We're All In This Together

For you, For Me, From Me @ FLUXspace
Opening Reception: January 12, 2008, 6-8PM


For You, For Me, From Me is the latest show at FLUXspace in Kensington. Curated by Dustin Metz, the show features the work of Ben Kinsley, 3axap Bakc, and Julia Schwadron and Steve Lambert, collaboratively. According to the show announcement, “They have been making art with any one of us, or all of us in mind,” and while that does come across, after seeing the show I questioned in what way we were in mind, whether we were supposed to be a participant in artmaking, or simply an admirer.


Ben’s piece is an interactive storm on the sea, with a boat caught right in the middle of it. To get a better idea, imagine watching Deadliest Catch when you’re afraid someone’s going to go overboard, except you’re in control of their fate. Each component of the landscape, (the rain, waves, boat, clouds, and lightning), are all hand operated. As you are working the piece, you are also able to watch it happen on a screen as it is being recorded in “real time.” It is also displayed as live-feed downstairs in a separate area, which I think made surprising use of the space, where one can find out that you can make what you previously saw downstairs.


Julia and Steve’s pieces are upstairs on one wall. There are signs on a shelf that the artists made for anyone attending the show, along with an instructional card encouraging viewers to take a sign and put it wherever they deem appropriate (You can also email them a photo so they can post it on a website). This involvement with the pieces, which are all handmade, is what the show really is all about. Above the shelf are framed photos that Julia and Steve took of their own sign placement around Philadelphia. The witty, thoughtful, and simple signs seem to play off of graffiti, not stylistically, but because of their infiltration of the urban landscape.


3axap Bakc’s work is fairly new to me. While I’ve heard a lot about his work, I’ve never seen one of his paintings in person. His paintings have a lot of depth, and material is so important to the works. Downstairs, there are works on paper spread out over a very low table with chairs around it. It seems almost like a children’s crafting table, where you are able to look at the pieces. There’s also a very specific smell that fills the room, which I found out is clove oil that 3axap uses to make some of these drawings. Upstairs, there are four oil paintings, with layer upon layer of washes, text, symbols, and texture. While I admire 3axap’s skill and freedom with materials, by the time I left the show I wondered what the paintings had to do with me, other than enjoying them as I would any other piece of art. Were these really for me as the show title seemed to emphasize? I’m not sure.

I continually asked myself if 3axap’s work, albeit thoughtful and interesting, was the appropriate choice for a show based on work that was specifically prepared with an audience in mind. How do these personal, introspective paintings hold up compared to pieces where people are given the freedom to play? Any art in a gallery requires participation from the viewer. But in contrast to Kinsley, Schwadron and Lambert’s work which asks for physical participation, Bakc’s work requires reflection.

For You, For Me, From Me allowed the opportunity for connection between the viewer and the artist. It is exciting because we all can be a part of it, if we want. We can all make a storm, take it upon ourselves to make a statement, or look at 3axap’s work and delve into the layers, textures, and even aromas of his work. In my opinion, the only thing that takes away from this show is the fact that two of the works have so much to do with interaction and making something new from what an artist left for the viewer, who is now a participant, and another is quieter and more understated because it is overshadowed by the activity of the other pieces.

My final thought on this show is that all of the work is of a high caliber, and it is unfortunate that work that may be loud, or free is more engaging to today’s typical audience than a work that is comparatively quiet. I recommend giving each piece its fair share of consideration, not only for you, but also for me…but for you.

-Kati Gegenheimer
January 2008

[Kati Gegenheimer is an artist living and working in Philadelphia. If you would like to contact Kati, send an email to pages@funnelstudio.com]


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