March 19 through April 24, 2004
Paragraph and Urban Culture Project are pleased to present PROTOTYPES-EXCURSIONS-OBSERVATIONS, the first local solo exhibition of Kansas City-based artist and merry-maker Eric von Robertson. Working out of the borderlands between art-making, industrial design, portable architecture, collecting, curating and a desire for early retirement, Robertson aims to eliminate the divisions between viewer and user, exhibition and art-making, by transforming viewers into participants in various recreation and leisure activities. Robertson further resists the static connotations of the term exhibition by structuring the whole affair as a work in progress. — Several years ago, Robertson founded C.A.R.L.—The Center for the Advancement of Recreation and Leisure. C.A.R.L. is an organization that emphasizes the creative process over finished products. This process consists of developing multiple functions within one structure and synthesizing it into a recreational prototype. The prototype is then introduced to a series of field studies that “investigate the structure’s ability to transform according to its location or recreational context.” — PROTOTYPES-EXCURSIONS-OBSERVATIONS features several prototypes in various stages of completion and photographic documentation of their use. These works are shown alongside other recreation and leisure goods—such as a surfboard or hammock—in environments completed by a user. Paragraph and C.A.R.L. will facilitate a series of exchanges, both in the gallery and in the community that offer the public a chance to interact with these prototypes and to experience novel social platforms. For C.A.R.L., it is imperative that the control towers of the exhibition space be destabilized. As C.A.R.L.’s objects are intended to function in numerous contexts, the gallery becomes interchangeable with other field test sites—the Arizona desert, the Costa Rican shoreline, a potted forest tableau in IKEA. As Robertson says, the work enables “traveling to the proximity of leisure not through reference, but through an actual situation.” Ultimately, both the gallery and the field become spaces for contemplation, social interactions, and free-spirited excursions. — Among the planned events are 12 fl oz. excursions, where participants and the artist will cruise the streets of Kansas City with soda cans magnetically affixed to the roof of their car. Also, a picnic with the gentle load is sure to delight all generations—this shape-shifting piece of inflatable architecture will have you cloud-gazing one moment and your heart outpaced the next. The gallery is also offering a rental scheme for objects in the exhibit and a membership program in C.A.R.L. designed to provide ongoing recreation and leisure experiences for your life. — Please see carl.typepad.com for further info and to follow the progress of the exhibit. (Now accessible through the Wayback Machine)
Exhibition Details
