SHOW REVIEWED: SICK, SICK WIND

Jade Townsend
Sick, Sick Wind

Priska C. Juschka Fine Art (New York, NY)
September 10-October 17, 2009

Standing alone, I do not think I’d be all that interested in Jade Townsend’s Sick, Sick Wind Installation at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art. I choose to review this exhibition because it gives us an opportunity to discuss something else, something bigger then a giant pig-shaped winged battleship paired with some smallish nautical-themed artworks and a couple of amusing pencil on paper drawings. Three something biggers; 1, is the work of Duke Riley who has proven himself a pretty interesting artist 2, is a large scale trend of romanticizing the use and history of urban water-ways (Huck Finnism) and 3, is a splinter of that trend which might be called the Water-World scenario.

Let us begin with Sick, Sick Wind:

It is actually almost impossible to think only of Jade Townsend’s exhibition and nothing else, before we even enter the gallery we are already aware (assuming we read press releases) of the fact that the work we are about to see has already been a part of a larger work. We know from reading the press release that we will see a pig-shaped, winged battleship that marks Jade Townsend’s third solo exhibition at the gallery we are visiting, and that this same pig-shaped boat was used in a naval performance modeled after the Roman ‘Naumachia‘ in which the Emperor would flood the Coliseum and force condemned prisoners to engage in bloodsport as a way of diverting the masses from impending socioeconomic collapse. We know that the reenacted naval performance was directed by Duke Riley, named Those who are about to Die Salute You, and took place at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on August 13th, 2009.

Taking the information we already have into account, it is hard for me to view Jade Townsend’s exhibition as anything but props for a performance piece. This said, the “props” are incredibly art-full and beautifully constructed, with several clues that they mean more to the artist then the performance they were utilized in. Besides the given, a pig-shaped battleship, we granted with several other minor pieces that didn’t make much of a dent on my consciousness but do provide a basis for believing there is more to the narrative of Sick, Sick Wind then its part in a mock naval battle. I am going to ignore these pieces and talk only of the pig-ship.

The ship itself fills an entire room in the gallery. You are confronted first with its snout and ears. It is all a grayish wood. It has canons and windows flanking its sides just as one would expect a Roman Galley to have. The pig’s sails are made of various brightly colored t-shirts adorned with advertisements, band names and etc. Though I should be thinking of Romans I cannot help but think of pirates. I think it would be impossible to look at the pig-ship and not want to try and float around in it. In this way it is like a ceremonial mask or costume in a museum, you appreciate the beauty of the work,  but you know it was never meant to be looked at in such a sterile environment.

You can go inside the pig ship. There is a door-way that looks kicked-in around the back. The inside of the pig-ship is quite sobering and mysterious. The interior is draped in white and there is sand on the floor. Most depressing is that centralized in the interior is something that resembles a ping-pong table. This ping-pong table has been made unplayable; not only is the “ball” a golden egg and the “paddles” small oars but the “net” is a fence that extends to the ceiling of the boat’s insides. Atop the fence is razor-wire. Gee whiz. Someone has gone out of their way to stop the fun.

1: Duke Riley

We might remember that Duke Riley was the chap who created a submarine called the Acorn, crafted after the Turtle, a Revolutionary War period vessel that is believed to be America’s first submarine. Mr. Riley not only created the vessel but also tried to submerge in it and “attack” the Queen Mary 2 which was docked in Brooklyn Harbor at the time. This project was described by Randy Kennedy in The New York Times as ‘. . . something out of Jules Verne by way of Huck Finn, manned by cast members from “Jackass.”‘

Another notable project by Riley was an illegal makeshift tavern called The Dead Horse Inn. Riley is also remembered for climbing aboard the reenactment of Robert Smithson’s Floating Island.

Duke Riley’s website style’s him as an “Artist and a Patriot”. He is muscled, covered in tattoos, and described most often as having a beer in his hand. He is fascinated by nautical events and seems to like to create events that many people can enjoy being involved in. This is not without precedent, and besides the obvious choice of Robert Smithson already mentioned above, he reminds me an awful lot of Swoon only he’s more hard core and she’s more peace punk.

2: Huck Finn

(This section exists solely to point out various boat projects, in an effort to describe what appears to be an emerging trend in the arts. You may skip the write-ups and just press the links if you want. )

Miss Rockaway Armada, this is Swoon’s project which has since had various incarnations. The general idea is pirate-punk rafts, full of artists, musicians, free spirits and etc., that float down the Mississippi River or other water body. The project is ripe with romantic ideas on travel, sustainability, and adventure. It is impossible to look at pictures or documentation of the project without at least half-wanting to fuck it all and build your own raft.

Waterpod, is a sustainable habitat that generates its own food, water and power. It is described as an aquatic/terrestrial mobile hybrid.

If you are aware of another instance in boat-art please leave the information below.

3: Water World

When we think about the Roman Empire we think about its rise and fall. The end of the story, no matter how many battles they won or how they averted socioeconomic-collapse by entertaining the masses, is that Roman civilization ended. When we see a mock-naval battle played out by art-worlders and cultural capitalists we easily draw parallel to our own situation, that is America’s, as a world power. We wonder if we are in our final days and then we think of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. We think of the dark ages. We recall 28 Days Later, but we also wonder if life wouldn’t become easier if we suddenly had to live off the land or on the water.

While some of us might be able to live apart from the civilization we have created and sail down the river with projects such as the Miss Rockaway Armada, many of us might need to imagine a reason we would have to take to the river, such as some sort of apocylipse. Wouldn’t it be great if we were all sea-pirates in pig-shaped battleships, fighting other sea-pirates or battling zombies?

In reality it probably wouldn’t be that awesome, but this is why we are talking about art, artworks, and reenactments. These are impulses that we have, whether they shoot from anxieties about the end of civilization or just wanting to test the boundaries of the world around us. If art is going to provide us with what life does not, occasionally it may have to provide us boats, sea-battles, and Mad-Maxian imagery.

Full circle:

Jade Townsend is not Duke Riley and I don’t think he’s interested in Huck Finnesque Water Worldism most of the time. This was more of a lark, Jade’s an idea man and this was a good one to be a part of. That Mr. Townsend choose to use what was, essentially, a piece of someone else’s work in his 3rd solo exhibition seems a little risky; with this show he can only be aligned with Duke Riley and will not be able to stand by himself.

In the end what is most disappointing about seeing Jade Townsend’s pig-battleship in an art gallery is the realization that for at least one day this amazing, spectacular, and awesome pig was actually in use. This pig was something better then a work of art, it was a battleship that launched tomatoes and watermelons. Now it is simply a work of art that will not allow us to play ping-pong.