"Labyrinths," the new installation exhibit in the David Winton Bell Gallery, offers three different perspectives on the ancient intricate structure once used to entrap and confuse prisoners.
While the most famous historical example of this elaborate maze is Daedalus' Cretan labyrinth, used to imprison the monstrous Minotaur, in more recent times the mazes have symbolized the complicated path towards self-realization. The exhibit captures this aspect of the labyrinth most effectively, with each of the three pieces offering a different part of the path towards understanding.
The complexity and enormity of Alyson Shotz's "The Shape of Space", which is suspended from the ceiling in the lobby of List, is reflected throughout the entire exhibit. The sculpture is made from cut plastic Fresnel lens sets and is 114 inches by 444 inches. Two curved parts hang next to each other, forming a passageway between them. The clear plastic absorbs outside light and reflects it back, creating a confusing set of distorted light patterns, a reminder that comprehension can be linked to something as ephemeral as the sunlight shining into the lobby.
The other two pieces, both inside of the gallery, have a more reserved quality than Shotz's work. Dominic McGill's piece, "Project for a New American Century," is a large graphite drawing that mocks its namesake, the conservative think tank Project for the New American Century. The 7.5-by-65 foot piece is arranged like a timeline of recent American history, beginning with images of the bombing of Hiroshima and including phrases like the anti-Vietnam cry "Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" The overlapping and overwhelming events McGill includes surround the viewer, as the suspended piece curves and continues its detailed historical commentary.
The final piece, Jan Mancuska's "True Story," stands out against the other two works in the exhibit for its deceptively simple appearance. The piece is made up of three strands of text attached to the gallery wall that intersect each other in the middle of the room. Each line of text is cut from gray aluminum and each word is connected to the next through a steel cable.
Independently, each line recounts a different perspective of the same event. The lines intersect with each other, cutting off the individual threads of narrative and making it difficult to read any line independent of the others. The piece tells a simple story from the perspectives of two men and a woman. One of the men is waiting for the woman in his car; the woman is crossing the street and is scared by the second man, who is black.
The three separate experiences are inextricably bound by time and place, yet each of the characters is both an independent and an influential player in the story. By creating a physically interconnected piece, Mancuska demonstrates the extent to which a single encounter is shaped by individual perception.
The three installations work well together, complementing each other with their drastically different media and approaches to the concept of the labyrinth. Together, they create an entrancing mix of confusion and wonderment, effectively capturing their dangerously alluring theme.
