The University of Wisconsin Peck School of the Arts Inova Gallery was almost full after beginning with completely empty walls for its current exhibition opening in April "Samuel Williams: Instructions." For the last month each day at noon British sculptor and video artist Samuel Williams had been sending directions for a spontaneous sculpture to be made in only five hours, until the gallery closed at 5:00 p.m. Whoever was there at the time, usually students from one of kathyrn e. martin's college sculpture classes, assisted in defining the artwork for the exhibition in perpetual progress.
Williams' instructions for each individual sculpture were emailed or phoned in, depending on the artwork, and numbered and named on a template so it might be easier for the students to organize. One such piece was #27 BIG ARM GOES PUBLIC. The instructions given were:
Make a new public sculpture for Milwaukee.
The sculpture should be 8 feet wide by 10 feet tall.
Write an encouraging message on the sculpture.
Make a video of the finished piece.
Email the video to the local decision makers as a gift to the city.
The resulting artwork envisioned a huge, blue T-shirt, almost a reincarnation of the Blue Shirt sculpture publically funded for the airport and then later discarded to great controversy {the sculpture was planned and modeled although never completed) years ago. Were they satirizing the controversy and the sculpture?
Williams' gargantuan shirt seen through the student's eyes had “Don't be blue.” scrawled across the front, the encouraging message printed on the cardboard model. For an afternoon's effort, the sculpture made a substantial statement and finished art form.
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Another popular and still evolving sculpture included #5 Holes, constructed after only simple instructions were forwarded by Williams: Drill as many holes into a recycled chair. and desk while leaving the structure in place. Was this a creative or reductive artwork? The old desk and armless Windsor chair stood among wood curls and shavings, the antithesis to untouchable art. A drill lay alongside the desk and there was ample room for more holes without compromising the furniture. The desk and chair, although mutilated, were still standing, the holes making an fascinating pattern in the wood.
Three early visitors to the Friday reception that evening hoisted the hand drill and made more holes, enjoying every moment. A rumor said this artwork was particularly interesting to young girls unaccustomed to wielding a hand drill and working with power tools. Was the drill similar to the power felt when in control of any mechanical device? The sea of residual wood curls kept growing in layers around the desk and chair, untouched by any broom, a tribute to the artwork's success as public art.
In reviewing all the artworks, some were impressive in a unique way, while others less easily understood. Curator Nicholas Frank explained that for the 45 student volunteers participating in the exhibition as an extension of Williams' physical arms and body to create art, this instructions over an entire ocean sculpture process revolved around “exercises in creativity, imagination and problem solving skills.”
Williams' work entails using time and space constraints, together with incorporating easily accessible and found materials, so the Inova exhibition continued with those personal precepts. Franks impressed on the students that these constraints were faithful to the artist's work and that “failure is also an essential component of the show” because not every art project will ultimately be a success or an artist's best work. This principle holds true for the great masters and the beginning art student, only with extended artistic experience there will be more successes than failures.
Failure build towards success and then each success on more success. Walking through the “Instructions” exhibition and observing each set of directions and materials, and then viewing the resulting interpretation as a success or failure could be a concept almost anyone can relate to, remember, and then move forward from. Failure actually creates success when the work ultimately continues in planned perseverance as it does in this fascinating exhibition premise, planning and execution at UWM's Inova Gallery.
(An interview with British sculptor and video artist Samuel Williams will be posted later this week. Williams traveled to Milwaukee May 20 to install the last two sculptures on May 21 and 22 before the exhibition closes June 19.)
