Lisa Young: Curated by Cabinet Magazine

CUE Art Foundation

Cl E ,\rt Fo1111da1io11 is a 50 I (<')(3) non profit f<>t'lltll for cont<'lllJH>ran arl a11d <·1tll11ral e,clta11ge !Ital prm ides opport1111i1ies and rc·so111T<'S for t1lldn recog11i1ed arti-.ls. \\e ,ali1e lite a...to11islti11g di\('rsil\ of'creati,il\ 1ha1 artists prm ide a11d 111<· i111porta11c<· of'tlwir acti, il\ Ill llw social contnl of'llt<· cil\.

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Artist: Lisa Young

A key act1v1ty 1n all my work 1s collecting, analyzing and repos1t1on1ng image and text fragments I act as a visual interpreter. sift ng through the image sediment to investigate the fleeting nature of "perfect" moments and desired states of being.

I use everyday images (figure skating from prime time telev1s1on. fortune cookie fortunes. t1ckertape parades) to examine cultural ideals and the desiring self A video, Lyra Ange/Jca, Juxtaposes four figure skating performances that fall in and out of time with one another. creating a composite narrative that explores defin1t1ons of beauty, perfection. success and failure. A web archive, Fortune Huntmg, allows for a lingu1st1c exploration of fortune cookie fortunes. yet also becomes a ver1cle for invest1gat1ng common desires.

A series of snapshots. Transcendent Machine. depict sections of toilet paper floating in m1d-a1r photographed during a t1ckertape parade 1n New York City In this narrative. the fan creates a transcendent machine. both producing and consuming the sublime.

I often use cropping and repetition, narrative sequences and a documentary mode as ways of organizing images or obJects. I enJoy working w1th1n visual and l1nguist1c structures that also allow for random or chance occurrences Aesthet cally. I Juxtapose a casual approach to photography with carefully composed group,ngs that suggest disparate traJectories. mark the passage of time. or produce panoramic yet fractured spaces. The resulting works read as formal documents. a framing of my consciousness and observation: and as a series of ephemera that reflect the incomplete and transitory qua! ties of the sublime.

Biography Lisa Young holds a BFA from the University of Illinois. Urbana-Cl1ampa,gn. IL an MFA from Tufts Un1vers1ty/School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston. MA and 1s an alumnus of the Whitney Museum lndepender-t Study Program. New York. NY She 1s currently a V1s1t1ng Cr1t1c in the Photography and Foundation Studies DepartrT'erts of the Rhode Island School of Design. Providence. RI. Young's work explores the relat1onsh,p between the ternpora and the sublime through 1nstallat1on. books. video and web prowcts Her exh1b1t1on venues nc .Jde Wave H1 I. Bronx NY, Artists Space lr'd White Columns New York. NY Flux Factory. Long Island City. NY Bard College, Annandale -011 Hudson. NY: Artexte. Montreal Canada. and a b1.lboard proiect at 6150 W'lsh1re Boulevard 11"' Los Angeles. CA (with Julia Meltzer and C ockshop) Young c, edit on<; have been distributed through Pr nted Matter and Pace Prints. New York. NY: P1erog1 2000. Brookly n, NY and Art Metropole. Toronto. C3nada. The art -st¡s work can also be folwd ,n the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (Artist Book Co1lect ')n) and The New York Public Library. New York. NY: the H3rvard University Art Museums. C.arPbridge. MA the The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Med,a Art. Corned University. Ithaca. NY, and the Neues Museum. Weserburg Gerrnc1ny Young s exh1b1t1on at CUE. IT'arks her first solo show 11' New York

Curator: Cabinet Magazine Repeat After Me: Transcendence Is a Machine What ·, the pc1th to transcendence·> ll Pensees. the sever'teer th-cent,iry philcs.iprer Bla1 e Pa5cal prov des a surpr ,. ng answer Hav 119 provE'd tra; it 1s rat1cr di y better to believe 1n God than ren'c11r a skept c. he 1, rel.luffed by r s 1rnag1n<1ry , terl0u1tor whc. ,,mply rE'<;pond5. "I ,1m so rr Jde \hilt I c ,rnnot believe · f)asc .1 s advice '.o hie. eartr'-bvuno friend 1s thit he cied c.ate himself to repet t1vt phyc. ,c1I nt Jd 'lf you c1re unable to be' eve. 1t 1s because of your p,1r,s1or's since reasor' 1rnpe1'> yOL, tc be1 Pve ancJ yet you cannot d0 so.

