2017 Out of the Box Catalog

A JURIED OUTDOOR SCULPTURE EXHIBITION 10.06.2017–10.06.2018

featuring the work of :

Fumi Amano (WA) Kurt Dyrhaug (TX) Ira Hill (AL) Gregory Johnson (GA) Benjamin Jones (MA) Ben Lock (NC) Hye Yeon Nam (LA) Matthias Neumann (NY) Stacey Rathert (MS) Steve Rossi (NY) Eric Troffkin (MI) Adam Walls (NC)

TOP: Robbie Barber (American, b. 1964), Dreams of Flying, 2011, welded steel, paint, found objects, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase with funds provided by Julian R. Haynes in loving memory of Dr. Lucile McGehee Haynes, 2014.10 RIGHT: Gregory Johnson (American, b. 1955), Angles of Repose, 2013, stainless steel on granite sub-base, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase with funds provided by Judith and Thomas Chase in loving memory of Lucille Dickinson Allen and Joseph Wren Allen, 2014.11 BOTTOM: Alex Podesta (American, b. 1976), Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers), 2014, mixed media floating sculpture, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase with funds provided by Christopher S. Warren, Melissa L. Voynich ’08, Monroe Floyd Vest III ’75 and Teresa Peters Vest ’78, and 122 additional 2017 Tiger Giving Day donors, 2017.06

JULE COLLINS SMITH MUSEUM OF FINE ART, AUBURN UNIVERSITY DESIGN BY Janet Guynn | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Mike Cortez © 2017 Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University.

Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.

Welcome to the third presentation of Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition. This unique program offers established and emerging artists the opportunity to present their three-dimensional artwork on the grounds of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University. Artists from across the nation were invited to participate and nearly one hundred sent in images of their artwork to be considered by our juror, artist Jean Shin, who chose the twelve pieces included in this exhibition. Once these sculptures were installed on the museum grounds, Ms. Shin chose her top three award winners.

The twelve sculptures selected will remain on view at JCSM through October 2018. Over the course of this next year we invite you to visit often and view these works of art at your leisure as you stroll our Lethander Art Path. Hopefully, they will intrigue and engage you in the unique experience of interacting with art in a natural environment. We hope you agree that Out of the Box is a special visual art experience.

An exhibition like this is the result of many people. We want to acknowledge the kind assistance we received from the construction crew at Auburn University’s Facilities Management who were instrumental in preparing for the installation of this artwork. Our special thanks go to Nick Blair, Design Services, Josh Conradson, Construction Management and Lett Construction, who were able to meet our tight deadlines.

I also want to thank the JCSM staff who always give more than 100% to every task, every day. This includes, Chris Carr, Mike Cortez, Janet Guynn, Todd Hall, and Dennis Harper. We are very grateful to our Out of the Box co-curators, Jessica Hughes and Andy Tennant, who handle all the complexities of planning and coordinating twelve artists and their artwork. It is only because of this collaborative team effort that we can provide such a great program for our campus and regional community.

Special thanks go to our juror, Jean Shin who has provided us with two excellent exhibitions­the one she juried for our grounds and the one in which we featured her terrific installation piece entitled MAiZE. Also, we are grateful to all of our artists for their willingness to share their creative expression and hard work with our audiences. It is a pleasure to host these singular works of art at JCSM. Finally, we thank our donors who have provided funding for this exceptional program. Out of the Box is supported in part by the Haynes Family in memory of Julian Robert Haynes and Dr. Lucile McGehee Haynes, Grace K. and David E. Johnson, with additional funding from the Susan Phillips Educational Gift Fund, the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment of the Arts.

