Sculpture Center Reaction

             The history of the Sculpture center is unique and the fact that it used to be a trolley repair shop has implications to the artwork housed there as well.  Trolley cars are an obsolete technology so the fact that this site was chosen as a platform to display art could have a deeper significance depending on the art work displayed.  The art work of Bill Bollinger seemed to be chosen as a centerpiece of the center because his art was a good fit for the space. 

Bill Bollinger used industrial materials to express his messages which all have one strong theme in common.  The common theme is that we as a society create these materials to help achieve specific goals and meet certain ends, but what if our creations transform into something beyond what we originally intended and beyond our control.  This seems to be the message of the “Cyclone Fence” because what if what we create transforms itself into a destructive force such as a cyclone and has a power and life of its own.  An example of the “Cyclone Fence” in our world today might be global warming.  Our globalized economy is basically driven by fossil fuels, but there is a large ecological cost to pay to keep this possibly shortsighted model running.  

                The “Waterpipe” art work seems to hint a something more organic such as an imitation of life through industrial materials.  The piece makes me think of a ribcage which is something human, organic and alive.  Maybe Bill could have another general message that the networks we build through water pipes or other industrial materials mimic biology to a certain degree.  While this is definitely true with computers, circuit boards and the internet that there is a certain bio-mimicry happening, Bill could be pointing to a more primitive or non-electrical form of this idea.

                Bill Bollinger’s work fits perfectly into the Sculpture center space because there is an industrial tone to it which his art work is able to turn upside in a way.  If, the art work was housed in MoMA it would not have such a powerful effect because he is essentially attempting to undermine the Industrial age.  In other words, he seems to want to say something like, “Hey are there any negatives here?”  He needs the viewers of the art work to be in a malleable mind state by luring them into this industrial setting and then presenting them with a new perspective of this object they are familiar with, but which he makes unfamiliar. 

Bill Bollinger

“Untitled”

1970

Bill Bollinger

“Waterpipe”

1970

Bill Bollinger

“Cyclone Fence”

1970