There are pec,rile wf'o. have l)eE'r c ..ired of n,s>

affl1c t1on of wh ch you wish to be r uerl follow tr,, w,-,y by which they began. They h,haved Just as f th0y did be11eve. tdk,rg roly wc1tr r. t,,iv111g masses s,1 cJ. ar'd -o on rhal w1I m,1k0 you believ0 qu '.e naturc1 y" Kneel ,,gain c1nd a9, :n. ar'd you will come to believe th,1t you knelt bectJuse of your t,e>1 et Hie pc1th to tranc.,endence consist, not of' p1r tucJI exen 1c;e < bu' of a cries of reppt1t1ve. mechanic a1 ge•,turec.

Ac><,thet1, c, 1s 1nforrT'C'd by a •,1rrnl..ir par,1dox. one w'l1ch L ',cl Yvir�J·s ,vork explore by staging the 1ntin·ate rel,1t1or'sh1p betweer, til0 tr,1r1·,::erdPnt. the be<111t1ful. ar'd the perfer t. on the c,ne r>cir>d. c1nd tr'e low'y. 'he repet1t1ve. <111d n 0 1m, ufp,·• c I th, otrcr Car a poetics based 011 rPpet1•1on produ,e 1romn,ts of tr,mscendencE.;, What hdppp11c. wrer tre 1mperfe, t101 s Just outc.1de the fr,1rne of an ,1pp.1rprtly ,ul)l1rne rrmr,Pnt nr gesture are made v1s1ble? Trar>scendent Machme. for exarnple. comprises photographs vf sect ons of toilet paper thrown off a roof durinq a t1ckertape parade. the lowly material for an instant attaining a kind of ethereal gr3ce n,e video. Lyra Angelica. s,multc1neous,y presents four performances of the same 1ce-skat1ng routine by Michelle Kwan c1t four different cornpet1t1ons. niough u' tr1c performances begir• 1dent1cally. they fa 1n c nd out of ;tpp w1ti' the symphonic rPu .. c us tile <:or·tmger·� e5 of e,ict, perforn1dr1CP ( 11C, Jing ts errors) accumulate L1s,1 Young s wcrk 1s not des gned. r>owever. to celpbrate the 1r,J11d,1nc> or to rnock our d0c, re for tr e tr.ir•scendent. lnsteacJ. hPr worK po1r'ts ,is tow ird a f'dti .it the end of which tlie m1n-dane and the> sublimP. the mechan1c<11 c1nd the tr,H1'<.Pnder•t. turn out to hc1ve a ways belor· -;ied to or,' ,mother

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Biography Cabinet is a non-profit quarterly magazine of art and culture founded 1n 2000. The publication's aim is to encourage a new culture of curiosity by presenting essays, interviews and artist proJects addressing a wide range of topics in language that is accessible to the non-specialist The magazine believes that heightened curiosity forms the basis for an ethical and caring engagement with the world as it 1s and for imag1n111g how 1t might be otherwise.

In addition to the periodical, Cabinet has also published a number of books. including !If and Petrov's Amencan Road Tnp (Princeton Architectural Press. 2006); Presidential Doodles (Basic Books. 2006). and The Book of Stamps (2008). Curatorial work to date 111cludes Odd Lots. Revis1tmg Gordon Matta Clark's Fake Estates. Queens Museum of Art, Flushing, NY. and White Columns. New York, NY. 2005: and the traveling exh1bit1on The Paper Sculpture Show (with Mary Cerut1 and Matt Freedman, 20032007) that was exh1b1ted at twenty venues across the United States. Cabinet has also staged a large variety of symposia, multimedia events. radio performances and theater ,:lerformances. including a re-enactment of a recent libel trial 1n Paris at Documenta 12 (2007) Cabmet has recently opened an event and exh1bilion space 111 the Gowanus Canal area of Brooklyn. For more infor1,1at1on about the magazine and its various act1v1t1es. visit www.cabinetmagazine org

