Today we are getting into the Halloween spirit with artist and Artpace founder, Linda Pace’s Orange Crush, which is currently on view in the Hudson (Show)room exhibition, Localized Histories. The orange assemblage even inspired a staff member costume.
A few weeks ago a group of students from Fox Tech High School walked over to Artpace during their Art Appreciation class (their school is located just two blocks away). They toured Artpace and each chose works from current exhibitions to focus on for a class writing assignment. Here is an essay from a student named Ashwini on Linda Pace’s Orange Crush:
At Artpace the room was full of different pieces of art that were located on all four of the walls. Each piece was created by a different artist and each artist gave their work a unique style and meaning. As I walked around the room observing the different pieces, I came across a piece of art that was very big and bright.
The big and bright piece of art, Orange Crush, by Linda Pace, was a squared assemblage that was 96 by 96 inches. The border of the assemblage consisted of a cord of orange and yellow light bulbs and everything else that made up the inner part of the assemblage were orange objects. When I looked at the art from far away all I noticed was the color of it because everything was orange, but as I got closer to the artwork I was able to see the little details and what it’s actually made of. There were at least ten to fifteen stuffed animals that were either small or big all around the assemblage. The upper right hand corner was made up of a few cups. One of them had a smiley face on it. There was also a bowl, a pair of shoes, sunglasses, eggs, voodoo dolls, maracas, a hat, beads, a football, and a mask that had the face of a bird. The upper left hand corner consisted of skeleton heads, a firefighter hat, a bird house, dices, a Tide container, a bag, a bowling pin, little balls, a Texas Longhorn bottle sleeve, and even a little box. Going down to the bottom left hand corner there was a scarf, a Gatorade bottle, a puma pouch, a bottle of furniture cleaner (Pledge), a little pot, a hairspray bottle, prescription bottles, a ball of yarn, a high heel shoe, a race car, a book, little statues, and a vitamin bottle. The bottom right hand side corner of the art was made up of a big flower, various nail polish bottles, perfume, Finding Nemo balloons, a water gun, a pair of flip flops, action figures, bows that are used to put on presents, and little bunny candy containers that were filled with candy. In the middle there are a lot of tiny little objects. There were pumpkins, a lobster, candy boxes, a whistle, sticks, letters from the alphabet, stars, a block, images of basketballs, a bandana, and little toys and stuffed animals.
In my perspective, I believe that this piece of art represents the artist’s childhood and the years that she was growing up. The little stuffed animals and toys can symbolize the time when she was between the ages three and eleven, since most kids around those ages are into playing with toys and stuffed animals. The hairspray, puma pouch, Gatorade bottle, and the orange cone can all represent her teenage years. The puma pouch and the Gatorade bottle can mean that she was probably into sports when she was a teenager. The hairspray can symbolize that she liked to do her hair and the orange cone can mean that she was at the age of learning how to drive. All the Texas longhorn stuff can represent her college life and the university she may have attended. All the seasonal things, like the scarf, the sunglasses, flip flops, pumpkins, and the flowers may symbolize a momentous time in her life. This piece of art shows us what was significant to her and what she remembered from her life.
