Amber Weaver: Assignment #2

The current exhibition at the Haas Gallery is interesting. The display is by the artist Travis Townsend. The exhibition consists three dimensional pieces with a few works complimented by two dimensional pieces. All of the pieces seem to interact with the rest. And in some cases, the three dimensional pieces even connect with the walls via string. Each piece seems to be related to the next. For example all of the selections contain similar colors, similar materials used, similar details such as doodles and little chairs, and the construction process.

All of the pieces in the exhibit are interesting to look at. I really enjoyed the two dimensional pieces over most of the three dimensional selections with the exception of the one titled Another Tankard. This piece is a gigantic conglomeration with multiple layers of wood, random splashes of paint, doodles, ladders, little chairs, string, and other little elements mixed in to create this thing that in a way looks like a tank or an odd shaped barge. It’s really obscure looking. It makes you wonder what exactly it is. I like how there were little chairs inside of this construction and miniature ladders on the outside. The addition of these little objects make you want to shrink down and go inside the contraptions. Which is what the artist was going for, I think.

I was fortunate enough to go to the artists presentation about his work. Before I heard the talk about the work I thought the works were quite nifty to examine. But after hearing what Travis Townsend had to say about the work and his opinion of it made me just shrug it off. In his presentation, he mentioned that his work was about warfare, satellites, and creation. He also mentioned that his work was more about the process of creation. For example, Another Tankard was changed multiple times. He cut pieces off and added other pieces to make it better. He liked the fact that he can go back in and change things and that he is never really done with a piece. But the thing that really turned me off to his work was the fact that he thought his work was “stupid” and “dumb”. This statement leads me to believe that he really doesn’t care about what he was creating and that he wasn’t passionate about his work. This changed my whole perspective on the exhibit. I went from “wow these things are kinda cool” to “eh, okay those things are just things” all in a matter of a few minutes.