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a·, the poss,b1lit1e•. thdt trPSP pr0CE",Ses c,1n opcr up ShP c,1rPf,JI y ciev1ses <;ysterP, fr,1rPeworks for ee,rg the wvrld dr'd t.Jmrng dnforrnu 1•ed :,formation 1rto ,ometl,11'q rew Whether c1rch1v 1 nc, fortunes. herd r 'J a flock of •oy sheer or d ",ecting the pattE r,1s of golf and figure skating, You11q rnc,lrltdir'S an U1'Wdver1ng interest 1n tt,e r10• ons 0! becorr• ng and potent .ii ty. By erT·phac, L111g hPr rneuns ard mett"od, over d prec:on, e1vPd resu t her work retain, an oper' embrace of what 1<- ur,kn0wr 1rn1-'robab1e .Jt1!1r> shed. and unexpee ted ·· crec1te <l c,tr.,ctured system.· You11g exola1ns. but wl 1tlt l't1ppenc. 1n that system s r·ot Pr tirely w,tl' n rny c:or tro To make Cc11endar (2001· 2003). Uie art st pl utogr,1ptwd thE> sky PVE'rY rn0rr 11g tor one year yield n\J a serie<; of fluc:t .Jat ng color field 1rn.igPs •hat ,ire ri- tal ed to rT 11r c •1· t format of the r ,,lenddr rPOntt" T h , endL•c1vor I k(' m,my of h,•r ottier works. , propcI Pd by a double ,,ct ·m. rT posing rule'> and conotrd r,ts while '"rT ditaneous,y rel11 qu1sl'11 'J contro over the •1nal rec,u

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otherVv e prist ne b1,H? sky, the vo �t1l1ty o• weather patterns-'> tl vita eounterp0 rt to ti E "t.lr1cept.;,11 r gor of the proiec t A, <:;of, eW·tt irgue<, 1n t11, rc1ra9rdµI,, 0r, (01,ce{...t.1a, Ari, the 1091c of il prece or ,enec, of piece, 15 J device th<1t 1< used cit times or y tc be ru,r ed.·, Young·, n ethodc ogy 11wolvc d C"dreful rcqc,t c1lior o• wh..it ,., pred1c.tc1b e ,md ,mpred1c:tablp w 1 th1n the w�tern 5hC' d1cta•ec,, ,rnd when :lie 0ystem itself c;ho.i d be J owed to c1nr,1VPI In C arendc1r c,llC' ets out tc., ,ice omp11sh the t 1 k 0f documer't1ng Sl1btlC' c 1rPatol0g1c.1l ch,mg( . 1r' , fam1lic1r yPt c,ubie, t1vf w,1y I, domg '>O. <I·( demonstrate'> the 1nlierent l1rn•,1t10rs of her rrethod one pho'or;vci,,il or pc.,1 't of vrew. or even cJ sene'> of them. c 'llild r'cver repr0spnt ,111 er· tire ye,ir of cl'll'osptwr, trends. L 1kc L.eWr•t·s wall cJraw·ngs. the rr'ag1e of You11g c, work Ire<, rn the rift bel w•>er' t'1E poetrc s1mpl1c,ty of her a,m and the arduou� path she travels to get there The haunt ng, ambiguous phrase "You are almost there." included r' Younc/s Fortune Huntmg, encapsulates the interrogative oper' endedness of her practice. proieeting botr the mantra of the pract1t1oner trying to master a skr I and ,1 ph1losoph1c,1 profund ty that ,;eerT's to de�r r1be the work 0f l1v ng 1tse,f. Thie, phras(' , c1t or>ce C'll'pty dr'd loacled, recc1ll111g Or Kaw1rl'c, po1g11c1nt te,egr,1n prowct. whpre,n thE> cJr• ,t drssemrr'atE d ,1 ,,ng,., message

