Arts and Entertainment

Force of Nature is a historic new Wellin exhibit

By Sarah Scalet ’15

The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art unveiled its newest show, Alyson Shotz: Force of Nature, on October 11. While Alyson Shotz is primarily a sculptor, she filled the gallery with a wide range of visual media, including large-scale sculptures, ceramics, prints, vinyl decals, a wall drawing, and an animation. The Wellin Museum proved largely successful in its first attempt to dedicate the entire gallery space to a single artist.

Characteristics of the new exhibit mirror Hamilton’s mission for students to develop a breadth of knowledge. According to Tracy L. Adler, the exhibition curator and museum director, Shotz’s “artistic practice bridges disciplines and draws on scientific methods, mathematical principles and literature, making her work a perfect fit for the Wellin’s interdisciplinary approach to exhibition programming.” Reflecting the exhibition’s title, Force of Nature, Shotz incorporates a variety of academic disciplines to demonstrate the powerful effect of natural forces.

Upon entering the gallery, the immediate focus is Invariant Interval. The massive 20-foot by 30-foot column is made of stainless steel, spring-tempered wire, and silver beads. Upon first glance, it resembles a tangled slinky; however, it grows more complex with further inspection. Relying solely upon its skeleton to form a delicately woven surface, the sculpture depicts movement and energy as it conforms to gravity. Its shape abstractly alludes to the expansive and undetermined topography of the universe. The metal form serves as an appropriate introductory piece, as it references the physicality of natural intervention that exists within many of the exhibit’s other pieces.

Along the back wall of the gallery is White Fold, an expansive fifty-foot wall drawing. Shotz developed an intricately woven pattern on the animation program Maya, printed it on transparency sheets, projected it on a wall using an overhead projector, and then constructed the design with help from four Hamilton art majors. (As one of those art majors, I can personally attest to the complexity of its construction.) It bridges the gap between 2D and 3D by existing on a linear plane a few inches from the wall. By occupying multiple dimensions, White Fold helps connect the 2D, 3D, and 4D pieces within the gallery. Although it camouflages into its white surroundings and could be easily overlooked, the piece’s contortions unite the vast expanse of the exhibit.

Tucked behind a black curtain in the exhibit space is a collaborative animation that combines inspiration from both Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Bedroom in Arles and the last scene of Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to Shotz, “I’m fascinated by the suspension of time and isolation one feels in both bedrooms that Van Gogh and Kubrick have portrayed.” Within a modern adaptation of Van Gogh’s well-known bedroom, the sun rises and sets in three eight-minute segments. The work both suspends time and moves it forward, as little within the room transforms beyond the lighting. The 4D piece seems inconsistent amongst persistent references to physical contortion and force; however, its study of change relates to other works in the gallery that depict transformation.

These few pieces represent some of the most important themes within the collection. The Force of Nature avoids the threat of becoming repetitive in its strong attraction to abstract representations of scientific concepts. Instead, it remains fresh and exciting because the individual works rely on visual diversity to expose nuanced conceptual differences.

Go to the Wellin to truly experience the exhibit’s immensity and the collection’s intricate construction. It will remain open to the public until spring 2015.


The Wellin Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

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