Frances Stark - Lauren

I went to the exhibit earlier this week and it was my first time to the List Gallery. I was glad that it was a larger exhibit than the BHCC yet again i was the only person there and i could take my time. I purposely went into the exhibit not knowing anything about Frances Stark. I wanted to attempt to interpret her works without any outside influence. From the first few pieces that i saw, it is clear that Stark likes to play with the english language and words. Many pieces are passages from books that are copied onto paper. I surmise that this is her way of reexamining these works and finding art in the beauty of language itself. In some pieces, she uses just single letters or parts of words cut out and made into a collage like in this one where the bird is on a lettered branch.

Many of her other works include her self portrait in the act of creating the art itself. I feel as if she is pointing out how art is construction and not unlike other day to day chores and rituals we do everyday. It almost makes it feel mundane. These pieces also feel more personal because you get a glimpse of what this person looks like.

Stark uses mixed media for many of her creations. Lots of paper with text cut out and pasted on and junk mail. The junk mail ones have strips of the catalogs, envelopes, bills, and other superfluous garbage that we all receive in the mail everyday melded together to form some sort of collage or other object. The piece, "In and In", shows piles of these collaged strips stacked on the whole canvas. I believe she is commenting on the absurdity of all of the junk we have to sort through everyday to get to the stuff that is important. This can relate to all aspects of life since most of our days consist of routines that really don't matter in the grand scheme of life. The clutter can be overwhelming however.

Stark also had a video and a power point. These two i wasn't as interested in. That is just a personal preference and to me these were difficult to grasp the concept behind them. She also had a fun costume that was a rotary phone. I'm not sure what this is supposed to represent other then how antiquated the rotary phone is. It shows that she has talent in many different media. Overall, I found the exhibit to be quite enjoyable. I liked her larger more complicated pieces the best and think she has a unique point of view of what art is.