Event 3- Jeanine Oleson

This exhibit was at the Hammer museum and was set up in an interesting way. There were three different screens showing different angles at with the same movie was presented. There was a random carpet in the middle of the room and a large megaphone looking think on the ground. There was a smaller TV on the wall with a copper wire stuck in the middle of it, and there were more copper wires connecting everything in the room. When I first walked in to the room I was instantly confused. I thought that the exhibit was getting set up or things were out of place. As I sat there and watched the movie that was being presented, I became even more confused. I really tried to understand how this all connected to each other, and it was not until I overheard two other people talking about it that everything finally made sense.

(Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)

            First I will start with a bit of Jeanine Oleson’s background. She is a risky artist wo is not afraid to confront big ideas and unmanageable situations. She loves combining different types of art work (videos photography, sculpture and paintings) to make her own art. In the background piece at the Hammer museum it says “Oleson makes objects that have an oblique relationship to her subject and yet are the material signifiers of an archive of activities that cycle around a vein of deep research.” Now that I understand that Oleson likes to create her using different forms of art, it made sense to me why the exhibit at first seemed like a storage room.

                                                                                      (Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)

                                                             (Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)

            
          Now I will [attempt] to tackle the meaning behind the three-screened video. The video included four women on their journey from a cave to a city. The whole time they are trying to communicate with someone through somethings. They were unable to get the attention of the people they were trying to communicate with. The people next to me explained that they believe it was signifying the election of a man who blatantly disrespects women and do not listen to what they have to say. This would explain why the small TV on the side of the room had news reals playing repeatedly. This would also explain the massive megaphone in the room. Women are trying to be loud about their presence in society, but our leaders are not listening.

(Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)

            The rug in the middle of the floor appeared in the movies many times. In the explanation piece next to the rug, it explained that it was “an abstract textile: a digitally designed and handmade rug. The grid that structures the flat composition is based on the “platter” or ground that orients virtual objects in 3D imaging programs. It compresses and expands in ways that reference perspective and the history of not only modernist abstract painting but also women artist.” So, the rug itself was nothing special, but it was an abstract piece of art that had a deeper meaning in the movie.

(Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)

            My favorite part of the entire show was the concept behind the copper wiring connecting these objects. “Oleson is obsessed with certain materials and their transformation through process. Copper, clay, transmission, and conduction-these she wants to understand haptically, that is, through her body.” In many of Oleson’s other works she has involved many of these elements, and not only uses it to connect the art pieces, she uses it in her video. The four women use their bodies and hands to interact with copper wire trying to draw attention to these other people. They are using the copper wire to attempt to communicate with these people and form a relationship.

(Courtesy of: Jordan Anderson)