#gretchen bennett

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This book would make anyone happy.

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Tahoma

Gretchen Bennett

Opening/Closing Reception

Tuesday, May 31st

7-10pm

Windfall Alphabet, 2011

Chris Doyle in Gretchen Bennett’s Governors Island Studio 2010 The jpeg and YouTube source material is so important, as it is rescuing things from a meaningless life of repetition. These are being pulled out of the stream, and folded into a new narrative. The Windfall Alphabet letters read in space as letters; they have dimension. There is an overall vibe suggested in this work that has to do with craft and craftsmanship. In this work, there is a complexity of translation. Rematerializing the John Ruskin “Twigs” neutrally exposes the process of obsessive translation. This is a process of translating the meaning away, rather than towards, so it takes the material many steps away from it’s original thought, becoming something else. The new meanings connect to the foundness of materials. The work shows an interest in not knowing where they came from, but the desire to experience and cause a disconnect, rather than a connect. The art references don’t matter, either. They could’ve been more personal or random, but in the end, it’s both of those. The disjointed state the viewer is left with is the intended condition. Even the Windfall stick font is taken from an incredible web of connection and disjointed from it. It’s intentionally separated from its original intent and content, to become somewhat strange, suggestive of an alternate civilization. This is why the Internet is so important, because in dipping into this culture, alien to the artist, she doesn’t know what her limitations are, what they should be. This is not about misunderstanding, but reunderstanding; moving away from and strengthening what the work is moving towards. This happens in steps and becomes a language. Meaning is built over time. How does one evaluate the success of these objects? The hope is that the fervor involved in the process shows through. In order for that to happen, the process of observation, collection and reconfiguration has to be like a religion. It must come from such power and beauty. But the power has to come from religion, carrying the same devotional aspects. The drapery, font and necklaces have an artifactual quality.

Drawing installation and 'Charcoal Stick Alphabet' 2011

Vision Quest Series, 2011