PAUL RAMÍREZ JONAS – AGGREGATE
2013-10-28On view in the main gallery, five cork busts present a series of anti-monuments whose conventional forms are subverted by angular cuts to each face that deliberately obscure and de-center the identity of the memorialized figure.
Monuments, commonly fabricated with permanent materials, are often set out of reach with the purpose of inscribing public spaces indelibly. Counter to this tradition, the cork that is used for the Ventriloquist series is covered in pushpins. Each anonymous monolith surrenders its discursive power and submits its authority to a public. In turn, that public will transform each monument into a communal bulletin board by posting its own messages. Ultimately, the Ventriloquist sculptures assert that public voice is not necessarily permanent nor singular; it can instead reflect the fragility, contingency, and plurality of the general populace.
Building upon Ramírez Jonas’ earlier Admit One drawings, the new Assembly drawings present overlaid floor plans of multiple designated meeting places and the precise seating arrangements of the assembled publics within them. Stamped admission tickets stand in for every seat that awaits occupation. Whereas each Admit One renders a single architectural site, each Assembly imagines how separate spaces of deliberation (Congress), of action (meeting halls), and of spectacle (cinema) might intersect. Through this process, Assembly reveals unwitting ideological interdependencies and problematizes similarities between seemingly unrelated cultural spaces.
Exhibition runs through to December 7th, 2013
Koenig & Clinton
459 West 19th Street
New York
NY
10011
