THIS IS A TEST 11.11.17-12.16.17
cover image: Mengmeng Lu. 3 * 3, 2017. Digital Photography.
THIS IS A TEST
mengmeng lu | sfai judit navratil | cca oberon strong | sfsu cristina velazquez | sfai
Every Tuesday at noon sharp the test of the emergency broadcast system echoes over San Francisco “This is a test. This is only a test.” Both ominous in a dystopian sense and reassuring in its reliable repetition, the siren and accompanying voice have become an emblem for this show, in which four emerging artists present experimental works that try and try again. As the original Dadaists turned to absurdity to protest the politics of their time, these artists deconstruct contemporary systems of logic through trial-and-error artmaking, ultimately presenting new possibilities for the “purpose” of art, and all the while documenting the process.
Mengmeng Lu (SFAI) exhibits The Vexed Men, a series of 5 supersized portraits of people imitating the strained visage of The Vexed Man, an 18th century alabaster bust by the German sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, as well as 4*4, a playful photographic series inspired by Eadweard Muybridge’s Horse In Motion. In 4*4, Lu whittles down identity to a cyborg-like character that she then applies to different models. By simultaneously referencing this historical modernist achievement, Lu not only breaks down barriers of ‘life’ and ‘life-like’, but also of time and history. The Vexed Men similarly explores the connection between external appearance and internal sense of self as these double images act as a performance of emotion, tested upon different bodies.
Judit Navratil (CCA) shares with us her long-distance somersault career, which is part of an ongoing project in which she inhabits different characters and travels to various locations to practice her craft. The rolling is a meditative practice, forcing the artist to accept and adapt to what lies ahead. Yet it also a demonstration of futility, akin to a hamster spinning in a wheel. It is in the superfluous and amusing qualities of this simple act that Navratil finds freedom. Navratil performed her rolling live in the gallery on opening night, for as long as she was physically able on our concrete floors.
Oberon Strong (SFSU) is an experimental filmmaker whose work explores the queer body and otherness. Strong’s work draws upon the aesthetics and technologies of their childhood to create a queer dystopia, in direct challenge to a utopia in which the hero overcomes repressive social constructs. The deconstructed qualities of the work aim to show that gender has no form or content, and embraces indefinability.
Cristina Velazquez (SFAI) performed live in the gallery with an iteration of These Flags, a performance that challenges divisions made by Nationalism and invented borders. Questioning the rhetoric of a country that stands “united” during an actually extremely divisive presidential administration, Velazquez’s performance is a metaphorical action for peace that is ultimately futile- the flags choke the artist as she acknowledges such a utopian state will probably never be realized. Her soft sculptures, tangled webs of white protrusions exhibited on the gallery floor, echo the show’s message of the fallability of appearance and the usefulness of art - or perhaps, lack thereof - in addressing various philisophical quandaries.
Angelica Jardini | CURATORIAL DIRECTOR
This exhibition was juried by Mikki Meng of Altman Siegal Gallery and Clea Massiani of Bass and Reiner.
MENGMENG LU
The Vexed Men (Series) and 4 * 4, 2017. Digital photography. Installation View.
4 * 4, 2017. Digital photography.
The Vexed Men (Series) and 3 * 3, 2017. Digital photography. Installation View.
MENGMENG LU
The Vexed Men (Series) and 4 * 4, 2017. Digital photography. Installation View.
A SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
As a photographer, Mengmeng Lu sees repetition as an integral part of the photographic process. This repetition that she utilizes in her practice, is an extended to her daily life. Lu describes her photographs as a search for a “common ground”, an attempt to capture the essence of the human condition, despite individual differences. This process manifests itself in her artwork and reflects her attempts to find ways to connect with people in different communities as she has frequently moved to new environments throughout her life.
The Vexed Man1, a bust made by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, which focuses both on physical and psychological aspects of the human condition, is the inspiration for the composition of Lu’s series of portraits in which each sitter was prompted to use the same facial expression as that of the original bust by Xaver. The expression captures a grimacing struggle or strained terror. The look of struggle in the sitters faces that she photographs may be an allusion to the struggle she has faced in her recurring efforts to find any continuity in the new environments she has had to adapt to. Lu cites the differences in physical appearance among her subjects, including age, gender, and ethnicity; as well as differences in what she describes as “personal culture”. She believes we all develop a “personal culture” within ourselves which is generated through family traditions, as well as personal experiences. These elements are specific to the development of an individual’s personality. Therefore, the differences among them are centered both on physical appearance as well as personality. The repetition of the expression used in her project which she titled The Vexed Men, was meant to form a connection between the subjects being photographed in this series, However, their physical differences remain prominent.
1. The Vexed Man, 1771-1783. Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. Alabaster. 2008.4 The J. Paul Getty Museum.
Because of this, she thinks of this series as an experiment that turned out to be a lie. Lu feels as though the limitations that the medium of photography presents, inhibits the ability to tell the full and accurate story. She recalls that the expression imposed on the sitters made them look different from their usual appearance, no longer recognizable, even to those that know them well. Also, although the facial expression was repeated throughout the photographs, she found that replication was impossible to achieve because of the physical differences of each individual. The common ground that she has been searching for seems instead to revolve around the fact that we are all universally different, both internally and externally.
James Piscatelli
JUDIT NAVRATIL
Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, 2017.07.09. Video: Balázs Vékes. Still. Right top: long distance somersault career #3. Városmajor // Budapest, 2015 Still. Right bottom: King School Park // Berkeley, CA. 251 rolls approximately 415 m, 2016.11.22 Video: Mary Lynn Rhodes. Still.
OBERON STRONG
ALL FALLS DOWN, 2017. 3-channel VHS/digital video, 5 min 49 sec. Installation view.
ALL FALLS DOWN, 2017. 3-channel VHS/digital video, 5 min 49 sec. Still.
CRISTINA VELAZQUEZ
Left: These Flags, 2017. Live performance. Remnants. Right: Untitled 1-Soft Sculpture, 2015. Installation view.
Untitled 2-Soft Sculpture, 2015. Installation view.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LAUREN DARE MARCEL HOUTZAGER MATT LOPEZ CLEA MASSIANI MICKI MENG BROOKE VALENTINE FORT MASON CENTER FOR ARTS & CULTURE SARTLE.COM THOR, ZEUS & JASPER
Embark Gallery offers exhibition opportunities to graduate students of the Fine Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. We provide a space for an engaged community of artists, curators and scholars, and we aim to expand the audience for up and coming contemporary art. A non-profit gallery, Embark’s programming represents the diversity of the talented artists studying at eight local art institutions: San Francisco Art Institute, UC Berkeley, California, College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco State University, UC Davis, San Jose State University, and Stanford. The juried exhibitions are held at our gallery in San Francisco at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.
Tania Houtzager | Executive Director Angelica Jardini | Curatorial Director