Exhibit explores planes of normality

by Johanna Lurvey

Thursday, February 7, 2008 00:00

A group of rising Phoenix-area artists have come together in a new Memorial Union exhibition, bound by their common objective to reflect the many facets of what it means to be normal. Their show, called Desire for Normality, will run until March 11 in the Porter Butts Gallery.

One of the seven artists, Nick DeFord, has a simple yet intriguing piece in the exhibit, titled “Normal, Illinois.” For this work, DeFord covered a map of Illinois with small, multicolored arrows, all pointing to a city near the state’s center: Normal. Using a real topographical location in an abstract way, the artist implies that “normal” is everyone’s goal.

Tackling another angle, Kjellgren Alkire’s “Holy Humidity” defines normal through a Honeywell humidifier filled with what the artist calls “holy,” perhaps blessed, water. Though it is a purchased electronic device, rather than something crafted by the artist, in the context of the Normality exhibit, this mixed media work makes a statement about the ways in which we regulate our environment and the ways in which we make it as normal — in this case by making it as comfortable — as possible.

Across the room from the humidifier is a piece by R. Eric McMaster, “Line.” Comprised of 96 blue people made of urethane plastic, these unadorned figures resemble the men and women on restroom signs. At first glance, the tiny sculptures seem to be standing in perfectly squared lines, looking rigid and uniform. Upon further examination, however, one figure is found missing a head and three others are actually toppled over. “Line,” like all the pieces in Normality, is left open for interpretation. McMaster seems to be communicating the monotonous categories that people might be placed in with no room for individuality, conveyed by the straight rows of identical people.

Some of the Normality pieces are bizarre, and sometimes they do not noticeably fit into the theme of normality. One such artwork, a set of three hanging gourds is simply more odd than profound.

Another piece, by Marco Rosichelli, is constructed from playground equipment, something that children might ride on. Rosichelli decidedly mixes things up a bit, diverging from the normal horse-shape by making it pink and forming it like a fetus, thus making the work a welcome deviation from what is predictable.

Likewise, “American Proverb” is a striking sculpture by Joshua Almond. It is made of worn wood in the crude shape of a person next to a wheel with a handle to turn it. It appears that the person should be turning the wheel, but instead his arms are at his side, and his head is resting on the wheel. Perhaps the figure is tired of attempting to fit in with the norm, or perhaps he is simply physically exhausted.

Overall, Normality offers viewers countless interpretations of what is considered normal, and exposes the challenge in defining the seemingly straightforward idea of being “normal.”