As you stroll the grounds and see this exhibition you will find that the museum has acquired three sculptures that were part of our previous Out of the Box exhibitions in 2013 and 2015. These are Dreams of Flying by Robbie Barber, Angles of Repose by Gregory Johnson, and Self Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers)

by Alex Podesta. Special thanks to Julian Haynes, Judy and Tommy Chase, Christopher S. Warren, Melissa L. Voynich, Monroe Floyd Vest III and Teresa Peters Vest as well as the 122 additional 2017 Tiger Giving Day contributors for their part in helping us establish what we hope will be the early beginnings of the JCSM sculpture garden. We are grateful for their foresight, financial support and willingness to think “out of the box” when it comes to JCSM.

MARILYN LAUFER, PHD

Director, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University

Acknowledgements

A JURIED OUTDOOR SCULPTURE EXHIBITION As we open the third installment of Out of the Box, many of us at JCSM find ourselves thinking about the role of art in a community. There are numerous ways to define that role, but perhaps the most relevant intersection of art and community at this point in time, both locally and nationally, is art’s ability to facilitate dialogue. That might be something as simple as sharing a smile or a laugh with a fellow observer to a conversation that shifts whole paradigms.

This is what museums mean when we talk about the power of art. More traditional exhibitions provide this opportunity for exchange consistently and with commitment, but there is something about outdoor sculpture that is different.

Out of the Box not only takes us out of the literal white box or gallery space, but by doing so, it also opens us up to an interactive environment. Art that is outside changes with and exists within its environment. It becomes a mark of place and it draws from that place. It shakes off any sense of unapproachability or restraint, coming, instead, out to the viewer—meeting you. These are works that assert themselves in their large scale, refusing to be contained; but more than that, they insist that you, too, not be inhibited with walls or confined with space. Instead, they catch your eye and they pull you around them, under them, on them. This is the presence of outdoor sculpture.

Twelve artists have works in this exhibition. They come from all over the country and are of different genders, home nationalities, political views, and thoughts about the world. They created works of art that they hope resonates with others, regardless of any differences between them. So take a seat or walk away, even interact with the art directly— engage! Look at it, yes, but discuss it too. Talk to each other. Explore these worlds and identities and ideas with these artists through their artwork. We are inviting you in by taking you out of the box. Out of your comfort zone. Out of your insecurities. Out of your physical limitations. Out of your solitude. Join together with your neighbors, peers, friends, and strangers, and talk and listen and explore our community bonds. Be active, be present, because this is our community, and this museum and this exhibition are for you­—welcome!

ANDY TENNANT AND JESSICA HUGHES

Assistant director and curatorial assistant and co-curators for Out of the Box

HOW TO ENGAGE MORE: This exhibition also gives you the chance to engage with JCSM and the artists of Out of the Box themselves. Through audio interviews accessible on our website at aub.ie/ootb_digitalexhibition you can hear the artists talk about their works, as well as find additional content on all things exhibition related. Engage with the museum on Instagram @jcsm_outofthebox.

Introduction

(Detail, left) Jean Shin, MAiZE, 2017, in collaboration with the Figge Art Museum and the Quad City Community. Image courtesy of the Figge Art Museum and the artist.

Juror Jean Shin Jean Shin is an internationally recognized artist who works with multiples of objects to transform the everyday into compelling interpretations of identity and community. She uses materials that range from prescription pill bottles to sweaters, and often obtains them as second-hand objects from people in participating communities. These objects transform into her media and become complex, conceptual and beautifully intricate works of sculpture. Her work is distinguished by her laborintensive process, and these breathtaking installations seem to capture the essence of communal and societal issues that everyone faces in their day to day life.

Jean Shin, MAiZE

Oct. 6, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2018

MAiZE is an indoor sculpture installation made from upcycled materials that evokes a corn maze. Shin's work often references the impact of a throwaway culture on our environment.

Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in the United States, Shin attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999 and received a BFA and MS from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her work has been widely exhibited in over 150 major national and international museums, including in solo exhibitions at The Crow Collection in Dallas, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Shin has received numerous awards and has been featured in a multitude of publications world-wide. In 2017, Jean Shin completed a major commission for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York at the 63rd Street Station on the new Second Avenue Subway line as well as a public art commission for the City of Seattle, Washington. She lives and works in New York City. www.jeanshin.com

After reviewing nearly 100 images of artworks to choose from, I made a selection of 12 artists’ works that stood out from all the submissions for the 2017–18 Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition. I am grateful to have spent time considering the multitude of artistic endeavors in contemporary sculpture and to arrive at this final selection that is presented on the grounds of Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Thank you to the museum staff for this invitation and congratulations to the artists!

