Is there racism in heaven? Nick Cave’s response, the experiential artwork “Until,” is now on display across almost every inch of available space in the Momentary in Bentonville.
It examines humanity—“How do we address the ‘isms’ that are global issues and concerns in America?” he asks—and opens with the astonishing sight of 1,800 whimsical suspended metallic wind spinners with un-whimsical images of guns, bullets, and targets in motion.
It’s followed by three related installations, none of them likely to resemble what you might expect to run across in a museum of contemporary art.
Does that sound vague? Hard to imagine? Difficult to comprehend? Not surprising. Although plenty of artistic creations can be definition-defying, “Until” may be one of the best examples. You really have to see it.
Seeing it might not be enough to open the door toward understanding it. But it’s a valid place to start.
Helping us along is Cave, a professor of art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago:
“You’re consumed with beauty and opulence, yet torn between emotions,” he explains during a virtual preview of the exhibition. “The spinners aren’t only familiar imagery; there are guns mixed in with hummingbirds.”
He’s describing the first work visitors will encounter in “Until,” the Kinetic Spinner Forest, which is set up to allow for walkways that weave in and out. It is followed by Beaded Cliff Wall (handmade curtains woven from millions of plastic beads by Cave and 12 assistants over the course of 18 months), Flow/Blow (a sculpture of metallic party streamers set flying by 14 noisy industrial fans), and Crystal Cloudscape, an overhead sculptural installation composed of curious found objects, chandeliers and thousands of crystals crammed together in a resounding clash of ideas and rhythms.
Cave, a dancer as well as an artist, is known for creating fabric sculpture and other visual and performance art that addresses issues of racial inequality in the United States. His work can be found in the collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, among others.
“‘Until’ takes its title from the expression ‘Innocent until proven guilty, or guilty until proven innocent’.” Cave told Grazia magazine. “It’s a piece that’s really grounded in the political climate right now in the [United] States around the endless unarmed Black men that have been losing their lives.”
During its time at the Momentary through Jan. 3 (following appearances in 2017 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., and in 2018 at CarriageWorks in Sydney, Australia), the installation, organized by MASS Mo-CA and co-produced with Carriage-Works and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, it’s being enhanced with locally produced programs and performances about community and identity.
“The impetus came about seven years ago when I went to Chicago to meet with Nick and asked him if he wanted to tackle 18,000 square feet at MASS MoCA,” says Denise Markonish, its senior curator and director of exhibitions. “He said, ‘Oooh, girl, thank you.’ I let him stew and simmer for about a year, when he presented the idea for ‘Until.’ ”
“Denise’s offer was a life-changing moment; I had to shift my way of working, my way of thinking,” Cave says, referencing the 2016 shooting of an 18-year-old Black man by police in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014. “Something new was about to occur. It was about when Michael Brown happened when it all came together.
“Thinking about Michael Brown, about Trayvon Martin, about elevation—about how do we get to heaven?—these ideas informed the project.”
Although the work springs from a tragically American moment, adds Markonish, “it’s a universal message.”
It’s a universal experience, echoes Lauren Haynes, director of artist initiatives and curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and The Momentary. “There’s a place for everyone to enter the conversation.”
The work has adapted to the dimensions and possibilities of each location it occupies, says Cave. “It’s been amazing working in these incredible spaces, seeing how ‘Until’ holds its ground, what it brings to the communities.”
Markonish agrees. “The work is still resolutely its own thing; it’s about how the show empowers a community to uplift each other to be able to talk about these difficult issues; it allows people to put their walls down.”
Cave’s goal: “How do I create art that is of service? Particularly when George Floyd happened. It brings me comfort, hope, optimism and reflection. That is the takeaway.
“No one will leave ‘Until’ without seeing what dedication looks like, without seeing what standing up for something looks like.”
Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspective.
kmartin@arkansasonline.com