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and. in turn. consumed by onlookers. whose perceptions of this event transform 1t into a resplendent spectac 1 e ', Young might be thought of as the engineer of this "transcendent machine." Her re-presentations of found material encourage a subl me reading that 1s rendered legible by the 1nterpretat1on of the v•ewer In Dnves (2008). the artist systemat cally selects every shot 1n a televised PGA tournament dep1ct1ng the golf ball 1n flight These clips. which track the ball dur·ng the live telev1s1on coverage. are often deemed extraneous to the game's narrative and edited out of the rebroadcast footage. One could hypothesize. however. that they are removed for another reason· they Jump out as uncanny, d1ff1cult to resolve and potentially disruptive to the steady unfurling of the compet it on. Their extraction. nstead. allows the viewer to con1ure a d rect. 1dyll1c narrative bridge between the rnomer0t the bc'l 1s struck and when 1t returns to earth Unlike Transcendent Mach1r>e and Pnct1ce. the agents of the action ir· DnvE<s are completely absent Young's focus here 1s exclusively on the ob1ect of their forceful actions. Her v•deo evokes Paul Pfe1ffer's John 3'16 (2000). a remix of basketball footage in which the bal hovers. planet like. in the center of the frc1rne with the act1on sp1ra1 ng around it-shattering the narrative of the game and pulling the viewer's gaze nto orbit around the ball as a locus of desire Watching Dnves. we experience a defamil1arizcit1on of sub1ect matter and a collapse of scale In the absence of narrative cues the golfer c, swing, the ball landing on the green we are presented w·th fr::Jgments of the sphere·s erratic tra1ec tory across the sky. like a k1net1c version of Gabriel Orozco's per<,pect1ve confounding photograph. Ba// on Water ('994) Refram1ng our expectat101's for successfu resolution. Young asks us to focus on the moments of suspense. uncertainty and poss1b1l1ty before the ball's f 1ght 1s completed. Stringing these 1nterst1t1al moments together while preserving their temporal order, she creates what 1s best described 3S the empyreal effect of practice. a condition where repet1t1on blurs together with the sublime 111 a hypnotic pattern of presence. absence. and potentiality. "The formal structure. a m1nimal1st strategy of viewer complet on and mvolvernent" offer<, Allen Ruppersberg. "is one of fragment. space. fragment. space. fragn,ent. fragment. space. ',pace space '' The tension between worldly materials and sublime effect 1s a so at work 1n Buny (2004) Viewed from up close. the massive Xerox exhibits the scars and 1mperfect1orc, that manifest themselves as part of the reproduction process. creating an abstract pattern of positive and negative space Viewed from across the room. however. the marks and fractures coalesce into a dream 1ke mage of a buoy f oating at sea. m1rroriNJ

', T1,1s 1de,i 1s µ.irt a11y 1rdebtcd to (,i les DE 1euze ,rnd F el,x Gudttar , wl>o. irl Ant,-Of'ci,pus ,I'll.', postulatc•d "des,r1ng· product,01•" or "desir ng mac h111e�. rouPtennq Freud by re11ridqir111 CJ dr<irP as socially cor•structed aPd productive rather tha,· dr> u, consc1ous force rooted n 1nd1v1d1Jdl ack r, Allen Ruppersberg. 'F tty Helpful Hints 'lr1 thP Art of the f:veryd,1y' 11• Tlie Scuel JI L,lr d!ld Death (Los Ar>gele•, The Mu•,eum of Conterrpor,1ry Art 1985). p. 1'3 24

the d1sorient1ng figure-ground abstraction 1n Dnves Buoy takes the process of meaning production-how 1nformat1on combines to form a recognizable mage-and spat1al1zes t over a physical distance. The effect 1s d1squ1et1ng the buoy-a metaphor for survival and preservat1on-1s only interpretable when it 1s too far away to grasp. A similar d1sJunct1on 1s found in V1Ja Celm1ns· Star Field drawings (1982·1983). which oscillate between surface detail and the incomprehensible vastness of outer space. or Wolfgang Tillrnans' eerily faded photocopy enlargements of his own photographs. For each of these artists. large shifts 1n scale and the erosion of 1nformat1on corvey a longing for that which can be only part1a ly material1zed-1ntertw1n1ng the entropic properties of memory and the physical limitations of mechanical reproduction.

Lisa Young's practice succeeds in establishing an interrogative methodology of seeing and ordering the d verse material of everyday life. She pays particular attention to how lines of thought can emerge from a preoccupat1or with repeated gestures Flockmg (2008) presents a collection of f•gurines 1n a continuum of visual styles-some real1st1c others pushing the l1m1ts of what s1gn1f1es "sheep"-and stands as a metaphor for her approach to art making. Despite their d1fferert appearances. all of the animals are part of the same flock. an assemblage m1grat1ng towards some unknown destination. Suspended

en-route. they ep1tom1ze the s1gn1f1cance of the Journey itself and the potential to go anywhere. Never arrived. they are continually "almost there" This 1s an 1ntermed1ate space where. to quote the final words of Lyra Angel1ca·s vo1ceover commentary. "everything 1s possible .. Young's work suggests that we could learn to remain herewith practice Shane Brennan. Brooklyn. NY. October 2008

All quotes are from interviews with the author unless otherwise specified No part of this essay may be reproduced without pnor consent from the author

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