The Human Animal Project, Trustman Art Gallery

Paul Roux has organized an exhibition at the Simmons Trustman Gallery. His thesis is that humans are beasts and have not evolved. “Sometimes it seems as though we haven't evolved at all,” writes Roux. The pieces are generally beautiful and feed his thesis of general complaint over the state of society and its relation to the world. I found the thesis too broad and the artwork too broad as well. No specific point was concluded – because one certainly can’t prove that humans haven’t evolved.

Cathy McLaurin From the series Making Nice (2008)
A large brown paper was placed on the wall with hand-printed white designs and dolls with animal masks that cover one of each their eyes. It is a critique of the red-wagon pulling, bob haircut American Dream child. She makes us examine the dream child in a frightening context and when we realize that it increases the unease, we break down our constructed idea about children (of course, it doesn’t happen as fast as all that, but this is the process). The stuffed animal masks also comment on the concept of children as a novelty or a hobby. Placing toy heads on their faces, specifically that block one of their eyes, dehumanizes the children to the degree that they look like toys. This is a criticism of bourgeoisie approach to child rearing.
The curator relates this piece to an alternative dimension where we can escape from what he sees as a harsh world. “Part of me finds solace in a world where such beings roam free” Roux writes in his curatorial statement. The issue is that these creatures are very clearly terrifying. McLauren directly used the aesthetic of Donnie Darko (a film in which there is a horror figure with a bunny mask on naked Frank), which evokes fear and discomfort, not freedom of imagination, let alone escape. Then a little too much of an effort to theoretically analyze this piece peaks. “These beings are just as real as our perceptions of any living breathing thing, as real as Barney, Mickey Mouse, history, the bible,” He is not claiming that these icons are real but that they are constructed, just as these scary bunny creatures are constructed. Of course Barney is a construction. This reading does nothing for us besides makes Roux sound like he went to Graduate School.

Jason Lazarus’s Oprah Memorial (2006) A photograph of a sign outside of Oprah’s studio with flowers on it and a gritty water tower juxtaposed behind. The artists explained his project as “creating a memorial asks witnesses to consider the legacy of a cultural phenomenon while they are still alive.” This is a very basic point. Yes, it’s odd that we are obsessed with Oprah. However, juxtaposition is an overdone, cheap way to prove this point. The point is not interesting either. Everybody knows about the cult of the celebrity. This piece is not subtle or thrilling in the least. The only options the viewer is offered are right or wrong, both of which are incredibly boring and will not help our understanding of the world we exist in as the complex, multifaceted reality it is turning out to be.

Hiroko Kitchu’s piece is part of a performance piece she’s currently working on called Bee-vah, a critique the american dream. Drawings of denchers are gridded on the wall with prose underneath each drawing. It discusses standards of living that rise proportionally to need and examines the arbitrary standards like white teeth which are invented when needs are met and the way that people are compelled to worry regardless. “I had no accomplishments except surviving but that wasn’t enough in the community I grew up in because everyone is doing it. So I wasn’t prepared for America where everybody is glowing with good teeth and good clothes and good food.”, she writes about her immigration experience. One dencher caption refers to “straight teeth and crooked morals”. She raises criticism of American superficiality, but it only amounts to complaining. This piece did not contain a single shred of advice or constructive criticism. We already know it is a problem, and no, just because we admit we have a problem does not mean we want to fix it. “America is dumb, like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you that is aggressive”. She closes with “Americans have no identity but they do have wonderful teeth.”

This show amounts to some very beautiful complaining; no new problems that we haven’t seen addressed before and zero constructive ideas. The idea that humans haven’t evolved at all and that greed is an animal impulse are both silly concepts. “On the sixth day, greed gave birth to blind pursuit in the western colonial mould that has opened the door for a cultural and human void” Roux writes in his curatorial statement. Greed, however, comes along with consciousness. To see it as an animalistic drive ignores the requirement of consciousness in order to desire more than one needs. No animal accumulates food for the hell of it. Only conscious humans. This criticism of human behavior is very passé. Everybody knows it’s a catastrophe. It is a waste of time to look at art about it. Morbid exploration is what is needed – art should be providing us with a window into the reasoning or lack there of of the current situation. It should be inducing the consumerist rush that causes so much trouble so we can examine our addiction on a pedestal. The reality will do the work for itself. Human commentary and disapproval pales in comparison to the real monsters we are talking about. Put the monsters on the pedestals. Bring the hedonism into the gallery. Let us feel the vice for ourselves. Show us what we crave out of context, then we will examine it.
Trustman Gallery, October 7th - November 4th, 2008.