Among the selected sculptures, I was struck by a number of artists who are embracing the concerns, materials, and forms of the everyday. In this approach, some artists repurposed, combined, or refer to architectural elements such as windows, wooden floors, and benches to reimagine the places that connect us, while other works metaphorically and literally speak to where we are. For example, an articulated square of artificial turf indicates the You Are Here spot or an all-mirror-surfaced, iconic Q stands for WHAT’S IN THE QUEUE? These works suggest a kind of perpetual temporality in our daily lives as we constantly try to locate ourselves in the world, and at the same time, are waiting to see what moves into position next. The sentiment of navigating our location in time and space is also articulated by the text based work that spells out “Eventually/Everything.”

The notion of movement is also present in several of the selected works. One large-scale, colorful red- andwhite work moves fluidly over the landscape, suggesting roller coaster-like speed and curvature. A similarly vibrant sculpture shows whimsy as it appears to bounce from an impossible counterweight. In another curious sculpture, a tire on an axle is connected to a mysterious circular container without anything else on its load.

The last group of works invites viewer interaction. Exploring shifting identities, one installation that depicts a face submerged in water engages the public to mechanically reposition facial features, such as the shape of the mouth. American Expressions, a sculpture in the form of a U.S. flag, asks audiences to share their thoughts about America. This is an especially poignant gesture in today’s current political climate. In the documentation, one participant writes, “Don’t forget America is beautiful.” Perhaps, this insertion is a fitting reminder for all of us as we walk around this beautiful landscape encountering sculptures to reflect on the positive aspects of our shared reality.

JEAN SHIN, August 2017

Juror's Biography & Statement

2017-18 Finalists

01

Hye Yeon Nam (Louisiana, b. 1979)

Floating Identity in Auburn, 2017

Plexiglas and metal (kinetic sculpture) 127 x 519 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT I am a digital media artist working on interactive/kinetic installations and performances. I foreground the complexity of social relationships by making the familiar strange and interpreting everyday behaviors in performative ways. In Floating Identity, I use the water in the reflecting pool as a metaphor for the fluidity of the modern society, and the image of the woman’s face submerged in the water as a symbol for the socially-agreedupon beauty and identity standards of the modern woman. The audience may change the expression of the face using the manual handle—revealing the variations in the standard for female identity in today’s society.

Benjamin Jones

(Massachusetts, b. 1978)

Eventually/Everything, 2015

Steel, aluminum, plywood, linear urethane enamel, lights, and custom electronics 102 x 156 x 60 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My artwork interrogates aspects of American foreign and domestic policy over the last two decades by employing architecture as both a motif and a metaphor. The threads that connect issues, such as the resurgence of American interventionism and the struggle for middle class survival, weave throughout this body of work.

Eventually/Everything, interprets a brief quote from American designer Charles Eames as a mantra of pragmatic idealism. The form is inspired by mid-century incandescent billboards that at one time populated the rooftops of many U.S. cities. Eames’ words are folded back into the piece as a single blinking light, tapping out the designer’s words posthumously in Morse code. “Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects…the quality of the connections is the key to quality per se…I don’t believe in this ‘gifted few’ concept, just in people doing things they are really interested in doing. They have a way of getting good at whatever it is.”

