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| Whether it is a single
unifying element or the foundation of an architectural structure, line plays a
dynamic role in Edward Mayer’s wood-based sculptures. Built roughly to the scale
of the human body, Mayer’s installation-based works often bring together disparate
types of materials (wood lath pieces, fallen branches, hardware, found objects)
and forms, using the continuous line created by their adjacent positions to effect
a kind of three-dimensional drawing in space. When Mayer refers directly to architecture,
as in the piece Baldacchino, he often invites the viewer to see evidence of a
kind of cultural clash caused by the layering of incompatible historical data
– in this case, through visual suggestions of a Roman temple topped by technological
detritus and surrounded by a ring of barbed wire. The transient nature of the
pieces emphasizes this underlying fragility of things, at the same time it calls
into question the historical argument for the permanence of art. (excerpt from Dan Cameron's catalog essay, click to see full text) |
