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Crismon likens his appropriations
and his treatment of them to the practice current in some musical circles of
layering new sounds, called "interferences," over existing and often
quite well-known compositions. The assault on the formal integrity of an already
existing work is a recurring stance in contemporary practice; it at once distances
the original, reducing its meaning, and offers the artist a means of expression
that is part commentary, part creation. The original work returns, altered and
revalidated with new intentions.
The three boat models, "Ghost
Ships," by John Taylor, embody quite another take on the past. Carefully
based on photographs of vintage vessels, the models may seem, at first glimpse,
just models. However, the worn or fragmentary condition of their materials
excites attention, and then the ships fall into place in one's awareness as
surprising assemblages constructed of found objects. The ship/object has gradually
materialized under Taylor's hand and eye from humble trash, displaying the
patina and tatter of unmistakable age. It would be interesting to have access
to some kind of day book or journal in which Taylor recorded the time and
circumstances of his scavenging.
Todd Hido's photographs are
widely known through his two books and more immediately through the inclusion
of a good number of them in the current show at the Heinz Architectural Center.
His preferred subjects are nocturnes of the close-in suburb or the modest
residential neighborhood that has seen better days; light industry and commercial
activities seem to lie just around the corner. Although working in San Francisco,
he documents a semi-urban world that is ubiquitous.
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