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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Liz Miller @ Augsburg College
Wednesday 09 June @ 11:10:26 |
 by Valerie Valentine
Christensen Center Gallery provides the perfect space for installation. Liz Miller, an MFA student at the U of M, takes advantage of the long, narrow room with her installation The Failure of an Eloquent Defense. A journey through vibrant topography, from one end of the room to the other, her intricate design mimics a speedy world tour, so varied are the separate landmarks.
Installation is a one-time deal; as a gallery-goer, I always feel surprised and privileged to observe transient creation. The complexity of Miller’s work make this brief exhibit even more noteworthy. Tiny bits of felt, vinyl and foam weave through and on each other, as interesting to contemplate in detail as to view the entire expanse. Large pieces are held on with pins, others appear to be glued. Layer upon layers of materials, tracings, glitter and glue create texture, lending dimension to an otherwise flat surface.
Sculptural elements engage the eye more; in analyzing shape, we can ascertain how the work was constructed.
Vibrant orange and purples energize the room; reflections from the glass walls double the result.
 Detail of Liz Miller’s installation
Miller wants us to consider systems of order and chaos—easy enough with these visual stimulants. Some chunks are wildly messy, globbed together without translatable consistency, whereas other sections are level, rigid and linear. The synthetic color scheme directly opposes nature, the greatest of all madnesses with a method.
The overall randomness recalls randomly generated images, like you might find in a computer screensaver. However, knowing that an artist patched this together bit by bit gives it more weight than the temporary computer image. Miller’s artwork strains the link between harried daily life and the effortlessness of machines. Consider her painstaking process of cutting, pasting and pinning compared to a computer performing a mathematical formula, and you’ll understand what I’m saying.
The title is perhaps the conundrum of the piece. Suppose it were to tie together all parts of the installation. It looks like war, with mutated creatures consuming one another, and rocket ships landing and shooting. The wacky colors set the viewer inside a cartoon, preparing for some kind of space battle with unknown aliens. Someone’s eloquent defense flopped, big time. This could be evidence of what goes down when words are not enough, when negotiations fail and violence is the last resort. To further stretch interpretation, “the failure” may be a denunciation of the Iraq war. Only in fantasy can war make a pretty picture — Miller conveys this ideal with a flourish.
The Failure of an Eloquent Defense: An Installation by Liz Miller runs through July 11. Augsburg College, Christensen Center Gallery, 2211 Riverside Ave. S., Mpls.
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