Exhibition Review: An Invitation to An Infiltration at the CAG

The group exhibition An Invitation to An Infiltration is currently being held at the Contemporary Art Gallery, running from January 21st to February 28th, 2010. The show was put together by visiting curator Eric Fredericksen who is director of the art space Western Bridge in Seattle, Washington. It included artists at various stages of their career, from local and abroad, such as: Hadley+Maxwell, Jordan Wolfson, Dexter Sinister, Jonathan Middleton, Fia Backström, Holly Ward, and Lucy Clout.

In justifying the show and explaining his inspiration, Fredericksen references Andrea Fraser’s writing on the institutionalization of Institutional Critique. It has become no longer shocking or radical to challenge, deconstruct or bring attention to the white cube, the sterile gallery space and the bureaucracy around it, and in some ways it’s to be expected in contemporary art. An Invitation to An Infiltration hoped to re-hatch and disrupt the discourse once again.

To do this the show is meant to change over time through the process of various artistic interventions – as if an ongoing performance, or a malleable installation. This state of flux affects the titles, format and placement of artworks. Also, entirely new works can be added. Rather comically, the title of the entire exhibition is being debated between the curator and an artist. The show mandate challenges the assumption that art objects are meant to hold still, being captive by the audience and institution around it. The fact such a volatile entity is a group show means that An Invitation to An Infiltration is a set of ongoing negotiations. The show utilizes not only the interior of CAG but the outside and the text, paraphernalia, and discussions around the show.

Lucy Clout’s piece Untitled (eyebrows) (2008), a painted grey board of MDF is displayed suspended at eye level, therefore limiting the viewer’s view. At one point the work was installed in front of the reception desk, making it hard to normally interact with the gallery attendant. In ducking under to avoid the obstruction, the viewer would find themselves uncomfortably close. The artist Jonathan Middleton shows a proposal that the exhibition title be changed to: “Strange. The first time I’ve heard of a piano with four legs… (Hey, I keep falling down!)”. Dexter Sinister created various wood objects with use value like a shelf, twin lecterns and a sandwich board. Some other props were less clearly defined, but were meant to be eventually put to use. With this work, Sinister plays with the old Kantian definition that art has no function. In a related sculptural work, Hadley+Maxwell erected a marble pedestal with nothing on it.

A private performance by Hadley references the difficulty in critiquing the show. Dressed as a male 18th century art critic, she went through the show interacting with the artwork either with passive detachment or violence. In experiencing any of these works in their current but temporary state, makes the whole thing seem unsettled. This art is set up to be continually in the act of turning, making it impossible to be pinned down to any one interpretation. However, this could be a useful way to read art as it takes into account the ever changing context of time and space. It underscores that the comforting idea of fixed meaning or universal truth is a myth.