Landfill Diversion: Created from Consumerism
Brian Jungen reconstructs everyday materials into cultural and natural wonders in a modern art show that doubles as anthropology. Or paleontology.
Published October 21, 2005
By Adelle Caravanos
Academy Contributor
Walk into the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and you might think you’ve mistakenly stumbled into a natural history museum. After all, the first things you’ll see are three huge whale skeletons, suspended from the ceiling. Then there’s the collection of Aboriginal masks. Upon closer inspection, however …
You’ll see that the masks are made from Nike sneakers.
And those aren’t whale bones. They’re lawn chairs.
In fact, almost everything at the Brian Jungen exhibit is made from new, mass-produced items that the Canadian artist has reconfigured into something that looks, well, old and unique. The comprehensive exhibit features 35 sculptures, drawings and installations created by Jungen, who is best known for his Northwest Coast native masks made from sliced up Air Jordans. The complete collection of his masks, Prototypes for a New Understanding, is on display at this show for the first time.
With Prototypes, Jungen takes an everyday item from modern Western life – athletic sneakers – and reassembles it into a traditional indigenous item. The work is a comment on the commercialization of cultural heritage, as well as a comparison of the aesthetics of the two worlds. For instance, the trademark Air Jordans come in the same red, black and white color combination frequently used in Aboriginal masks.
Jungen’s reassembly of the sneakers — arguably the most sought after consumer products of the 90’s — literally gives them a human face, and their man-made material is refashioned into life-like ancient warriors: he renders the synthetic, organic.
The Natural Cycle of Materials
Jungen obtains a similar effect with the whale skeletons, comprised of chopped-up patio chairs: the stackable white plastic variety loved by suburbanites. Jungen worked with an assistant, bolting together the plastic pieces to form vertebrae, ribs, skulls and fins until each work became indistinguishable from the skeletal remains of a whale.
How many chairs make a whale? Jungen recalls midnight runs to the local home goods store to acquire some 300 for the three installations: Shapeshifter, named for a mythical creature with the ability to morph its form; Cetology, whose title refers to the zoological study of whales; and Vienna, titled in honor of the city where it was created. Although they loom large overhead in the gallery, ranging from 21 to 42 feet in length, Jungen says they’re on scale with baby whales.
By using plastic, which is derived from petroleum, which in turn comes from large animal fossils, Jungen draws attention to the natural cycle of materials on our planet – his fake whale skeletons are built using a by-product of the material that real whales leave behind.
Also in the collection: A series of “lava rocks” made from deconstructed soccer balls; wooden baseball bats carved with loaded words and phrases; and a set of neatly stacked cafeteria trays, inspired by a similar configuration of trays used by a Canadian prisoner to escape confinement.
