Singing Stones

I AM THE ONLY ONE AND, IF I COULD VISIT THE MOON I WOULD TAKE A SKATEBOARD .  .  .

9/23/2017

   

By Joy Merriweather

 

Ok, I am not the only one but it sure feels like it.

 

The title of tonight’s installation is Singing Stones.  This particular exhibition features the artists from Palais De Tokyo and Institut Francais. I laughed.  French black people in Tokyo.  Got it. Maybe.  Maybe not.

 

The Hor Le Murs was held at the Roundhouse of the Dusable Museum.  Outside we enjoyed a live band, cash bar, and cheese.  There was also a raffle for a BMW. Nice.  I was like, “This is classy”.  We jammed, watched the band, and had a beer.  Eventually, I was like, “Isn’t there supposed to be some art?”.  So we leave the tent and head inside the Roundhouse for tonight’s attraction.

 

The Roundhouse is a very minimal looking space.  The ceiling is wooden with a mathematical pattern and the floors are concrete.  I immediately scan the room and notice the art installations, all black and white.  I am sad that we still see things this way.  I am drawn to the largest of installations which was full of black and white copies.  No color at all.  I immediately began to feel alone in a sea of black and white.

 

In the next installation, I turn my attention to the white walls.  Wow, you can approach the white wall and get an orange or, climb the white wall and get a watermelon.  I am allergic to oranges so, I guess  I would have to climb to the top of the wall.  I begin to wonder if this is a realistic goal for me.

 

The whole time I am thinking, “everything is so sparse as if we just ain’t got shit”.  I should probably take a selfie.

 

Next, I wander into a room with a film.  Silent.  An expressionless couple in a sparse room with a wonderful fruit and cheese plate.  This must be all they have.  They must be saying, “we are grateful for this fruit but we need so much more”.

 

Then I stroll into a hall that is an extension of the larger one.  Stained glass, with some color, all alone on one wall.  Do we always feel alone amongst the masses?  In real life we are the majority.

 

More color, on a printed and mechanized beach.  I know the feeling, I watch people at beaches on tv all the time.  Sure would be nice to visit a real one.

 

More videos.  One with guys skateboarding on the wooden installation that I could sit on in a park and the other, A bridge or the base of the Eiffel Tower.  This room was also interesting.  This particular room was entirely concrete with a an opening in the ceiling that leads to an unlit vortex which looked interesting in a photograph.

 

So, I head out of this room and back into the larger hall.  I immediately notice a plaster of something which looks kind of like the surface of the moon.  There is a tube underneath.  This could be the telescope.

 

Video, I am enjoying the color and the movement.

 

Frosted glass, Ice sculptures?  At least I can see to the other side of these walls.  In addition, there is a warning as to the fragility of the work so, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep here if I were homeless.

 

Then, there is the silo frame with busts.  I take a closer look, distortion and foam.  Welcome to the millennium.  We need to recycle for sure and those singing stones, on the bottom of course.