Kenney
and the Art of Motorcycle Modernity
Kenney Turns The Mundane Into Art At Fisher Hall
by Megan Karsh
For
those loathe to ask cerebral questions like What is art?
What role does creation play in the classification of art?
and What can art convey about desire and experience that words
cannot? Mike Kenneys installation in Fisher Gallery
may not be their cup of tea. Kenneys one-man show, on display
until Nov. 9, is a highly conceptual and symbolic work that raises
questions regarding the role of the artist as creator in addition
to exploring themes of power, escape and freedom. It manages to
do all of this without sacrificing clarity and beauty. For those
visiting the installation who enjoy exploring the conceptual side
of art and are willing to put time into understanding the points
Kenney makes through his medium and subject matter, it is a worthwhile
and interesting endeavor. For everyone else, well, theyll
get to see a really nice motorcycle.
The
composition of Kenneys show is striking in that it is ordered,
organized and minimal in terms of its layout and color scheme. The
work is clever and savvy
employing discreet divisions of space,
said Professor Doug Sanderson of the layout. In the center of the
gallery, there is a black motorcycle (a Honda CB 650 Custom, for
those who are into such things). The bike is undoubtedly the primary
focus of the installation. It is nearly all black and in excellent
condition, imposing and glorious in its size, placement and dormant
power. It commands the room, seductive in its embodiment of stereotypical
masculinity and promising freedom, travel and escape.
Three
of the four walls surrounding the bike feature various materials
having to do with notions of home, frames and the mundane. On one
wall are six framed boards of rather decrepit plywood spaced evenly
and neatly, beautiful in spite of their banality. The adjacent wall
features a large unframed board of the same plywood, similarly scratched,
scarred and cheap. The final wall feature: three evenly-spaced framed
windowpanes, cracked and visibly old, and one larger, newly painted
and unmarred window set a distance from the others.
One
can only surmise what purpose these objects are meant to serve;
perhaps they are literal frames serving as symbolic frames for the
bike, or representations of a site the bike promises to escape.
They manage however, to do both; auto-iconic in their framing function
and symbolic in their unglorified triteness. When considered with
the bike, they create a portrait of a life or lifestyle and symbolize
associated desires. I am feeling a very clear and at the same
time understated human landscape a portrait, wrote
Professor Johnny Coleman in response to his students work.
One can only guess what type of human landscape Kenney was hoping
to convey, but it seems to have something to do with class and the
desire for mobility, be it literal, transcendental or social.
Its
not only the subject of Kenneys work thats so riveting,
however, but also the medium that he uses. Kenney does not employ
painted representations of a motorcycle or window, but the objects
themselves, a practice referred to as using ready-mades.
This opens an entirely new way in which to think about this work.
In referencing Marcel Duchamp, the pioneer of the ready-made, Kenney
challenges spectators unconsciously-held notion that works
of art must lend insight into their production. He asserts through
his work that things can and must be redefined as art artists
work is actually just an act of selection of mundane, potentially
artistic objects. Despite its fascinating implications, this is
a type of art that many find difficult to swallow, since it removes
creation entirely from the realm of art.
By removing the element of creation from the work, context becomes
extremely important. Only by taking the motorcycle off the street,
where it exists primarily as an everyday object and bringing it
into the sacred world of the gallery is it able to become
art. This gives Kenneys installation an ephemeral quality
that other types of art, such as painting or sculpture lack, since
it only survives so long as its motor is still and its not
taken out for a ride. This gives the work an urgency and tension
that adds to its message of power, freedom and escape.
This installation will be on display until Nov. 9, with a reception
on the final evening at 8 p.m. As previously stated, checking out
this installation is well worth your time if you are interested
in concepts of art, creation and symbolism. Or if you just really,
really like motorcycles.
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