02

2017Ð18 Finalists

Fumi Amano

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

(Washington, b. 1985)

As a Japanese woman living in the United States, I struggle with communication, since English is not my first language. As a result, I am very interested in the subject of communication and my desire for intimacy. Repeated misunderstandings made me sad. Continuously appearing ignorant has brought me real frustration. The eyes of all on me intimidated me. I felt like the more I stayed here, the more I shrunk. I lost myself. Loneliness made me eager for deep communication with someone else. I did performance pieces to express the intense way that being loved by someone helped me survive. Through the performance work, I became a sculpture and communicated directly with the viewers. Now I can finally talk with others, beyond, above, and below language’s normal spectrum.

Voice, 2017

Old window frames, wood, and sheet glass 84 x 120 x 120 inches

03

Matthias Neumann

(New York, b. 1969)

Double-bench VI (basics), 2017

Wood (2 x 4s) 120 x 144 x 120 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT : Educated as architect in Germany, I have been based in Brooklyn, NY since 2000. My work fluctuates between architecture and a wide range of artistic media, with a particular focus on installations in the public sphere. Over the past three years, I have been engaged with a body of work under the title basics, which explores an abstract notion of form, space, and utility. I intend for the work to be experienced both as abstract sculpture and as a usable interactive spatial environment.

Initially conceived as part of a larger installation for the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, Romania, the series of work has since had a number of iterations throughout the U.S. Basics aims to contribute to questions of monumentality and temporality in contemporary public art.

04

2017Ð18 Finalists

Adam Walls

(North Carolina, b. 1974)

Ker-Plunk, 2008

Painted steel 64 x 130 x 45 inches

05

ARTIST’S STATEMENT The majority of my sculpture is concept driven and is often highly viewer interactive. The conceptual component of my work is often derived from a memory that is stirred by the shape of some found object or from some memento that I have held onto since childhood. These things bring up thoughts and experiences that challenge me and guide me through the creative process. There are elements in much of my larger works that are derived from my love of fantasy, escapism, and pop-culture imagery.

I find that it is not always necessary to me that the viewer understand my concept, but it is important to me that I provide a visually exciting experience that might encourage the viewer to see and engage with art more often.

Kurt Dyrhaug (Texas, b. 1966)

Combine Wing II, 2017

Steel and wood 144 x 48 x 96 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT Currently, my sculpture employs agricultural and aeronautical imagery taken from experiences living in Southeast Texas. Utilizing iron and wood, this work evokes the forms and functions of machinery, providing new associations of meaning.

Reconstructing forms of this nature alludes to a variety of interpretations and potential applications based on the relationships of scale and materials.

These familiar forms hold the potential for creating a variety of enigmatic and suggestive propositions that solicit interpretation.

06

2017Ð18 Finalists

Stacey Rathert

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

(Mississippi, b. 1987)

Much of my artwork explores ideas of place and home. This piece was influenced by a conversation about picnics that I had with students, while living and teaching in St. Louis in 2013. I am originally from a rural farming community in Kansas, and to me, picnics are something of necessity because they allow farmers more time in the fields—only needing to pause their work briefly for a lunch brought to them by their families. However, in the city, picnics were an occasional, fun weekend activity. It is these differences that inspired the construction of a gently sloping surface that mimics the unfurling of a blanket before a picnic. The use of artificial turf suggests that the earth is being lifted, as well as revealing something underneath that relates to the location of the piece. The viewer is invited to sit on the “blanket” and perhaps consider the place in which he or she exists or to long for a place that is more like home.

You Are Here, 2013

Steel, artificial turf, and ground cover 36 x 108 x 108 inches

07

Eric Troffkin

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

(Michigan, b. 1967)

Communications Vine hybridizes a red-and-white communications tower and a vine-like plant. The red and white sections are fabricated steel, and the fiberglass elements, resembling transmission equipment, sprout in mushrooms-like bunches at intervals along its length.

Communications Vine,

ongoing, originated in 2014

Fiberglass and steel 82 x 362 x 162 inches

I produce sculpture built up from modular systems and multiple elements that can be assembled on site, configured in response to particular landscape conditions. Each installation is an opportunity to compose the work anew, to experiment, and to add elements. Multiple installations, different each time, are part of the work’s content—like a plant, it grows in a unique way where it is planted, and like a plant, it spreads.

