scott macleod

***************

1tJs G cold cleaf

.. . h' d

WifH.er n!q;.l an

there's a skein of sonlething precious

. 11 •

in lne G!r,

soolething slightly

, I' I ~

nounung ana

siightly forni!iar that betjs to be fGllowed tonight. it's qeodetic, in thot . it's about the

~:,f seasons, and the woy the

cur'le of the eorth

;~ets b~tween us ono the light of t.he sur,- f\nd in a way itJs also geodesic since it's about the distance (reo!, over the surface of the

as we!! os imagined) between the beoinnino of

~ ~

cur curving

trajectory Gnd the enci The present

"h "

on-a l. e rur.ure.

Our selves and we o(e

ieoking for. But it's pe~sc;nal toof in the wey that it's about getting out of bed for the first time in ~7eeks: struggling

to 6d the body of germs ond the shadows of depression. The crfvoture of the

s~;Jf: if you will. self if! winter.

~".,~;_:, es stors Hi

winter sky and the Vi;]Y th0 shadows of t,i';Jflcht;S

sntwined on the

under

under n1ooniight. So it's about contrasts bEtween dork and light. complexity and clority. isolGtio!l and commi.lnity. !tJs about wQ!kin:] in darkness en G

winter night and about cominq out of the cold into 0

bright space fiiled

'1' I_ . . 1

WIth the enerqy Gna

WGrmth of other

bodies, Comin:J out of the self and into the other ~ into entanglement into h!)gs and chains. Into what is

dubious, conflicted~ human. Into something which is

• r l' I

In relallon to

1 I , !

oarKness and 01

which we are

equoliy afroid. In this bright .clean

l' . I"

opumlSi.lC spoce

which is coBed

gaHery3 there Ofe large knots hQng~ng like spider-c!urnps or dust-bunnies Of chewing gum.

Knots rnode of rubber hosest measuring topes, things like that. There's a petulance to these knots which is both

oyiJrovotiniJ ond cheerful} like

Dennis the MenGce.

\Vhat converts 0:-:(1

redeerns the

juvenile delinquency of these pieces IS

iJCCJmpQr~nnq obse~;s!ve

rnothemoJicoi preocc-upotions: the

measUring, !oqglng, charting lobeiiin'J and translating of intersections, rninute distances and interrelG.tions !nIO musical

scores, etc. It's clear, in effect, that there is no

-object of tndeGVOf

: i

nere, enG ~o

subject other thon the octiv:ty of t.his arcane engogenlent of the perceptive self with its own obsessive tics and

spasms. This may sound as if the work, the project, is narc~ssistic, borderline psychotic; but there's 0 strong sense of confidence which belies this

suspicion, and the

'h " ,.

t ,ousonds or tiny

sketches which fil!

the Gallery;s main {fn'-a~I' ",~il' rnn';rn1

\'V\.o 'I t'V1 .. \..·V ;>1. "

this. sense that

there is somethinq

very seflOUS gOing on herE\ somethjng

as senous as

building Q fire in the snow at night.

From across the room these sketches of Matt Valia's conjure the

spills and steins

and ephemeroi rond of Brod

for more terriiorv than rnost and is

t.hus very hord to ovoid. Up close

they bring me bock 10 the age of

about ten, sitting in front of the television at 5:30 a.m. watching how-to-draw shows. These delicate sketches ore ambitious, foiled, optimistic andfotalisk,

tryinq over ond over· and over to quickly and gracefully· capture the pure line of a stiletto heel or 0

robot's elbow joint or the SWOOD of a bee's stinger, the visceral -contrast

betY'ieen how it is rooted in the heel of the foot or in the body of the bee ond yet also soars outward towards the world and the other, tantalizingly sharp, equally dangerous and seductive. Trying to capture the PCfDdoxicGt

o! 'rily. (the

i-"' .. , .

c!Jrvature) of women, bees, the hondo danger, early rnorning television in the 60's; of

beauty, ill other words. Of the knotty problem of desire in the

I 1 II

postmOdern wono.

Mcny of VQtic's sketches ore

•• 1 r j'

renliriiscent. Oi Hie

CGliOpslng

t r

pOftJiJOxes or

V!odimir Kokolio's drev:i:tgs: mouths sVi:Jliowing nlouths, scissors cutting SCl;3S0rs, homrners

nGillng hammers. For Volia, insertions ore protruberonces Gnd yice-versa; ::cIssors wrap [lGperr stone cuIS sc!ssors, paper pounds stone. An i'1 'J tiny

re'··;eren t.!ol, dsvotionol; the equivalent of the ~'jr~~ering of ros;]ry D20GS, or .solitary ecstatic proctice,

creation b:

DfCye.r. .Just stor;d here in the cold

duk niqht air for (}

second, Stand

here shoulder-bsh!~)uider with me or.j look in the

brQad clean v/!ndo'N

:~t:) the cheerful

space, iook ct the people listening to. the

. .

':-fazy. Jezz mUSIc

c reeled by the t-y'inq una breakinq of kool<: "no' b" .

~ ,~. I ...... , \.1;. J

paying of fJtt~ntion to those

tyings and t:reokings. Stond here and

at the happy young people in the W!Jfm bright space· carved with love

of the dark

Ten rne

~r isn't precious.

Ten rne

we haven't.

: GJnd it.

- Eiieen Fergus