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Approach/Avoidance  

     1990  

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Immersing its audience in a harrowing, almost post-apocalyptic environment, APPROACH/AVOIDANCE explored denial as a dangerous social symptom. The gallery was wall-papered with thousands of newspaper clippings about AIDS, nuclear dangers and environmental hazards. The floor was covered to several feet with ash and tangled vines, within which were embedded dozens of video monitors and hundreds of mundane yet precious artifacts representing the potential personal loss from such global catastrophes. Included were children's toys, computer disks, novels, coffee cups, eyeglasses. Static played on the video monitors, interrupted by occasional glimpses of people in conversation.

 

The construction of APPROACH/AVOIDANCE drew heavily on multiple layers of community participation. Because hundreds of spectators also contributed the objects buried in the ash, a significant portion of the audience felt a direct, personal sense of potential loss. During the six weeks of the installation, thousands entered the gallery and pinned artifacts to the walls, from notes to photographs to small treasured objects, as if in memorial for what was not yet lost. At random intervals, fragments of performance occurred within the installation structure. These unstructured pieces were then arranged for performance in the adjacent theatre, reconfiguring the content of the gallery work for the more focused viewing available in theatrical time.

 

INSTALLATION

Madison Art Center, Madison, WI

 

PERFORMANCE

Isthmus Playhouse, Madison, WI

 

CATALOGUE

Gallery Guide

 

PRESS

'Approach/Avoidance': Artist hopes to wake up a complacent society,WI State Journal

Approach/Avoidance' happens with precision, Wisconsin State Journal

Art with a new perspective, The Capital Times

Ashes to Ashes, Art to Art..., Isthmus

Ball of Confusion, Isthmus

Clark approaches danger of the mundane in work, The Daily Cardinal

Exhibit's value lost to rhetoric, The Capital Times

Laurie Beth Clark, New Art Examiner

Life After Death: Local artists respond to the AIDS nightmare, Isthmus

Madison artist takes a direct approach confronting issues, The Badger Herald

Madison installation artwork conveys an emotional message, The Milwaukee Journal

Performance art, area collections haunt Art Center, The Badger Herald

 

TELEVISION/RADIO

Prime Time Wisconsin, WHA-TV

Breakfast Special, WORT-FM

 

SUPPORT

Arts Midwest

Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission

Madison Art Center

Madison Civic Center Commission

Madison Civic Center Foundation

Madison Committee for the Arts

Wisconsin Arts Board

University of Wisconsin Graduate School Research Committee

 

AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Video by Clark Thompson, 20 minutes

Video by Clark Thompson, 5 minutes

Gallery Guide

Reviews

Slide Lecture

Approach Avidance Photos
Apprach Avoidance Video
Approach Avoidance Press

PRESS

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