'Sinister' showcase of whale parts
2003-06-27
San Antonio Express-News
'Sinister' showcase of whale parts
By Dan R. Goddard
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 07/27/2003 12:00 AM
Erick Swenson's 'Killer Whale (White Parts)' is so realistic it can fool a fly. Erick Swenson of Dallas with his sculpture at ArtPace: a shiver and questions about the whale.Carrie J. Jensen/Express-News
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In fact, a couple of flies were buzzing around the two slabs of plastic while the Dallas-based artist talked about his work before a group of critics and curators at ArtPace. Resembling a pair of salmon steaks, the pieces are modeled on the white spots that appear over the eyes of a killer whale. The tops are a marbled white, but about a half-inch of pink meat peeks out around the edges. Grotesque and austere, Swenson's installation is spooky and chilling. Spotlighted in a pool of light, the twin slabs are placed on a thick shelf that juts out from the wall in the otherwise dark and empty gallery. The whale parts look soft and fleshy, but a touch reveals a hard plastic that Swenson was experimenting with as part of his ArtPace residency. Swenson had to keep waving away the flies as he explained that his sculpture is not some sort of environmental statement. He was thinking more about the trophies taken by serial killers when he made the creepy still life, which effectively makes your flesh crawl. 'I was trying to do something smaller than I usually do, something where less is more,' Swenson said. 'It's designed to make people think, where's the whale? Who would take the time to cut out parts of a whale? It's kind of sinister.' Swenson, who wanted to be a special-effects artist when he was young, isn't usually so restrained. In 1998, he showed a large diorama featuring a team of mountaineering baboons, climbing in custom-made denim outfits, as part of a 'Texas Dialogues' show at the Blue Star Art Space. Another large, realistic set piece featured sweater-wearing dogs chasing a sheep across arctic terrain. 'I like using animals because I think they're a lot more interesting than humans,' Swenson said. 'But my work is usually about human emotions and how we respond to different situations. At ArtPace, I've been trying to pare down my work, to make it as simple as possible. 'This work is not about the environment. I don't think that making political statements is the purpose of art. It's not a useful context for dealing with those kind of issues. Ultimately, I think art should be entertaining.' Horror movies are entertaining, of course, but Swenson's whale parts send a shiver through the soul. dgoddard@express-news.net
07/27/2003
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