October 25, 2006
Light and Speed
460 Degrees Gallery
Beverly Hills

Installation art and car sales meet like rock stars and amplifiers at the 460 degrees exhibition called Light and Speed at 269 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Arne Quinze's wild, wooden sculpture, Miranda Lichtenstein's sober, meditative photography, and Pascual Sistos's öber-urban, interactive, video installation add curiously beautiful lines and movement to the showroom of the new Lexus LS. Yes, it sounds crass but it works. Very cool.

Continuing the tradition of blurring the lines between capitalistic exploits and artistic creation, curator Sabastien Agneessens from Formavision with assistance from Shamim Momin of the Whitney Museum of American Art, orchestrated a hotshot exhibition and car show that marries sound, structure, vision, and motion to create a unique future-tech environment for which to showcase the new Lexus (which itself is an insane work of art, if not an overkill exercise in conspicuous consumption. More on that below.).

Arne Quinze's installation is sick! His three linear miles of 2 x 3s (Canadian odd-cut) woven, nailed, and strapped into a giant undulating form is a perfect execution of controlled chaos. The sculpture appears to be spilling like a wave of blond pixie sticks out of control, rushing through the room in a sweeping graceful gesture that dives under air ducts and leaps over walkways. Thousands of sticks crammed into that relatively small space lifts you up, carries you around the room and deposits you right at the vehicle.

Quinze is not an upstart. He's part one of Quinze & Milan, a modish design firm based in the U.S. and Belgium. Earlier this year, Quizne garnered some attention for his similar, though grossly larger, structure at Burning Man. This time using nine linear miles of the same boards, he erected a ginormous monster in the desert called Uchronia, measuring almost 200 feet long, 100 feet wide and nearly 50 feet tall. Photos and gossip suggest it was an amazing and explosive site, if not a criminal waste of natural resources. They burned it, of course. All in the name of art, baby!

Bolstering Quinze's sculpture in Light and Speed between the wooden waves, and crashing boards, are two ten-foot opposing video screens set about three yards about. Created by Pascual Sisto, each screen features a montage running in a seamless, continuous loop. One screen shows vehicles on a nighttime freeway flowing into the space while the other pictures vehicles flowing away. The images are spliced and cut as to create a 360-degree montage of smooth, flowing, almost meditative movement and flickering light. The affect is almost hypnotic.

On another wall, Sisto projects a video using a super-groovy, high-tech projector called a Reactrix. This machine allows Sisto to generate moving pictures on the screen that can interact with viewers. Button-like images with the names of each artist float across the screen. When the visitor touches the "button," a short video about the artist and the installation starts up. According to the Reactrix website, the projector is a combination of animation and motion detector technology. The images, as they drift across the screen, are synced up with the motion detector and thus when someone breaks the beam, it triggers the animation component. In this case, it makes it far more interesting then static video and more closely approximates, or rather caters to, the internet-style experience. Click and run. Click and run.

The final component of Light and Speed, is Miranda Lichtenstein's zen-like photography. Packed off in a corner that doesn't seem to altogether go with the show, as the "feng shui" of this little sitting area seems all wrong in relation to the rest of the installation. The photos, which in their own right are knock-out, are mostly of people in contemplative/meditative states or places. Lichtenstein is excellent with space and the human form and here she creates a comfortable tension between the two. This calming sensation is consistent with the whole peace within chaos vibe of the show, but a little out of whack with the light and speed concept. (Also, check out Lichtenstein's Polaroid show at the Hammer. http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/103/).

If all the energy and movement of the combined efforts of these artists is to highlight those sleek, calming qualities of the Lexus LS, it's a success. The installation almost stands alone but the vehicle remains a key grounding stone to the experience (and I swear I don't work for Lexus or any automotive affiliate). This modern day hotrod lists for $70,000 to $85,000 and according to the literature and demos, it actually drives itself. The parking feature is the most talked about, where a clumsy parallel parker simply pulls aside an empty spot, pushes a couple buttons on the LCD, and the car steers into the space by itself. I love gadgets so hyper-futuristic, I-Robot style driving gets me all jittery. It's a sweet ride. Look here: http://www.lexus.com/models/LS/.

Light and Speed is successful as both an art piece and a marketing tool. Obviously, the installation helps to elevate the consumer product to the level of fine art but the vehicle holds its own. After all, this is not a Ford Taurus we are talking about here. The Lexus LS is Fat City! Here the work of Quinze, Sisto, and Lichtenstein, draws attention the artistry of the automotive designers and engineers, who unfortunately remain anonymous. I suspect shows like this will become an endemic model for contemporary art, where the creative classes are plugged into technology and commerce while big companies with deep pockets vie for innovative ways to infiltrate recalcitrant, artsy, technologically savvy, and very slippery, young consumer groups.

-bryson strauss

Light and Speed
October 21 - November 3, 2006
269 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
888.747.4504
www.460degrees.com