30, 5-8pm
At Bulova
Corporate Center, 75-20 Astoria Blvd, Jackson Heights,
Queens
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Cosmic Views of Queens, an Arcade Project is Ezra Shalesí
interactive installation in which a take-out cup of
coffee is the origin of the mundane and the fantastic.
Shalesí installation plays with the comparison
between the decoration printed on standard paper coffee
cupsóthe marble statues of the disk thrower (Myron's
Discobolus), and the standing female figures (Karyatids)óand
the plaster replicas of the statues on long-term loan
to the Queens Museum of Art from the Metropolitan Museum
of Art that are installed in the lobby of the Bulova
Corporate Center. In addition, Shales incorporates glassmarbles
as the symbol of a game and photographic images throughout
in his installation which operate as visual and literal
puns. In this way, he connects the realm of the Greek
mythology beyond time and space, from the printed statues
on a paper cup to the plaster replicas on display, to
the constellations in the sky, returning to the glass
marbles that visitors can play with in this temporary
arcade.
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The installation
first engages visitors with luminous photographs that
contain glimpses of both the recognizable and mysterious.
A penetrating look reveals that many unintelligible images
in fact depict the same objects included in the interactive
displayóonly enlarged and distorted. Marbles, teacups
and saucers, and fragments of antique planetary photographs
taken by the ProspÈre Brothers in the 1870s may
take a moment to reveal themselves.
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The interactive
component of the exhibition offers visitors a chance to
play old-fashioned arcade games. There is virtually no
manual dexterity or sportsmanship involved in these games
and no prizes to winóthey are absurd. Tossing coffee
cup lids; shooting marbles; and deciphering constellations
in the photographs: each game deals with the idea of solids
and voids, opening up to scrutiny our tendency to see
blackness (space) or dots of light (stars) as organizational
principles. These simple activities urge visitors to reconfigure
for themselves where the line is drawn between sense and
nonsense. At the same time, the installation visually
addresses the proximity and remoteness of the cosmic world
that allude to a romantic notion of the world.
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| About the
Artist |
Ezra Shales makes site-generated installations in which
art is a collaborative activity. Shalesí permanent
installation, Measure to Scale (2001) adorns the faÁade
of 92 Allen Street in New Yorkís Lower East Side.
If you visit, please bring a marker to inscribe your name
and height on the rulers there. Previous public art projects
include The Nominal Home (1998) on a leased lot in the
Far Rockaways, A Common Denominator (1998-9) at the Eldridge
Street Synagogue, and 'Til Evaporation Do Us Part (2000)
on Tenth Avenue and 21st Street.
His work has been shown in group exhibitions Following
Mr. Fluxus, Art in General, New York, NY (2001), Our Perceptions/
Urban Reality, Artists Space, New York, NY (2001), and
Reflections on Space, the Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at
SUNY Old Westbury, NY (2001). He has been a fellow at
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY (1998); and SmackMellon Studios,
Brooklyn, NY (2001). Shales received his B.A. from Wesleyan
University, Middletown, CT (1991) and an M.F.A. from Hunter
College, New York, NY (1996), but mostly has learned his
trade by looking at objects at flea markets and other
idiosyncratic displays. He is currently working towards
a Ph.D. in Design History at the Bard Graduate Center.
Ezra Shales was born in 1969 in New York City where he
currently resides.
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| The
Exhibition |
Installation by Ezra Shales at Bulova
Corporate Center
on view through January 11, 2003 |
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