Ocean. Alzaruba
Artist talk -Thursday Mar 22, 7pm
Statement by Alzaruba:
Ocean is the ninth in a series of immersive, walk-through, interactive installations that explore the complex intersections of the human condition. Part theater, part social critique, the ship and its altered gallery space incorporates painted floors, post consumer products, bras, driftwood, used toys, kitchen utensils, beach debris, crumpled images in plastic containers, medical equipment, X-rays, underwear, parachutes, an antique sailing skiff and other assorted items.
The cobbled-together wreck of a hull, sequenced by the visual zigzag tension of blood red vinyl across its hull, is composted with a dizzying array of old and new objects and materials which reflects our out-of-control consumerism.
Inside are eight various interior spaces saturated in textured, mobile surfaces of yellow, blue, orange and red biohazard plastics, torn and blown about by oscillating fans and lights that fade in and out. This ranges from a black chamber filled with doors inset with burned children’s shoes, glowing from an overhead planet in orange meltdown, to the tented video rooms inset with X-rays, to the sensual padded cell to the underwater blue room crowned by the capsized sailing skiff poring out an array of breathing apparatus. One passage has been compared to passing through the gullet of a whale.
The artist will continue to build upon and deconstruct the literal aspect of the hull, through new openings, as well as room, materials and light changes, and will be in the space Fridays and Saturdays. The public is welcome to add to the hull, from writing and drawing, to attaching objects and personal items. There are also several wild wearable sculptures, which are available for the public put on and to waltz through the installation.
Oscillating between humor and pathos, kitsch and gut punch, the installation seeks to embrace key aspects of the human experience through a visceral physicality interwoven with layered metaphors and visual puns. The ship as womb, cradle, crisis and coffin, reminds us of our increasingly volatile global community and our out of balance relationship with nature.
What can we do? It starts with a quote from Gandhi on the hull, – “Be the change you would see in the world.”