Through my objects and creative process, I draw a connection between organic wildness and our own creative industriousness in order to ask: do our activities follow natural patterns, or do they, themselves, exhibit forms of wildness?

08

2017Ð18 Finalists

09

Ben Lock (North Carolina, b. 1980)

Rubber Burner, 2011

Steel, chrome lug nuts, convex mirror, wheel, tire, chrome hubcap, gray primer, and Chrysler Hemi Orange paint 32 x 96 x 36 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT I am intrigued and inspired by American culture and the history and labor of making.

The function and use of tools, equipment, and the application of materials and work have always influenced the creation of my artworks. Often in my work, I draw from the formal qualities of machinery and industrial vessels, such as trucks and ships, combining ideas ranging from nautical forms and the sea to hot rods and the iconography of American culture. Through this imagery, I investigate concepts that address relationship, class, labor, and journey.

Steve Rossi (New York, b. 1975)

Reciprocal Ladder to Intersect, 2016

Wood and acrylic latex 60 x 48 x 16 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT Incorporating an interdisciplinary practice that combines sculpture, photography, and performative actions, I aim to visualize systems of social organization. Recontextualizing utilitarian objects for aesthetic and metaphorical purposes, I question our associations with, and notions of, failure, progress, social hierarchies, and upward mobility in contemporary culture.

10

2017Ð18 Finalists

11

Ira Hill

(Alabama, b. 1974)

American Expressions,

ongoing, originated in 2011

Fabricated steel and paint 96 x 192 x 72 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT American Expressions is a social experiment, political awakening, and artistic representation of expression through an 8-foot by 16-foot steel sculpture of an American flag. The American Expressions flag was toured throughout the United States in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. By allowing people to write directly on the flag, it became a document of their encounters and a place of expression for the people of our nation. It was a journey promoting freedom and compassion. Upon traveling to the next destination, the flag was repainted, absorbing the expressions of the previous community, weaving thousands of voices together. The literal act of repainting the flag is a metaphor for the cooperation and effort needed by everyone to rejuvenate our country. This artwork is truly public art that engages. When the flag is beleaguered and looks much like our political reality, we can go repaint it. Through cooperation, compassion, and applied effort, the flag can look great again—just like our nation.

Gregory Johnson (Georgia, b. 1955)

WHAT’S IN THE QUEUE?, 2017 Mirror-finished high chromium stainless steel on powder-coated stainless steel base 24 x 33 x 53 inches

ARTIST’S STATEMENT In my early career I focused on figurative themes in bronze and cast stainless steel. My new work focuses instead on geometric shapes and segmented circle forms that depict or suggest things that we see and are familiar with but cannot touch or quantify. I am inspired by curves found in life and nature—I like how they meander, cross over each other, and are more naturally apparent to me than straight lines. My emphasis on the circle as a thematic symbol portrays that ubiquitous presence that I find in everyday life—one with no beginning, middle, or end.

12

2017Ð18 Finalists

1. Hye Yeon Nam, Floating Identity in Auburn 2. Benjamin Jones, Eventually/Everything 3. Fumi Amano, Voice 4. Matthias Neumann, Double-bench VI (basics) 5. Adam Walls, Ker-Plunk 6. Kurt Dyrhaug, Combine Wing II 7. Stacey Rathert, You Are Here 8. Eric Troffkin, Communications Vine 9. Ben Lock, Rubber Burner 10. Steve Rossi, Reciprocal Ladder to Intersect 11. Ira Hill, American Expressions 12. Gregory Johnson, WHAT’S IN THE QUEUE?

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Join the Conversation on the JCSM Out of the Box Instagram page @jcsm_outofthebox.

Like, share, and comment on this year’s sculptures, and check out what other visitors are saying. Follow our main Instagram page @jcsmauburn for updates and pictures of programs, exhibitions, and more!

As you participate, please remember that JCSM is a public learning institution for visitors of all ages.

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