assignment #2; Rachel Knight

Claire Rau’s exhibit, Booby Traps seems soft to the eye, but still makes the viewer take a step back and think. With many simple light colored and clean screen prints on the walls, the exhibit appeared to be easy to the eye and flowed very well. The exhibit also included three 3-D pieces on the floor. They were very interesting and different, making me spend more time looking at them. On a second look at the entire exhibit, I noticed that each piece seemed rather violent, strong, and political in some way, due to this, my view of the exhibit changed entirely. Flowing very well, the only distractions were the strategically placed 3-D pieces on the floor. With a parking barrier almost in the middle of the room, it is impossible to miss or admire. I was drawn to the silk screen prints the most.

The piece I have chosen is a silk screen print using acrylic paints. Done in blues, the piece appears to be a bit glassy. Another thing I notice is the lack of precise details, which definitely affects the feel of the print. Very clean and sharp, I am very impressed and drawn to the print.

After listening to Claire’s artist lecture I learned that the piece is inspired by a scene in the Hardy Boys novels. I found that very interesting, reminding me of projects I have done in the past using favorite books or stories. My initial thoughts on this piece have nothing to do with those novels though. When looking at the piece I thought of two different explanations. The first one has to do with the literal sense of the piece, which involves the violent nature of the picture. I thought maybe a robber has come in and tied the men up while stealing precious items. Then I thought of the piece in a completely different way, thinking that the men had a major problem with each other that needed to be sorted and talked out, but they couldn’t or wouldn’t do so. In both scenarios the clock and clothing represented a time period, which is not very current. This exhibit definitely consists of some of the most interesting pieces I have seen in quite some time. It was quite refreshing to see Claire Rau's art and to listen to her artist lecture, making me think and rethink the entire idea surrounding art in general!