When Love Turns with a Little Indulgence to Indifference or Disgust

2009
Large scale installation constructed using 70 4'x8' sheets of cardboard, neon lighting, two videos 15 minutes each, 12 prints, calendar, steel circle, 60 color bulbs, dimensions variable

When Love Turns with a Little Indulgence to Indifference or Disgust is a large installation that divides the exhibition space into three rooms, cordoned off by whitewashed walls. This work relates to an earlier installation, On Chapels, Caves and Erotic Misery, in that both are constructed primarily out of the cheap and ephemeral material of cardboard, and the artist’s careful manipulation of the exhibition space in this newer work recalls his re-created partial film sets from On Chapels. While reference is not made to a particular film in this installation, its physical elements establish an abstract narrative informed by the fundamental principles of cinematic set design, lighting, and sound. 

The first room contains just two elements: a brightly lit neon sign just below knee level that reads: DID NOT EXPRESS IT IN KISSING OR TOUCHING OR EVEN HUGGING, and a pinup calendar on the facing wall featuring images of the French actress Catherine Deneuve. The incorporation of a multicolor baseboard running throughout the space acts as a connecting element, tying the rooms together through the use of a visual cue. The next room of the installation presents an enigmatic gallery of prints, sculptures and lights. While the linear arrangement of the frames can be compared to a moving picture, the compositions are not sequentially linked; instead recurring aesthetic elements are present throughout in the use of circles as well as primary colors thus creating a narrative of visual language—as if these images are fragments from a bizarre dream. The use of fragmentation is carried on in the third room of the installation, which contains a two-part filmic work and accompanying sound piece. The black and white collage features clips of movie footage, with characters and locations fading in and out of recognition. Its counterpoint is a kaleidoscopic color field that changes in conjunction with the variations in black and white.

Each of the three spaces in When Love Turns with a Little Indulgence to Indifference or Disgust contain a distinct setting—with elements rendered in neon, film, metal, or print—which viewers see in sequence as they are guided through a miniature labyrinth. Meant to be experienced in relative solitude (only a limited number of people are allowed in at a time), the multipart installation contains a series of abstracted or fragmented works that thematically address the influence of architecture, the psychology of fantasy, and the development of narrative. The environment the installation creates is charged with emotion, yet lacks context, and thus challenges a sense of reality and traps the viewer in a disorienting realm where personal narrative serves as the binding element.