Monday, 8/11/97 Viewers play detective in ‘Scene of the Crime’
exhibit at Armand Hammer ART: Collection of works on display
provides disturbing, intriguing images of society
By Nerissa Pacio Daily Bruin Senior Staff Seven thick layers of
green shattered glass lay on the ground. Across the way, a rotting
wooden chair is inscribed with cryptic black writing. An ambiguous
wounded body part hangs on the wall. And just when it looks safe
enough to flee, around the corner sprawls a miniature field of
moving body bags which frighteningly stir and twist. What? Why?
How? That’s for the viewer to decipher at "Scene of the Crime," on
display at UCLA’s Armand Hammer Museum through Oct. 5. Featuring
over 70 works by various West Coast artists, writer/curator Ralph
Rugoff presents a provocative 35-year survey of art as a forensic
aesthetic. The exhibit offers sculptures, paintings, photographs,
video and performance pieces as evidence to test viewers’ detective
skills. "We are all trained by the media that a picture should be
straightforward or tell the whole story," Rugoff says. "It’s not
like that in this exhibit – in contemporary art. Here, the art
serves as a clue." Some pieces would appear innocent and even
serene outside the context of this sometimes disturbing and often
intriguing exhibit. Lewis Baltz’s photograph, "11777 Foothill
Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA," is a seemingly typical street
scattered with a few automobiles and streetlamps. "But this scene
conjures up moments of social upheaval in Los Angeles, just not in
an obvious way," Rugoff says. "It’s the actual site where Rodney
King was beaten." Other images would be frightening in any context.
Monica Majoli’s untitled painting shows a person, whose head and
upper body is wrapped in a garbage bag, being anally penetrated by
a man. "It’s one of the most sinister of my paintings," Majoli
says. "This painting even scares me. It’s been an enigma to me. I
feel intimately involved with it, but I’ve also been horrified by
it. It’s difficult and painful to know my work upsets people, but I
feel like my art is about real experiences. It’s not my fantasies
that upset you. This is my truth." Majoli, who is usually grouped
with other artists in gender- or sexually-themed exhibits, welcomes
the chance to broaden her works’ perspective in a more universal
crime scene context. Her other piece in the exhibit is a painting
of an ambiguous, sinewy pelvis-like area grazed by a cut. "I can
see why Ralph (Rugoff) included my work in the exhibit because it
serves as evidence to the aftermath of an experience," Majoli says.
"I use body fragments as self portraits. They reveal my experience
of the result of loving." Artist Alexis Smith approaches her
creations from a more literary standpoint. Her sculpture titled
"All the Simple Old Fashioned Charm" was inspired by 1940s writer
Raymond Chandler, known for his detective fiction turned film noir.
"My piece is a ‘found’ chair, an institutional, beat-up chair with
all different layers of destruction and experience," Smith says. On
the seat is a quote that reads, ‘All the simple old-fashioned charm
of a cop beating up a drunk,’ from one of Chandler’s novels. "The
quote is ironic. Charm is equated with folksy traditional things
like roasting chestnuts or something like that," Smith says. "This
comments on the suspicion of police power in our culture." George
Stone’s work titled "Unknown, Unwanted, Unconscious, Untitled"
appears shockingly real. Slow, stirring movements beneath five
life-sized black body bags evoke confusion and wonder. "As a
viewer, you’re caught in a suspended place," Rugoff says. "The
artist’s interpretation is a representation of homeless people –
bag people. You’re not sure if these people on the street are
alive, drunk or dead. They are faceless – the living dead of our
landscape." The video titled "Autopsy" shows graphic footage of a
sadomasochistic couple. The woman slaps her semi-comatose partner
and performs other painful acts. Although the video and the exhibit
as a whole warn viewers that some material may be inappropriate for
younger audiences, Rugoff recalls his experience with viewers of
varying ages . "The tape ‘Autopsy’ was in a lot of college exhibits
and was a favorite among the college students," Rugoff says.
"People who watch Nine Inch Nails videos, and see all those kinds
of things on MTV will be more used to these images than other
people I’ve seen who are say, over 50. Maybe the sign should say,
‘Not suitable for very mature audiences," Rugoff laughs.
Regardless, Rugoff reveals that all viewers really need is
curiosity about detective work and an open mind. ART: "Scene of the
Crime" shows through Oct. 5 at the Armand Hammer Museum. Admission
ranges from free to $4.50. Admission is free for everyone on
Thursdays 6-9 p.m. For more info call (310) 443-7000. UCLA Armand
Hammer Museum "Unknown, Unwanted, Unconscious, Untitled," by artist
George Stone exhibits eerie moving body bags symbolizing the
homeless – the living dead of our society. UCLA Armand Hammer
Museum Armand Hammer Museum. "Untitled," 1990. Monica Majoli’s
painting of an ambiguous scarred body part depicts her experience
of the aftermath of a relationship. Related Links: UCLA at the
Armand Hammer Museum of Art — Official Links